On a recent Saturday morning, Soenke looks at me and says “hey, you wanna go to DEATH VALLEY today????” What a great idea!! Being that spontaneous road trip girl that I am (?!), I threw some VERY HOT weather clothes & a cool pair of sunglasses in a bag & said “let’s GO!!”

[The one not-so-spontaneous-road-trip maneuver I pulled was to make motel reservations prior to leaving, just in case….. if you end up in remote Death Valley without a place to stay, you might as well be on the moon!]

Although Soenke has seen more of the USA than most Americans I know, I still had some cool road trip things to show him. Any So Cal kid knows ALL the important stops on the road to Vegas (which is coincidentally, also the road to Death Valley).

The first stop is the Barstow Station, which is an old train station converted into a McDonalds, with ice cream, souvenir shopping, etc. EVERYONE stops here on the road to Vegas. If you DON’T, you fail the road trip test. You don’t really buy anything or eat here, since you’ve only been on the road for about an hour and a half at this point. You just use the bathroom then continue on. (It’s tradition.)

About 5 minutes past Barstow, you pass the Calico ghost town (formerly a silver mine). You notice the big white rock letters spelling out “Calico” up high on the hill, then you comment that “we should stop there sometime”, but you never actually do.

A few hours up the road is world-famous BAKER, population around 25. It is in the middle of NOWHERE. It boasts the world’s tallest thermometer which usually points to about 100F (38C). This is where things get exciting. You eat at the MAD GREEK restaurant, which would fit perfectly in the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. If you’re REALLY cool, you buy a “Mad Greek - Baker, CA” cap to wear the rest of the trip. [Note to CA readers: “Bun Boy” restaurant fell out of favor as a Baker road trip dining stop many years ago. If you are still eating there, you are NOT cool.]

This is where the turnoff to Death Valley is. We discovered at the Visitor Information Center (to which I think we were the ONLY visitors in weeks) that Death Valley was STILL another 2 hours north, through desolate nothingness. I guess if I had brought a map, I might have known that.

When we finally did make it to the actual Valley of Death, it was AWESOME. It was the most amazing, colorful, weird landscape ever. And it was a toasty 113F (45C). The good news is, you can happily & comprehensively see Death Valley from the comfort of your air conditioned vehicle, with small exceptions. We did stop at the salt flats to walk around & get lots of wet salt on our feet that is now permanently ingrained in my car’s floor mats. We also stood on the lowest land point in the Western Hemisphere (-282 ft, or -83 m).

After loads of colorful mountains & rocks, beautiful cloud formations, and more, we arrived at our motel in Furnace Creek (well-named, by the way). It was a funky little ranch-style place with a General Store, saloon, & a pool fed by hot springs. Most importantly, the rooms were **air conditioned**.

On Sunday, we made our way back to Baker via a different, albeit equally spectacular, route. We stopped at the “Crowbar Cafe” in Shoshone (population around 3) for a cowboy’s meal.

Many hours later, we rolled back into the LA basin, & stopped at my folk’s house for a delicious homemade dinner. A great ending to an adventuresome weekend !!

Lunch at the MAD GREEK in Baker:

Our new Alien friends (lots of aliens in the high desert):

Soenke cooling off in the 113 degree heat:

Interesting desertscape:

Lowest point in the Western hemisphere (with salt flats behind):

Lunch in Shoshone (that’s my new transportation I’m standing behind):