After today’s breakfast we had planned a longer trip. First filling up, then we headed for the Death Valley. Getting there took around 2 hours, a tour through the desert. Temperatures were not very high yet, until getting to the entrance of Death Valley National Park below 30°C. But then…
From around 1000 meters it went down to sea level – and below. In the Visitor Center a ranger enjoyed us with some fun and a headstand especially for our youngest traveler. And she even got a badge as “Junior Ranger”. Then we went into this inhospitable area, temperatures has risen to 37°C in between. We only stopped at a few viewing points, staying in the air-conditioned car was much more comfortable than going outside. After a lot of miles we reached the lowest point in North America, Badwater – 86 meters below sea level. And with it 40°C… It was really impressive, but one couldn’t stay too long in this heat. We were just asking ourselves – how does it feel here in midsummer?
From Badwater we started our tour back to Las Vegas. It went smooth but needed another 2.5 hours. Through the rest of the Death Valley, then some more fertile areas, but still the desert, until after a long time the skyline from Las Vegas emerged. Some traffic lights, which of course showed red light, and a few miles on the I-15, then we turned to the Circus Circus Hotel – where we also had 37°C.
After a short rest we went for diner. This time we chose the Pizzeria, where we again found that all restaurants have gotten much more expensive. So probably the next day again the buffet was on… Going back to our rooms we got some souvenirs and two bottles of wine. After getting those into the freezer a short walk to the one-armed bandits was made. First we had to find out how to handle it – simply putting in some coins as the last times didn’t work anymore. But also this hurdle was taken and a few dollars were risked. Ok, we didn’t really win something, some small credits which were also gone quickly. But – at least we did some gambling.
After that we went back to the rooms where we enjoyed the wine. And because that tasted that well we decided not to pay anything for internet access (what wasn’t free as in the other motels so far) but to buy another two bottles tomorrow. After some relaxed hours we all were tired and went to our rooms for a sleep.
