Southwest Sojourns

Sixteen years ago, Dave and I drove through Death Valley on our way to Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks in Utah.  At the time, we took our black Ford Ranger that did not have air conditioning.  It was late July and hot!  I told him then that we would only take children through Death Valley if we had air conditioning.

Late last week, we drove through the park in our air-conditioned Nissan Frontier.  We first stopped at a vista point to admire the rock swirls of red and tan hues.  Then, we had to re-enact David scolding Badwater, the lowest elevation in North America.  This time, I learned that there is a spring there, but the salts in the basin cause the water to be undrinkable.  While wandering the flats near Badwater, there were lots of complaints about the temperature so we soon headed to the visitor center.   At 10:30, the temperature was 117°F and it was only late May.  After cursorily reviewing the exhibits, we meandered west out of the park and drove "blue highways" all the way to Coalinga near Fresno.  

Droopy children in Death Valley

Hauling a trailer turned out to be a boon for us.  Because the trailer has a 55 mph limit, we searched for roads where we wouldn't annoy others by driving slowly.  That led to a lot of rustic views and beautiful scenery - including traveling through the southern end of Sequioa National Forest. 

After Coalinga, we drove straight to the Bay Area and have stayed here a few days to swap out sailing gear for camping gear.  

Let me catch up on our doings...

May  19th, we all toured Legoland.  While the park was clean and we had fun riding the coasters multiple times (we got there early with very few people), we decided we should have taken the kids at least 3 years ago (when our oldest was 10). 

Building at Legoland 

On the 21st, we loaded the back of the truck and our trailer with all the things we thought we would need between then and the start of school.  We made the drive to southern Arizona (to see Dave's mom) along 8, 88 and other lesser traveled roads.  

Memorial Day weekend was rather poignant for us.  We took Dave's mom to the Arizona National Cemetary to visit his dad's grave.  The grave marker indicated he served his 20 years in the Air Force during the Vietnam era.  That was the first time the kids and I had been there since the funeral 6 years ago.  Unlike other national cemetaries, Arizona's does not have lush green grass and contrasting white markers.  Rather, the landscaping mimics the surrounding desert and the markers are flat plaques upon granite stones - both looking skyward.  The effect is still the same as the other national cemetaries.

We stayed with mom for a week, performing a few odd jobs around the house and just enjoying the visit.  We left her on the 28th and took blue highways (the two-lane kind) up to Kingman.  As fans of the movie, Cars, the kids enjoyed staying in a hotel on route 66.  We even saw a car that looked like the sheriff of the movie.  On the 29th, we slowly made our way to Hoover Dam.  Sixteen years ago, a new bridge was being built - its now finished and dam security is much greater.  We were turned around at security because we couldn't take our trailer.  We parked it at the casino up the road and hoped no one would molest it.  Actually, that wasn't much of a possibility.  It has a Beverly Hillbilly look about it and takes 3 of us to hitch it to the truck.  We finally got to take the Dam tour and the kids were impressed with the enormity of the dam.  Dave and I were actually a little depressed.  It *is* an engineering marvel.  Its the literal downstream ramifications that cause consternation. 

Southern view from Hoover Dam

We decided to stay in Pahrump, Nevada that night and got there by way of Las Vegas. We showed the kids the M&M "factory", the Bellagio fountain and the indoor mall at Caesar's that looks like its outside. In the mall, I discovered a store featuring Vladimir Kush's work.  I "discovered" his work a few years ago and liken him to a surrealistic painter like Dali.  Only not so trippy.  Here's my new favorite: http://vladimirkush.com/diary-of-discoveries-821.  I'm pretty sure you can guess why.

Bellagio fountain

We left Pahrump early so we could go through Death Valley in the morning.  It was a good opportunity to demonstrate latent heat transfer as Dave dumped water on his t-shirt to cool off and the rest of us wet bandanas to hang about our neck.  

The kids tried everything to cool off.  Yes, they put their feet down before we got in.

We arrived in Santa Clara June 1st and are grateful to friends who put us up for a few days.  We are now on our way to the Sierras.  We will have intermittent cell/internet connection until July 26th while we are immersed in the woods and mountains. 

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” -J.R.R. Tolkein, Lord of the Rings