We went to Death Valley on sunday, spent the night there, and left on monday. Death Valley is fascinating, a very unique place. Not warm or welcoming, very desolute, majestic, and quiet! One comment Dan had was how far away you could see. We thought about our favorite Larry McMutry books, the "Lonesome Dove" series and the Berrybender books, how they all took place in the 19th century west, how the characters could always see others coming from miles away. We now see how that is possible.
It was very hot and very dry! 102 degrees, and this was at 7 P.M.! We did see some bloom, and some green, but not much. It's beauty is it's vastness and the way the shade and light play off the mountains, the sand dunes, the rocks. 
We stayed at a lodge on the grounds, but were limited to one area because of the dog. I did not really like the room, it was pretty plain and not very clean, but we were captive there. I think it was also sort of weird to stay there, it is so isolated! It was interesting. I kept wondering about the people who worked there, not the forest rangers, but the people in the restaurants, or the ones who run the two resorts there. I asked our waiter where he lived, and he said he lived in the trailer behind the restaurant, which is where many of them live. I thought i'd like to write a book about the people who do live here, what are their stories?
We stayed at a lodge on the grounds, but were limited to one area because of the dog. I did not really like the room, it was pretty plain and not very clean, but we were captive there. I think it was also sort of weird to stay there, it is so isolated! It was interesting. I kept wondering about the people who worked there, not the forest rangers, but the people in the restaurants, or the ones who run the two resorts there. I asked our waiter where he lived, and he said he lived in the trailer behind the restaurant, which is where many of them live. I thought i'd like to write a book about the people who do live here, what are their stories?There were startingly beautiful areas--the Artists Palette, the volcano, Zabrinski's Point, but also, lots and lots of desert! 
When we woke up on monday, our travel day, we made our way out of the park, viewing the sights along the way. We both felt the same way--"we gotta get outta the desert!" We felt like we were in a movie. What made it even more dramatic, was that the car kept overheating, so we had to pull over, put on the heater full blast, and wait for it to lower. There are tanks with water for car radiators all along the park, and we used a few of them. it felt, and ultimately was, foreboding.
When we woke up on monday, our travel day, we made our way out of the park, viewing the sights along the way. We both felt the same way--"we gotta get outta the desert!" We felt like we were in a movie. What made it even more dramatic, was that the car kept overheating, so we had to pull over, put on the heater full blast, and wait for it to lower. There are tanks with water for car radiators all along the park, and we used a few of them. it felt, and ultimately was, foreboding.We finally did get out of the park, and made our way for St. George, Utah, and more parks. well, after navigating out of Las Vegas, in AWFUL stop and go traffic, we filled up the car, changed drivers, and headed out. I was driving, and about 20 miles north of Las Vegas, the car literally broke down. I was able to manuever it over to the shoulder, though it was scary because there was no power--no gas pedal working, no brakes working. Yikes!
So-----we called AAA, waited 3 hours for them to come tow us, found a Comfort Inn in North Las Vegas near car dealerships and garages, and towed the car to the motel.
I wait as i write this for Dan to talk to the mechanic, see if the car can be fixed, what is wrong, how long it will take, etc. Do we scrape it? Do we fix it? Do we rent a car, buy a car, lease a car? We don't know. An interesting development . We think that Death Valley was the death of our car! Matt said we would not be the first for that to happen, thinks we are in a great location to get a good, used car, not to even bother fixing old blue! Melisa thinks that Gus should pull us out of here, ala Chevy Chase in "Vacation", Adam thinks we should hit the casinos to win a new car, and Jay thinks the good news is that we really don't have any schedule.
so, it's time for a few interactive activities, we hope you make your comments known.
First of all, we were below sea level in parts of Death Valley, so the obvious question Dan had was, does that mean that we can boil an egg faster?
Secondly, you can't help but think of all the pioneers and 49ers who crossed Death Valley, some of them not surviving. We wondered if it would have been better for them to battle the extreme heat, or would it have been better to deal with the extreme cold? Death Valley doesn't get deathly cold, but one of the things I read was that several groups of pioneers chose to cross over Death Valley because they had heard of the Donner Pass incident over the Sierras and wanted to avoid the cold. They didn't necessarily survive any better. So, your comments and thoughts--heat--little water, sweltering hot, incredible thirst, limited food supply. Cold--freezing temperatures, impassable trails, predators. What do you think? What would Larry McMurtry think?
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