Saturday, December 27, 2014

Back into the Valley of Death Rode the ... Two

Yes, Granpa is so intrigued and fascinated by Death Valley National Park that he has now voluntarily decided he wants to go home through it.  That is oh, so totally fine by me!


The views are spectacular yet again!


It's a steep descent into the valley.  Every curve is a photo op!  The views are great, the colors are absolutely amazing.  I am thrilled that Granpa has made this choice.  Even more so when a couple of the natives decide to greet us!





We managed to get fairly close, yes?  But I like the other photo better.  It is pretty "Death Valley" definitive.  Ultimately we cannot escape the lure of more photo ops.





Have you ever seen the TV programs that talk about the phenomenon of what has become known as The Racetrack in Death Valley?  It's very interesting and has taken many decades to try and solve the mystery of the moving rocks.  I'm not even sure that the mystery has been solved!  Do you really believe that the wind blows these rocks across the floor of Death Valley???


This surface is what's left of a lake.  The surface is covered in what is known as playa, which in Spanish literally means "beach."  But I'm thinkin' this is no form of beach sand. Apparently, when it rains or snows and this old lake bed gets a really good soaking, this surface must somehow get very slickery (my own word).  Those rains sometimes come with super strong 70+ mph winds.  The geeks say that that is when the wind pushes the rocks.  ???  Whatever.  Personally I think its kinda spooky - even in broad daylight!


But there is sand in Death Valley - 14 square miles of it ...


And, unbelievably, on the other side of the road to our right is this beautiful vista:

When God decides to put color and variety on display He obviously can do it wherever He wants to!



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