Bodie Blow Out

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I set the alarm for 5.30pm and we missed sunrise over the Mesquite Dunes, but to be honest the dunes weren’t that spectacular. It would’ve been better at sunset anyway which we missed because of spending way too much time in the shops!

Next stop was Zabriske Point which was like a moon scape. Already at 6.30am it was getting hot. We passed through Furnace Creek which has the highest recorded temperature of 56 degrees Celsius on 15 July 1972. Yes we are here in summer as well. What were we thinking! It’s only parts of the valley that are below sea level that is stinking hot, the minute you rise above it, things cool down considerably to mere 35 degrees at night. Then we went to Bad Water, but I think the Devil’s Golf Course was heaps better and more interesting. It’s a shame we didn’t have time to see Scotty’s Castle which was built in the middle of nowhere by a Chicago Millionaire in the 1930s, and it would’ve been good to see the rocks that move on their own over the years even leaving tracks in their wake. We got back to the motel in plenty of time for the kids to have a bit of a swim. We left at about midday after going into yet another gift shop. The drive out was very spectacular to say the least. Once we got not far past sea level again the temperature dropped by heaps. The view of absolute barren and featureless landscape compared with the breathtaking beauty on the way out was awesome. There were lots of twists and turns to get out of the Valley and as usual I couldn’t stop taking photos. The sheer drops off the mountains were scary and Brendan prayed on my fear by parking very close to the edge. We couldn’t believe it when we passed a jogger in Death Valley! We stopped in Bishop which was a thriving fishing tourist town to stretch our legs. We stopped for lunch at a cafe/restaurant. We reached Virginia Creek after some lovely scenery including a surprising bits and pieces of snow left in the Sierra, and starting to get back into pine forest country again. We were very disappointed when we got there. Firstly, every where we have been so far (except Vegas) has had laundry facilities. We had to go into Bridgeport (7miles away – a long way when you are sick of driving) to do our washing. Secondly, after discovering that they only had microwaves in the motel rooms and not the cabins (we were in a cabin where you couldn’t swing a cat) when we finally had food for the microwave, I was not a happy camper. I also wanted to make Bodie Historical Ghost Town well before 6pm to take some photos, but as usual we arrived late so this added to my frustration. The room had wonderful decorations and definitely had that all American rustic cabin feel to it, but had no room! So off the Bridgeport we went for some more fast food. I was looking forward to check out Denny’s. When we got there, Bridgeport too was disappointing. We were expecting it to be like Bishop, but it was a one horse town. Not many choices of where to eat. While our washing was washing, we ended eating at a Bar and had kind of a counter meal. Except here you have to be seated a server will serve you and your meal will be delivered to your table, and they come around every 8 minutes to refill your drink for free. There is no place to pay as the ‘server’ will collect your payment and take it to the cashier (which is always another person’s job).We had a nice meal any way.

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