116 degrees farenheit that is. The temperature in Death Valley on Saturday as recorded by the thermometer on our rental car.
We were in Death Valley as part of a weekend vacation organized by Faith's dad, bringing together he, Anne (his wife), Star, Faith and myself. We all met and spent Thursday and Friday in Las Vegas, Saturday and Sunday in Death Valley, and back to Las Vegas for Monday before flying home.
Las Vegas is not my sort of place. Ridiculous excess and waste are its hallmarks, although I think if you looked deep enough you can find a strong record on environmentally responsive public transport and probably a good record on water conservation, though this last would need to be taken in context given the extensive use of fountains, etc in a arid desert environment.
Death Valley is a very cool place, not literally, since it was 116 degrees there. The lowest spot in the western hemisphere at Badwater, some 282 feet below sea level and still sinking, among other attractions make it a very visitable location. We hiked in Mosiac Canyon (in the heat), drove through Titus Canyon (a one way gravel road up and over Red Pass and through the actual canyon, seeing abundant wildflowers and passing a ghost town), and took a dip in a spring fed pool. I wouldn't recommend going in summer, but it would definitely be a great trip in winter. By the way - Death Valley National Park (converted from National Monument by Clinton in 1994) is the largest national park in the contiguous 48, 330 million acres, and twice the size of Delaware. Who knew?
Seeing the desrt landscape in person has definitely heighterned my interest in the Escalante trip, and Faith and I are considering a Thanksgiving trip to the area to see the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and the like, since we didn't have time for any of that. Not likely to do serious camping, though maybe some car camping.
For what it's worth, a trip to Las Vegas would be incomplete without doing some gambling, and while I didn't have the guts to play a real game, Faith's dad and I won $125 playing video poker on Friday. I ended well ahead at the end of the weekend. Pretty fun, though I wouldn't want to spend more than a day or two there.
31 comments:
Wow-it wasn't a central location for everyone, was it? Why did you all decide to meet there-were the airfares lower than to anywhere else?
Many people in Death Valley? Glad you had a chance to take that all in. Most of the western states are the antithesis of Kansas, at least in amount of public land (though I don't know how the land works with respect to private land ownership). Definitely did not know that Death Valley was the largest National Park. I would have guessed Denali.
Star was coming from CA - she's working for Americorps in Monterey, but it was definitely balanced toward the west coast. Faith's dad had looked into TX, but I think airfare controlled.
Denali is the largest, as I said DV is the largest in the 48.
Not many people in DV at all, particularly in contrast to LV. There is only one place to stay within the valley, the other closes at Mother's Day.
I was really struck by the multiculturalism of both places - tons of Europeans, Asians, Australians in both places (relatively speaking anyway). A variety of accents abounded.
Any scenes play out like the "Casino Royale" episode of ST: TNG?
Nothing that glamorous. Casinos are becoming the last bastion of smokers, people that can sit all day mindlessly pulling the lever on a slot machine in between trips to the buffet.
God how my grandma loved em.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a place with more people with whom I have less in common.
Nevertheless, I had fun playing video poker, which at least takes a certain amount of thought, and is really the latest version of Intellivision poker, including a shifty looking dealer.
From the goofballs around Council Grove Lake to the culture of loud making themselves known in typical fashion in my neighborhood, to the consumption-minded folks where I work, sometimes I start to think my entire existence is simply moving from one crowd with whom I have little in common to another.
Crowds of my sort are smaller, and scattered.
Maybe more the reason to move to Zepher?
Interesting-as I was thinking that exact thing as I was typing.
My crowds:
- You guys.
- Some other friends around here.
- Zephyr folks.
- Anyone with whom I share a creative endeavor or other passion(music mates, theatre mates, some people when I was at the U, etc.)
- Anyone when Roy checks in.
Look deep into your hearts and ask yourselves,(Dan and Sharon), what does my heart say?
Wild that my original post turned into this.
What movie are you quoting Cory - I recognize the line but can't place it?
I am not trying to quote any movie. But I have to admit, it does sound like one. I am just trying to help Dan put things into perspective and to think clearly. He is doing that already, but I am just trying to support the process. The bear has strong shoulders and wants to help out his friend the panther.
Aragorn: What does your heart say?
Gandalf: That he is alive. Yes, Frodo is alive.
MY heart? Zephyr.
That's the shit. For some reason I had it in my head that a woman said it.
Doesn't Arwyn say it too?
Who would have thought that I would subconsciously be quoting or parphrasing TLOTRs? It ,however, was not my intention.
You have become a Ringswraith.
What?
Don't be coy.
I think Celine Dion also says it.
I don't know what you are talking about. What is a ringswaith? Oh, and by the way my name is spelled Cory and not coy. :)
I would never urge you not to be Cory, for it is Cory that I love.
Please tell me what a ringswaith is.
There are nine Ringwraiths in the Lord of the Rings. It is another name for Nazgul. Neither living, nor dead. Servants of the dark lord, Sauron.
Once upon a time, they were great Kings of Men. Long ago, however, Sauron tricked them into receiving rings of power as gifts. In their greed, they accepted the rings, which were in reality simply lesser rings that served The One Ring. They soon became slaves to his will and eventually to their current state.
So how did I become one of them Mixdorf? I was saying good things about my friend the panther. Am I trying to have him serve me and my power? If I didn't know better, you are getting close to the waters edge. One does not become a servent of evil by helping a friend with pure intentions.
Perhaps because you are quoting TLOR when you don't even realize it. You are a slave to the power of the movies.
Note how I wrote -
ring(s)wraith - parentheses added for effect
not
ringwraith
As Dan said - you've been enslaved by the power of the movies.
You're freaking out of your gord!
You sprout new buttons for me to push everyday, my friend. You look like the navigation console from the Enterprise.
I should be able to beam myself out of here then.
You have the power.
I think that we have set an all time blog record for comments on a blog. As the original post title states:
"Can't be more than 116" comments.
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