Day 1- Las Vegas
We arrived in Las Vegas at 1pm local time and from the moment I stepped off the plane I felt pretty horrible. I think it was the combination of the dry airplane air and the dry desert air. My nose hated it and I sneezed for about an hour straight. Anyway, we spent the night at the Flamingo Hotel on the strip and I learned that Las Vegas was actually built around the Flamingo. I took a shower to get some humidity back into my system and hung around the room for a bit until I felt better. Our room had a view of the Bellagio hotel and about half of its fountain. You can see the fountain work its magic about every fifteen minutes. It was quite impressive.
For dinner we went to an Italian restaurant in Caesars Palace called Carmine's. The fried zucchini was amazing! Afterwards we walked downbthe strip and saw the volcano erupt at Mirage and the fountain show at the Bellagio. It was bed time but we took a detour for gelato before turning in.
We arrived in Las Vegas at 1pm local time and from the moment I stepped off the plane I felt pretty horrible. I think it was the combination of the dry airplane air and the dry desert air. My nose hated it and I sneezed for about an hour straight. Anyway, we spent the night at the Flamingo Hotel on the strip and I learned that Las Vegas was actually built around the Flamingo. I took a shower to get some humidity back into my system and hung around the room for a bit until I felt better. Our room had a view of the Bellagio hotel and about half of its fountain. You can see the fountain work its magic about every fifteen minutes. It was quite impressive.
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| Our room view of the Bellagio's fountain |
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| Flamingos at the Flamingo |
Day Two- Death Valley
This morning we each received a Nalgene, courtesy of Dr. C, and we named our cars. We give them names, relevant to our trip, because it's a lot more fun than saying car one and car two all the time. Their names are John Muir, Rivet (as in Rosie the...), Bugsy (after the famous gangster) and Ranier.
The drive to Death Valley was on a long, flat highway. Finally we gained some elevation and it started to drizzle! Our first look of the valley came at 11,000 ft on the top of Dante's View. It was amazing, looking down over the seemingly endless valley.
This morning we each received a Nalgene, courtesy of Dr. C, and we named our cars. We give them names, relevant to our trip, because it's a lot more fun than saying car one and car two all the time. Their names are John Muir, Rivet (as in Rosie the...), Bugsy (after the famous gangster) and Ranier.
The drive to Death Valley was on a long, flat highway. Finally we gained some elevation and it started to drizzle! Our first look of the valley came at 11,000 ft on the top of Dante's View. It was amazing, looking down over the seemingly endless valley.
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| Death Valley from Dante's View |
We visited the Visitor's center and ate lunch outside in 121 degree heat before checking out the exhibit. I did the Jr. Ranger program and earned a badge. I also bought a National Parks Passport and got it stamped! Later we checked out Devil's Golf Course at the bottom of the valley. Eons ago the valley used to be filled in with water. This has since evaporated but the ancient sea left it's salt behind, which you can go walk on.
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| Panorama of Devil's Golf Course |
Afterwards we checked out the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere, Badwater Basin, which sits 283 feet below sea level. A natural spring occurs there and some of our crew stopped to dip their toes in.
We drove out of the park and made it to Bishop for dinner at the bowling alley and spent the night at the hotel across the street.
Next up: Yosemite!
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