Day 12: A Day in The Hottest Place on Earth

We woke up this morning with the sun rise. It's weird how normal it is to get up at 7 30 now. I usually don't even feel that tired! Maybe it's because I am looking forward to the day so much.

We headed out of Wildrose campground this morning after a healthy breakfast of peanut butter and banana sandwiches. We decided to explore the areas that were most famous in the area, at least the ones accessible without 4 wheel drive.

Our first stop was Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. This was exactly what I had expected from Death Valley. Lots of sand dunes. Unfortunately this is hardly what Death Valley looks like. Most of it is badlands and rocky mountains and hills. The dunes were fun to play in, but it got very hot very quick and when we back to the car I must have poured an entire sand dune out of my shoes!

From there we headed to the Harmony Borax Works where we learned all about the mining of this mineral in the area. It was a really interesting little trail with lots of ruins and some information.

We headed to the town of Furnace Creek and the interpretive centre there. We got more information from the rangers about where we should go for the night and what to do with the rest of our day. From there we headed towards Badwater Basin.

On route we stopped at the Devil's golf course and the natural bridge. Both involved a little hike and a lot of pictures of the beauty surrounding us

Around two o'clock we got to te Badwater basin and took a look around. This is the lowest point in North America. 288 feet below sea level! Pretty cool. We walked around the salt flats for a bit, but then retreated to the car as it was getting quiet warm!

We then headed back to Furnace Creek and our campground for the night. Before setting up camp we went to the general store which was in a very quite little western resort. Everything looked very western! At the general store we bought some Ben and Jerry's to celebrate a nice warm day :) another first for Joel!

With a pint of Ben and Jerry's in my lap we drove to our campsite. After some talking and driving around we finally found an open campsite and sat down to eat our delicious "Half Baked" ice cream, filled with cookie dough and brownies! Yummy :)

We set up camp and made another delicious dinner on our camp stove. Everyone else was very friendly and people kept coming up and talking to us. As the sun set and the campfires started to get lit we spent some time under the stars talking. Then we headed to bed! We have another big day tomorrow, Vegas!