We're staying at a Marine base near Barstow. Would you believe that the only way I can get Internet access here is to go find the library? And of course, since it's Sunday, the library is closed. So, I'm going to go ahead and write this up and try uploading tomorrow if I can find a WiFi hotspot. Maybe I can pull into one of the truck stops near town and catch their hotspot long enough to upload this post and see what is going on.
The weather in Death Valley this morning was really nice. There were some high thin clouds and it was cool, but not enough to have to wear a jacket. After breakfast, we came out of the restaurant in time to see a motorcycle club lining up for their run through Death Valley today. There were at least 24 or 25 bikes. Some of the bikes were absolutely gorgeous and I know my brother would have drooled all over them. I spoke to one of the women with the group and found out that they are with a club in Las Vegas and Henderson, Nevada. The whole time we were there in Death Valley, we saw dozens and dozens of motorcycles of all kinds. From dirt bikes to choppers, from full dressers to stripped down off road bikes, you name it, they were all over the valley. But then the weather this weekend was perfect for enjoying a ride....
We decided to visit one more place in Death Valley before heading down the highway. The place is called Dante's View. And oh what a view you get from there! It's about a 13 mile drive off the highway on a semi-narrow 2 lane paved road and you go from about 1500 feet above sea level to about 5600 feet with the really "stiff" climb in the last mile of the drive. Once you get up to the view point, they've leveled off an area that gives you a 360 degree view. Part of the view is of the valley floor below and the Panamint mountains on the other side. Check out these pictures:
Once we left Death Valley it was a fairly uneventful drive across the desert until we got to Baker, California. Then it got windy and we got on I15 and joined all the traffic heading towards the LA area. I'm guessing that a lot of them had been in Vegas and were heading home... Speed up, slow down, speed up, put the brakes on and come to a stop. Why? Well, someone was on the side of the road changing a tire and there was a Highway Patrol car sitting behind them. **sigh** Oh yeah... About half-way to Baker, my cell phone suddenly started beeping... And beeping... All the text and voice messages that had come in while we were out of cell range in Death Valley caught up to me. lol
Once we got closer to Barstow, we took a shortcut south and got on I40. Much better! No traffic! LOL! So now we're all settled in to a little 2 bedroom guest unit here on the Marine Base. We've had our dinner and my Mom and Stepdad are watching TV. The wind is howling outside. The closer we got to Barstow, the stronger the wind was blowing. I sure hope it calms down some tomorrow! Hmm... I think I'll go watch TV and snooze a while... lol
Update:
The library on the Marine base has internet access, but only if you use their computers. So we found a truckstop that has a WiFi hotspot, so I'm uploading yesterday's blog entry... Who knows when I'll get back on the net.... LOL... By the way, the wind isn't trying to blow us away today! Hurray!
3 comments:
Hey Sis,
In the second pic I see a road down in the valley. Looks like Saline Valley. Joy and I visited a hot spring in Saline Valley that took over 2 hours to reach after we left pavement. Quite primitive, secluded, and VEEERY relaxing. Developed and maintained by people who love primitive springs. Pools, grass, Tamarack trees, and a lot of decendants of minor's mules.
If this isn't the valley it's somewhere close to it.
Gene.
I don't remember seeing Saline Valley on the maps we looked at while we were there, but then I was mostly looking at places that wouldn't scare our Step-dad when I drove to them. You know how he is about getting his car dirty! LOL... He's going to bug me for a long time about the 3 dirt roads I did take us on.. LOL
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