DEATH VALLEY RANCH AKA SCOTTY'S CASTLE

Friday, May 4 – Our last stop in Death Valley was Scotty's Castle.

The castle takes its name from Walter Scott, better known as “Death Valley Scotty,” an ex-cowboy, prospector and performer in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. A very good Hustler Extraordinaire, to say the least.

Look at the setting. WOW!

Clock tower

Chicago millionaire, Albert Johnson, who had been urged by his doctors to sped time in a warm, dry climate, was convinced by Mrs. Johnson to build a mansion. At the time, Scotty told visitors he financed the building himself with booty from a secret gold mine in Death Valley.

One of the tiled patio areas.

Two walkways from the main house to the bedroom suites.

The 1920s-era building is decorated with Spanish and Italian antiques, leather furniture, had-carved redwood beams, and iron chandeliers.

Main room.

Small music room.

Sitting outside main bedroom.

Bessie loved her kitchen.

Dining room.

Custom crafted tile floors are covered with handmade Spanish Majorcan rugs. All furnishings are original and visitors are asked not to touch anything but the railing on the stairways.

The floors are beautiful.

The lighting was something to see.

They had indoor water fountains in several of the rooms.

Very unusual vase.

Unique

The Welte-Mignon theater pipe organ features 1121 pipes, a grand piano, glockenspiel, xylophone, chimes, orchestra bells, sleigh bells, bird calls and a drum and cymbal assortment, and cost more than $50,000 to purchase, deliver and install in 1928. Pipe organs like the Welte-Mignon Pipe Organ in Scotty's Castle were used to accompany silent films.

Here is the funny part…neither Albert nor Bessie could play a note. Not one note did they ever play. They brought guests in to play the instruments and had some them converted to player pianos. Our guide told so many stories like this. It was so delightful to hear these stories.

Small music room

Big music room. We were treated to a tune from the organ.

Look at this decorative ceiling in the big music room.

Scotty's Castle is a great place to learn more about the strange and colorful history of Death Valley and its only mansion. Tours ($11 for adults with half-off for those with the Senior Pass) run throughout the day. We were warned, that lines can get very long for the tours. We arrived a few minutes after 1 p.m. and quickly joined a tour getting started without any wait!

There is so much more to this castle that it would take tons of photos to show it all. Our advice…don't miss it.

Be sure to fill the gas tank BEFORE heading to Death Valley. There is only one filling-station inside the park and gas prices are “deadly.” Regular unleaded was selling for $5.96 per gallon. We filled our Honda CRV before leaving Pahrump and had about 30 miles in reserve by the time we returned and filled up in Pahrump for $3.58 per gallon.

A very long day.....about 10-hours by the time we returned home. Tiring, but glad we say we saw what was on our list! Tomorrow, we'll relax!

Thanks to everyone who let us know that the clicking on the photos for enlargement is working great. So…click away.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all come back real soon. Have a great day.

DEATH VALLEY…PART 2

Friday, May 4 – Death Valley is vey different than what we expected.  It's not just a big flat desert.   It is like Yellowstone, so diverse in its landscape. It has mysterious sliding rocks, a massive blast crater, ghost towns, sand dunes, mountains, canyons, brightly-colored badlands, and mines to name a few. Also, the Timbisha Shoshone Indians live in Death Valley.

Badwater Basin was next on the list. As stated in the last blog, it is the lowest point in North America and a busy and popular stop for the tourists.

The thirty or so people at this stop was the biggest crowd we saw all day. A neat addition to Badwater Basin, is a sign high in the mountains indicating Sea Level, 282 feet above the Basin floor.

See the sign Paul is pointing to…find the white arrow. This is how far below Sea level he is.

This is what the sign reads.

Here is what we look like at 282' below sea level. Don't think we look any different.  Taller and thinner…maybe!

Amazing this could even be done.

Image crossing the desert floor pulling one of these. Oh my goodness!

Artist's Drive and Artist's Palette were next. A dipping, diving, curving, one-way road that weaves through striking ravines and colorful rock formations.

Pink, green, purple, brown and black rock provide a visual feast to the visitor. Artist's Palette, highlights the drive with sea green, lemon yellow, periwinkle blue and salmon pink mineral deposits splashed across the barren landscape.

We then stopped at the Visitor's Center to pay our entry fee (remember, we entered free with the Senor Pass). A pretty crazy way to collect entry fees.....we're almost done viewing the park!

It was here we decided to continue on, to the extreme North end of the Park, some 55-miles away and visit Scotty's Castle. It's a long drive, one we were told by friends not to miss, and we're glad we stopped.  Death Valley is huge.  More than you can see in a day or in  a week. Scotty's Castle is next.  Come back and see this magnificent structure. 

Marsha wanted to share some of the lovely flowers in bloom at the Escapee park. She just loves her flowers.

Bird of Paradise bush.

This little guy was really busy.

They have a beautiful rose garden.

Just a few close ups of the beauty.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back again soon. Have a great day!

 

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK

Friday, May 4 – We got an early start this morning, heading out to Death Valley shortly after 7 a.m. We had about an hour drive, just to get to the park. Being a National Park, we were able to use Paul's Golden Age Pass to enter the park free.

The drive to Death Valley was pretty flat.

Death Valley is the largest national park in the contiguous United States. It comprises nearly 3.4 million acres. It is about 100 miles long and averages nearly 20 miles wide. It can have some extremely HOT temperatures, but we were very fortunate today with temperatures in the low 80's. It was actually very pleasant.

Being such a large park, makes seeing everything difficult. To travel from one sight to another takes time (about a half hour), and the drives can be tiring. It is also, a long way from Pahrump – about an hour on the south end and over 2-hours at Scotty's Castle on the north end of the park. We planned on spending 2-days touring the park, but had seen most of it shortly after noon, so we decided to “bite the bullet” and finish it up in one day. That would save us more than 4-hours driving and quite a few gallons of gasoline.

Our first stop was Dante's View. A very popular viewing point, Dante's View is more than 5000 feet above the valley floor. From the top, you can see most of the 110-mile long Valley. With a short hike from the viewing area, you can spot the highest and lowest points in the contiguous United States.

The white salt flats far below is Badwater Basin, at 282 feet below sea level.   Across the canyon is Telescope Peak, towering 11,049 feet above the basin floor. Just west off Telescope Peak is Mount Whitney, the highest point in the lower 48 at 14,491 feet.

The hazy appearance of the mountains is due to a mixture from plant moisture and the wind.

Just admiring the view.

Right before we left, we spotted this guy. It has been years since we saw anyone taking photos like this. Paul went up to talk to him about the camera, but he just smiled and shook his head. We think he…No speaky the English.

Zabriskie Point (the Badlands of Death Valley) was our next lookout. A popular area for viewing sunrises and sunsets. We enjoyed a panoramic view of golden-brown mudstone hills riddled with rills and gullies.

On our ride to Devil's Golf Course, we saw this hungry looking coyote. 

A short ride down a bumpy gravel road is Devil's Golf Course.

A vast evaporating dish covering more than 200 square miles. It is crusted over with a variety of salts.

Paul gave it the taste test....yep it's salty!

This is just our first three stops in Death Valley. We will continue the tour in our next blog.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon.