Something I'd wish the whole world would see
Quote:
Originally Posted by
gommy
...and what made it even better were the people we came across,friendly,helpfull and always smiling.if everyone from the u.k that visits the u.s.a brings a little of this home with them,[as i have]we will be better for it.
THANK YOU.
We have our faults, because no body is perfect, but this is what I hope every visitor from anywhere gets to see when they come here. Glad you enjoyed your visit, and to use a somewhat over used cliche:
Y'all come back now, ya hear!
Great Juxtaposition of the images
I second UKCraig's kudos thus far of the tale! Great photos!
The Oasis is the first of many RV destination resorts. We stayed a few times ourselves when we were on the road.
Mark
Lake Isabella via Death valley.
day 15-28th October
We awoke weary this morning, Vegas really took it out of us, it seemed tougher than any drive or hike [even combined] we had done. Vegas is so wild, everything seems a bit hazy this morning, as said before I am not a city person and I feel confused as to whether I love it or hate it? After the total calm and peace of our trip, it was like an invasion of our privacy. My thoughts were : It feels like the morning after one of those really good nights out, where maybe you had one to many and our memories are a bit blurry, you know you had a good time but there's a bit of regret in what you had done. Part of me enjoyed it, part of me wishes I had skipped Vegas, as I felt robbed of more time to explore the wilderness.
Prior to leaving the UK, most people had said "You'll love Vegas", after mentioning the places we were planning to visit. My conclusion is that I really enjoyed my time there, and everybody should experience it at least once as it's a fantastic experience, but unlike most people I know who go back time after time, once feels like enough for me. That is not to say I'll never stop there again, I just have no yearning desire to return there, unlike the natural wonders.
Anyway my thoughts are a bit clearer (as mud) so on with the task at hand, a drive across Death valley. We fill up the RV with gas and head out of Vegas, the temps already around 80, a far cry from the freezing temps at Bryce canyon.
We approach Death valley junction and pass the Armagosa opera house and once again we are amazed by the scenery, a baron and almost undescribable land for us Brits, fascinating landscape!
Our first stop was Zabriske point
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There are people walking in the middle of the picture, just to give an idea of scale.
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We then continued towards Furnace creek ranch for lunch, an aptly named place in this hot spot ! On the way we saw the sign to Badwater basin, the lowest point in the USA [Also in the Western hemisphere I believe] but no time to visit. Maybe one day !
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Furnace Creek.
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Not only did they serve food and iced water in their (most welcomed) air conditioned restaurant, there was a golf course, post office and museum along with lodgings available.
After a good feed and a look around we head towards the Mesquite sand dunes on Highway 190. As we park up and open the doors... Phew! From the cool air conditioned RV it was like stepping into an oven, it's much hotter than earlier and almost touching 100 degrees... in October! You can understand why RV rental company's do not like there motors coming through here in the summer.
The sand dunes are a wonderful site, and huge !! With the extreme heat we decided not to walk up them.
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You don't really need any reminders of how hostile this place could be, but as you drive up the long steady climb to higher ground there are signs telling you to turn your air con of to help prevent the engine over heating and there are rusty water containers at regular intervals along the road for topping up the radiator if it's needed. If you breakdown here you must stay with the vehicle, someone will be along soon!
We then continue through Stovepipe Wells on 190 and turn off just before Panamint springs towards Ridgecrest on route to Lake Isabella, our stop for the night. As we turned off we unexpectedly came to a junction, one with no signpost and it was not on our map we had available. Common sense told us it must be a right turn, so we turned right. We then drove and drove with the uncertainty of where we were heading, making it seem much longer than it was, the fact it seemed to be getting more and more remote didn't help. We passed a small ghost town but decided not to stop[a real shame]due to the uncertainty of exactly where we were going. After what seemed to be a lifetime the road climbed and carved it's way through the rock that looked just like the entrance into the valley when we first arrived here some 5 hours ago, Eek! We carried on with fingers crossed and after a while longer we hit a town called Trona. We reluctantly looked at the map to see if we could find the location and there it was...............GERONIMO! We were exactly where we wanted to be and almost instantly the regret sets in that we didn't stop at that ghost town, but at least were on track. (It turned out to be Ballarat Ghost town.)
We continued our journey to Lake Isabella and find our campground for the night across from the lake shore. We take a stroll to watch the sunset and once again I enjoy the peace and tranquillity of this beautiful land.
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A nice evening meal and a welcome catch up on some sleep before we head up the beautiful kearn River valley.
Great Shots of San Francisco
I, for another, have become a big fan of your journal and photos! I hope you swing by when you have time and share your expertise with other travelers.
Thanks again,
Mark
