Extremes and excesses

I’ve never gone swimming before 9am and had the temperature passing 27˚C already, but I did today. Furnace dry heat so you don’t really sweat much; very pleasant :-), but then you realise that it’s not even summer anymore and that 27˚ isn’t even warm in Death Valley; well, it was 34˚ when we arrived last night. How do people work here, outside, without air conditioning? How did the first pioneers manage? What on earth did the Native Americans live on? There’s nothing here, except raw, primordial beauty. 

Checkout was a leisurely 12pm, so after our swim and breakfast we pottered around the borax mining museum and tried to get comprehend what it would have been like travelling through this hostile environment before the advent of modern transportation systems. 

Thankfully with the convenience and comfort of our modern conveyance we then headed on down, literally, to Badwater  Basin, 282ft below sea level. In July I’d followed closely the Badwater Ultra Marathon - for non-runners it’s a road race of 135 miles which starts at Badwater and makes it’s way steadily and steeply upwards towards Mount Whitney at 8300ft. We’d driven on much of the route last night on the way here, and we couldn’t get our heads around the fact that humans could actually run it, in more intense heat to boot.

I’d always thought that, being a desert, the scenery in Death Valley would be pretty similar all the way through. Nothing could be further from the truth. The mountain ranges have been weathered into the most spectacular shapes, and the colours are a veritable artists’ palette; unsurprisingly there is a section named exactly that - quite incredible, totally breathtaking - and wickedly hot! As we were driving through the rock formations the car thermometer read 138˚ at one point! ‘Oh no,’ says I a short while later, ‘it’s cooling down. It’s only 134˚ now’!

Not wanting to arrive too late in Vegas, we decided on only one more stop for photos and  sandwiches. Zabriskie Point. It’s a good job it was our last stop - I’d have completely run out of words otherwise. It was going to be my photo of the day for facebook, but I didn’t quite get round to posting one - way too much going on in Vegas!

We’re in New York, New York in a room with a spa bath, (first thing we tried out before we even unpacked!), and which looks out directly at the rollercoaster, so every few minutes we hear excited screams :-) Steve can’t wait to go on - me, I’ll take the photos!

Have gazed in wonder at all the excess close to hand, had a totally excessive but mouthwateringly delicious steak dinner at Gallagher’s restaurant, followed by a terrifically entertaining and jaw-droppingly brilliant Cirque du Soleil show, Zumanity, and tried to catch up with my overdue blogs. Even so, this one’s not going to be posted until tomorrow morning now; what am I saying, it’s already 2.20am! I mean in the morning when I’ve had some sleep! Busy day on the strip tomorrow.