Day 1: Destination - Death Valley

Starting mileage 6870
Ending mileage 7398
Miles traveled: 528
April 13, 2008

Left San Jose at 8:30am—which is quite a feat for us. Usually we have really good intentions of starting out on a trip…early…and then it ends up being NOON by the time we really leave.

Destination was originally to be Las Vegas, but Brian decided that we should see Death Valley. Been there…done that in Vegas…but never saw Death Valley. Scenery along the nearly 500 miles to Death Valley was a-mazing!! Elevations at some points were high enough to be really cold. Grace decided to put on more of her gear. Unfortunately, as we progressed into Death Valley, the temps rose rapidly—so by the time we got to sea level, Grace was melting behind Brian. We stopped at a resort appropriately called “The Furnace Creek Resort”, though there seemed to be no sign of a creek. Brian mentioned at the front desk that he couldn’t wait to take a cold shower! To which the desk clerk smiled and informed us that there was NO cold water at the resort…ever. They get their water from natural springs that comes out at 90 degrees Fahrenheit! Death Valley was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit when we arrived at 5:30pm. They were expecting to get to 110 degrees the next day! This in *mid-April*!! YIKES! Death Valley is also a-mazingly beautiful despite it’s name.