Currently the Oasis at Death Valley, formerly known as the Inn at Furnace Creek. I'm not sure when the name changed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Sedenquist
Rick
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Currently the Oasis at Death Valley, formerly known as the Inn at Furnace Creek. I'm not sure when the name changed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Sedenquist
Rick
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Sedenquist
If I tell you, then it will pretty much spill the beans!
What I knew as the Furnace Creek Inn is now called Oasis at Death Valley. I think it was also called the Inn at Death Valley. I had to look up when the last name change was and it looks like 2017.
Furnace Creek Ranch is now the Ranch at Death Valley.
Our first time to Death Valley National Park we had not planned stopping here. We were booked for two night in the cabins inside Zion National Park. As we left Bryce and headed to Zion we had planned to visit Cedar Breaks first. As we left Bryce there were a few snow flakes as we headed up 14 towards Cedar Breaks it was a blizzard and we had to turn back for Hwy 89. It was so cold in Zion that we decided to leave a day early and booked a night at the the Furnace Creek Ranch. OH...did I mention it was Memorial Day weekend in May 1975. We were lucky it was only 80 which is cool for that time of the year in Death Valley!
There was a lot of construction going on when we were there in March. Looks like they were building bungalows near the Ranch
Utahtea
This next set is a place with a name. It's nowhere near as elegant as the Oasis at Death Valley, but with just a little advance planning, you CAN stay here:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_7572.jpg
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...SC_7600-HT.jpg
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...SC04523-DG.jpg
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...SC_7534-HT.jpg
Where am I?
I have one more picture that will pretty well nail it if y'all need another clue!
Rick
I found it. That "place" looks amazing but we've never been! We have been to the near by Rockhound "place".Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick Quinn
But since I googled it...I'll just give my clue.
Utahtea....I'm on a roll! ;)
Well, since nobody has come up with an actual place name yet, I'll toss out one more seriously convoluted clue to go along with Utahtea's "Roll":Quote:
Originally Posted by Utahtea
Does everybody remember the Jefferson Airplane? They were a reasonably famous San Francisco Rock and Roll band back in the late '60's, at the height of the hippie era. They never had a top 40 hit, and weren't making much money, so they reinvented themselves as the Jefferson Starship and put a different spin on their music. The final version of the group called themselves simply "Starship," and in the mid-'80's they put out a song that has been classified by many reviewers as the worst song in the entire history of rock and roll, a total sellout by this once innovative group, and a song which, as it turned out, was also the biggest hit that the group ever produced, in any of its incarnations.
I'n talking about this song:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...titled-1-3.jpg
If you remember the song well enough to remember the chorus, you'll have your clue!
For everybody else, here's another picture type clue:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC04539.jpg
Good luck finding this one on Google. The trick is in knowing what to call it!
Rick
Ha, ha...cute on the song!Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick Quinn
Everyone else, just let me know when you guys want me to put you out of your misery! LOL!
Utahtea
Ok...I'm spilling the beans because I'm ready to do a new "Where am I". This is City of Rocks State Park, New Mexico. Starship lyrics are to "We built this city" clue wasQuote:
Originally Posted by Rick Quinn
We built this city on rock and roll
It looks like a great place to camp so I'm going to keep it in mind for our next trip to New Mexico.
Utahtea...now to post my "Where am I" before someone beats me to it! ;)
So keeping on the theme of rocks....here's my entry. If the pictures aren't enough, I have clues I can give and a couple more picture that would probably give it away!
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ef63084e_c.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...957b5a54_c.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8083eacf_c.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3e7c0f52_c.jpg
Where am I?
Bonus points for the significance of the area.
Utahtea
Well, needless to say you're dead on the money, and yes, the City of Rocks has a very cool campground, run by the State of New Mexico, with campsites that back right up to these amazing rock formations. I really wanted to include the City of Rocks in my book. It's close to Silver City, and Scenic Side Trip #2, the route that starts in Las Cruces and takes you to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument? That Side Trip passes right through Silver City before ending in Lordsburg (back on I-10).Quote:
Originally Posted by Utahtea
The problem was, the route was already a full day of driving, and adding that State Park would have made it at least two hours longer. My solution (which I thought was pretty clever): City of Rocks was grafted to the route as part of an optional add-on, a loop out of Silver City that also includes the Chino Copper Mine; it's a perfect little "extra" at the end of the route for folks who elect to stay the night in Silver City (highly recommended), or (needless to say) for campers who'd like to bed down in the City of Rocks! I used that "optional add-on" gimmick on several of the routes in the book. It was a good way to include attractions that didn't quite fit my format, because (just as in this case) they added too much time to the route. Scenic Side Trips are pretty darned flexible, and that was my intention. I show you what's out there, a little something for just about everyone, and I show you the best way to connect the dots. The rest is up to you, because only thing carved in stone is--the City of Rocks! (Ha!)
Rick
This one picture looks really familiar; I know I've seen this formation somewhere!Quote:
Originally Posted by Utahtea
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8083eacf_c.jpg
But I, for one, will need at least one more clue to pin it down.
Rick
Topography looks like Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. But not positive.
Mark
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ef63084e_c.jpg
Actually, that one rock looks like the final campground of Gram Parsons (where he died) in Joshua Tree National Park. It seems like I've been here.. But I can't quite place it.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8083eacf_c.jpg
This photo looks similar to the rock outcropping known as "Loose Lady" in the park.
Mark
The area looks familiar for a reason which will become apparent when the name of location is revealed!
My clue to "Where I Am" is this picture and probably all that's needed. Name the mountains!
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3efe15b3_c.jpg
Here's another great shot. Can you name the arch?
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...14cc8d01_c.jpg
Utahtea
Another here that thought it looked familiar ! You are in the Alabama hills just west of Lone Pine and that is Mobius arch. The trail starts along Movie Flats road, named so as this location has been used in many movie scenes. We spent a great night here in an RV with amazing night skys. Oh yeah, that's the southern Sierras and Mt Whitney in the background.
Dave.
I haven't been there, but that thing is a Mobius Arch if ever I saw one!Quote:
Originally Posted by Southwest Dave
I love your pictures, Utahtea, so much that I took the liberty of waving my magic wand over this one:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...3efe15b3_c.jpg
I'll have to add this place to my list!
Rick
YES, Dave is the winner! So many westerns and other movies have been filmed in this location like Tremors...which we watched that evening in the RV. It turns out it was also filmed on the Highway we took before the turn off to Cerro Gordo! I had been wanting to visit for years but it just never fit an itinerary so last Feb. we made it part of the itinerary before we entered Death Valley! I don't have names for all the locations but I will name the ones I know below.Quote:
Originally Posted by Southwest Dave
This is one of the location where Bunga Din with Cary Grant was filmed in 1938! This is the temple site
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ef63084e_c.jpg
This is Heart Arch
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...957b5a54_c.jpg
LOL...we got turned around from our map and not sure where were were at this point!
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8083eacf_c.jpg
It's a bad angle but right in the center of this picture is the Eye of The Alabama Arch
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3e7c0f52_c.jpg
Lathe Arch - which is very deceiving because it's very small but makes a great frame of the Eastern Sierra mountains. Lone Pine peak is in this picture.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3efe15b3_c.jpg
Here is Lathe Arch with people in the photo!
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...363fd4a9_c.jpg
Mobius Arch which much larger than the Lathe Arch. I stood up inside this one.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...14cc8d01_c.jpg
Utahtea
You are going to have to tell me what software you use to edit. I have two but not thrilled with either of them. This is actually Lathe Arch which is near Mobius Arch. In fact if you are hiking and not paying attention you can miss this arch very easily! See my previous post for a better angle of how big this arch really is!Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick Quinn
Utahtea
More photos and information from the Alabama Hills area.
The Lone Pine Movie Museum
Photos of the area captured by Southwest Dave!
So many cool roads in the area. Have taken the time to drive to the end of road on the Olivas Ranch Road?
Mark
We spent 4 nights and 3 full days in the Lone Pine area so we had plenty of time to roam around. We also visited Manzanar Historic site, ate at the Alabama Hills Cafe (YUM), stocked up on some groceries before heading into Death Valley at the grocery store, went to the near by charcoal kilns & visited Cerro Gordo Ghost town. What I really wanted to do the most was visit the Little Petroglyph Canyon but they didn't start tours until later in the spring. More than likely didn't even happen this year. There is so much to do in the area!Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Sedenquist
Utahtea
Yeah, that is an amazing site. I have a bunch of photos from there. I will to dig them out. As you probably know, Little Petroglyph Canyon is in the China Lake Naval Reserve base and so everyone who applies to see the petroglyphs undergoes a background security check.
And the MPs do a very through examination of all cars who enter the base to go and see the etchings. Also, the route to the area passes through a drone bombing range and so everyone and I do mean EVERYONE TURNS OFF THEIR CELL PHONES when passing through that range. It turns out that drones often target devices that operate in the cellular range. Our Navy escorts made sure that we all shut-off our devices until we reached the safety zone.
A pretty fun day!
Mark
I'm not sure the bird knows what he's getting into (then again, maybe he does!)
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_4297.jpg
This place is a little more complicated to get to than most of the locations featured on this thread--but it is in North America, and you can drive to it. It's sufficiently famous that at least a few of you have probably been there.
Where am I?
Naming the country or the region won't be good enough. You have to name the place! More pics available if needed!
Rick
I have no idea! Need more pictures and/or clues. LOL...I doubt it's the southwest...it's to lush! ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick Quinn
Utahtea
You're correct--it's NOT the southwest! ;-)Quote:
Originally Posted by Utahtea
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_4096.jpg
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_4191.jpg
Actually the clue here has nothing to do with the birds. It's the fact that the structure they're sitting on is ROUND, which makes it quite unique.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_4142.jpg
And here's one more. Flowering trees abound in this place, and the petals fall like rain:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_4165.jpg
C'mon! Somebody should at least take a WAG at it! ;-)
Rick
The only time we've been to Mexico was on our Panama Canal cruise and all ports were on the west coast so this is from my Google search!Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick Quinn
You are at Chicken Itza which is a World Heritage Site on the Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.
:)
Utahtea
Good job, Utahtea! This is indeed Chicken Itza, although the folks down in the Yucatan spell it differently (Chichen Itza ;-)Quote:
Originally Posted by Utahtea
Which clue gave it away? Was it the Group of a thousand Columns?
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_3729.jpg
Or was it that bit of round building, known as the Caracol (the snail, after the spiral staircase in the interior)?
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...DSC_4281-1.jpg
Chichen Itza is one of the largest Mayan cities, and it's undergone major restoration, so it's quite impressive. It's just two hours by air-conditioned bus from Cancun, and a significant percentage of the four million people who visit that beach resort each year sign up for a day tour of the ruins. The most famous building at Chichen Itza is called the Castillo, the Castle, an almost perfect pyramid. Because of the crowds that come in on the buses, it's tough to get a clean shot of the thing. I was there in October, which was very much the off season, so the crowd in this picture is nothing compared to what you'd see in the summer.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_3767.jpg
We were staying in the small town nearby, not in Cancun, so my solution was to go back early the next morning when the park first opened, two full hours before the first buses arrived. That worked out quite well!
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_3938.jpg
I got a ton of great pictures that morning, all of them without a single tourist in sight!
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_3869.jpg
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...DSC_4341-1.jpg
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC03034.jpg
Driving down to the Yucatan to see the Mayan ruins was high on my post-retirement bucket list, so I did it right after my drive to Alaska to see Denali. A buddy and I took off from Austin in my Jeep, and traveled 8,000 miles over the course of a month. We made a complete circuit of the Yucatan Peninsula, touched the border of both Belize and Guatemala, as well as both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Mexico. We visited a total 14 Mayan sites, and attended wonderful fiestas in five different colonial cities, including the spectacular Day of the Dead celebration in San Miguel de Allende. That’s a lot of very cool stuff, packed into a single month. A lot of great memories, and a ton of great photographs, many of them ranking among my personal all-time favorites.
I'll probably post a few more pictures of ruins and such--put you guys to work guessing which one is what!
Rick
Amazing photos and what an adventure!Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick Quinn
LOL...it was this picture that had me looking in that direction.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_4191.jpg
Utahtea
Aha! That certainly explains how you solved this one so quickly! I'd honestly forgotten that trick (simply dropping a picture into the Image search bar, without saying a word ;-) Even so, I wouldn't have expected THAT particular photo to be such a giveaway! It took Google less than a single second to solve this, and all of the results pointed straight to Chichen Itza! On reflection, I realized my error: that specific carving is unique, the centerpiece of an elaborate cornice surrounding the upper facade of a building they call "Las Monjas," the Nunnery.Quote:
Originally Posted by Utahtea
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_4180.jpg
There's nothing quite like that carving at any other Mayan site, and there are a gazillion pictures of it all over the web. Note to self: I obviously need to TEST these clues before posting, so I don't make the game too easy!
I have a long post on my blog about my Mexican Road Trip.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...n-Mexico-5.jpg
Lots of tips about the border crossing (as it was a few years ago--the situation right now is obviously quite different, with severe travel restrictions due to the pandemic). Anyway, there are tons of pictures, as well as a couple of good stories about my run-ins with corrupt Federales near Mexico City, and Machete-wielding Zapatistas (peasant revolutionaries) down in Chiapas (southern Mexico). Was any of what we did dangerous? Probably. Was it fun? Well, I'll tell ya--that was the most fun I've had since I was old enough to know better!
Rick
I do try to solve without resorting to picture dropping first! I like to check my pictures of where I think people are first. When I really can't find a clue, I do picture drop ;) I find that doing my own "Where am I" I check first. Sometimes you just can't get away with it unless you don't post "that" picture that is the best clue!Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick Quinn
Utahtea
Yes, indeed! The picture of the Castillo, the big pyramid, is another example of an image that takes you right straight to Chichen Itza. Most of the others come back as generic "ruins," or "walls," or "trees." (Not much help there!) Anyway, now that I've learned my lesson, I'll be more careful with my clues!Quote:
Originally Posted by Utahtea
Rick
I dropped a picture of myself into the search bar, and it came back "Gentleman." If nothing else, Google has impeccable taste!
Is everybody ready for another round? Here we go, with several views of a particularly lovely body of water:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_6801.jpg
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_6803.jpg
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_6806.jpg
This might be a bay, a fjord, a lake, possibly even a river! My lips are sealed, because I want you to name that well-known body of water so that you can tell me, please:
Where am I?
And while you're at it, name the road that runs alongside this--whatever it is. Give us the official name, the nickname, or the Number. (Any or all of the above will count as a correct answer.)
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_6831.jpg
Last but certainly not least: a cryptic clue! There's a single word visible in this photograph, a single word that MIGHT be the key to the whole business! But--do you suppose I might have scrambled up the letters to make it a little tougher? Maybe--it wouldn't be the first time! (Hey, I said this clue was cryptic--as in, puzzling, or secret!)
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...s/DSC_6851.jpg
To recap:
Name the body of water
Name the road
For bonus points: Explain the significance of the roadside memorial (the cryptic clue).
This will either be super hard, or super easy. I'll be curious to see which!
Rick
Here's a better look at that cryptic clue:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...cale-2_00x.jpg
Two letters have been transposed. If you can figure out the proper sequence, you can Google it to unlock the puzzle.
RickQuote:
Originally Posted by Rick Quinn
Time to break out the good silver:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...verPlatter.jpg
The body of water is a Lake; and the road is a well-known Highway.
I'm not sure I could make it any easier! (But you'll still need to unscramble the sign at that roadside memorial ;-)
Rick
I can't figure out the roadside memorial, but here's a wild guess based on nothing: Silver Lake in WA, Spirit Lake Memorial Highway?
Kudos for the attempt, but no, not quite. Let's say you started out at Silver Lake, Washington: it would take you the best part of a week to get to this particular Where am I location. And the mystery lake is a bit bigger: approximately forty times the size of Silver Lake, making it the largest lake within the borders of the area where it's located.Quote:
Originally Posted by glc
(All that should narrow it down some!)
Rick
I'm surprised this one hasn't been solved long since, but if you're really stuck, I'll try a different approach. (Note: the times on the following entries are taken from the time stamps on my original digital photographs.)
At 12:31 PM on a lovely summer day, I was driving along this road, admiring the mountains, off in the distance:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog..._6701-1231.jpg
At 12:47 PM, I was close enough for a better view, so I stopped to take this picture:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog..._6717-1247.jpg
By 1:12 PM, the mountains were closer still, and there were icy streams coming off the glaciers:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...C_6751-112.jpg
Another straightaway, and at 1:27 PM, I saw what looked like a lake, straight up ahead:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...C_6773-127.jpg
When I saw THIS gorgeous scene, mountains and clouds reflected in the perfect glass-like surface of that ice-blue lake, I literally screeched to a halt, my heart racing, my palms sweating, and my eyes big as saucers as I fumbled for my camera.
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...C_6797-137.jpg
This was one of my treasured "Oh, WOW!" moments, usually prompted by a view, off the side of the road, or around a bend in the trail, an aspect that is so outrageously awe-inspiring that I often forget to breathe. I stood there until a breeze came up, rippling the water and spoiling the perfect mirror. I did, nevertheless, manage to preserve the moment with some pretty good pictures, like this one, taken at 1:37 PM.
Where am I?
What road am I driving on?
(Psst! Want to try a clever trick? Use your mouse to 'Right click' on that last picture--the photo of the mountains and clouds reflected in the water. Select, "Save image as," and save it somewhere; next, open up Google, and select the "Images" tab. Finally, 'Drag and drop' the image of the cloudy lake into the Google search bar. ;-)
Let me know if you get any hits! I'd be particularly interested in knowing whether your searches retrieve any "Pages that include matching images," and if so, what are those pages?
Rick
You really did give it away - the image search hit on Kluane National Park and Reserve in the Yukon.
Just a bit of exploring Google Maps around there says that's Kluane Lake on the Alaska Highway. I still have no idea about that memorial.
Two pages that include matching images, one here and one on your site:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/foru...tion-Bay-Yukon
http://www.rcquinn.com/alaska-highway-clone/
That was what you call a slow pitch, right over the plate. Google is getting so darned sophisticated, it actually shocks me from time to time. You might recall that I had that back and forth dialogue with Utahtea recently, about picture searches? I try not to make this game too easy, so I've taken to "pre-testing" my clues before I post them, by dropping each picture into the search bar on Google Images. Most of the photos in this set returned results like :"mountain," or "clouds," or "lake," but when I tested that last picture, it not only identified the location, it identified the specific photograph, and tracked it right straight back to me! I had no idea that it would do that, so I was honestly a bit taken aback.
Thank you, glc, for participating in my little experiment. Google has a way of prioritizing search results for individual users, and I had to wonder if it might be showing me my own website through some behind-the-scenes connection in my browsing history. When you did the search and got the same results as me, that proved that it wasn't personal: Google really was identifying my photograph, out of all the billions of images on the web, and that really is amazing!
Just for the heck of it, I tried running a search on a different version of the photograph: exactly the same image, but a little sharper contrast, and brighter colors. The result of that search was yet another surprise! Try if for yourself, if you're curious: right click each of these two pictures, then "save image as," and then drag and drop into the Google Image search bar:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...C_6797-137.jpg
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...ploads/2-1.jpg
All of which proves that Google has good taste, since version #1 is clearly the better of the two. I try not to think too hard about the sheer computing power required to make a match like that in 6/10 of a second. It freaks me out, just a little, and it makes my brain hurt...
Rick
I almost forgot about that strange memorial. Here's the clue the way I posted it:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...ds/Myabata.jpg
And here's the marker before I scrambled the letters:
https://www.roadtripamerica.com/blog...ds/Mbayata.jpg
Small difference, but the correct spelling would have unlocked the puzzle on the spot. If you Google "Mbayata," you get this:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ilanshacham/21451159512
and this:
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/...le-warren.html
Among other things. A memorial to a young man who died at that spot, and very much a giveaway--but since nobody solved the scrambled marker, I was obviously too clever for my own good!
Rick
I just didn't have time to check out all the clues and to think we passed Kluane National Park & Reserve in the Yukon coming and going in 1992 when we drove the Alaska Highway up to Alaska and back home!Quote:
Originally Posted by glc
Utahtea