There is no wind today and so it feels unbearably hot. We travelled along the north Shore Road by Lake Mead towards Las Vegas. You hardly see the water at all as there are steep hills either side of the road. The views continue to be breath taking. We saw across valleys towards mountains with no road access. America is so vast and not populated in huge expanses of land. This is desert and sandy/rocky mountainous environment.  

  9 Porsches came whizzing by in the opposite direction in different colours. Louis and Otis would have loved to see them.

Today we’ve seen jack rabbits, ground squirrels, road runners, quails and lizards. There were 2 springs along the road. They are surrounded by greenery and tall palm trees. Again we could hear the water absolutely gushing out of them.

We got as far as the outskirts of Vegas and had a coffee in a Starbucks , well I had a cold mocha frapachino Anona just like you love to have.

We slowly came back along the same beautiful road. There are small barriers all along either side of the roads in places about 8 inches high. We asked the park ranger about them. He asked us to guess what they were for and we couldn’t think. Well it’s to protect tortoises from getting squashed on the road. They are an endangered species now. He said we wouldn’t see any as they keep out of the way. Do you remember we saw one walking down a country lane near Houston when we were stuck in traffic and took a side road across farming land?

Lilyana I got a lovely superman and rainbow sherbet ice cream today. It was pastel colours on the top and bright colours underneath. Grandad took a photos of it to show you. His was lemon sorbet flavours and no I didn’t eat 2 ice creams!!! 

        Well we’re all packed up ready for the flight tomorrow. We’ve ditched some clothes and books we don’t need in order to reduce the weight in the suitcases, hope we don’t have to pay excess for the weight in them now.

Will put up my photos soon, as the laptop is packed away with all the connections etc….Canada here we come xxxxx

We visited the local museum today, before it got too hot. It was so interesting all about the ancient people who lived in this area and all the climate changes which have happened. There were lots of arrow heads, remains of pots and even clothing. The museum was called Lost City Museum, because the original site,where they found most of the exhibits,is now under water when they dammed up the river to make lake Mead. There are reconstructions of the Pueblos the people lived in. A very good value for money museum. 

    We then went to the only  tourist gift shop in town and talked to a young man who has an 11 year old daughter who is half Navajo. His great grandfather and grandfather were farmers in this valley, but his father hated farming and is now a judge in Las Vegas. The young man moved away to study and work. He got made redundant and has now come back here to live again. He is a photographer and artist and sells his work in this shop which he part owns. The people here are very friendly.

Next we were on a road along the Muddy River when we spotted a large bird, it was a wild turkey we think. 

 Back in the Valley of Fire State Park we did some rock climbing and exploring until it got too hot,followed by a salad and diet coke at our little cafe in town. I still can’t get used to these temperatures 106f today.

Later in the afternoon we took a drive up the Moaba Valley to Warm Springs where the source of the Muddy River begins. When we got there the sound of the water gushing out was loud. It was all fenced off though but surrounded by huge palm trees. 

 It is only open to the public October to May and is a nature reserve. The wildlife we saw up that road was exciting, vultures road runners birds we’d never seen before that were blackbird size but blue and yellow, Hawks and Eagles, rabbits.

We were in the Indian reserve lands and 2 toddlers with their mum, fully dressed in their colourful tribal clothes were in the stream swimming and squealing with delight. The water I thought would be freezing but vince pointed out it is called Warm Springs. It was a lovely shared moment I caught.

What do you think to your a bit thinner parents/ grandparents?  

   Last full day in USA tomorrow then we fly out sat 1.30 our time

love to you all, missing you xxxx 

Vince had his haircut in a small salon in Overton, it cost £12 so cheaper than Thornbury. We picked up some fruit and crisps and headed out to the Valley of Fire. 
Lovely blue skies and white fluffy clouds today and also VERY hot again. Saw wildlife again. 4 brown vultures swooping over our heads, loads of ground squirrels, a long whitish lizard with a long tail, road runners ( they do look like tiny pterodactyls ) and 8 bighorn sheep. We were very lucky to see these sheep on the rocks and so many altogether. 

   
   We took more photos as the colours looked so different in the sunshine. We did follow a few trails but the heat is exhausting for us.   

 
We headed for Overton to the ice cream diner and ordered 2 lovely salads. You buy a diet coke and can refill it as many times as you want for free. There are many more children around now as the schools broke up for Summer last week.
Now we are back at the hotel and enjoying just resting and keeping cool.
We went out for an ice cream and then to follow the sunset. Blandine I tried peanut butter ice cream today and it was very nice xx 

      Love to you all especially Otis Louis lilyana and anona. Good luck Anona with your exams

Thank goodness for air conditioning in car and hotel. We went to old downtown Scottsdale this morning. It’s where Phoenix the town started. We walked under verandas and in the shade but kept diving into shops to cool down. This heat is going to be here for the next week so I will have to live with it,especially in Death Valley. 112f today        
      We chilled out literally in the hotel all afternoon, had our free drinks in social hour while our washing was in the machines. What a lazy day….
It’s only a 2 hour journey tomorrow to Kingman where we stop overnight And then a longer journey to Beatty where we stay 6 nights to explore the Death Valley.  
      

     Hope you like theses photos Lily anona Louis and Otis xxxx

We stayed here to see the lake, but we have discovered this beautiful park. It has everything in it………natural wind made arches, many colours of rocks, petroglyphs, petrified forest,slot canyon, beehive wind formations,springs,Indian marbles and lots of wild life. 

 can you see the elephant 

 can you see the gorilla? 

 these are some petroglyphs They are thousands of years old and drawn by the basket peoples

 and lastly an arch 

 It is very cloudy today but still 95f and very occasional raindrops, it feels thundery and there is hot wind blowing. It feels like being under a constant hair drier.

We spent the morning and early afternoon in the Valley of Fire and then called in at Overton for an ice cream. They have 32 different flavours Lilyana, including cactus flavour. They have rainbow sherbet ice cream which is lime green,orange and bright pink, I’ll have to take a photo of it hee hee. I had boring strawberry cheesecake and toffee biscuit flavours. Yummy.. Grandad had lemon sherbet mmmmm 

So sitting on our veranda and think I just heard thunder 

the rain is lovely and cold its just dropping now and then 

Love to you all xxxx

Anona and Alex look on your Skype for a video message xxx 

We arrived here at lunch time hoping it maybe cooler but it’s 104f here.

As we were leaving Beatty we noticed a dirt track going to some huge sand dunes, so we set off down the track. After 6 miles we were still far away from them and we stopped to take photos. The gravel track was now more sandy and yes the car was stuck! Vince put stones behind the front tyres, put the car in reverse and I pushed the bonnet. Yes the car moved and I nearly fell flat on my face! Anyway vince reversed for a long way until we reached the harder gravel and then he did a 3 point turn successfully..what a relief to get back onto the Tarmac road when we reached it. It gave both of us a scare as we were stuck in the middle of a desert with no one to help us or know we were there.

The journey then on was ok. We are 80 miles from Las Vegas and have no wish to go there!

We are 20 minutes from a state park and the national lake mead park. Here are some photos of Echo Beach which is the nearest to our hotel.  We have a swimming pool here and hot tub. We are not travelling far just having a lazy holiday here until we fly out on Saturday 1.30pm xxxx

    Anona Lily Louis and Otis grandad got in my photo and I didn’t realise. !!! Xx     Ps we are seeing more wildlife here. I saw a golden eagle sitting on a gate post. he was huge. By the lake was a blue heron and a lizard and 2 ducks

its Sunday 7 June and our last day here in Beatty hurray although I’ll miss going through the casino to reach Denny’s for breakfast and the nut and candy company so hugely vast with nobody in it except Strange people.

and Death Valley so sad as it is so different with beautiful rocks and sand and minerals and heat.

We visited more of our favourite spots. Dantes view ,20 mule loop, Badwater,artists palate and devils golf course.

Onto lake mead North shore tomorrow, it’s a 3 hour drive avoiding Las Vegas like the plague!

Photos are beautiful memories:- 

Has grandad only got one leg? Or a wooden one?             

hi everyone we travelled to Scotties Castle first thing this morning on the top road above the death valley ,thought it was a quicker way …we were wrong We were the only car on the road for miles and the whole day has been like that. We went back along to the Ubehebe crater again . This time it wasn’t blowing a gale and so we walked right up the rim very high. Vince went further than me. It was hard going walking on volcanic ash and the sun was blazing down . 

 We went through the valley to stovepipe wells, passing the Devils cornfields and the mesquite sand dunes. 

 We stopped for a coffee and vince handed in a mans bag we found. The spanishAmerican man was very relieved to get it back.we sat on rocking chairs outside on the veranda drinking our coffee and people watching…

Next we went on the road to nowhere …after 18 miles of not passing a single car and climbing up hills from minus sea level to 4500 feet and passing the occasional Yukka and Joshua trees and rocks galore we turned around and enjoyed the return journey! 

In Beatty we stopped at a saloon bar and drank beer out of jam jars with handles. We sat at cable wheels wooden tables surrounded by naff displays of mining implements not impressed.. -2 on trip adviser

In the late afternoon we went to a petrol station/ sweet shop never seen anything so big and grand in my life for so few people.

I can’t believe I am writing this in a casino, what a strange place Beatty is xxx 

 Photos later..

Good luck with alevel exams Anonaxxx love and kisses to Lily and Otis and Louis xxxx 

 

we wanted to go to the places we have missed so far, the first one being 20 mules loop. It is via a dirt road so we were apprehensive about this but our fears were unfounded and the car coped ! 

  

  It was an experience not to be missed. The road twists and turns and goes up and down through sandstones and volcanic rocks. Got some lovely photos and enjoyed the exciting travel along an unpredictable terrain.

Next was Dantes view. The road goes up gradually over 5000 feet it’s only the last bit that has gradients of 15% and crash barriers!

The view was over the whole of Death Valley ie over 100 miles. We were directly above the Badwater salt beds. There was a heat haze and so the photos don’t do it justice, it was amazing. We again went on a steep footpath down and up to see further along the valley. I’m getting loads of exercise.👣👣👣😉😎😎 It was cooler up there on the mountain 94f  

    When we got down to it was 112f ie 43c. We had our lunch and toured the museum. It had all the different rocks of the valley on display and the minerals named and about borax mining.  Outside there were old wooden wagons and mining gears etc. very interesting but not in the heat…..

So today is Friday and we leave on Monday. Saturday and Sunday we are going to revisit our favourite places. I hope my family can one day come here too to see this marvellous valley.Photos later 

we were determined to get to the other end of Death Valley today to the deepest lowest part…..BadWater.taking pictures and stopping along the way as we wanted to.

First we visited the Harmony Borax Works which was in operation in the 1800s  

  Next, “Devils golf course” which is a jagged and strange salt and mineral bed. 

  

  

 Then we did a loop around the “artists drive” it was fascinating. The volcanic rocks over millions of years have been washed by seas and mineral and water and have changed to beautiful colour mixtures with many different textures formations and gradients. the “artists palette” stop was so lovely. The road was very hilly and bendy and as we twisted around each bend we found new sights to admire. We also parked the car and climbed up a steep trail, to take pictures  

   
Next we reached Badwater and found a pool of water and a salt bed. The water is fresh but very salty. We were 282 feet below sea level and sea level was marked way above us on the hill side. This area was stunning and looked like an ice rink. It was really hot and arid and unbelievable that water would be here. The pool has its own water snails and fish, only found here in the world. Lilyana we saw a fox walking along the road close by! The water is from ancient rivers running underground all through the Death Valley. 

   
  We returned a different way and stopped at viewing point Zabriskie Point,well above the Death Valley. So I have done 2 steep walks today👣👣👣🏃

   

 Still have more to see and maybe to revisit before we go. Death Valley is the most amazing place.

Will add more photos tomorrow