The Penthouse

I was talking to a couple of women in Yosemite who were staying in the park in Curry Village, which are canvas platform tents. They were telling me how hot the tents were, with no fan or air conditioning. 

I told them how we had booked late, six months ago, and there were no accommodations available in the park, so we ended up booking a cabin outside the park. 

I laughed that when you book late, you are left with either the basement or the penthouse. This time, we got the penthouse. 

It was a quaint cabin with a full kitchen, king bed in its own bedroom, and a loft with two more queen beds. Pricey, but worth it. 

After our first day in the park, we were all hot and tired from hiking. I was looking forward to a cool shower and then bed. 

We got back to the cabin and had a flood of water all over the floor. 

The water line to the toilet had busted and flooded the first floor. 

Our cozy cabin was inhabitable. . . . and the resort was fully booked. 

Great. 

April, at the front desk, was super. She promised us an upgrade. 

Yup, we got upgraded to the penthouse suite! Three bedroom, three full baths, full kitchen, washer and dryer. 

And our own private pool and hot tub. 

Wow. . . Just wow! 

After a busy, hectic day, when we all were exhausted and the last thing we wanted to do was pack our belongings into the van and move to another room/place, the penthouse was FANTASTIC! 

So, we did nothing on Monday, but laze around the pool and enjoy the place. 

Sequoia trees

We visited the Mariposa Grove of the giant sequoia trees and were all very impressed. 

These trees are HUGE! 

I honestly don't know if my pictures do them justice. 

Very majestic! 

Death Valley

I really didn't know much about Death Valley other than it was a hot dry desert. 

Today, we found out just how hot and dry. 

This picture was taken at 10 am. It's 116 degrees in Death Valley. 

HOT! 

Death Valley is also mountainous, barren, bleak, deadly, and rugged. 

We had to visit Badwater Basin, which is the lowest place in the US, 282 feet below sea level. 

We could walk out onto the salt bed dry lake. 

There actually was water in the lake, this small amount of dark between the white salt. Obviously, the water is "bad". 

Yosemite

Whatever you have heard about Yosemite National Park is all true. 

The falls are gorgeous, the trees are pretty, even the d$mm rocks have character. 

Our first day in the valley was awe inspiring. We were surrounded by natural  beauty. 

Tom took hundreds of photos. 

The Valley of Fire

The Nevada parks system was started in 1934, and The Valley of Fire was the first park. For some reason, it's not as we'll known as Red Rock Canyon. My guess is convenience. RRC is much closer to Vegas and more accessible. 

But The Valley of Fire is, by far, more spectacular. The landscape looks as though giants had dropped blobs of red Play-dough all over the landscapes, sometimes small dribbles, other places, huge globs of it. 

The red color comes from the iron content in the rock. 

In the 1930's, the CCC built some cabins out of the rock. 

Red Rock Canyon

Most everyone had heard of Red Rock Canyon. It's a national preserve (park, monument, whatever) not too far from Vegas. Gorgeous natural beauty. We had arrived shortly before sunset, which made for pleasant temperatures, but not much light. After the sun dropped below the ridge of the western mountains, we only had an hour before it got too dark to see. 

Here are some of the pics I shot. 

The Strip at Night

Seeing the strip from the top of the Stratosphere is almost a "must do". So we did. My middle son,Ted, rode the ride that hangs you over the edge. Yikes!