What a long, long day! In the morning we start in sunny Sunnyvale and in the evening we have dinner in rainy Death Valley. In between: nearly ninehundred kilometers roadtrip with our car Carsten…
It was a fine roadtrip – as long you like to drive – as the scenery changed while driving! In the beginning we thought we might be in Ireland – pretty green hills are next to the highway. Suddenly the scenery changes.
The landscape gets harsher and rougher and we drive miles and miles and miles in the middle of nowhere! Only highlight: occasionally you can steer the wheel as there is a curve…
We make a break at Red Rock Canyon State Park. We admire the view and the rock formations! But unfortunately not only the landscape changed but the weather as well. It’s raining now. I am in the desert for the first time in my life – I thought it should be really hot and dry??? Obviousely not today. But I guess the desert has use for a few raindrops…
Red Rock Canyon State Park you will find it on your way to Death Valley. You can do some hikes, but we don’t – as the weather isn’t that nice and we don’t have enough time…
So we go further. Better: we drive further. And make a stopover at the Trona Pinnacles.
Trona Pinnacles – if you are in that corner of the world, for sure, have a look at it. But I would not recommend to go there on purpose ONLY to see the Trona Pinnacles…
The territory is really rocky and bizarre. Over fivehundred lime columns arised a long, long time ago – about tenthousend to hundredthousend jears ago! I’m not surprised that many science fiction movies were made here!
On the street there are loads of potholes and stones – so be careful! And if it had rained for a long time it is recommended to drive there only with a four-wheel drive!
Of course, in the desert you can also find trains … long trains! I’ve never seen a longer one! There is one train passing by with, well, over a hundred freight wagons. Okay, it’s not passing, it’s more poking along. It’s a miracle that the locomotive has enough power to pulled it!
Now is sunset. The last hundred miles we drive in darkness. We start twohundred feet below sea level, drive up to forthousand feet and then back downhill again. But Carsten is a sporty and drives us without any grumbling.
Twelve hours after departure we arrive our hotel. Jeez! Tired! Hungry!
Briskly we check in, eat, blog and sleep. Tomorrow we hike!
