Day 2: Death, Heat, Ghosts, Snakes

With the Chens at the Shoshone Inn.

Dying in Death Nation...

Oh, wait..Death Valley National Park.

Eden getting serious air and Carolyn getting semi-serious.

Badwater Basin, lowest point in the USA, 282 feet below sea level...and smoking hot.

Dad, Carolyn, Eden and Me walking out into the salt flats at Badwater Basin.

A wily and hot coyote in Death Valley.

Wily Mom in the devil's golf course in Death valley.

Aint seen nothin' yet.

That's right. 115. At 115 we saw a sign that read, "Turn off your AC for the next 20 miles to avoid overheating." Hm. 

Unexpected journey...Nevada! State #41

Rhyolite, Nevada, a ghost town. Belgian artist created version of "The Last Supper"
with ghosts.

Dad's into it.

This work titled "Ghost Rider." 

These signs were everywhere. Scared? Yep.

Day two of Road Trip 2014 began with me, Mom, Dad, Carolyn and Eden,  going into Death Valley National Park. We stopped at the Ashford Mill Ruin and then Badwater Basin, the lowest point in the US (and the Western Hemisphere) at 282 feet below sea level. Carolyn and Eden couldn't take the heat anymore, so they abandoned us in the valley of the shadow of death. We ventured on to the devil's golf course and Furnace Creek, where temperatures reached 115 degrees. California is our 40th state on the 50 state tour, but we were so close to Nevada, that we crossed the line into a ghost town called Rhyolite. Rhyolite had several thousand people at it's peak during the gold rush, but declined to zero pretty quick. All that's left is some abandoned buildings, rattlesnakes, and an outdoor art museum that features a spooky Last Supper.