If you are not from Texas you probably will not understand why I am packing chips and salsa in my luggage.  But if you have ever tried Mexican food in Utah (where Julie lives)  you will understand.  I had to check my bag but I knew my daughter would be grateful and since I didn’t have to pay to check my luggage, since we are flying on Southwest, and that made it even better. Julie had a conference in Las Vegas and we decided to meet her there.  I think she ate all the chips that first day.

Las Vegas is not my favorite city but we have a full schedule of things that we want to see.  Some I have seen before and some will be new on my list.

I talk my sister and my daughters into a day trip to Death Valley National Park.   It will be my first trip to California.

I have heard a lot of stories about how hot it is in Death Valley but today that is not the case.  It is raining and it is cold enough to wear a jacket.  We didn’t know it at the time but it was going to be a day full of glorious rainbows.

Our first view of Death Valley National Park is the Badlands.  These are some of the views from Zabriskie Point. 

Our main purpose for this journey is Badwater Basin to see the salt flats and to stand below sea level.  

In this first photo you can see a small white spot on the side of the mountain.  It is a sign that says sea level!

       

It starts to rain and we need to make it back to Las Vegas before dark.  On our way out of the National Park we saw the most amazing thing, flowers growing amidst the rocks.

   

What we didn’t know at the time was that we were seeing something very rare in Death Valley National Park.  It was the beginning of the “Super Bloom”  the last one was 11 years ago and we only saw the beginning of this one.  Pretty amazing.

On our drive back to Vegas we see more rainbows and some beautiful scenery.

Life is good.

Lynda