Road Trip, Day 21

Day 21 was Friday, January 28.  Decided not to pay Hilton $12/day for internet access, so have taken a break from posting.  It always amazes me that the cheaper hotels/motels offer free internet access and the more expensive ones charge for it.  A lot.

Lots of mining activity in the Searles Lake area on the way to Death Valley National Park.  Also associated air pollution.  Too bad they don't have stricter regulations on their smokestacks.

Took about an hour to get to the park from the middle of nowhere.  Now DEFINITELY in the middle of nowhere.  Gas only in two widely separate places, almost no services, main visitor center is closed for renovations, this is really a minimal park.  Doesn't even have an entrance station.  There's some great scenery, but it's really spread out.  Spent almost the entire day and still didn't see it all.  Many of the areas require a high-clearance vehicle to access.  The dunes were not as impressive as they appear in photos, but I was seeing them in the midday sun.  Light is everything with this kind of stuff.  Ubehebe Crater was impressive, although a long drive to get there.  So there, crater place in Arizona that wanted to charge me a fortune to get in.  Saw one for free.  The Artists' Drive is very impressive.  I've seen lots of red, orange, yellow rock.  How about blue rock!  The road through there is very narrow and in some places, you barely make it between the rocks/boulders.

The elevation changes in the park are amazing.  One minute you're at 5,000 feet, the next you're 282 feet below sea level.  There actually is water in the badwater section, I don't know if it's because of the recent rains or not.  Nobody around to ask.  Up, down.  Repeat.  This is not the place to be driving a dodgy car.

Anyway, finally decided I had better hightail it to Vegas because it was getting late and I'm not fond of driving in the dark, although I would be doing that this time.  Welcome to Nevada.  First town is Parumph, kind of a strange name.  But there was a Linda Street, so it must be OK.  Lots more nowhere after that.

Coming through the mountains in the dark, all of a sudden you see the lights of Vegas through a break in the hills.  Pretty impressive.

Mr. Garmin once again delivered me to the door of the Las Vegas Hilton.  It's a LONG way from the parking garage to the hotel.  Only took in minimal things.  The hotel is huge and has long corridors.  Just getting from my room to the ice machine was a hike.

The hotel has the requisite gambling facilities where they allow smoking, so it's pretty nasty in there.  It's such a shock to encounter people smoking indoors.  Even in the central lobby area.  But it was cheap, had free parking, and it's on the monorail.  And my room was on a nonsmoking floor in the central tower.