Off on the road again, towards Zabriskie Point. The road itself was interesting to say the least. It had stretches that were so straight you could see for miles and miles, then others that climbed into the hills and around bends so tight you had to slow down. Next stop was Zabriskie Point, followed by the Death Valley Borax works, then the Furnace Creek Visitor center. We paid our $20 park fee (good for a week) and had to go get the sticker for our car window.
Turns out that one of the park rangers is a photographer, and Dar got some tips from him on where to go and what time of day.
It was decided to go to the furthest point of interest and work our way back to the sand dunes by sunset.
Zabriskie Point Death Valley California
The location was named after Christian Brevoort Zabriskie, vice-president and general manager of the Pacific Coast Borax Company in the early 20th century. The company’s famous, iconic twenty-mule teams were used to transport borax from its mining operations in Death Valley. We were to see those mining operations on our next stop. The unusual landscape is created from sediments of Furnace Creek Lake which dried up over 5 million years ago. Through the natural process of things, parts of the lake got pushed up here and there forming the quite interesting views.
Rob’s standard self portrait photo here at Zabriskie Point. He usually uses a small hand held camera, but it’s a little trickier holding onto my Canon 5D with one hand AND pressing the shutter button. He manages somehow.
After Zabriskie Point, our next stop was just down the road to see the Harmony Borax Works
Hey, where are the dunes photos?
Dar will put them in eventually Jan. With our travel schedule and stuff, the biggest challenge right now is time for her to do the photo editing. To be honest, she’s not even done editing our own wedding photos!
as soon as she’s got them done, they’ll be put up.
I’m assigning her a “photo of the day” and we’ll soon have a gallery up as well. Even if we dont post a trip log for the day, we’ll have a photo of the day
Hey. love those photos…thanks! I really like the angle on the opera house, inside and out, and the wagon wheel and the dunes, and…you get the idea! Places like that are really awe-inspiring. Thanks again. And I do know how hard it is to get the photo stuff done. Since we got home from Malawi I have made only one post to our blog. However, it’s a philosophical one that needed some time to process before posting. Check it out at http://nesscafe.wordpress.com
Hi Jan, there’s still more coming for this day yet, including ghost town and sand dunes. Check back again tomorrow, I hope to have them finished. Just downloading 300+ from my memory cards now.
Jan I tried your link but it just goes to a “how-to” word press page.
Dar, I edited Jan’s comment with the correct link now
Pictures are gorgeous as usual. You should be tweeting this.
thanks, I think Rob is but he still wants to add some more stuff to it before he advertises it
Thanks for sharing your stories! They are great! I am a young snowbird too so I have had some of the same challenges. I would like to know how you were getting internet service in these remote places?
When we book our sites, we ask about wifi. All our wifi is provided by the parks. Most are free, but we’ve had to pay for some Tengo at times. Next year we’re going to get our own wireless modem and hook up with “Clear” who provide a signal in both Arizona and Texas
On another trip to Death Valley, it is most worthwhile to visit Scottys Castle. The story of Scotty and the castle and how it came to be built is fascinating. It is a US National Parks historic site. Good luck with your continued snowbirding (we are young ones too).
FYI for all Young Snowbirds readers: Road Trip calendars for 2011 are now available on my site. I had so many images and requests to have them that I have created a calendar of some of my favorites from the road. You can see all the images in the calendar and order one on my photography blog at: http://www.herviewphotography.com/2010/09/30/road-trip-2011-calendars.html