Good Evening World!
Well, we can’t say it hasn’t been another of those days, yes, those full of things to see, with a 400 miles drive that, enjoyable as it was, felt more like a one hour trip!
Let’s proceed with order though, we first started this morning in Los Angeles.
We left the hotel quite early, around 9.30AM, which is quite unusual for these two travelers who are known for using all the time they’re allowed to by hotels policies to upgrade blog and internet, write about the experience, and see if there’s anything for the next day we can’t absolutely miss!
Our first stop of the day has been West Hollywood; I can’t believe the place was almost deserted when we arrived, and therefore I had the chance to park for a $1/hour some 400 yards from the Kodak Theater.
From downtown Los Angeles I took US101, and then Santa Monica Boulevard where I took a right on Vine Street to make sure I could stop at Hollywood and Vine and take a picture of this famous corner where these two roads meet.
Hollywood Boulevard started getting busy around Kodak Theater, where several different tourists just like us were managing to get their picture taken with their favorite hero. Cat woman was there, and so was Spiderman, Hulk, Superman, you name it! It was so kitsch! LOL
We then continued walking, as I kept looking down on the sidewalk to read some of the names that have made the history of entertainment, such as Walt Disney, who was there with Snow White (yes, they both had their private spot), and for fellow Italians like me, people like Bernardo Bertolucci (a famous movie director), and Arturo Toscanini (music composer).
Snow White:
Arturo Toscanini:
We then stopped at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater, where replicas of the same movie characters we had just seen a while ago, were making sure other tourists didn’t leave without having their picture taken with their favorite hero!
I took some pictures of the Theater, which is beautiful on the outside (how come I’m not surprised?!!?), trying to avoid framing cars or buses with my photographic souvenir. After several attempts, I finally got what I wanted:
Across the street from Grauman’s Chinese Theater there was a “Coffee Bean” place. For those of you who don’t know (I didn’t!), it is similar to a Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, etc., only better! I’m only speaking for their Ice Blended drinks, as their Ice Mocha with real chocolate covered coffee beans (which made the drink sort of crunchy as if they added crumbled Graham Cracker Crust) transformed the drink from average (same as anybody else on the market) to “out of this world”!
On the way back to the car, walking on the opposite side of Hollywood Boulevard, we saw more stars, and “The Egyptian”, the other theater Mr. Grauman built before building the Chinese Theater.
Today was also one of those days where we had some errands to run. I told you the car needed two new tires in the front. Well, we had the tires mounted on the car in Indio, CA, but they didn’t have the equipment to align them, and we figured that after driving from there to San Diego, the border to Mexico, and then back to Los Angeles, with two brand new expensive tires in the front, we really needed to do that.
So we did, we looked for a Volkswagen dealer, and we found one in Palmdale, Ca, which was exactly on our way up to Ridgecrest, CA!
On the way to the dealer we also spotted the California Aqueduct, that we recently saw featured in an episode of National Geographic, so I thought it was kind of cool to be there on the highway and actually know that what we were seeing on the side of the road was not the Great Wall Of China, but the California Aqueduct!
Here’s a picture of it:
It took them 90 minutes and $69, but now the car should be good, use less gas, but mostly, be problem free!
Will it really be that way? I don’t know, all we can do is keep our fingers crossed!
After Palmdale we put gas at $4.29 (Regular), and drove another 80 miles to Ridgecrest. The road was spectacular as we driving along the Mojave Desert with its funny looking Saguaro Cactus (Cacti).
Thanks to the new tires, and let’s admit it, even the driver’s driving skills (did I hear anybody clapping their hands or what?), we arrived at the junction between the road we were on (possibly Hwy 14) and Ridgecrest, too soon to stop for the day, at around 4PM.
We brainstormed in the car and decided to go for our plan B (and let me tell you, sometimes even that is not enough!). Our plan B was to drive to Lonepine, CA and spend the night there.
Lonepine is the northern gateway to the Death Valley in California, and guess what, that’s what we originally planned on doing!
Before being able to reach Lonepine, Hap asked me to stop so that he could walk around a little bit, roam free through the “REALLY good Beef Jerky” (as all of their road signs say), and eventually use the restroom. The only detail he forgot to add to this picture was that outside the car, an unwelcoming temperature of 114F was waiting for him, to give him, in the most literal sense of the word, a very “warm” hug!
He decided to be brave and go out, leaving the comforting cool breeze inside the bug to go out and battle just like all of the other tourists with the giant blow-dryer that someone up above obviously forgot to turn off this morning! ;-)
Him going out for a walk gave me the time to think about what we wanted to do for the day: did we really wanted to stop in Lonepine, Ca? Not really, considering that it was 5PM and the sun still doesn’t set before at least 8 in the evening.
We talked about it in the car, and decided to give our Plan C a try.
We basically left the road to Lonepine some 24 miles before reaching our final destination, and hooked a right to Death Valley!
Now, for those of you who don’t know, Death Valley is both the name of the National Park and a city in the valley. The city (or should I say village), as the sign says, was 101 miles away from the junction where we currently were, not a problem here for the Italian counterpart of “Mr. Andretti”.
Soon after we ventured in one of those long straight roads that don’t seem to have an end, we took a right and came across a very colorful sign, welcoming us to the Death Valley National Park; that was the beginning of the Scenic Route.
Now, who had the courage to say there’s nothing in the Death Valley?
People almost made me feel like we should have skipped this part of the trip and drive straight to “Fabulous Las Vegas”; I’m so happy I’m one of those people that most of the times don’t pay attention to sound advice his friends have to give them, as I would have missed something beautiful this afternoon.
It took us almost three and a half hours to drive through the Death Valley and its beautiful and vibrant canyons, with temperatures ranging from 110F to 121F, around 50 degrees Celsius (which is NO joke!).
I must admit this, Death Valley is truly a very inhospitable place, but that doesn’t mean it is not worth the driving. I’m not trying to tell you, you should go and live there; but as far as crossing through, I couldn’t stop being amazed by the unusual beauty of this place.
We went through several passes, climbed up the mountains, and eventually drove down the same mountains, reaching 4,000 feet in elevation, and then back to a 1,000 or even Sea Level in a matter of minutes, with a constant change of scenery around us.
We drove to “Badwater” which is the lowest point in the western hemisphere, with its 282 feet / 85.5 meters under the sea level.
Something I thought was really amazing is that they put a sign up in the mountains to actually tell you where the sea level is supposed to be compared to where you stand. Otherwise people just don’t think about it, you just stand there, take a picture as fast as you can, and get back in the fridge, I mean, the car, as outside the temperature can reach easily 125F and more.
It’s been a truly amazing drive, and of course, the beautiful sun setting back west with its colors, made it even for a better show.
I managed to take several hundred pictures, that I promptly skimmed through this evening to edit some, and delete some others.
Before I forget this, I have one sound advice which might be obvious,it’s always better to remind people, as they say, better safe than sorry!
Bring plenty of water and food with you in the car (some of these roads can get pretty isolated at some point), and absolutely do not forget to fill up the tank before entering the park (you’ll need it!).
Pay attention, this is not to tell you that they don’t absolutely have any facility inside the park, because they do, it just to warn you that the rules of economics really make a statement of truth here in the park where the offer is smaller than the demand.
You don’t know what that means?
It’s very simple, you’ll see prices going up inside the park like there’s no tomorrow!
Here is a picture I took as proof of what I’m saying:
Have you ever seen gas ranging from $6.11 to 6.52? Now you did! J
Death Valley is one of the most unique places on earth I’ve ever visited, its exceptional and inimitable beauty makes it for a wonderful trip; through its canyons and deserted roads, Death Valley speaks out to the visitors through an imaginary voice that is not there but that still you can hear (and no, I’m not on drugs!), it’s the wild desert landscape calling you for an exciting trip that won’t take you more than 4 hours of your precious time.
If you’re ever in the area, take the Death Valley National Park Scenic By-Way, you won’t be disappointed, I give you my word.
We’re currently spending the night in Pahrump, NV, at a Casino with lights and neon that reminds me more of a Strip Club than anything else. The rooms are nice and spacious, but most important, they’re clean, which lately is all I’m asking for since we don’t really have the time to go online and search for “THE” place where to stay.
Tomorrow we plan on driving to Sin City, and also weather allowing, take a side trip to Hoover Dam, to see firsthand what the human kind has been able to build in the 1930’s; I’m sure it’s going to be another interesting day.
And from the HOT desert of Nevada I guess it’s all…
Good night folks,
Nico
