The plan all along was to go to Death Valley while in Vegas. However it doesn't take a meteorologist to know that Death Valley in June can be miserable. The week before we arrived, temperatures were in the 120°F range. Absolutely miserable.
I looked at the forecast on Wednesday and saw the temperature was only going to be 108°F in Death Valley. That is remarkable for June, so we decided to go.
We departed the hotel at approximately 6:00 a.m., grab some Dunkin Donuts, dropped off my laundry to be washed and folded, and took our picture at the Welcome to Las Vegas sign. We looked at going the previous night, but there was about a hundred people standing in line. At 7:00 a.m., there was one other family.
After getting on the road to Death Valley, we first stopped at the Death Valley National Park sign.
Then it was on to 20 Mule Team Canyon. This was a fun ride on a dirt road through Death Valley. The girls loved how I navigated the car through the narrow valley. I highly recommend driving this road.
After that we went to Zabriskie Point. This is an absolutely beautiful location that overlooks the Badwater Basin. After a short hike up a small hill, this was the view.
Next it was to the Visitors Center in Furnace Creek, to pay our entrance fee, watch a movie on Death Valley, and get our picture taken with the thermometer.
After the Vistors Center, it was off to Badwater Basin. Alone the way, Norah and I saw a cool rock we wanted our picture taken with.
To my surprise, when we arrived at Badwater Basin, there were still some water there. It had not dried all up yet.
We took some pictures at the lowest point in North America, and then headed out of the basin.
Along the way back, we did the loop at Artist Drive and Pallet. My oldest daughter Avery loved it. She said it was the best part of Death Valley. That whole drive is absolutely beautiful and there are so many colors in the desert. Photos do it no justice.
Once we left Artists Drive and Pallet, we headed north to Stovepipe Wells. We ate lunch there (I had an amazing burger) before doing some shopping at the general store.
On the way back to Las Vegas, we stopped at the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. Winds were blowing between 30 and 40 miles an hour at that point, and it was pretty miserable. We did not stay there long, but Avery took the opportunity to take a fun picture.
On the way back we stopped at a ghost town in Rhyolite. My family was not interested in touring it. However I left them in the air conditioned car and did a little touring on my own. I'm always up for a good ghost town, and this one had some creepy sculptures in it.
Back to Las Vegas we went. When we got there we needed to do some shopping as breakfast and Las Vegas is outrageously expensive. After that I was dropped off at the Golden Tiki, where I got to celebrate my college friend Kevin's birthday over drinks. I had eight of the 14 drinks the Golden Tiki had to offer and it was amazing.
I love my flaming drinks from the Tiki!! It's absolutely one of my favorite bars in the world.
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