A return to death

Introduction

2009-01-16T17:52:00.005-05:00

This journal captures thoughts and images from a too-short trip to Death Valley National Park in November, 2008. It also contains photos from a very quick glimpse of Red Rock Canyon National National Conservation area. I know that I will be heading back to both places in the not too distant future.

In fact, I'll be headed out to Red Rock Canyon for a few days of hiking in early February of 2009. One too-quick visit left me wanted to absorb more of that beauty.

Where next?
Jump forward to Counting the days.

2009-01-10T17:08:00.024-05:00

Counting the days on just one paw!

Rover rambles before the trip
Flying... driving

Death Valley National Park

Amazing colors
Photos: Badwater
Photos: Devil's Golfcourse
Photos: Artist's Drive
Photos: Golden Canyon
From sand to carved rock... and on to a ghost town!Photos: Sand Dunes sunrise
Photos: Mosaic Canyon
Photos: Salt Creek
Photos: Rhyolite, Nevada
Photos: Solar array
Photos: Zabriskie Point sunset
Circling twicePhotos: Zabriskie Point sunrise
Photos: 20 Mule Team Canyon
Photos: Mustard Canyon
Photos: Desolation Canyon
Photos: Gower Gulch to Golden Canyon
Photos: 20 Mule Team Canyon in afternoon light

Nevada for a day

Fleeting glimpses... of Red Rock Canyon
Information from a sign
Photos: Red Rock Canyon

Brrr! A contrast in temperatures

Captured by... camera-happy Denise!

Memories in patterned words

2009-01-08T21:08:00.004-05:00

A little word play... I was pointed to Wordle by an entry in a friend's blog today. In the words of the Wordle creator:

Wordle is a toy for generating 'word clouds' from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text.

I thought it might be interesting to see what kind of cloud was created from the Death Valley journal that Rover wrote for me, so I plunked my journal into Wordle to see what would come out. Yes, that silly red dog Rover did use my name quite a few times as he wrote this journal, didn't he? See, it really is fun to play with words!

Image created by http://www.wordle.net

Where next?

Go back to Captured by... camera-happy Denise!.

Captured by... camera-happy Denise!

2008-11-24T21:04:00.003-05:00

Denise asked me to let you know that while this journal contains a sampling of her photos, there are many more in her photo galleries.

You can send your eyes to the full set of galleries to see some of the images that jumped into her camera during our wanderings. And while you're there...
You can view the photos splashed across your whole screen if you'd like - just click the slideshow button in the upper right of the photo gallery window. (If you're in the gallery slideshow, you can get control of your computer back again by moving the mouse and clicking "return to gallery" or by just clicking the Esc key.)
To enter the top level of Denise's galleries for this trip, click A return to death. Once you're there, you will be able to choose from six photo galleries. Or you can jump right into a specific gallery:

In the valley... Badwater to Golden Canyon
High... Zabriskie Point & Twenty Mule Team Canyon
In the valley... Furnace Creek to Mosaic Canyon
Sand Dunes sunrise
Rhyolite... ghosts & sculptures
Red Rock Canyon

Where next?

Go back to Brrr! A contrast in temperatures, or jump forward to Memories in patterned words.

Brrr! A contrast in temperatures

2008-11-22T21:00:00.001-05:00

Home again, and I think it's finally winter here. Denise thought about leaving some warm layers in the car in case it was cold, but nope. She somehow left home without doing that. It was cold, cold, cold - 19 degrees worth of cold - when we jumped off of that big bird last night. That's quite a contrast from the warmth that we left behind us.

The big bird that we flew on was late leaving Las Vegas. We were waiting for people from flights from fogged in areas in California that were carrying people connecting to our flight, since this was the last flight of the day leaving Las Vegas for Manchester. There are later flights on other days of the week, just not on Saturdays. In spite of leaving two hours later than scheduled, we were only an hour late getting in to Manchester. And Denise thinks that was a trade for us getting into Las Vegas an hour earlier than scheduled. Maybe it was...

Oh! It's time for some sleep. And tomorrow? I think we'll be looking at pictures. Keep an eye out; I know that Denise will be posting some of them here.

Where next?

Go back to Photos: Red Rock Canyon, or jump forward to Captured by... camera-happy Denise!.

Photos: Red Rock Canyon

2008-11-22T18:00:00.003-05:00

Where next?

Go back to Information from a sign, or jump forward to Brrr! A contrast in temperatures.

Information from a sign

2008-11-22T17:55:00.001-05:00

I think you might be interested in some information we read on a sign in the park. It's about the formation of this beautiful area. Denise & I are always fascinated by this type of information, so I thought I'd take a few minutes to copy the words on one of the signs as the first stopping point within the park.

A LAND OF GREAT DUNES
Red Rock 180 million years ago
If you could travel back in time, about 180 million years, you would find yourself standing in a vast field of towering red sand dunes that stretched across much of the Southwest. This immense dune field was one of the largest that has ever existed on earth. The region was very arid and looked similar to the dune fields of the modern-day Sahara Desert in Africa.

Over time, underground water moving through the dunes carried away much of the red colr and left behine calcium carbonate. This process cemented the sand into rock.

This rock forms the color sandstone cliffs and hills of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

ANCIENT DUNES

Look across to the giant sandstone hills before you and notice the sweeping curves in the stone. These layers, known as cross beds, were developed while the sand dunes were still active.

As the wind blew, the dunes migrated, and their sand formed inclined layers. The tops of old dunes were reformed and new ones were built, leaving a record of cross-cutting curves in distinct multiple layers.

CREATION OF CROSS BEDS

Sand grains are transported by winds up the windward slope of a dune, and they slide down the steeper leeward side, depositing sand in distinct layers or beds. This transportation and deposition results in a slow forward migration (movement) of the sand dunes.

FROM CROSS-BEDDED DUNES TO STACKS OF STONE

In a vast field of sand dunes, the migration of a dune partially erodes the dune in front of it. As this occurs, sand is deposited in curving layers and the dune "climbs the back" of the dune in front of it.

This new series of curving layers is oriented at angles to those in the remnants of the dune below it and are known as cross beds. The continued forward climbing movement of dune after dune resulted in the stacking of layer upon layer of cross-bedded sands.

Underground water moving through these deep piles of sand left behind calcium carbonate that cemented the sand grains together and turned the sand to stone.

Information courtesy of
U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management
Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

Where next?

Go back to Fleeting glimpses of Red Rock Canyon, or jump forward to Photos: Red Rock Canyon.

Fleeting glimpses... of Red Rock Canyon

2008-11-22T17:24:00.003-05:00

It was another early morning today - not because we were going somewhere to watch the sun leap into the sky, but because we only had a short amount of time to play before heading to the airport.

Up, moving... breakfast at 6, getting all of our travel pieces together, and we were off by 7. Funny, the directions to Red Rock Canyon said it would take 45 minutes to get there. I think it took about 20, but I suppose the longer time might be needed during the week. The roads were quiet today and we were at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area quickly, ready to roam.
If you're following us to this park, it does have a very reasonable entrance fee of $5. If you happen to have a National Parks Pass, don't forget to bring it with you - because entry to National Conservation areas like Red Rock Canyon is included with that pass. Denise always brings her parks pass with her - she needed it this trip since we were wandering in Death Valley - so we were all set.
And uh oh! Denise really liked it there. I have a funny feeling that we will be coming back here in the not too distant future (as in when Denise feels like she needs to escape for a couple of days) to spend a few days hiking at Red Rock Canyon. A couple of hours of wandering just wasn't enough.

There is a 13-mile Scenic Drive that allowed us to get a sense of the beauty in this park just west of Las Vegas. With all the glitter of the strip, it's easy to remember that natural beauty is very reachable here. We drove, and we stopped. We walked a bit, and Denise played with her camera. The Scenic Drive circles a big open area, but around the outside edges are mountains and stone formations, and lots of trails for bouncing. It's a one-way road, one that is wider than a lane, but it's driven as a one-lane road. There were lots of cyclists looping the hilly road, and there were runners out too. And we saw some folks heading out with climbing gear. It would be fun to follow them to their chosen cliffs and watch for a bit. I might try climbing, but I know that Denise won't. She doesn't like when she looks down and realizes that there is nothing under her feet.

What did we see? We saw mountains and cliffs off in the distance, and we stood right next to rounded rock hills flaunting bright colors, reds and oranges and yellows (once again!) with some bright white too. The sky above those colored rocks was a brilliant blue. It's funny, the sky over those distant mountains was hazy, but I bet if I stood right at the foot of those contours and looked up, I think I would see bright blue there too. I'll have to check that out the next time we are here. And yes - I can read Denise's mind. There will be a next time!

Where next?

Go back to Photos: 20 Mule Team Canyon again, or jump forward to Information from a sign.

Photos: Twenty Mule Team Canyon in afternoon light

2008-11-21T17:55:00.002-05:00

Where next?

Go back to Photos: Gower Gulch to Golden Canyon, or jump forward to Fleeting glimpses of Red Rock Canyon.

Photos: From Golden Canyon to Gower Gulch

2008-11-21T17:50:00.003-05:00

Where next?

Go back to Photos: Desolation Canyon, or jump forward to Photos: 20 Mule Team Canyon in afternoon light.

Photos: Desolation Canyon

2008-11-21T17:45:00.002-05:00

Where next?

Go back to Photos: Mustard Canyon, or jump forward to Photos: Gower Gulch to Golden Canyon.

Photos: Mustard Canyon

2008-11-21T17:40:00.002-05:00

Where next?

Go back to Photos: 20 Mule Team Canyon, or jump forward to Photos: Desolation Canyon.

Photos: Twenty Mule Team Canyon

2008-11-21T17:35:00.003-05:00

Where next?

Go back to Photos: Zabriskie Point sunrise, or jump forward to Photos: Mustard Canyon.

Photos: Zabriskie Point sunrise

2008-11-21T17:30:00.002-05:00

Where next?

Go back to Circling twice, or jump forward to Photos: 20 Mule Team Canyon.

Circling twice

2008-11-21T17:19:00.001-05:00

Today's adventures started under a dark sky once again. Zabriskie Point was much closer than yesterday's early morning destination, a bit more than five minutes in the car. The sky was starting to get lighter as Denise picked a spot for her camera and tripod. She was chatting with a photographer who she met last night when someone else came up to say hello. Who? It was one of the men from the photography seminar she took back in September in the Lake District in England. That was fun!

As the sun rose higher in the sky, it painted the rock formations in bright light. It was fun watching the changes. I watched with Denise, but sometimes I turned around to look at the sky to the east, to watch the sun edging higher, changing the depth of color in the sky.

After the rocks at Zabriskie Point were bathed in light, we headed up the road just a little bit to wander the loop called Twenty Mule Team Canyon. Last night we learned how this beautiful loop earned it's name. The borax from Harmony Borax Works was hauled in wagon trains of 2 borax 'cars' plus a water carrier (to haul water for the mules), and those trains were pulled by twenty mules. Funny, I never questioned the name of this loop before.

The colors and shapes of the rocks in this loop are outstanding. Just to tell you how outstanding they are... Denise insisted on visiting this loop twice today, once just after sunrise, and once in the afternoon. We both preferred the morning colors.

It was a day of doing things twice. Remember yesterday when I said that we should have walked the Mustard Canyon loop? This morning, we did just that! We wandered off the trail too... before the trail dives into the canyon, is runs along flat land covered with tufted remnants of grasses, covered the salt. There are areas where water has clearly run, areas of salf flats. Oh! walking on those surfaces was crunchy! And then, we slipped between the rock walls, walking, standing, looking, listening. As we were standing we could hear cracking sounds. I think the rocks were talking to us!

Then I thought we were going to traipse up Desolation Canyon. Denise surprised me when she pulled into the parking lot for Golden Canyon, not Desolation Canyon. Instead of bouncing up Golden Canyon (we did walk there earlier in the week), we walked up the valley, along the edge of the rocks. Should I call them rocks? Denise just loves the look of these rocks, and whenever she drove by them she wanted to get closer. So we did! We saw rounded edges, patterns in rock, colors, fascinating colors, reds and yellows and oranges, white, and patches of pink and green. We walked as far as Gower Gulch, then we bounced back again. (Oh, you're right - Denise doesn't really bounce. But I do!) We stopped to wander up some of the narrow gaps in the rocks. I still find it interesting that the rock structures look different when you turn around and look at them from another direction. So even though this was an out-and-back walk, the bounce back was still interesting.

A second trip around Twenty Mule Team Canyon was our goodbye to Death Valley for this trip. I'm sure we'll be back someday.

It was time to drive... back to Las Vegas. Denise & I settled in for a quiet evening after finding a Whole Foods market. She's been going through fresh fruit & veggie withdrawal. She told me that a banana a day wasn't enough... We shared a good dinner tonight - fresh pizza, with tomatoes and pesto, broccoli on the side, and a bowl of fruit for desert - late season berries, melon, and pineapple. Denise was happy, and I was too.

Tomorrow? We plan to do a bit of morning wandering, and then we'll be taking to the air. Time to head home....

Where next?

Go back to Photos: Zabriskie Point sunset, or jump forward to Photos: Zabriskie Point sunrise.

Photos: Zabriskie Point sunset

2008-11-20T17:40:00.001-05:00

Where next?

Go back to Photos: Solar array, or jump forward to Circling twice.

Photos: Solar array

2008-11-20T17:35:00.002-05:00

Denise was fascinated to see that Xanterra (the company that owns the Furnace Creek Ranch were we stayed) had recently completed the installation of a large solar array. Death Valley, a place of sunshine, a place of little rain...

And the ranch very nicely moved more than 144 date palm trees to make room for the array.

In case you're interested in reading a little about the solar array at Furnace Creek, here are links to a couple of press releases:
Xanterra harnesses Death Valley Sun
New Solar Power System Puts This Park in the Forefront of Alternative Energy Use

Where next?

Go back to Photos: Rhyolite, Nevada, or jump forward to Photos: Zabriskie Point sunset.

Photos: Rhyolite, Nevada

2008-11-20T17:30:00.001-05:00

Where next?

Go back to Photos: Salt Creek, or jump forward to Photos: Solar array.

Photos: Salt Creek

2008-11-20T17:25:00.001-05:00

Where next?

Go back to Photos: Mosaic Canyon, or jump forward to Photos: Rhyolite, Nevada.

Photos: Mosaic Canyon

2008-11-20T17:20:00.001-05:00

Where next?

Go back to Photos: Sand Dunes sunrise, or jump forward to Photos: Salt Creek.

Photos: Sand Dunes sunrise

2008-11-20T17:15:00.002-05:00

Where next?

Go back to From sand to carved rock... and on to a ghost town, or jump forward to Photos: Mosaic Canyon.

From sand to carved rock... and on to a ghost town!

2008-11-20T17:09:00.004-05:00

Hey, guess what! Denise didn't turn off her alarm yesterday morning - it didn't ring. She figured out the problem last night when she went to set our early early alarm so we could watch the sunrise this morning. When she adjusted the time Tuesday night, she didn't roll around the clock to the morning. So even though the alarm was set for the morning, the clock was on the wrong side of the day. I was right though; that extra hour of sleep yesterday was good for her.

On to today's adventures...

This time the alarm woke Denise, and I was ready with some bounces in case she didn't start moving quickly. We rolled out at 5:30 AM. It was still dark, but as we drove to the north I could start seeing the sky get lighter. When we arrived at the Sand Dunes, there was enough light to walk out onto the dunes without tripping over our own feet. We looked at the mountains hovering over our parking spot to give ourselves a clue for finding the car after we were done wandering, and then we started walking across the sand. Up, down, up again. Walking, a little further, a look around, walk some more... Ah, this seems like a good spot. Denise set up her tripod, and we waited a little longer. Oh! the sun paints pretty pictures in the morning, doesn't it?

The sky kept changing, colors appearing, then fading. After the sun was really up, we started walking further out on the dunes. We climbed up, we walked along the top ridge of some of the dunes, we looked for foot-print free sections, sand in wavy patterns courtesy of the wind on some day in the past. We saw some footprints, tracks of a beetle, tracks of a kangaroo rat. I would have preferred to have seen the little creatures, but we had to be happy to see footprints today.

As we were wandering, Denise looked up and saw two airplanes. One of the planes was shaped like a big black wing. Now that was a sight. I think it must have been one of those stealth fighters. At first we both thought we were seeing things, but the planes came around a second time. Very interesting.

And then... we meandered back to the car, ready for a warm drink before our next adventure. The general store in Stovepipe Wells was on the way to Mosaic Canyon, our next tramping spot. Ah, something hot to drink. That was good.

The first half-mile of the Mosaic Canyon trail is the most interesting part. The narrow trail winds through curving rocks, polished marble walls. Smooth walls, swirls of color, slickrock, places that needed a little scrambling. Denise was trying to be careful because she had her camera slung around her neck. I told her she might want to hide it in her pack for the slippery parts, but she didn't listen. She did slide down two sections on her butt - and the rock was so smooth she said it worked just like a slide. After she did that, I had to try it too!

Ah, two different hikes, and it's still morning!

And then... Denise surprised me by wandering out of the park. She decded that she wanted to see Rhyolite, a ghost town just over the state border in Nevada. We drove there, but left the car and wandered by foot once we arrived. There were pieces of old buildings, some single walls only, some intact structures - included a bottle house. You couldn't go in to the bottle house - remember Denise went through a couple of bottle houses on her trip to Prince Edward island a few years back. It's a shame that we couldn't wander into this one. The BLM employee who was working there today said they just replaced the roof on that building, using the same materials that were used years ago to build it.
To satisfy your curiosity about Rhyolite, here's a link to a wikipedia article about Rhyolite, Nevada.
We walked through the remains of the town, and then we walked to what I guess could be called a sculpture garden. There were several pieces of art there that were just amazing... a sculpture of a ghost holding a bicycle, more ghosts lined up on a stage, a sofa made out of pieces of glass, kind of a three-dimensional mosaic sculpture.
I hope that some of Denise's photos of these unusual sculptures are "keepers", but if you'd like to see the sculptures now, check out the goldwell open air museum site.
It was a bit of a drive to get to Rhyolite, but the scenery made it a very good stop for us. We climbed over the Amargosa mountain range as we drove to the northeast. A cyclist was flying out of the mountains as we were slowly climbing the grade to the top. He must have had quite a ride - and a good reward, since he had to have climbed the other side. The mountains were beautiful, but our pictures of those mountains are only in our minds. Denise didn't like the looks of the side of the road; she was worried if she pulled off to play with her camera that she might get stuck. Mind pictures can be good, right?

We looped through Mustard Canyon on our way back to Furnace Creek. That's a rather rough one-way loop road, unfortunately one without too many spots to allow us to park where someone else could still drive by. I think that should have been a walking trail and not a road. Maybe we'll wander back there tomorrow (by foot). But maybe not, because I think Denise already has too many places on her mind for tomorrow's wanderings.

Back at the hotel... you'd think it was time to rest for a bit, but not quite. Last night at the ranger program someone asked about the solar array at Furnace Creek Ranch. We found out that Xanterra - the owner of the hotel - started operating the solar array this year. It's quite large, and unusual in that the solar panels move depending on the position of the sun. Oh, and they moved some palm trees to make room for the solar array (which is supposed to be one of the largest privately owned solar arrays in the world). Denise decided she needed to see it, so we wandered over there after we were done walking. There was an observation point, but you really couldn't see much from there, so Denise decided we should go closer. It looked like there was a fence around the array - but you know what? The gate was open, so we walked right in. Wow. That was amazing!

Then it was time for a quick dip in that nice warm pool. Ah, that felt good.

it was still light out, but edging towards sunset. You'd think that Denise would be satisfied with sitting still for a bit. But instead... we drove up to Zabriskie Point to watch the sun set. I think we're going back in the morning for the sunrise too. At least it's close to here - I think it's about six miles instead of the twenty-three we needed to drive this morning.

Where next?

Go back to Photos: Golden Canyon, or jump forward to Photos: Sand Dunes sunrise.

Photos: Golden Canyon

2008-11-19T17:15:00.002-05:00

Where next?

Go back to Photos: Artist's Drive,
or jump forward to From sand to carved rock... and on to a ghost town
.

Photos: Artist's Drive

2008-11-19T17:10:00.002-05:00

Where next?

Go back to Photos: Devil's Golfcourse, or jump forward to Photos: Golden Canyon.

Photos: Devil's Golf Course

2008-11-19T17:05:00.002-05:00

Oh, look! The National Park Service has posted some signs right at the edge of the Devil's Golf Course that talk a little bit about the land formation. Do you think they would mind if I copied the information (here)? I think it will be OK, don't you?

Here is is...

Crystallized salts compose the jagged formations of this forbidding landscape. Deposited by ancient salt lakes and shaped by winds and rain, the crystals are forever changing.

Listen carefully. On a warm day you may hear a metallic cracking sound as the salt pinnacles expand and contract.
The Death Valley saltpan is one of the largest protexted saltpans in North America. Salt continues to be deposited by recurring floods that occasionally submerge the lowest parts of the valley floor.

Delicate salt formations are hidden among the harsh and rigid spires. Close inspection may reveal the tiny salt structures. Take care - one curious touch can cause them to crumble.

Be careful! Walking on the Devil's Golf Course is very difficult. A fall could result in painful cuts or even broken bones.
Information courtesy of the National Park Service, Death Valley National Park

Crystallized salts compose the jagged formations of this forbidding landscape. Deposited by ancient salt lakes and shaped by winds and rain, the crystals are forever changing. Listen carefully. On a warm day you may hear a metallic cracking sound as the salt pinnacles expand and contract.	The Death Valley saltpan is one of the largest protexted saltpans in North America. Salt continues to be deposited by recurring floods that occasionally submerge the lowest parts of the valley floor. Delicate salt formations are hidden among the harsh and rigid spires. Close inspection may reveal the tiny salt structures. Take care - one curious touch can cause them to crumble. Be careful! Walking on the Devil's Golf Course is very difficult. A fall could result in painful cuts or even broken bones.
Information courtesy of the National Park Service, Death Valley National Park

Where next?

Go back to Photos: Badwater, or jump forward to Photos: Artist's Drive.

Photos: Badwater

2008-11-19T17:00:00.005-05:00

Where next?

Go back to Amazing colors, or jump forward to Photos: Devil's Golfcourse.

Amazing colors

2008-11-19T16:57:00.001-05:00

Wow, Denise woke up really late today. Well, it was only an hour later than she intended to get up, but it really surprised me. We both needed the rest, and even with our later than usual start we were still off wandering by 9. Tomorrow will be earlier, since I know that Denise has it in her head that she wants to watch the sun rise over the mountains.

Back to today...

Badwater, the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level... There's just a little water there now (and usually), although I've heard that there can be water where the salt flats sit, after one of Death Valley's very infrequent rains. Oh! I'd like to see that.

No water today, just white salt flats. We walked there for a while. Denise walked, I bounced! And I rode in Denise's pack for a bit too. After all salt is drying and scratchy on my little red feet!

After Badwater, we made a quick stop at Devil's Golf Course. Denise spent some time there chatting with a couple from Australia (maybe? I still get confused by the accents of people who live in New Zealand and Australia). They kept crossing tracks all day today. It was kind of fun to compare notes each time we met them. And they were playing with cameras too.

I guess it's called Devil's Golf Course because it's not flat at all. Instead the ground is very uneven. In fact, there was a sign posted there warning people to walk carefully, saying that falling there on that crusty salty stuff would likely result in bad cuts. Denise touched the ground, and she said it was really really sharp. So we just walked there a little tiny bit.

We spent quite a bit of time on Artist's Drive. That's a one-lane one-way road that winds and rolls, reaching back to an area where it looks like the land was painted. Denise said the colors are caused by minerals. The land here is colored in many desert-y colors, shades of reds and oranges, and yellows. But along certain areas of Artist's Drive, there were pinks and greens and whites too. So beautful.

Then the Golden Canyon trail beckoned. We started up Golden Canyon, but we didn't reach the end of the trail because Denise insisted on wandering up some off-shoot canyons instead. Whenever her camera spotted something interesting, we just turned off into other canyons. I was getting a little worried for a while because I lost track of the turns we made. Luckily Denise knew how to reverse direction; we found our way out of there quite easily.

It was still light out when we got back to our room, and Denise decided a dip in the pool sounded good. Water temperature? 82 degrees! That made it nice and relaxing.

We just walked to the visitor center for the evening program. It's really really dark here; the sky is painted with twinkling stars. It's so different looking at the sky from a place with very little light pollution. Amazing.

I think we'll stop at the General Store on our way back to the room. They have soft ice cream there, and I think we both need a treat!

Tomorrow? I think we're going to try to get to the Sand Dunes to watch the sun rise. And then? More walking, and more camera play...

Where next?

Go back to Flying... driving, or jump forward to Photos: Badwater.

Flying... driving

2008-11-18T12:53:00.003-05:00

Airplanes are good things. They enable us to escape to places far away in much less time than ground transportation would take. It would take Denise months to ride from home to California, and it would probably take her days to drive it. I'd be happy to help with the driving, but my little red feet can't reach the pedals at the same time that I am looking down the road. So Denise would have to do all of the driving.

So we're flying. Our big plane is flying too high to see any interesting scenery, so I figured that it was a good time to play with words. Denise is relaxing and reading a book. I think she should take a nap, but I'll be surprised if she does.

The jet stream is our friend today. Our flight is scheduled for just over five hours, but shortly after we took off we were told that we should be landing an hour ahead of schedule. I thought that only happened heading to the east over North America, but someone asked the flight attendant and he provided a piece of the puzzle. The jet steam over North America blows from west to east. I thnk that's why sometimes our big airplanes are early when we're heading home from the west coast. The airlines assume that we'll be flying into the wind, and that wind will slow us down. Today? We're lucky; the jet stream is blowing across the southern part of the country, and we're flying to the north. No jet stream to fight means we can fly faster. Oh! I hope that the pilot was correct and that we really do land early.

Look! We're flying over the Rockies, and there's snow on top of the mountains. How beautiful!

On the ground, warm sunshine disappeared quickly. As we drove to the north, the fading light outlined the mountains to the west. And then... full dark. Driving, driving, and finally! We found our home for the next few nights. It's time to sleep, time to dream of tomorrow's wanders.

Where next?

Go back to Rover rambles, or jump forward to Amazing colors.

Rover rambles before the trip

2008-11-17T11:44:00.008-05:00

Let's see, I think there are a few things I want to tell you before we leave... and we're leaving tomorrow. I'm ready!

We're going to have 3 full days at Death Valley. That seems more like a long weekend trip, but for some reason Denise decided to make it a middle-of-the-week trip.

Tomorrow is a 4-state day. From our corner of Massachusetts, it's a reasonable drive into New Hampshire to one of those airport places, the place from which the big bird we'll be riding across the country will take off. We're heading west, not to the other coast, but almost. We land in Las Vegas, then hop in a car to drive the rest of the way. Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Nevada, California. Do you think we can count the states that we'll be flying over too? Oh, I didn't think so either, but I thought I'd ask.

We'll be sleeping in the park for three nights, then sleeping in Las Vegas on Friday night. That's really not my favorite place to stay, but wow - there are some beautiful parks a relatively short drive from there. And Denise found a park just outside of Las Vegas that she wants to visit - Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. That's going to be our Saturday morning wander before we have to jump into one of those big birds to fly back to the east coast.

I'm going to be playing with words every day; after all if I don't capture the memories right away they might disappear.

Denise doesn't think we'll have Internet access though, so it's possible you'll have to wait until late in the week for our updates. Check in every so often though; I just wandered on the web and I found a page maintained by someone in Ridgecrest, California, a place that is supposed to be two valleys to the west of Death Valley. And that site says that we might be able to get access if we sit outside of the registration area at Furnace Creek Ranch. Or maybe in the visitor center. I found another site that said the same thing, so maybe... I think I'll tell Denise to take our baby computer with us when we go to the visitor center in the evening. There are usually programs there, and last year they were well worth attending.

I just checked the weather... the forecast is for sunshine and warmth, in the high 80s tomorrow and Wednesday, with slightly lower temperatures the next couple of days. From the 80s, the 50s at night.

And I reminded Denise to bring a bathing suit with her. I remember she enjoyed a little relaxing time there last year. From the Furnace Creek Ranch web site: "The pool is a spring-fed flow through pool with beautiful, clear blue water that enters the pool at a constant 84 degrees year round.". Wow. Doesn't that seem warm for a spring?

Tomorrow, we fly!

Where next?

Go back to Counting the days, or jump forward to Flying... driving

Counting the days on just one paw

2008-11-13T09:26:00.011-05:00

Would you believe that Denise was thinking that maybe we wouldn't have a journal for our trip next week? That's really not like her, is it? I convinced her that she would regret not having words to help remember the days, and I really like to play with words. Denise is going to concentrate on finding interesting places to walk, on playing with her camera, and I'm going to focus on creating pictures with words.

You haven't followed Denise's travels before? Then I guess I'd better introduce myself. My name is Rover, and I'm a bouncing red dog. I've been traveling with Denise since she started rolling her bike across the country back in 2002.

I really liked Death Valley when we visited last year. Oh, it's so beautiful there.

I wonder if I can convince Denise to wander in some different places. I know she wants to wander up Mosaic Canyon again, and I suspect she is thinking of another sunrise visit to the sand dunes. I really want to bounce across the white salt flats at Badwater; we didn't spend enough time there last year. I hope we find some new places to wander too, although Denise always tells me that seeing the same places a second time can be even more interesting that the first time. The light is different, or something catches her eye that she didn't see before.

It's going to be a fleetng trip, one with days that will probably pass much too quickly. I'm so looking forward to wandering in the desert once more.

Where next?
Go back to the introduction or jump forward to Rover rambles.

A return to death

Introduction

Table of Contents

Memories in patterned words

Captured by... camera-happy Denise!

Brrr! A contrast in temperatures

Photos: Red Rock Canyon

Information from a sign

Fleeting glimpses... of Red Rock Canyon

Photos: Twenty Mule Team Canyon in afternoon light

Photos: From Golden Canyon to Gower Gulch

Photos: Desolation Canyon

Photos: Mustard Canyon

Photos: Twenty Mule Team Canyon

Photos: Zabriskie Point sunrise

Circling twice

Photos: Zabriskie Point sunset

Photos: Solar array

Photos: Rhyolite, Nevada

Photos: Salt Creek

Photos: Mosaic Canyon

Photos: Sand Dunes sunrise

From sand to carved rock... and on to a ghost town!

Photos: Golden Canyon

Photos: Artist's Drive

Photos: Devil's Golf Course

Photos: Badwater

Amazing colors

Flying... driving

Rover rambles before the trip

Counting the days on just one paw