Monday, November 11, 2013

Death Valley National Park: Zabriskie Point and Visitors Center

Today we returned from a two-night trip to Death Valley National Park over Veteran’s Day weekend.  I know Death Valley may not top most people’s “must-see” list.  Neither D nor I had ever been before, so we thought, why not?  The weather was actually quite nice and there were plenty of sights to see.  It took us about 4.5 hours, with stops in Barstow, Baker, and Shoshone. 

160

We continued our tradition of taking a picture of the welcome sign.  (This picture was actually taken today, on our way out of the park, since we missed it coming in).

028

We picked a good weekend to go!

Our first (unplanned) stop was Zabriskie Point.  I am not sure why I overlooked this stop in my initial plan.  We saw a bunch of cars on a turnoff not too far from the main road and decided to stop.

016

I believe this is the “point”, noted for its various colors.

017

014

At first, I thought this was the “point”. 

004

012011

We really appreciated the cloud cover.

008006

Do the kids look different?  n recently had his first professional haircut and k lost one of her upper front teeth and has a big gap.

018

Our next stop was the Furnace Creek Visitor Center.  As you can see, the temperature was quite moderate, although by the time we left, the temperature had risen to 82 degrees.

023

The visitor center had informative displays, along with an impressive movie theater and short film about the park.  (n fell asleep again-ha!)

026

The kids earned their junior ranger badge, as shown here.  It took some coaxing for k to ask the ranger some questions, which was one of the requirements.  However, I knew she would be sad if only n earned the badge, so I am glad she overcame her shyness.  n was pleasantly surprised with the plastic badge, and commented, “I thought I was only going to get a sticker!”  Now they can add the pin to their Zion junior ranger pin on their Christmas stocking. 

027

024

We packed some sandwiches/carrots/chips for lunch and ate on the picnic tables outside of the Visitors Center.  Our campsite awaited us!

No comments: