STAGE 10 - 11

DEATH VALLEY - ZABRISKIE POINT- LAS VEGAS

The 2 slowpokes mucked around BUT we managed to make the bus even though we were the last to board. We travelled through thick fog for a couple of hours. On the way to Death Valley we stopped for morning tea at a Truck Stop at Bakersfield where we were waiting to get served when about 6 buses of Korean Tourists invaded the place. The were rude and they pushed their way in ahead of us. I was 'ticked off' with their ignorant behaviour. They disappeared as fast as the came! Our driver, George explained that they're on a time limit on their tours and get about half the time we do for stops. Still no need to be rude....

Again, the scenery was just as inspiring as the day before though it was totally different. We passed so many points of interest that it's hard to remember them all. Much of the Valley is below sea level, in fact, from just before Ashford Mill (built to process gold ore) to Furnace Creek, where we spent the night the road goes as low as 280 feet below sea level. We visited a lake which was without water and trod in salt on the road. Apparently when rainstorms occur the desert blooms with an abundance of flowers.

We spent the night at Furnace Creek Ranch... not one of my favourite places. I guess we'd been used to reasonably 'plush' living arrangements.. this ain't what we got here. Well, you know who moaned and complained the most.... not me. No coffee facilities, no ironing board or iron, a long hike to the restaurant whose food was lousy . I organised a Ranch Bus to come collect us to take us to the restaurant... Mum would never have made it with the cold temperature. To save a long hike back to the restaurant in the morning I bought cereal and milk and some plastic bowls and spoons, it also saved time the next morning. They had no room service :-(

22nd January 2001

Would you believe we were FIRST on the bus this morning! In fact, we lost the English couple, Frank and Chris. They were seen heading up to the entrance to the Ranch and then.... no more :-) We spent ages looking for them and they finally turned up where the bus had been parked earlier :-) They'd gone for a walk and taken the wrong turn..... Of course I supported not leaving without them... since they did the same for us at the beginning of the tour *S*

With everyone accounted for we visited Zabriskie Point which afforded us spectacular views of colourful rocks in the canyon below. It was on the way to Zabriskie Point I remembered that we had left Jared's squirrel (which we bought at Yosemite) back at the Ranch. You see Jared would take off in the mornings and leave everything to me .... I asked if we could maybe phone the ranch and have them send it to Los Angeles... but Mila and George decided that since we had to backtrack anyway and it was only one and a half miles out of our way, we'd go back for it.

I went back up to the room, but squirrel was nowhere to be seen.... gone forever I thought. Then I moved the pillow Jared had slept on.. I remembered that one skinny pillow hadn't been enough for him so he'd used squirrel to prop it up a bit. Squirrel spent the rest of the trip in the overhead locker on the bus!!

We backtracked a lot of the area we'd covered the day before and arrived in Las Vegas about 12:30pm. I had never been interested in coming here... ever. Once I saw the incredible buildings that had cost megabucks to create I was fascinated. We were dropped off at the Excalibur Casino which joined onto the Luxor Casino. Wow!! What decadence! The gambling didn't interest me... only the sheer enormity of the hotels. The food was good and sooooo cheap! Shops! Shops! There was no shortage of shops! The sheer luxury of the Casinos, each with their own themes and shows were utter fantasy and we were in the middle of it!

The Luxor was incredible, with its Egyptian theme... you name it, they had it... from the Sphinx to Pharoes. I was awed by the place. What's more... for the first time in weeks no-one cared if you smoked! There were no non-smoking areas! Of course, because we'd not been able to smoke much before.. we didn't go overboard BUT it was uplifting not to be frowned upon when we did decide to do so. I know... all you non smokers out there are probably frowning on my bad habit... but hey, I have no other vices :-)

We were collected at 3:30pm (we were first on the bus again) and delivered to the Circus Circus Casino. Checked in... and left a message for a friend who was staying at the MGM Grand. She wasn't there, Las Vegas is so big, so I had no idea what to do. We went off exploring the Casinos. The first was Treasure Island where they put on a Pirate Show for free, it was terrific and Jared really enjoyed it.

Before we left the hotel Jared and Mum got a 'shoe shine'... Jared was fascinated *S*

Then we decided to visit the Venetian.... Wow! Was it spectacular!! On the second floor was a canal, just like in Venice complete with Gondolas, Gondoliers..singing, St Mark's Square, Shops, shops and more shops! The sheer opulence of the foyer which looked like the Sistene Chapel...was amazing... painted ceilings, gold, gold and more gold decorating everything in sight.

After ringing the hotel to see if there were any messages for me (no luck)... we decided to go to a magic show. Jared had been fascinated with magic for some reason for a couple of weeks.. he'd never seen a magic show so we went to see Melinda, the #1 female magician in the world and she was superb! The little guy sat with his mouth open through the whole show. She was doing levitating, which mesmerised him... and me... I couldn't work it out... she was good! Of course he had his photo taken with her afterwards!

Again I had no luck with any phone messages so we decided it was about time we ate. The meal was delicious and cheap. By the time that was over it was too late to go anywhere else... Jared was about falling on his feet. So it looks like I might have to add Vegas to my list of "Must See Again" as well... sometime in the future

We are heading to Bryce Canyon in the morning....

.

More Pics

.