Death Valley

Forty eight of us loaded onto a bus at 8:00 am the morning of August 29^th headed for Death Valley.  We rode for about an hour and a half before we reached Badwater.  It is the lowest, driest, and hottest location in North America.  At 282 feet below sea level, it was a desolate place.  From Badwater, we traveled to Furnace Creek.  We scoped out the Visitor Center where the temperature was 120 degrees Fahrenheit.  We ate lunch at the Furnace Creek Inn and Ranch.  I went out to take some pictures.  My legs were so hot, I told Terry I had to be good because I didn’t want to find out how hot hell is.

Badwater

That's Hot!!

After lunch, we loaded back in the bus for a 45 mile drive to Scotty’s Castle.  We took a guided tour of the home (more a mansion than a castle).  We learned about Walter Scott also known as “Death Valley Scotty”.  Scotty convinced everyone that he had built the castle with money from his rich secret mines in the area.  Albert Mussey Johnson actually built the house as a vacation getaway for himself and his wife Bessie.  Scotty was the mystery, the cowboy, and the entertainer, but he also became a very good friend of the Johnsons.  Albert was the brains and the money.  Two men as different as night and day, from different worlds and with different visions - who shared a dream.

Scotty's Castle

 We got back to the campground around 6:30 pm.  It was a long day.  Our compassionate Caravan Hosts prepared a hamburger feast for us.  We socialized a bit, instructed on the route we would take to our next destination and dismissed for the evening.  Boy, I slept good that night.