Catching Up (Las Vega, NV)

We are in Las Vegas now, but it is time to do some catching up.  We have been doing some traveling and visiting to different sites before we came to Las Vegas so here's a quick summary...


Oatman, AZ
We had a nice afternoon walking around the streets while eating ice cream from the Oatman Hotel.  A former gold mining town with shops and a couple of restaurants on Route 66 in the Black Mountains of Arizona.

The burros are descendants of the miner's burros turned loose when the mines closed down and they spend their day roaming around town looking for handouts.  They are relatively tame, but there have been some incidents since signs are posted to be careful around the burros.

We watched a street show of the ol' West.....The afternoon got a little noisy at that time.

Old West Shoot Out Show

Sandy had a new friend...

Pssst! Yo, got any apples?  Carrots?

A bunch of burros showed up after the first gun shot.  The warning shot must be like a dinner bell to them.  They know there will be the largest gathering of humans and food for them during the gunfight.

If the gun doesn't convince them to give money,
I'll help by convincing them with a kick, okay?

The stage coach showed up right after the show and stopped right next to us.  The driver asked us if anyone was killed and Dan answered "only one!".   Yup, great day!

Stage coach has arrived

Death Valley National Park

Dan's standing in front of the Bad Water area.  Buses on the main road look like ants.  That's how far away we are in this photo.  It is so amazing how far we can see.  It just goes on for miles and miles and miles.

The following photos are of the Badwater area is five miles of salt flats with crusty ridges going every which away..  We were standing 282 feet below sea level.   

Bad Water

Turns out it is not as dry as it looks.  We were kneeling to get better close-ups of the salt and both of us ended up with a wet knee.  When the spot dried, we had a salty crusted knees.

Side view of the ridges

Close-up of the dry salt

Scotty's Castle

At the north end of Death Valley National Park we visited Scotty's Castle.  

Bridge over swimming pool

And the story....well, talk about a Wild West story perfect for a movie...go to this link  to read the story behind the castle.  It is an interesting story filled with intrigue, a gunfight, an unusual friendship with a happy ending! 

There are a couple of paid tours we could have taken, but we were happy to wander around outside.  Just touring the outside took awhile because we explored  every nook and cranny. 

Dragon or a snake ornate lantern holder

Their very own clock tower stood separate from the main buildings.  There is a clock face on all four sides.

They started construction in 1922 and because the castle is so remote, the Johnsons used very advanced technology to power their home.  They used water flow to turn a Pelton wheel which ran the generator for electricity. They even had a solar heating water system.  They had a water fountain in the main hall that dripped down a rock face giving the place an evaporated cooling system.  Amazing!

 

Next blogs from Las Vegas Nevada.

Oregon and Northern California Redwoods

We hiked on Redwood’s Trillium Falls trail on our 35th wedding anniversary on 30 June. We are camping right on the Klamath River in Klamath River RV Park .  We drove the Avenue of the Giants south of Eureka and hiked many trails this week in the Redwoods National and State Parks. The old Giants are truly magnificent, but a little hard on the neck from looking up at the giant trees. Our hikes gave us a feeling of peace and solitude, but the heavy mist enveloping the giants and soaking up sounds was a little eerie at times. There were times when we expected to see Mulder and Scully or Frodo and Sam come walking around the bend. After our anniversary hike, we had dinner at the Steelhead Lodge.  Diners can watch their dinner being barbecued over a wood smoked grill. Their menu is limited to a few choices of ribs, fish, rib-eye, and chicken. All meals come with a large shared salad with a choice of three dressings on the side and a grilled shish-kabob with mushrooms and pineapple. There was also a choice of baked potato with three toppings on the side or beans or pilaf rice. Last, but not least, a small bowl of ice cream is included with the meal.

Before we came to Northern California, we stayed in Sutherlin, OR for a few days.  We drove to Crater Lake taking Hwy 138 visiting waterfalls along the way.  We also spent a couple of nights at Harris State Park in Brookings, OR. We were camped on a cliff overlooking the beach through trees. There’s a short but steep short trail leading to the beach. There’s also a road going down to the beach with wheelchair access, but the trail was a lot more fun. We got up early one morning to explore the tide pools during low tide. We saw a lot of starfish, sunflower sea stars, anemones, and sea snails. Dan even found an small deceased octopus.

Tomorrow, we head back north to Grants Pass, OR for 6 days, and will then head south on I5 back into northern CA, then east into NV and UT. We are not in any hurry as you can see that it has taken us two months just to get to northern California. Life is good!  As always, the pictures and highlighted links are "clickable".

Have a safe and Happy 4th of July!

Steller's Jay