Thanksgiving in Death Valley

Death Valley, California

11/18/17

Andi:

Yesterday we drove to Death Valley National Park. Once we got there Nick and I played snap circuits, laser tag, drove the remote control car, and played games. Then we had dinner and then read Harry Potter for a while.

11/19/17

Andi:

Golden Canyon in the Amargosa Mountains

Yesterday we hiked in the Amargosa Mountains. We went on the Golden Canyon trailhead. We found an unmarked offshoot in the trail. I went up and looked over the marked trail. Then we kept moving on the marked trail towards the Red Cathedral Trail. The whole time we were walking I was talking about when we went home to Wisconsin that I wanted to make a lemonade stand. Then we went to Zabriski Point. We went home from there. Then we went home and read Harry Potter and went to bed.

Nick: 

Yesterday we did an 8 mile hike. It took most of the day. It was not a very nice hike. It was long, hot, and there was not much to see. When we were done with the hike we all played laser tag, which is really fun with 4 people. After that we had dinner, played a little more laser tag and then read Harry Potter.

11/20/17

Andi:

Yesterday we did the Titus Canyon Drive. The way into the canyon was very, very, very, very, very bumpy. It got better at the canyon floor. We saw an old town that had old houses. It was called Leadfield. Then we tried to do some scrambling but everywhere we stopped it was shady and cold. The ride was so bumpy I couldn’t wait to get out of the car. The ranger said it would take about 3 hours. We went home when we were done. We made dinner and played laser tag. We read Harry Potter and went to bed.

Nick:

Yesterday we did Titus Canyon Drive. It is a 28 mile dirt road through a narrow canyon. It was probably the bumpiest road we have been on. The canyon we were in was only 20 feet wide in places. The rocks had really weird patterns in them. They also had lots of colors. When we got back we played laser tag and had dinner.

Sunrise on the dunes

11/21/17

Andi:

Yesterday we woke up early to watch the sunrise. We went to the sand dunes. We hiked up a super tall sand dune. There were clouds that changed red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and a little bit of pink and purple. We rand down the sand dunes and went home. We had a down day. We stayed home and I started to learn how to type. I got pretty far, but then we went to Dante’s View to watch the sunset. Then we had dinner and read Harry Potter. Then we went to bed.

Nick:

Yesterday we woke up really early and went onto the sand dunes to watch the sunrise. We went up to the highest sand dune which was 100 feet. It was really hard to hike up because our feet always slid down. When we got to the top we ran down and got going really fast. Then we came home and did homework. Then I drove my remote control car for a while. Next Andi and I played laser tag for a while. Finally we went to Dante’s View to watch the sunset. We missed it by about 5 minutes. Then we came home and had dinner.

Sunset at Dante's View

11/22/17

Andi:

Yesterday we hiked around the Ubehebe (U-bee-hee-bee) Crater. It was hot and the gravel was slippery. Then we went on a hike in the Fall Canyon. We got to a dryfall at the end and scrambled up the rocks on our way back. We had pizza and read Harry Potter.








Nick:

Yesterday we did a hike on a river bed at the bottom of a canyon. We hiked 8 miles. The canyon was really narrow at points. At the end of the canyon there was a dry waterfall. It is a waterfall that is only there when it rains. It was about 25 feet tall. We also did a shorter hike around the rim of Ubehebe Crater which was created by a volcano. It was super deep. After that we came home and had dinner.

Dad found the only flower
in Death Valley

Don't worry - the tarantula is dead

11/23/17

Andi:

Yesterday we went to Salt Creek. It was dry, but cool. Then we did laundry, went shoe shopping and had ice cream from DQ. Then we went to bed.

Nick:

Yesterday we did laundry in the morning. That took a really long time. We also ate lunch out and got ice cream.  Then we went shopping which took a while too because it is Thanksgiving and everything is out of stock. When we finally got home we had dinner and went to bed.

Badwater Basin is 282 feet below sea level

11/24/17

Andi:

So much hiking that Andi's
shoes are wearing out!

Yesterday we had bagels for breakfast. Then we went on a hike that was not marked so we got lost. Then we saw a natural bridge and the Devil’s Golf Course. It was called that because it looked like only the Devil could play there without losing his ball in the maze of rocks. Then we went home and had chicken, stuffing, cranberries, green bean casserole, and potatoes. Then we watched a movie and read Harry Potter.

Not too bad for a camper kitchen!

Nick:

Yesterday was Thanksgiving! We did a hike in the morning. It wasn’t a very nice hike. There wasn’t much to see. When we got back we started making Thanksgiving dinner. We had stuffing, potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberries, and chicken (we couldn’t find turkey in small enough quantity). Everything was really good. We also watched a movie after dinner. Finally we read Harry Potter and went to bed.

11/25/17

Andi:

Bottle House in the ghost town, Rhyolite

Yesterday we drove. We watched a movie. Then I helped make pesto cavatapi. Then we read Harry Potter and went to bed. In the morning we went to Rhyolite. We saw the bottle house, the old bank, the train station and then left.

Nick:

Yesterday we drove all day. We only stopped a few times for gas and lunch. When we got to our site we had dinner, read Harry Potter and went to bed. I forgot to mention that in the morning we went to a ghost town called Rhyolite. We saw an old bank, a school, and a train station. They were all big buildings considering that they were all built around 1905. Then, like I said, we drove all day.

On the road again!