Day 18 - Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas

Death Valley, California to Las Vegas, Nevada

We made it to Vegas this afternoon! 

Death Valley National Park

Let me start this section by saying the I am absolutely in love with Death Valley. This was one of the stops that I wasn't excited about, but it is so beautiful! It's nothing like the deserts of Arizona or New Mexico. I don't necessarily recommend going in summer, but I do recommend everyone putting Death Valley on their Bucket List. It's possibly my favorite park we've been to on this trip!

We went to Badwater Basin this morning. It's the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere at 282 feet below sea level. The red arrow is pointing to the sign that identifies sea level. If you look closely, you can see the kids.

It was 110 degrees at Furnace Creek Visitor Center. I haven't verified this, but I'm fairly certain that at 190 feet below sea level, it is the lowest elevation Visitor Center in the National Parks. Earlier in our trip, we were at Alpine Visitor Center in Rocky Mountain National Park, which is the highest National Park Visitor Center at over 12,000 feet. Thankfully, no one needed oxygen today :-)

Doesn't everyone picnic in 110 degree weather? It was certainly hot, but I'm starting to understand what people mean when they say it's a dry heat. 110 degrees in Death Valley feels like about 90 degrees in south Georgia. I want to come back in Fall. I added today's Death Valley pics to my Death Valley album from yesterday.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area

This was a quick stop on the way to Hoover Dam.

Hoover Dam

So much bigger than it looks... truly an engineering marvel!

Las Vegas

Spiral escalator.

This is Isaiah's kind of vending machine... Pizza!

The volcano at the Mirage was such a good show. It's a shame they are tearing this down, but I'm glad we made it out to see it while it was still here. I've got videos posted in my Las Vegas Area album. I'll post more Vegas pics tomorrow.

So far, we have driven just over 5,000 miles on this trip. We have also visited 8 National Parks, 3 additional National Sites, 1 Presidential library, and been to 13 states.