ST. TRAVELS

At 120 feet below sea level, amazingly, we are still able to breathe. Furnace Creek in Death Valley boasts to be not only the lowest elevation in North America, but also the hottest reliably recorded air temperature on Earth at 134 degrees F, and the highest recorded ground surface temperature on Earth at 201 in 1972.  

We are on this car trip with our dear friends, Mike and Joanie Kernaghan, to see seven National Parks, three of which are new to Larsons, toward our goal of seeing all 59, and five are new to the Kernaghans. 

It was a comfortable 90 degrees for us, but Sue and I both visited Death Valley in our youth, and it was the wind that dominated our memories. Well… it’s still windy! The gusts today peaked at 55 mph accordings to Accuweather and the Park Rangers.  A palm tree was blown over here today, and the sand in the air even blocked our view of the mountains by mid-morning.  

Sue and I started early.  We got up at 5 am today to see Zabriskie Point before sunset.  We stayed, along with 6 other photographers, until the sunlight spilled onto the point of the white rock in the middle of all the washed out stone. Then we alone drove to ‘Artist’s Palette’ overlook to see the sun rise over the mountains a second time. Our son Chris recommended both these activities to us, and it was really worth it. Here’s an earlier pic of Zabriskie Point (named to honor the president of the 20 Mule Team Borax Company) after the sunlight first touched that far western range.   

Dinner was at the Oasis Inn, the upscale hotel up the hill, above sea level. It was fabulous… from the Prickly Pear Margarita to the exceptional food delivered by charming Gary, our waiter.  

We’ve enjoyed the day here.  On Tuesday we drive to Zion. 

Edited with BlogPad Pro