After being hunkered down for quite a while over the holidays, we had a brilliant idea. Let’s go somewhere (preferably somewhere warm).
Liz and Randy had made a bunch of modifications to their 5th wheel, and we hadn’t towed ours with the new truck yet, so all of a sudden we were all antsy to get outta here and test them out.
Death Valley is only 4 hours from here, and it’s one of my favorite national parks- so I investigated the possibility of exploring and hiking there. The campgrounds are closed, but the hiking trails are open, so the 4 of us booked a spot in a nearby RV Park, and took off.
The weather was too cold to sit outside, so we were happy to find our own personal bar inside the casino at the RV park. It made a great place to hang out, and the drinks were good too.
Our first stop was Dante’s View- its a great first view of the park and it never disappoints.
Following the road, our next stop was Zabriskie Point. Liz and Randy have never been here, so we wanted to make sure we hit all the highlights and this is definitely one of them.
Continuing on, we headed down to the valley floor and Badwater Basin. At 282 feet below sea level, this is the lowest point in North America- it was named for the taste of the water- apparently it isn’t “good”. Since the white stuff we are standing on is salt, I guess I can see why.
Speaking of white stuff- Death Valley only gets 2 inches of rain a year, spread out over about 20 days. And yet it has rained every time I have been here. None of my family would be surprised. Bad weather tends to follow me but this time, mother nature outdid herself.
The following day as we drove through the park we started seeing white stuff falling from the sky. Not in the mountains- but just above the valley floor.
Of course it “never” snows in Death Valley, so it was a real treat to be there for it. We stopped several times to enjoy and and get some pictures.
The following day the snow was gone from the valley floor, but there was still plenty on the nearby mountains.
We all wanted to get some hiking in, so on our final day we headed to Mosaic Canyon.
Randy and Liz were good sports though, and we made it in about 1.5 miles before turning around.
By lunch time the weather had warmed up enough for a picnic.
From Death Valley, we moved along to Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.
It’s easy to see where it gets its name.
We spent a few days exploring this park- but the weather was still pretty chilly, so we didn’t do much sitting outside.
I love hiking on rock- its particularly fun for me-I am not sure why- but anyway, this park has plenty of it.
Twice we saw bighorn sheep- first it was a herd of females and then later we saw a bachelor group. Turns out the two groups don’t hang out together unless its mating season.
After a few days exploring, it was time to head home.
