Headed from Sedona, Arizona all the way to Mammoth Lakes, California we decided to add in Death Valley National Park along the way.
I (Whitney) was a little nervous to drive through Death Valley in the summertime. It gets up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit and Ive heard stories about people breaking down on their way through. Regardless, we decided to go ahead and make the journey and Im really glad we did.
Before we got to Death Valley we made a pit stop at the Hoover Dam. Both of Richards grandfathers worked for the highway department and both built bridges, giving him a respect and admiration for the Hoover Dam. I cant say that Rosie or I got it, but Richard was it heaven. Not knowing much about dams, it is still clear to see this is something pretty magnificent and was grander than I expected. We parked and walked around for an hour and a half then continued our journey.
With a quick drive through Las Vegas (neither one of us wanted to stop) we approached Death Valley. Entering the park was a little erie. With a storm cloud forming above us and entering the valley through what looked like a ghost town, we were both a little uncertain about what was to come. As we started our journey through the park the landscape began to change into what I imagine Mars looks like and the outside temperatures began to rise. We pulled up to a lookout and with brave faces got out of the car into the 108 degree Fahrenheit weather. Surprisingly, it was not the heat that shocked us the most, it was how dry we both felt. Like the air had sucked out all the moisture from our bodies. We did not however, let Rosie out of the car at all while in Death Valley, unsure of how she would react. Once back into the car we made our way zigging and zagging, up and down, and all through Death Valley and its constantly changing landscape. We allowed 2 hours for Death Valley and it took us more around 3 hours to make it through. We could of easily spent 4 hours though. Luckily, we did get a little rain allowing us to be able to enjoy the park for longer without getting too hot.
Once out of Death Valley the weather took a turn for the worst and we spent the remainder of the drive just trying to get to our destination. We couldn’t help but be entertained watching the outside temperature drop from 108 to 60 degrees by heading north just a few hours.