Day 1, August 10: Santa Monica, CA to St. George, UT via Death Valley and Las Vegas
[map]
After cleaning out my apartment, and loosing sleep in the process, we left town at noon, listening to songs about California. We took the 10 to the 405 north to the 14 out of LA. We checked the map and realized that, while the 14 to 395, would get us to Death Valley, it isn't the fastest route, so we drove along the north side of the mountains to the 15, then to Baker for an early dinner at the Mad Greek. Just a few months ago we ate there after hiking the Kelso Dunes; then I thought I'd be there one more time, but heading east. There we were again, this time with most of California Behind us. We headed north through the Mojave and into Death Valley. We did the quick, quick version, stopping at Badwater Basin and the Devil's Golf course ("so rough that only the devil himself could play golf there").
Click above to get into the potos; there are several for this day but I don't want to include them all directly.
We then drove out the main exit as the salt flats went into shade as the sun disappeared behind the mountains. In the dark, we left California, then drove down into Vegas for a last In-N-Out burger and shake. Blearily we drove the 15 up through the canyon in the corner of Arizona and into St. George, UT at 2AM local time and stayed in a motel.
> Day 2
After cleaning out my apartment, and loosing sleep in the process, we left town at noon, listening to songs about California. We took the 10 to the 405 north to the 14 out of LA. We checked the map and realized that, while the 14 to 395, would get us to Death Valley, it isn't the fastest route, so we drove along the north side of the mountains to the 15, then to Baker for an early dinner at the Mad Greek. Just a few months ago we ate there after hiking the Kelso Dunes; then I thought I'd be there one more time, but heading east. There we were again, this time with most of California Behind us. We headed north through the Mojave and into Death Valley. We did the quick, quick version, stopping at Badwater Basin and the Devil's Golf course ("so rough that only the devil himself could play golf there").
Click above to get into the potos; there are several for this day but I don't want to include them all directly.
We then drove out the main exit as the salt flats went into shade as the sun disappeared behind the mountains. In the dark, we left California, then drove down into Vegas for a last In-N-Out burger and shake. Blearily we drove the 15 up through the canyon in the corner of Arizona and into St. George, UT at 2AM local time and stayed in a motel.
> Day 2