Pahrump, Nevada, is very close to the California border. That also puts it very close to Death Valley National Park. So, one day we set out to see this unusual national park.
Death Valley: The HOTTEST, DRIEST, and LOWEST! On June 10, 1913, Death Valley recorded a temperature of 134 degrees Fahrenheit which makes it the hottest place on earth. Death Valley is a land of extremes, where the powerful heat is a force of nature, and the air further dries everything it contacts. It is the driest national park in America. Badwater Basin, in the southern half of the park, is -282 feet below sea level making it the lowest elevation in North America!
There are four entry points on the eastern side of the park. We entered from Death Valley Junction on highway 190. This put us closest to the southern part of the park. Points of interest that we visited in the southern part of the park were: Dante’s View, Furnace Creek Area and Visitors Center, Badwater Basin, Artists Palette, Zabriskie Point, and Twenty Mule Team Canyon. Pictures below. ⬇️
On the drive to Death Valley, we saw this mountain with “DV” written on it with rocks. It was close to Death Valley Junction. zoom in to see it better. The entrance. Information about the basin and park at the top of Dante’s View.Views from the top of Zabriskie Point. If you look closely (zoom in) at the very tip top of the hill, you will see two hikers (they are in the top one-third and center of the photo. I have NO IDEA how they got to that area, but I bet the view was fantastic! The climb up to Zabriskie Point was ALL I could do! The views from there were pretty awesome, also! Furnace Creek Visitor Center was very interesting. The following pictures are of some of the displays inside where I learned a lot of facts about Death Valley. This is what greeted visitors when they walked inside the center. Be sure to zoom in and read some of the information. Badwater Pool. If you zoom in to a point just a little higher than dead center of this photo, you will see a green sign (like a street sign) with two words with white letters. It will be blurry. Here is what the sign in the previous picture says. Now, look at the previous picture again. Can you believe half way up that mountain is actually sea level?!!Artist Drive was the last place we explored in Death Valley before we headed back to the RV. It is an area where there are many colors in the hills. There were places of some kind of greenish rock. Zoom in on the photos to see the green areas. My photos just do NOT do justice to how beautiful this area was!
Another day we went with our friends, Darrell and Malia, to visit the hot springs and the China Ranch Date Farm in California. None of us knew exactly how to get there (GPS is VERY spotty in the desert!). However, another friend, Renee, had been there before and knew the way. Renee was our “tour guide” for the day. She imparted a lot of knowledge about the area all day.
Here are somephotos of the desert scenery we saw throughout the day.
First stop: the hot springs. Delight’s Hot Springs Resort and Tecopa Hot Springs and Resort are both located in Tecopa, CA. We looked at a hot spring out in the middle of the desert first. Then we looked at one of the resorts.
Our “guide,” Renee, is in the purple. Jack is bending over to feel the water temperature. After I put my hand in the spring, my hand felt SO soft all day!
Here are some photos of Delight’s Hot Springs Resort.
The pool is filled with water from the hot springs. There was even an area for RVs! The doors in this picture go to private hot spring tubs you can rent. Inside one of the private rooms.
On to the China Date Farm! The drive through the desert was beautiful. In order to get to the date farm we had to drive down a very narrow road with high hills on each side. It felt like we were driving through a gauntlet!
Here is a little history about how the date farm came about. The clumps of dates are covered with a tight weave mesh bag to protect them from the birds. The bags are left open at the bottoms, and I’m not sure whythat is. Maybe it’s to allow for drainage if it rains. This is the area outside the bakery and store. In the store you can buy dates and date nut bread. You can also buy all sorts of souvenirs made by locals. I wasn’t sure if I liked dates, but when I tried one, I absolutely loved it. The date nut bread was fabulous. However, the best thing we ate here was the date milkshake! IT WAS THE BEST!!
Needless to say, the date farm and hot springs were VERY interesting. We had a great day!
