Nevada

written April 5, 2015

beautiful roadside wildflowers

  Well, we finally left Arizona, arriving in Pahrump, Nevada. Before our trip I thought of Arizona as a hot barren wasteland full of nothing but cactus, snakes, and spiders. Wrongo Hockey Puck!! Once I started to look at the desert through Julie's eyes, the beauty was all around. Every cactus is a different shape and different color. When it rains, every dormant plant comes immediately to life adding color and distinction to the desert. I think the difference between the desert and woods and forests we are used to in the east, is the density or lack thereof. When the woods come alive in the spring, every plant grows and fights for space with all the other plants, and pretty soon you cannot see the forest for the vegetation. In the desert plants have their own space, and don't try to crowd one another, giving us a chance to see the beauty in each and every one of them. 

 

The Colorado River south of the Hoover Dam

US Highway 93, headed west to the Hoover Dam and Las Vegas

A camouflaged cell tower - kind of cute!

After leaving Williams, we got off the Interstate, took a little side trip down Route 66 going through Seligman, a funny little burg with lots of 66 stuff, Burma Shave signs, and even a fake brothel for your viewing pleasure as you drive through.

Driving from Williams (6900 feet) to Pahrump, Nevada (2700 feet) one would think would be a nice downhill all the way kind of a drive. Wrongo again. We went downhill alright, but we also climbed three more mountains and went down them too! Pahrump is not as one would expect from the name, just a bunch of grumpy old men sitting around grumbling about what ever old men sit around and grumble about, but a clean FLAT wide open area.

Route 66 through Seligman, Arizona

A fake brothel with hilarious mannequins all over it in Seligman

memories!

Our first morning, as we set at Mom's (yep, that's the name) having breakfast, we watched a hot air balloon launching of 15 balloons. We chased them for awhile all over the area giving us a chance to explore with an actual purpose. We even spotted a neighborhood coyote sitting and watching the world go by. 

Balloon Lift off in Pahrump, Nevada

I loved seeing this use of saddles mounted along a driveway, designating parking spots.  We are definitely in the West.

A Coyote watching us.  Soon he just wandered away.

 

 

Our first Nevada foray was to Death Valley National Park, where we went from altitudes of 2700 feet to 7500 to minus 281 to 7500 again and all points in between!! Let us start out by stating that Death Valley is not dead at all. There actually are plants everywhere, and now that spring is here they are starting to bloom. This mixed with the minerals in the mountains showing their vibrant colors, makes for some very exciting viewing. A cool side trip through Artist's Palette, with it's winding up and down roller coaster road, puts you into sensory overload with the beauty that nature has created.

snow on the peaks in the distance

more beautiful wildflowers in Death Valley

Every mountain looks different and quite beautiful.

Salt Flats

We have just walked out on Badwater Basin Salt Flat.  It was like walking on white concrete

Oh the amazing colors of different minerals at the Artist's Palette Loop

Stunning contrasts all around

This is an original 20 Mule Team Feed Wagon, used when they were taking the Borax out of Death Valley

 

When we stopped at the sand dunes Julie made a new friend, but since he wasn't green she didn't buy any insurance from him. These dunes, like the ones in Michigan, North Carolina, and Colorado, are not only fun to walk and play in, but are ever changing with the blowing of the wind.

 

A friendly little guy on his way between rocks

Resting on the sand dunes

Huge drifting sand dunes - note the size by the tiny dots in the distance that are people.

 Still in the park we drove to the north end to see Scotty's Castle. Not a castle, and not owned by Death Valley Scotty, but still a very interesting and fascinating place. 

In the middle of the desert is this stunning and historical Death Valley Ranch

Inside the Courtyard at "Scotty's Castle" 

Beautiful Carved Shutters

The Living Room in Scotty's Castle

 

Prickly Pear Cactus in bloom

Right next to Scotty's Castle is the Ubehebe (you bee hee bee) crater, this one caused by a volcano blowing its top, and not an object falling from the sky. Once again (or still) beautiful colors for a place called Death Valley!

Ubehebe Explosion Crater

The long straight road we will soon be traveling as we leave Death Valley National Park.

The trip back to Pahrump took us past the Ghost Town of Ryolite. This one actually has ghosts that Julie was able to catch on film. I guess crime is everywhere as one of the ghosts was actually trying to steal a bike! Windows must have been at a premium back in the early 1900's in Death Vally so one enterprising fellow made his light filled house out of empty bottles, The rows are really pretty straight, guess he didn't have to empty all the bottles by himself! As the sun was setting on our way home we encountered a few wild burros foraging for some supper. Close but not too close to the highway Whew!

The ruins of the historic town of Ryolite

Unusual, but free and translucent building materials, empty bottles.

Art work done for Ryolite - perhaps a ghost?

A vision of the Last Supper in the desert

Abandoned and broken homes

Hi there fella

The trio was just wandering along and munching

Some friends at the campground asked if we had been to the China Ranch. We hadn't, so that was our next venture. There really is a Middle of Nowhere and we found it. Located “just south” (60 miles in desert speak) of Death Valley Park is China Ranch Date Farm. In a completely barren wasteland at the bottom of a canyon is a desert stream (five inches deep and 12 inches wide) flowing aboveground that has produced a small oasis where some entrepreneurial folks planted date palm trees producing mighty tasty treats. They told us the trip was easy but to watch out for the last mile!! We did. We also tried, as recommended by friends, our first Date Shake. They also suggested we split a shake and for the first time in our lives, we headed their advice and it was very, very, very good and oh so very, very very rich.

Another dirt road winding out of view - here we go!

The beautiful groves of Date Palms of all different varieties and sizes.  See the tall sand dunes behind these palms.

China Ranch Date Farm property decorations

A new experience and oh so good!

After a few days rest it was off to experience Hoover Dam with a side trip through Las Vegas on our way back home. The dam was everything we anticipated and more. Our tour guide gave us a brief history and then said “Let's take a dam tour”. She then took us into the dam (five hundred feet down, by elevator) then through tunnels that provided views of the outside through air vents and also gave us some really interesting stories and spectacular sights. Found out that contrary to popular belief there are no dead bodies buried in the concrete of the dam – damn! Oh well, makes for some great story telling by locals.

The Hoover Dam

The shockingly low water table in Lake Mead, behind the Hoover Dam.

We had entertained idea of visiting Las Vegas at night to see the lights and sights but since we are approaching middle age, and don't really like driving after dark anymore unless necessary, and Vegas is located 70 miles south of Pahrump and across the Spring Mountains, we decided to pass through on a daytime sightseeing trip. We have been living in small communities with little or no people or traffic. Las Vegas was quite a shock to the senses. The streets were all completely full of cars, trucks, tour buses, city buses, and us. The sidewalks on The Strip were shoulder to shoulder, elbow to elbow, and butt to butt with people. Wow! We started at the north end of Las Vegas Boulevard and drove the length southward until we came to US95 and happily merged into traffic and headed over the mountains to home. It was dark when we got to back to Pahrump, so we drove around and saw the neon lights of the four casinos and then headed for home.

 

On the strip

 

I believe the brilliant Trump Tower is beckoning us.

Along the Las Vegas strip

Oh yes it is, the Pawn Shop of TV fame.

Maybe on our next trip through this area we will be able to spend a little more time in Vegas and enjoy some of the nighttime entertainment, who knows!

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