March 22-"Magnificent Desolation"-Death Valley, CA

Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11, described the lunar surface as "magnificent desolation"...well, maybe they did film the moon walks at Death Valley! I thought this place would be flat, dry, hot, and dusty. Not so! Well, it is dry--they get less than 2 inches of rainfall a year. We had a lovely day, with a nice breeze so the temperature was only in the 80's (compared to Big Bend it was chilly). When you come into the park you drop from about 4,000 feet from the mountains that surround it to the desert floor. Most of the valley is below sea level, and at one spot its acutally 282 feet below. Its the lowest point in the western hemisphere. The colors of the valley, mountains, and sky are amazing...guess thats what they call "earth tones". All different browns, oranges, grays, even red and tourquoise. I thought of you Hank--you would need quite an artists palate to paint this place! We should have spent more time here because we didn't see the huge sand dunes that are to the north...but the urge to head west is still propelling us towards family and friends.