Day 59: Las Vegas to Bishop via Death Valley

Evening all. Or morning. Or even afternoon. Kiaora anyway!
Well today was a hardcase day. We got up real early, like at 4.45am, packed and were on the road by 5.45am. This was because today was Death Valley Day, the valley of 50 degrees C plus and dry and hot hot hot! Here's Ebony
all packed and raring to go.




It was really easy to get out of Las Vegas at that hour and with Karen (and Liz which is Dick's new gps) to help we were soon on the freeway out of LV and heading for Pahrump. (Lovely name!) We stopped there for a quick munch and petrol and then headed off down 190 to Death Valley.




Here's what greeted us in Death Valley.




This photo is not amazing because the road is long. Nor because it is straight. But because IT IS WET !!! This is an area which gets 1-2 inches of rain a year. Maybe. It is supposed to rain proper rain only once every ten years!! (I read that on the internet so it must be true.)
Today was the day! And we were there. Thanks fullas. :-(
So it wasn't really all that bad after all. We crossed over the border into Death Valley Junction and had some lunch and then went down to Badwater which is supposed to be the lowest point in the world. Here are some pics.




Yes Karen is saying MINUS 85 metres ie below sea level. In fact here is sea level up here.




See the sign? Look! Up there!




It was a moonscape kind of place.











With mad dogs and Canadians. :-) (out in the midday sun)




And so we went on.....












Eventually we came south out of the Valley and headed west.




It was long. It was hot. It was very long. And we had got up very early!nso when we arrived at Bishop we pulled in and called it a day.
We have now had a swim, dinner, a few beers and a Southern Comfort or two to remember Clare. And that I think will be that!
Today's run: 541kms
Cumulative: 17,573Kms
Tipovers: 2

Location:Bishop, California, USA