drivetofive

Odometer: 488,417

Inevitably at some point during each work week I’ll get the question from coworkers:  “So, where’s this weekend’s trip?”  Maybe it’s because I have a giant US map pinned in my cubicle which serves no purpose other than to daydream daily about road trip destinations.  I got some odd looks from people when I told them I was planning on going to a place which has the lowest, driest, and hottest locations in North America — in August, too.

I set out yesterday to join a friend of mine, Brenda, for a visit to Death Valley.  We descended from about 3,500 feet in elevation to sea level – and below – within about 15 miles.  The landscape is a vast wasteland once you get into the valley.  No place to seek shade!  We packed in some water bottles to stay hydrated for good measure.

The following picture was taken just east of Stovepipe Wells Village in the park.  There are some sand dunes in the area.  Death Valley is known for its temperatures – the highest on record being recorded at Furnace Creek, at 134 degrees Fahrenheit in 1913.  Yesterday it was “only” around 113.

Check out the fuel prices in Furnace Creek.  I’m glad I filled up elsewhere.

This is a side-road off the main highway near Furnace Creek called “20 Mule Team” road.  It feels like another planet.  Desert Mist paint color sure does blend in with the desert.

Thanks Brenda for a fun afternoon!

You can’t pass by the World’s Largest “anything” without pulling over for a picture, so I did that here off Hwy 95 while en route to Vegas.

I stayed with a friend in Las Vegas last night and rolled back to the Phoenix area bright and early.  Shortly into the drive, I passed by Hoover Dam.  Until just recently, the highway went OVER the dam and it was notorious for being a traffic bottleneck.  A bypass bridge has since been completed that slices out the delay considerably.  This bridge is an impressive feat of engineering.  The road level stands 880 feet above the Colorado River, making this the second highest bridge in the United States.  I took a short detour to snag a picture over the edge of the bridge on the Nevada side (the river serves as the NV/AZ state line).  Hoover Dam is in the distance.

The Legend passed this week’s extreme heat durability test with flying colors.  Looking forward to the next adventure.

This entry was posted on August 7, 2011 at 8:09 pm and is filed under California, Legend, Road Trip. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.