April 12 found us heading towards Death Valley National Park.
Borax Flats
Death Valley has the highest recorded temperatures in the US, with 134 degrees in 2013 . It also has the lowest point in the US, 282 feet below sea level at Badwater Basin.
We traveled the northern route to get to our campground, basically traveling through. We planned to leave exploring for the next day. However, we stopped at the Panamint overlook as we entered the park. US Military use this area for flight training.
We also stopped for a picnic lunch before continuing to Furnace Creek, 190 feet below sea level. Even though it is desolate, the beauty here is so surreal. I would have to count this as one of my favorite places to visit.
Fun fact that I learned today is that it takes 3 things to create sand dunes: sand, wind and something to stop the wind. We also saw pictures describing 5 kinds of sand dunes but my not-so-descerning eyes really couldn’t see much difference.
We are camped at Shoshone RV Park in Shoshone, California.
A neighbor
We had planned to grill out for supper but decided to follow another of Jenna’s recommendations, the Crow Bar. Delicious meal and quaint bar.
Day 2 and time to explore more of Death Valley.
We started driving west again, with the mountains ahead of us. For some reason, they do not even look real. The more I see of this park, the more I am tempted to answer when people ask our favorite spot, “Death Valley!” We drove a loop that started with Ashville Mill ruins, used to process gold for 5 years, before shipping it off to rail yards in Moab, Utah.
What started to be our first real destination was Badwater Basin, 282 feet below sea level. This is the lowest point in North America. It was labeled “Badwater” because a miner’s mule would not drink the salty water but it is not toxic. We were able to walk a ways out on the salt flats and could see the “Sea Level” sign above us.
Sea Level sign is half way up.
Our next stop was Devil’s Golf Course, which isn’t a golf course at all but built up salt pillars. Someone compared it to sea corals but I think it looks like pictures of the moon. We walked out a short distance but it is actually kind of dangerous, then had lunch beside them.
We took a scenic byway through the Artist’s Palette. There are reds, blues, greens and oranges in the rocks and is simply beautiful.
We also took a short video to try to capture the beauty of the one-way narrow road in.
Another side trip was to the Harmony Borax Works.
Our last stop was Dante’s View, at 5475 feet above sea level. It looks down on the Badwater Basin where we were at 282 feet below sea level. While there, we found some gentlemen having a little fun with the aliens.
Badwater Basin is below 
We’ve had a great time since we started our journey back to Minnesota, two weeks ago. The winds that we encountered in Arizona this year continue to follow us. No matter where we go, people say it is windier than normal.
We are leaving California tomorrow morning. We have seen a lot and had a wonderful time. I know we will be back but who knows when! The sad part about California is how expensive it is. For example, fuel is up to $1.50/gallon more than anywhere else!
Leaving California, the first town we came to was Parump, Nevada. It sounds like the refrain to “Little Drummer Boy”.
It was amazing, driving toward Las Vegas. We could see the skyline and the Stratosphere from 30 miles away. We got to our campground, Riviera RV Resort about noon.
After a quick lunch, we headed off for sightseeing at Hoover Dam. Although the dam visitor center was closed and we had both been here before, it was an amazing site. Close to the dam is a new (to us) bridge for viewing the dam. Of course we stopped and walked to the bridge.
Continuing on, we got to the dam and drove across it to a parking spot. We had about a mile walk back to the dam for more pictures.
One last look…
Day two in Vegas took us to the strip. Dave wanted to show me the gondolas at the Venetian. As luck would have it, there was free parking there too.
Indoors! 
It was fun to walk the strip and “people watch”. Eventually, we came to Margaritaville and decided to have a cocktail. I splurged on a specialty drink made from rum. Dave had a margarita. As we sat at the bar, the TV announced the Derek Chauvin verdict would be read shortly. I was so nervous that I was in tears. The bartender held my had as we watched. Guilty on all charges. What a relief.
We made a second stop at Gilley’s and had a conversation with the bartender there about the changes in Vegas over the last year. Not only is business down, but the tourists are a different type of people. It affects her pocket book.
For our third and final day in Las Vegas, we decided to start downtown on Fremont Street. Again, people watching is the best thing! We ended up having lunch on the second floor of a bar, overlooking the street. Wow, we saw a nun! She was not too pleased when she looked up and saw Dave taking pictures!
We took more pictures of the neat ceiling, then did a little gambling, mainly in the Golden Nugget. Dave also took a video of the moving scenes in the ceiling. The laser show was synced to music, but most needed to be muted because of copyright conflicts.
We went back out to the strip to view the lights at night, again parking in the Venetian. Wow, the lights are fantastic and the water show at the Bellagio was fantastic. We had wanted to see the volcano show at the Mirage but had a long wait and there was a cold wind blowing so we did not wait for it.
We did a little more gambling then headed back to our trailer. Poor Boo had been left alone a lot for the past 3 days and was happy to see us. Our off and on again gambling cost us $29 between the two of us. Not bad, for gambling in Vegas. That is something we never do at home, so it was a fun treat.