Death Valley National Park

We thought it was time for a road trip and wanted to choose somewhere relatively close (about a 5 hour drive), warm, and where we had never been before. Death Valley won the lottery and we headed out early one morning on our way to Furnace Creek, Death Valley National Park. Our first stop, the afternoon we arrived, was the ranger station. He gave us a map and pointed us on our way to visit this most amazing place. I expected a vast desert with 20 mule trains bringing out the Borax and was wonderfully surprised by the landscape that went from almost 300 feet below sea level to 5000 feet in the mountain passes. We had enough time before dark for one stop on the map.

SALT CREEK TRAIL

We did not expect to see a flowing stream on the floor of the desert but there it was! In this stream lives the endangered Pupfish. The ranger told us to look closely because they wouldn't be around much longer. They are only about an inch long and unfortunately we didn't see any. But the area was beautiful.

As we walked along the boardwalk the sun gave us the shadows of these long legged creatures.  As the sun went down we headed to the Furnace Creek Ranch for a bite to eat and our bed.

Day 2

BADWATTER BASIN

This vast basin is 282 feet below sea level. It is so named because the water that makes it to the surface here is very salty. Walking across the basin is like walking across a spilled box of Morton's! At one point I asked Bob to see if it was really salt - thus the demonstration below:

Is it really salt?

Yes it is!

Our next stop on the tour was The Natural Bridge. After a very bumpy drive on a dirt road, we hiked into the hills and came upon this beautiful natural bridge. It was in the 80s and very dry, of course, but an absolutely beautiful day. 

After the Natural bridge was the Artists Drive. This is a paved loop through a varying landscape of color. I had never seen green rocks before so this was one of my favorite parts of the trip,

After leaving The Artists Drive we headed for Scotty's Castle. Scotty was a fellow who sold shares to a gold mine that didn't exist and according to the stories was befriended by a wealthy Chicago man who continued to support Scotty for the rest of his life. The very rich Chicago man wanted a house built in the dessert and thus, in the middle of nowhere, Scotty's Castle came to be. We had a one hour tour with a park ranger dressed in 1930s garb. 

This coyote seemed to belong to the castle. The ranger told us that if you stop your car they will walk up to the driver's side window and wait for food. He also said they bring their young to the roads and teach them how to beg. He was the healthiest coyote I have ever seen.

SCOTTY'S CASTLE

After the castle we headed back to Furnace Creek Ranch for dinner and our bed. We were also surprised at the number of people visiting the park. I guess we shouldn't have been as winter is the only time the temperatures are under 100º.  The next day we packed up the car and headed for home. We made a stop at the Harmony Borax Works for a look at what was left.

 This Borax mining operation was in operation for only a few years in the late 1800s. Again, the vastness of the area is almost overwhelming.







HARMONY BORAX WORKS

MESQUITE DUNES

After the borax works we headed for the Mesquite Dunes. These dunes were beautiful. There were people walking on them but we chose not to do that. This is one of the ever changing landscapes we were treated to as we traveled through this park.

As we were coming to the end of the park we passed through the tiny town of Stovepipe Wells, Padre Crowley Point, at almost 5000 feet (and very windy and cold) down again to Lake Hill and out of the park at Owens Lake and the backdrop of the Sierra Nevada Range. Amazing beauty almost every where we looked.

Down the hill toward Lake Hill

                                         Lake Hill

     Owens Lake and the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. 

Bodie - A Ghost Town

A Day at the San Diego Zoo

We decided it was time to re-visit the San Diego Zoo. A good idea but we forgot that it was summer and the Zoo would be full of visitors from all over the world. We heard many different languages lots of kids. They ranged from little ones sleeping their way through the zoo in strollers to teenagers who would soooo obviously rather be somewhere else. There were grandmas and grandpas, moms and dads, aunts and uncles and I'm sure just a few very good friends! And then there was the four of us wandering through the zoo with no kids wondering why we did this in August? San Diego was in the 80s and quite humid. It wasn't so pleasant. Living where we do, about 60 miles east of the coast, we have very low humidity. If we have 30% humidity, we all walk around complaining how humid it is. When I think back to the years I spend in New Jersey where we would have bouts of humidity in the 90% range I almost feel guilty about complaining about 30%. But we had fun looking at the animals and we had a nice lunch at Albert's Restaurant at the zoo. It is named after the first gorilla they had, I think. But I might be wrong on that. I will have to do some research.

I call these three "The Big Guys!"

We saw some birds

And of course there were Monkeys!

And the Rest of the Story.....

After our days in Portland we headed west to Tillamook - yes, that's where they make the cheese! We toured the cheese factory and sampled the cheese. They have a HUGE gift store (one just can't call it a shop - much too big for that) and we wandered around for a bit and then headed south along the coast of Oregon. As I am soooo very far behind in posting to this poor neglected blogspot I think I will just post the album pages I created to remember our trip.

The motel in Eugune was quite a bargain! A great room, a huge bathroom, pretty flowers everywhere and the absolute best fettuccine Alfredo I have ever had in my whole life! It had smoked steel head trout, mushrooms and asparagus and I savored every bite. I would return to Eugene in a heart beat to have that meal again. 

And so ended our lovely trip through Oregon and a little of Northern California. We had a wonderful time and saw lots of wonderful things. And it only took me until August 10 to finish what was started in June. Oh my!

TWO DAYS IN PORTLAND

After inching along the freeway (Interstate 5, of course) we finally found The Kennedy School and our friends. And the bar! Our first attempt at finding the school was wrong because I had reversed some numbers when putting the address into our GPS. Amazingly enough it happened to be the address of another Portland school but this one was still full of students and for just a moment I thought I was going to have to sleep in a real classroom! But I finally got the right address into the GPS and we found our hotel that used to be a school. We met up with Diane and Larry in the bar and I had a wonderful gin and tonic. Seems the McMenamins Brothers distill their own gin and it is quite yummy! The next day, after a delicious breakfast, we headed out to explore Portland. Here are some shots of our stay in the Portland area......

Day 1 ~

We visited the Japanese Garden which was absolutely beautiful!

After leaving the Japanese Garden we walked across the street to the International Rose Test Garden. After looking at all the beautiful roses I think Portland has passed the test on roses! 

These beauties were growing in the parking lot!

Always take time to smell the roses

After a lunch break we found our way to the Chinese Garden. It truly was a day of beauty!

THE TRIP TO PORTLAND.....and back!

We made plans to meet our friends, Larry and Diane, at the Kennedy School, in Portland, OR. The Kennedy School was to be the end of their train trip across the northern USA with a stop at Glacier National Park. Unfortunately, something happened to the tracks in North Dakota and they had to re-arrange their trip but we met in Portland anyway. The Kennedy School is a hotel in what used to be an elementary school. When enrollment declined in the 70's the school was closed and after some time it was purchased by the McMenamins brothers and converted into a hotel. Upon arrival you check in at the "Front Office," get your key and find your way to your room. The halls are very wide and many rooms and hallways have blackboards in them - with chalk and erasers! If you ever go there be sure to request a "Blackboard Room" or you may be booked into the new section of the hotel. The new section is very nice, but the original room we were assigned was VERY small. The sink was in the sleeping area and there was barely enough room to walk around the bed. The construction of the new section is very well done with beautiful woods and windows but the rooms are very tiny. 

Our journey started on Tuesday, June 3 when we left Hemet and headed north. We traveled as far as Woodland California, which is a little north of Sacramento. It was a very long ride and we were happy to check into the Best Western Shadow Inn, have some dinner and relax until it was time to sleep. On Wednesday morning we headed out to Grant's Pass, OR, the second stop on our trip north. As we drove along Interstate 5 we passed Mount Shasta. Very beautiful! Grant's Pass claims to have a climate as nice as California - as the big sign over the main street lets you know. They also have a fondness for bears who grace the main and side streets.

Mount Shasta

The Logger Bear

The Vineyard Bear

The Farmer Bear

The Dancing Bears

The next day was suppose to be a short journey to Portland - however, as we traveled north on Interstate 5 we decided we should stop in Salem as it it is the capital of Oregon. We followed the signs to the "Capital," found a parking lot - FREE - and followed the posted maps to the capital building and beautiful grounds.

Stay tuned for the further adventures of the Portland trip!

Huntington Library

We had a wonderful breakfast at the Doubletree Hotel on Sunday morning after the Renaissance Faire. Then we packed up all our "stuff" and headed out to the The Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens. Our objective was to visit the Chinese Garden which is one of many areas of this very beautiful setting. Henry Huntington was part of the Huntington family that owned the Central Pacific Railroad. He moved to Los Angeles and bought the property that the Library now sits on. In addition to being an excellent businessman (railroad companies, utilities and real estate in Southern California) he and his wife amassed a large research library, established a wonderful art collection and created botanical gardens representing many geographic areas. We have visited The Huntington several times since moving to Southern California and I'm sure we will visit many more. It's a beautiful place. We spent our time on Sunday walking through the Chinese Garden, Japanese Garden and Desert Garden. It was a beautiful day!