The Purple Penguin

Picked up our car, a cute little VW Beetle. Which was great until I got to Death Valley and realised we really should have booked a four wheel drive! We got lost getting out of Vegas, they don’t much like road signs or warning you before a turn. But we finally made it out and on the way. Stopped at a little casino on the way to California for brunch. Then on to the Valley.

Drove into the National Park and stopped at Zabriskie Point for our first look at the valley – impressive. Got to the Furnace Creek Ranch and checked in then off to sort out stuff for the next morning. Got dinner and while Joe was downloading photos I fell asleep.

Up early but out late! First stop the Visitor’s Centre where we got a couple of bird books and leaflets on the wildlife. Also got information about where a little VW Beetle will be able to drive. Then off down towards Badwater and promptly turned onto a road that the little VW Beetle was not suppose to go. But it looked interesting out into the valley! And we did fine. Stopped at a parking area and Joe got loads of photos (and I even took a couple!) then off to the next stopping point for more photos and turn around and back out to the Badwater Road. Headed straight on for Badwater where we walked out into the salt pan and got more photos. Didn’t see any snails in the water but did see a wading bird which was probably a killdeer, though that would have been uncommon. Unfortunately Joe didn’t get a photo, but he did get a photo of the shrike we saw – a Loggerhead Shrike. Another uncommon bird! But that’s about all we saw. Death Valley is quiet and little to see except other tourists!

We then headed for Natural Bridge and walked up to the first dry waterfall. Scrambled up that a bit but I decided I didn’t want the hassle of getting back down so stopped. Beautiful area. Unfortunately the light all day was dull as it was very cloudy so Joe’s photos don’t do justice to the areas we saw! We also drove through artist canyon but again the light was so dull we decided not to stop for photos.

We then headed for Dante’s View and got there for sunset. Joe stood out on the shelf for ages taking photos of the sun going down – finally the light cooperated and he got some lovely photos. I sat in the warm car (it was freezing!) and watched the sun set and the people. Really nice day.