Flying soon...
I'm counting the days...
Denise & I are heading west on Thursday for a quick wander in Death Valley National Park. I know, I know, we've been there before. Yup, we're going again. And if I know Denise, I suspect this won't be the last time.
We've never been there this late in the year. The weather still looks reasonable - the National Park Service site shows average highs and lows in December ranging from 65F/18C to 39F/4C. Denise thinks those are very reasonable walking temperatures, and we're not sleeping outdoors, so the nighttime temperature isn't a problem either. Oh! I just checked the National Weather Service forecast for Furnace Creek, and it's showing a chance of rain several days this week. Death Valley gets a very tiny amount rain - statistics over the last 30 years show an average of 2.5 inches of rain per year. I would love to stand in the rain in Death Valley. I wonder...
I have a feeling that our soon-to-be wander will fly by faster than either of us would like. We're flying Thursday afternoon, driving the Death Valley Friday morning. We'll have the remainder of Friday, all day Saturday and Sunday, and either a partial or full day in the park on Monday (although we're not staying there Monday night). We'll be flying home late on Tuesday, so we'll probably circle Red Rock Canyon Monday afternoon and Tuesday before we head back to our winter. (The photo below is from our trip to Red Rock Canyon this past February.)
I'm making a list for Denise. I want to walk further at the Badwater salt flats than we did last year. Did you know that Badwater is the lowest point in North America with an elevation of 282 feet below sea level? Mosaic Canyon is on my list, and the sand dunes too. It might be a little silly, but I'd like to see those fabulous sculptures in the Goldwell Open Air Museum in Rhyolite, Nevada again. I don't think Denise will mind a little side trip, do you? I guess I'd better leave some time free so Denise will think she has some choices too.
--- Rover
The story of our trip will be in Denise's "regular" blog. If you just want to read about our trip, you can get to those blog entries by using this URL - http://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com/search/label/Death%20Valley%20December%202009.
