Death Valley

Our weekend getaway to see Death Valley and the Eagles at the Sphere in Las Vegas began with a drive. We gassed up in the little town of Trona on the edge of Searles lake. This town is a mining town for the minerals from the dried up lake, and it always has been. It feels deserted, and desolate. Houses boarded up businesses closed down. But the mining continues. In the early days the entire town ran on scrip from the mining company from the grocery stores to the gas stations and library.

We stopped for Lunch in Panamint Springs:



It was super windy so we had to eat inside instead of enjoying the view. After Lunch we continued over the mountains and into Death Valley.

Our first stop was a hike in the Mosaic Canyon. Kind of a slot canyon hike in 90 degree weather. It was good to stretch our legs and loosen up the muscles after the long morning drive.

We had planned to stop at the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, but the wind was blowing so hard we decided to pass. Instead we drove to Badwater Basin, quite the salt flats not far from our hotel here in the valley.



There was a guy flying a kite!



After our walk on the salt we did the Artists drive. Lots of amazing colors on the rocks.



Since our original plan was to watch the sunset at the Dunes we didn’t have a dinner reservation until late, but we were tired and ready to have some dinner by 5:30. The restaurant was completely booked, except they didn’t say that they had open seating at the bar plus a couple of high tops. Which I discovered on my own. So we were able to eat and then chill in our room. Tomorrow we’ll be up early to catch the sunrise and then off to Vegas to get ready for the concert.