Death Valley

Last week I chose to drive to California for department staff meetings, and on the way home I turned the 800-mile trip over I-80 into a 1,400-mile drive down the coast and through Death Valley, which I had never been to. Here are some pictures:

All of California is on fire--more than 1,000 fires this week--and everywhere was smoky. This is in the Sierra Mountains going into California.






















On the way from San Jose, I thought it would be fun to drive down Highway 1 along the rugged coast with the top on my car down. What I saw was more smoke.
















And 30 miles past Carmel by the Sea, the road was closed due to smoke and fires. I had to backtrack to Highway 101.
















I did get back to the coast just before San Luis Obispo and spent a little time on the beach. Then I headed east to Bakersfield and more smoke.
















I stayed at the Rodeway Inn in Ridgecrest, CA. The next day I passed through the thriving mining town of Trona on the way to Death Valley National Park.
















Death Valley is surrounded by some pretty high mountains. I entered from the west, which crosses a nearly-5,000-foot pass.















Then the drop into the valley.


























































At the lowest point, the temperature was 110 degrees at 10 a.m.
















Death Valley has some fascinating scenery. If you're ever near, you should plan to spend a morning here. But I wouldn't make it a vacation destination.
















Some plants grow fine in the shifting sand.

















You may not remember the Ronald Regan 20-Mule Team Borax commercials on TV. But this is where the theme came from. This was a borax mine in the 1800s, which employed 20-mule teams to pull the huge trains of wagons (wheels are 7-feet tall) full of borax, tools, and a big water tank. The borax doesn't crystallize above 120 degrees, so the mine shut down during the summer.

















The Death Valley salt flats.

















Salt crystal.

















That's all of Death Valley. The rest of these pictures are across Nevada. I didn't want to go through Las Vegas, so I took the longer route up around Nellis Air Force Base. This is a yucca plant.























I'm not sure what kind of an animal this was. It's a lot bigger than a mouse, but much smaller than a fox. Maybe a kangaroo rat. They live in Death Valley.
















I can't remember if this was in Goldfield are Tonopah. Whatever. This body shop owner needs more real business. This is just one of four or five monuments at the business.























I don't know how grateful veterans are to have a remote, desolate highway in southern Nevada named for them (Veterans Memorial Highway), but I'm sure all the aliens of the universe are happy to have this highway dedicated to them. I saw only one alien on this road.











































The late-June Nevada desert offers some surprisingly pretty flowers. When I first saw one of these along the highway, all by itself among dry-brown sagebrush, I wondered if someone had stuck a plastic plant next to the pavement.