March 30-31, 2015 Bowie, Texas to Raton, New Mexico

Another 500 mile day. We made it to Bowie, Texas.

Welcome to Texas. We have been staying in Best westerns. Tonight we have a suite. Not bad.

Even has a jacuzzi tub, nice! Downtown Bowie, Texas.

My sweet boy at the Sweet Boy Diner in Bowie. 500 more miles today. We saw signs for this Big Texan Brewery and free 72 oz steak for miles, like the wall drug signs. John says you have to eat the whole steak for it to be free. We are now in Amarillo and  on the old route 66.

 

Cadillac Ranch is one of the old Route 66 attractions. Ten  1949-1963 Cadillac's, complete with tail fins planted nose down in the dirt.  You are encouraged to spray paint on it. It is a very popular site for people who travel the mother road. I took a photo of the couple who sprayed the green A + V 2015 in the heart and they took my photo.

 

The paint is dripping down the caddy’s. They have been in the ground longer than they were on the road. At the turn off to Cadillac Ranch is the Cadillac Ranch RV park, you can stop and buy souvenirs. 

 

Welcome to New Mexico. It felt much better to be in New Mexico, higher altitude, nicer grass, nicer road. Perhaps it was just being out of Texas, or maybe being closer to home. A wall mural in Clayton, NM, the first town we came through.

  

I took this with the dramatic filter on my new camera of Capulin volcano national monument. We stopped. It has a road that spirals around it to the top  and the caldera.  We came over a rise and saw our first view of the mountains. I guess it is not spring up there yet. Closer to home. We are staying in Raton and will head all the way home tomorrow.

The insurance company has officially totaled the RV. They will come up with an offer in a couple days. John is prepared to negotiate, even hire a lawyer if need be.

March 29, 2015 Florida to Louisiana

Another 500 mile day. Scenes from the highway.

We started in Tallassee, Florida and ended up in Lafayette, Louisiana. In Pensacola we passed the Blue Angels base.

  

Downtown Mobile, Alabama. Just inside Mississippi at the rest stop this sign was in the bathroom.

 

In front of the rest stop were these chainsaw sculpted trees. After Katrina an artist sculpted  numerous dead trees into art. You know we are in Louisiana when you see the crawfish! Yum.

 

We never traveled on the interstates in the motor home, you miss too much. This is the view. Trees, even thru the big cities. You can travel faster, but you sure miss a lot. The Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, La.

 

A break in trees outside of  Baton Rouge, green grass, yellow flowers, blue skies and puffy clouds. I won $100 at the slots in the airport in Las Vegas, tonight I took John out to dinner. We wanted Cajun crawfish, but most of the restaurants seemed to be closed on  Sunday. We found the Bon Temps Grill by accident, and it was wonderful.

 

The food was wonderful, fabulous Cajun. Tomorrow another 500 mile day toward home.

March 27, 2015 Death Valley, California

Our last morning in Death Valley we got up before dawn and hiked Desolation Canyon. You have to get an early start to beat the heat later in the day.

Desolation canyon. Jessica climbing up a dry fall, John and Judy below.

 

First light at the end of the canyon. Looking back at Desolation canyon into Death Valley.

 

Jessica, Judy and Gabriela overlooking from the top. You can see the very edge of Artist Palette from here. On the way back we have John doing the two step to come down a dry fall, then climbing back up to get Judy’s pack, and Judy preparing to come down.

Jessica and John on the way  back down  the canyon. This canyon has every color in the walls. One of my favorites. Here I am at the visitors center viewing the most photographed thing at the visitors center, sheep behinds.

  

Me again with the thermometer outside the visitors center. This may actually be the most photographed thing, but who knows.  It is a hot one today. It was 101 yesterday. We say good bye to the lovely pool at Furnace Creek Inn.

 

We drove out the south end of the valley so Gabriela could see it. Artist Palette from the view point. The salt formations Devil’s golf course. The mid day light washed out all the color, but they are still pretty cool. Well not cool, it is close to 100 degrees. Too hot for me.

 

We stopped at Badwater, the lowest place in North and South America. 282 feet below sea level. We found out this is the lowest pit toilet in North America and needed a photo of it. Jill and Jessica posing. The other photo is the back of the lowest pit toilet, the red arrow is pointing to the sign on the canyon wall that marks sea level 282 feet above us. Bad water is bad because the saline content is so high that drinking it just dehydrates you more.

The desert gold blooming at the ruins of Ashford Mill. While I was out photographing I turn around and see that everyone else is seated in the only shade-the informational sign,  waiting for me.  Gabriela, John, Judy, Jill and Jessica.

  

Pink flowers, a huge 3 inch beetle eating a desert gold, a desert dandelion, and a sand verbena. Near the top of Salsbury Pass there are fields of desert dandelions.

A couple of Death Valley’s textures, cracked mud and salt formations at Badwater.  The girls dropped us off at the airport in Las Vegas, we caught the Red Eye flight at 1030 pm, it was a 4 hour flight and we arrived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 6 am. We got very little sleep. My body can’t keep up with these time changes. It was freezing when we arrived in Fort Lauderdale, in the 60’s, cloudy, just finished raining and windy. Brrrr. Tonight will be 41 and the high will be the low in Death Valley tonight. On the Death Valley Morning report they said that Thursday the high was 101!! It was too hot for me. We had a fabulous visit with family and friends. They and the desert really helped us heal from all the trauma of the accident.

We picked up the car in Fort Lauderdale and drove 500 miles to Tallahassee. We just want to get home. They are saying the bus is totaled, they are still tallying up the damage, we are tired of hotels and restaurants. I saw this sign at a rest stop on the way to Tallahassee, in the dog walking area. . .

March 26, 2015 Furnace Creek Inn, Death Valley, California

Judy and Gabriella left at 5 am to see the sunrise on the sand dunes. John and Laurie got up later and went to breakfast at the ranch. I slept in and then hiked around the Inn.

I climbed to the observatory above the Inn. The trail, observatory and looking back at the ranch. You can see how much of an oasis the Inn is.

 

A panarama from the top, the trail down to the Inn and to the right is the ranch down below. Also the shadow of the observatory. I hiked down the other side and saw these desert golds blooming up a gully.

The monument to the Chinese workers in Death Valley, they were hired by the Borax company to collect the borax from the valley floor. Telescope peak is behind the monument, it is 11,000 feet tall and still has snow on it. At the foot of Telescope is Bad Water, it is 282 feet below sea level.  The Inn from below with desert gold blooming.

 

The old date orchard at the ranch. They no longer harvest the dates, the trees are too old to produce many. At the ranch is the Furnace Creek golf course, 214 feet below sea level. It is the Lowest golf course on earth.

 

Death Valley is the hottest, driest and lowest place. The record high was 134 degrees, it gets less than 2 inches of rain a year and it is the lowest place in North America at 282 feet below sea level. We learned last night that these sheep behinds are the most photographed thing in the visitors center. Also at Bad water is the lowest pit toilet in the world. . .

 

Wagons at the ranch. Way behind them behind the palm trees is the solar array for Furnace Creek. They are trying to be green here. Some desert gold, a raven in desert gold, a coyote skeleton by a water hole and tiny wooly daisies.

John and Laurie had a before happy hour cocktail at the bar. The ladies, Judy, Jill and Gabriela and I had a nice relaxing time in the garden.

This road runner trotted by us in the garden. Last light on the Funeral mountains behind the Inn tonight.

   

We were a bit fuzzy for happy hour. Laurie, Sue, Gabriella, Judy, Jill and John.

  

We reenacted some photos of us 22 years ago of us here. The first photo is Sue, Jill, Judy and Laurie, the second one is Judy, Jill and Sue. I think we look the same. . .