Death Valley National Park, California

It amazes me how people will go hundreds of miles out of their way, across some of the most desolate landscape imaginable, just to get the picture taken in front of a sign. We would never do such a thing.

Yeah, right...

Actually, I think that I need to brush-up on my geography. My impression of Death Valley was a vast, flat desert that dips below sea level in the middle.

Think again.
In order to traverse Death Valley, you will cross two mountain ranges. I mentioned that the descent down from Tioga Pass at Yosemite was the longest descent that I had gone down. Not any more.
And when yo get to the bottom, you go right back up again.
But the landscape is beautiful, in a scorched-earth, nothing-could-live-here kind of way.

We even saw a mirage.Oh, that's a photo from Glacier. It must have gotten mixed up into this folder. Sorry...

Anyways, on the way out of Death Valley we went by Yucca Mountain; famous for being the nation's nuclear waste dump.

It's also near the top-secret Area 51.
So much for secrecy!

We drove up to Area 51 and took this picture.
Do you see the Alien spacecraft?