On Saturday morning we had a leisurely start leaving Hurricane as we knew there was no point getting to Las Vegas NV before 9am. We had some shopping to do! So here we see a familiar skyline and feel like a sense of déjà vu.
Time out for shopping is not our usual style on holidays but when in the US we normally take the chance to refresh our runners, hiking clothes and tshirts. So much more choice and better here.
We arrived at North Las Vegas Premium Outlet mall at 9am on the dot. And shopped! In 2 hours we each picked up Nike shoes, hiking shirts, t-shirts and also some bras for Di. All great quality and pretty well priced even with the current exchange rate.
Our second detour was to do the scenic loop at Red Rock Canyon State Park. We had heard God things about it so wanted to see it. Unfortunately we've been spoiled by Utah and we did not find it very impressive but still enjoyed it.
This guy was behind us the whole way on the 17 mile loop - nice day to take your dog fo a drive.
We has a quick bite to eat at Arby's (now a favourite fast food place as they do a good Reuben sandwich and side salad). A funny situation though. They were so short staffed they locked the doors to the counter service and served drive through only. We were the second last group inside the restaurant. Food was good and fresh.
Then we headed to Beatty. Not an exciting drive on the 95 road except this made us laugh. Not far from a military base...
We had time for a swim but the pool was freezing. Really really cold. Hans braved it. Di got in as far as her knees before her toes went numb and she stepped out again. But nice hour by the pool in the sun before we searched for drinks and dinner.
It did not look like a lot was happening in this town of about 1,000 people but it soon changed. This is where the fun started. What a funny night.
Our choice for dinner was a simple chilli and beer joint. That's pretty much all they served - and the place was called the Happy Burro Beer and Chilli restaurant.
We were met at the door by this guy. His name was Atlas and he's a giant, friendly slobbering mastiff.
Good thing we love big dogs. He was gorgeous and was soon very friendly with Hans. Hans ended up with serious amounts of drool on his hands and sleeves but how do you say no? Atlas' owner in the blue shirt sitting in the bar was also a character.
Initially we sat outside with our beers and chill.
Atlas would come out and mark his territory, by peeing on nearby walls, posts and trees. But there was this strange woman outside who came and sat right next to us. She didn't seem quite mentally stable so we shifted inside.
And got talking to some locals and also a nice guy and his wife who visit regularly from Las Vegas. We worked out he ran motorbike training for motorcycle cops. He did not say so but we figured he was a cop too as he knew a lot about drink driving laws. He gave us good tips on sights to see in Death Valley.
He and Hans tried a local chilli beer. Wow. But we also got talking about the place we were in and all the fun stuff on the walls etc. Hans thought the stool has some real cajones.
Di Long Horn (her native name!)
Even the toilets were a laugh. Manly Men and Meer Women?
Guys need to work out how to flush...
We had a great time at the Happy Burro.
As we were laughing so much over the decor they recommended we visit the saloon next door which also has some interesting features. So we did. And of course we had to have a drink... And select some songs on the jukebox.
And participate in the custom of adding a $1 note to the decor.
We did not need much encouragement.
Then we saw a familiar face.
The other interesting decor items are car parts. Apparently many car manufacturers bring new models to Death Valley for testing in extreme heat. They disguise the cars but afterwards leave the camouflaged parts.
We enjoyed the saloon too.
We chatted for a short while to a German couple from Rostock but were starting to feel the alcohol level and wandered home. Another recommended drinking hole in Beatty NV. Who would have thought we could have so much fun in such a small town? Hans has been here 20 years ago and his experience this time was 100 times better!
After not enough sleep (for Di) we were up and packed and waiting at Mel's Diner at 6am on Sunday morning. Yep, we were their first customers but we wanted to be in Death Valley for the early morning light.
A huge cooked breakfast was too much for us but certainly kept up going until lunch at about 2.30pm (more on this later). Mel's was also cutely decorated.
The start of our second big driving day, 400 miles in 1 day made it our biggest driving day on this trip and it took about 11 hours.
By 6.40am we were heading into Death Valley. And we got excited to see wild burros grazing by the side of the road. Very cute.
Then into Death Valley.
We drove about 60 miles (100km) just in the valley itself as it is a very big national park. Nothing much grows here as it is the hottest place in the North American continent. Dehydration is a serious issue here.
The reason Death Valley gets so hot is that the base is below sea level. And the surrounding mountains are at least 1,500m tall. The warm air becomes trapped here.
We headed to a major viewing peak, appropriately named Dante's View.
Fantastic views back down into the valley and Badwater. That's salt on the valley floor.
Hans facing eastward and the views still look great. You can see in this photo that the road is quite windy to get up to the peak.
We then headed back to the valley floo to visit the other place recommended to us last night, Artists Drive and Artists Plalette.
The artists drive is one any though a range of dunes made up of various volcanic ash. So as it has weathered different mineral sands show through. It's definitely not rock. Just crumbly sand/gravel so they must have to do some work on this road when/if it rains.
It's hard to see from this photo but the colours are amazing. Purples, yellow, blues. All look great.
We laughed at this lonely "drop dunny" (compost toilet). It's a brick building and temperatures here is summer exceed 120F (50 degrees). What must it be like in there then?
We had been exploring for about 3 hours and it was time to get on our way. The drive out of the western edge, via StovePipe Wells is windy and slow. We stopped in that little village for a coffee before heading off.
No photos of that section but it was desolate and unliveable. No plants, trees etc until you get over the other side. Then you have a long long way down to the Mojave Desert. In the distance the huge Sierra Nevada peaks ar covered in snow.
We stopped for fuel in a junction of "nothing" called Olanche before starting our 200mile detour to get to the other side of these ranges. At this time of year many roads are still closed by snow. Some mountains are 13,000 to 14,000 feet high (more than 4,000metres).
It was well past lunchtime and we were looking for somewhere to stop fo lunch. Sorry. There is literally nothing out here except US Military weapon bases and solar farms. We could not believe it but we ended up eating Mexican food in a run down part of Bakersfield at nearly 3pm. Now we have been to Bakersfield before and did not like it and would prefer to avoid it but unless we wanted to eat McDonalds, Carls Jnr or Jack in the Box we had no choice. The Mexican food was ok and quite cheap.
The drive up to Three Rivers was pretty slow as much of the road as 55mph but we did laugh at the appropriate naming of this area, Oildale!
The end of a very big driving day for us was at 5.30pm. Google maps says it would have been 344 miles but our exploration of Death Valley added at least 60 miles more. All up for us 11 hours of driving by the time we reached our motel in Three Rivers, CA.
We picked up some provisions at the local market and couldn't face going out again so dinner was on our "balcony" watching the sunset. We just drank red wine and ate cheese, salami and crackers for dinner. Very civilised and relaxing and lovely. Fantastic sunset facing west.
But look what's coming from the mountains...
We enjoyed it while we could.
Apparently a big thunderstorm rolled through during the night but we were sound asleep! So heard nothing...
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