Locals are petty good about places visitors might enjoy.
Talking to one such person allowed us the opportunity to visit a place called Ash Meadows.
This is about an hour north west of Pharump Nevada.
Not an aesthetically pleasing place, but it more then makes up for it in interest.
It is home to very warm natural springs which provide one square mile of habitat for the rare and endangered Ash Meadows Amargosa Pup fish.
The male being blue in colour and slightly larger then the female.
Now I can tell you I was looking for FISH....
they are the size of Neon's!!!
The clear springs are few and far between
and beautiful pools that go down several hundred feet.
Normal temperature of this water is between 87 and 93 degrees F.
It is also known as an IBA during bird migration. No birds there now.
We did see one lone female Desert Bighorn Sheep on our walk.

From here we decided it was only another hour to get to Franklin's Furnace in Death Valley California.
Neither of us has ever been there and thought it a great way to spend the afternoon.
Seriously at the border there is a fine looking resort and then the flat alkali lake bottom.
100 feet below sea level!
I do not know what I expected but it was not this.
As we drove on to Franklin's Furnace , it became enchanting in terms of changing landscape.
Huge rolls of what looks like sand or loose stone piled in undulating forms..
and this stuff is hard as rock!
Carved mountains in behind with chevrons of banded colours.
Nothing such as pinks and reds
but sands and greys along with a startling black thrown in .
We stopped at Zabriski Point and the lookout was a nothing climb due to the low elevation. Why even I made it up there with not a problem.
The vista before us was incredible.. rolling , folded crevices of natural coloured rock and sand carved by years of wind and no rain|!!!
It is quite otherworldly in appearance.
This is probably the best time (weather-wise) to visit and the place was filled with people from CA and NV.......and us of course!
Ran into family from Japan who asked if Lee could please take their photograph against this marvelous back drop.
I ran into a couple from China who built the most fabulous rock cairn I had ever seen.
And yes I have pics to edit and will, soon.I promise.
We went into the Visitors Center in Franklin's Furnace, not impressive at all.
Good thing they are building a new one.
Interesting to know that there are so many places you can hike to and wonders to see...
Found a post office and mailed things from there just to have the Death Valley stamp on them.
Food in the two restaurants there was so damn pricey that paying $8.50 for a hot dog just seemed insane.
So off we went to a place back in Pharump called Terribles!

Naturally one must walk through the Casino to get to the part where food is served.
The smell of smoke is absolutely horrendous!
BUT the food...
Lee had a 16 oz steak with all the trimmings for 10 bucks!
Really excellent steaks too for you that like steak.

After arriving back at the RV resort,
 I had to hang my sweatshirt outside for a few hours as it stunk sooooooo bad!!!!(hear that Geoff?)

Today is laundry day, so will attempt to get some editing done as well.

Thanks for stopping by and we enjoyed having you along with us once again.