I don't know what other adjective would best describe my trip to Death Valley National Park other than perfect. I started my trip to the desert in Barstow, CA, which is on the historic Route 66. I must say that it is not a very impressive place and if you have ever seen the movie "Cars", you will have a pretty accurate picture of what it is like now. They do have a Starbucks however, which makes it okay to visit in my book.Barstow was my start point because my friend and traveling companion Scott lives there. He has an old Jeep Scrambler (which looks fabulous thanks to his TLC) that we loaded our gear into and headed off into the wild blue yonder with. And before we go any further, I must plug Scott for being such a good sport. You know what a wicked dork I can be so in honor of Easter, Scott and I coloured Easter eggs, planted them all over Death Valley, and took photos of them. Can you find the eggs?
Death Valley National Park is a phenomenal place. It holds the lowest point in the United States (284 ft below sea level) and within a couple of miles there are mountain peaks that top 4,000 ft. The rock formations are spectacular and you witness millions of years of weathering, erosion, plate collisions, and all sorts of different types of rock with your own eyes. I was also told that there is more biodiversity here (meaning different kinds of animal and plant species) than in the rain forests. I'm not sure if that's true but I certainly saw many things that I had never seen before. Nature truly is a magnificent and powerful force. Being in the midst of this natural wonder was mighty humbling.
Sooooo.....What Else Did I Do in Death Valley? CAMPING!!
Alright people, so when Scott asked if I wanted to camp in Death Valley my initial response was, "Why? Aren't there any hotels around?" However after a little persuasion from Scott I thought that camping might be fun...for a night anyway. So off we went to check out the campgrounds in the park. Oh my goodness people, it was like one big outdoor dormitory! There were no trees or bushes or anything between tents and I'll bet you could hear EVERYONE snore... Nope, not for us. Seeing that we had the oh so convenient 4x4 (now fondly named Betsy), we left the touristy crowd to climb where no man has ever gone before! Okay, not really but we did go farther up the four wheel trail than anybody else for our campsite. And let me tell you it was so very lucky that Scott had me with him because not only am I proficient at setting up camp, I introduced him to the quintisential camping experience. Yes my friends, Scott, a Captain in our country's fine Armed Forces, had never had a s'more (I have got to wonder what the heck they are teaching in the Army these days...). I am happy to report that Scott is now prepared for anything he could possibly experience out there in the war world (He is going to Afghanistan in October. Maybe if he teaches them about s'mores, everybody will be so happy that they won't want to fight anymore. I mean really, how can you NOT be happy with a s'more in your hands??). I plan on making sure that he has plenty of provisions towards that peace-making goal (just doing my part).
I think that one of the best parts of the whole camping thing was that the sky was so clear that night. We watched the stars for hours (we know it was hours because the almost full moon kept creeping across the sky) and fell asleep just before dawn. That was the only bummer, since we fell asleep and missed what had to have been a spectacular sunrise. So here is our simple campsite and the view we had as the sun went down. Just as a side bar, as the sun went down the mountains turned a beautiful shade of purple. It was then, for the first time in my life, that I understood the phrase "purple mountains majesty".
Can You Do This Anywhere Else........
I say that because in the course of 24 short hours, I was able to do the following:
1. Visit the desert (me, Scott and the Easter eggs crossed the border into Nevada just so I could say that I've been there)
2. Head south about two hours (just me this time, Scott had to actually go to work) into Angeles National Forest to see snow covered mountains...and I did it with the top down and the heat blasting!
3. Drove out to the Pacific ocean and walked on Huntington Beach in my sherbet swimsuit (no photos here, sorry).
I think that I traveled well over 750 miles total during the course of the five days I spent in California, not including the airplane ride across the country. It was well worth it. I love California (except for the freeways) and those people who are part of my life and live there (A Big Thank You to Uncle Steve and family, Linda and Steve, Grandma and Grandpa Johnson and of course Scott for putting me up and putting up with me :)
TTFN!
