Sept 24 2010-Beatty NV to Tulare CA via Death Valley NP

got out of Beatty pretty early Friday morning and first checked out Rhyolite ghost town 4 miles West of Beatty and on the way to our ultimate destination of Death Valley . Photos will follow once I am home will add them here. We both love ghost towns and old cemeteries so we have photos of both.

Then on to Death Valley. WOW beautiful drive. We drove out to Badwater Basin the lowest point in North America and the second lowest in the world ( only the Dead Sea is lower). Parked and walked out into it . We also checked out the Devil's Golf Course (more photos) and saw the neatest thing there like a spring coming up through the ground which is covered in salt of all kinds. Did the scenic Artist Drive through a canyon then drove on through into California on way to Tulare. Death Valley was incredibly miserably hot in the bottom of that valley, eyow doen't matter its a dry heat 110 is hot anywhere. Note to self my GOD gas is high in CA and it is SUPER HIGH in this national park over $4.30 a gallon thank God we didn't need to buy any for the Jeep Compass Archie has rented for this trip.

We drove across the Southern part of the Sierra Nevadas on way to Tulare. Talk about a spectacular drive. Lots of switchbacks though, high altitude driving but roads are all clear.

Today miracle of miracles the hotel reservation worked out , tomorrow we will drive over to Sequoia take a few photos then head to Lone Pine.

The Road to Mt. Whitney, Nashville to Vegas

First of all Happy Birthday to my son Mike! He is the big three OH today! Mommy loves you. I can tell you I feel much perkier today than I did 30 years ago today. He was 9 pounds 4 oz eeeyow!

Yesterday I was trying to get ready to get on a plane in Nashville at 6:30 PM to fly to Sin City on our way to Whitney. Everything conspired to slow me down. Then Archie who was going to work until 11 worked until after noon THEN went to his house had a Rx filled etc etc. I did manage to drop my house dog off at a friends and my house keys at the sitter. We did manage to get on the plane although in his hurry to get through he had left one of his knives ( a Swiss Army knife) in his carry on so were were stopped in the Nashville airport, briefly detained like the middle aged terrorists that we are and he had to surrender the knife as he did not wish to check that carry on.
Then after getting to Vegas and driving up to Beatty the hotel I had reservations at I couldn't get anyone to come to the door so at 1 am I am hotel shopping. Believe it or not the Motel 6 there which is the only major chain WAS SOLD OUT so we ended up at the Stagecoarch Hotel and Casino ( I refuse to let this steal my happy.)
I am out of the shower and shortly we will be on our way through Death valley NP. Photos probably after I get back as I don't know how to send then via cell phone and I don't have a universal reader on my laptop.

A few more Louisian photos

Cafe Du Monde (our Romanian waiter is in the photo behind Archie and me in the Cafe) his cousin and cousin's wife and the New Orleans Skyline at night, also a picture on the riverfront. Do not miss the Cafe, neither the coffee nor the beignets will disappoint you.

Garden District photos of New Orleans

Here are some photos from the Garden District and also a picture of the trolleycar we rode in.

Britton Hill, Florida High Point

Hard to imagine another one has come and will soon pass. Haven't been able to get to my blog for a bit. Work was really busy and this week on vacation I have very limited internet access ( it isn't in the condos we are in here actually). Ziggy is now over 50 points and has two placements ( a first and a second) towards his ASFA title. Hope he picks up some more this coming weekend in GA.

My hiking and climbing partner Archie and I have decided to see how many of the high points in the US we can make. Of course we did Clingman's dome. This week we did another of them Britton Hill in FL, photos here.It is a whopping 345 feet above sea level, and while it isn't a mountaineering expedition, it is one you have to go to if you want to start checking them off. We are going to drive to Lake Charles, LA tomorrow to visit Archie's daughter and his grandchildren and will hit LA's high spot Driskill Hill ( spot where Bonnie and Clyde were killed) on the way back to TN.

We went to New Orleans Tuesday and will put that in another blog entry with photos from there. It was great fun and just what I had hoped for.

My housesitter says I have 5 baby lambs, (there were 3 when I left). He said they are all up and playing.