LawyerMom queried my comment about the fleshpots of Shoshone. Of course, that was totally tongue in cheek. Shoshone is a very quiet crossroads. But it got me thinking that many people aren't going to know much about this area so I took a little trip today out towards Death Valley, California.
Didn't go far, maybe 10 miles. Pahrump is actually the closest good sized town to the Valley; something the city is too stupid to point out. Yahoo maps say it is sixty miles (almost 100 km) from Pahrump to the Furnace Creek Ranger Station in Death Valley. I took this photo to illustrate the road.
This was taken at an altitude of about 2800 ft (850m). I THINK this is the highest altitude you reach on the trip to the Valley; which, of course, is something like 237 feet (72m) below sea level. But it's pretty quiet country. There is basically nothing out there until you get into the park: no farms; no ranches; no gas; no food; no water; no bathrooms. Maybe there are a couple of side roads that lead off who knows where. It's not a forgiving drive.
I am always translating our English distances & temperatures to metric because I do understand that we are backwards about this. It also helps me to get a better grasp of the whole metric thing. I must tell a story though. I read a blog by a Canadian named Croft. He lives part of the year up north then goes down to Mexico for the other part - not a bad life! Anyway, he was writing about the weather and said something like "it was 20 degrees, very comfortable" and I started thinking this guy's a hell of a lot tougher than me because 20 Fahrenheit is pretty darn cold! Well, gee! I guess 20C isn't that bad. Had to laugh though at my own thickheadedness.
Take it easy; it's dangerous out there.
4 comments:
The metric system has not taken a complete hold in Canada by any means. We buy gas by the litre (yes, correct spelling) but talk about how many "miles per gallon" we get. We build our houses with "two by four"s and four by eight sheets of plywood. We buy our potatoes by the kilogram but our butter by the pound and then complain about how much weight we have gained by the pound! It is very confusing up here.
That long, tumbleweed road sure looks like Death Valley. No gas stations, no hotels, no nothing . . . for miles. It must take a pretty brave soul to traverse it. Still, it is beautiful.
Love the truck. Don't think I would travel far down that road on it, though.
That is just the kind of road we travel down into Southern Mexico to find! Adventure and friendly people await over the horizon. This is what life is all about - Find a road and drive to the end and you will never have a dull day!
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