Fresno --> Death Valley --> Las Vegas

This morning we left the hotel in Fresno at 7. We were out of bed before 6 and after about 2 hours driving Mark decided to take a nap. The area is familiar as it is as flat as in the Netherlands. Mile after mile south bound on Hwy (highway) 99 all you see is flat land. There aren't too many houses, just fruit trees and vineyards. We traveled along the west side of the Sierra Nevada mountain range for a little over two hours. At Bakersfield we took a turn to the east on Hwy 58. After an hour, just as we drove into the mountains, Mark woke up. The last couple of hours the radio offered us a choice of Spanish,HWY California Beach boy's and country & western music.

We pulled off the hwy to fill up the gas and to get something for lunch, we don't wan to miss lunch twice in a row. We didn't actually notice before but our surroundings is turning into desert and we're still in the mountain range, Sierra Nevada. Strange to think that we've been in the same mountains yesterday walking in sequoia forests.

At Mojave (pronounce, Mohavie) we turned north on hwy 14 and by this time we were unmistakably in desert land. The road is fine and with a almost total lack of other traffic the road is ours. We occasionally are overtaken by SUVs with skis and snowboards on the roof. Where are they going in the desert!

Now with the Sierra Nevada to our west we drive along Indian wells valley passing through Red Rock Canyon, it is clear to see where its name comes from. As we noticed the snowy peaks in the mountains we guessed that the desert snow-lovers were heading for the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada.

After almost endless miles of desert, the hwy turning into a two lane road, stopping 10 to 15 minutes for roadworks and driving over the most out of this world beautiful mountain passes we arrived at Death Valley National Park. On our way here we saw pastel colors (or is it colours:-)) in different shades of yellow, red, and brown but the colors in Death Valley beat them all. The lowest point we saw on the gps was -85 meters, so that's well below sea level. The lady who gave us lost of information told us we would feel at home here but with the dry salt lake it looks nothing like home.

On our way to Las Vegas, which is another 200km of desert to go, we passed the Nevada state line and drove through Pahrump, which is a reasonably sized city in the desert. The sun set was as red as one would expect in the desert and now almost dark with about 50km to go just as we drive over another mountain pass we see the Las Vegas lights. That was a wow moment and we saw some three or four helicopters flying over the city. It is 7pm and the hotel isn't far. We are on the strip and traffic is slow, but the lights are bright. We checked in and went for a walk along the strip and some live music at the Venetian where ladies with pushed up boobs and very short skirts serve bear, well that's what we ordered.

Tomorrow we go to canyon area.