1. We drive around Death Valley marvelling at the sheer size of the park and taking in amazing sights, canyons and rock formations.2. We find some dunes, where taking advantage of sunny weather I - and some other tourists - lie down on the sand and have a serene beach-like nap for a few minutes while Jan explores.3. On a very rough road we test our offroader driving out for 1h to the famed Racetrack Playa, a huge dry lake, famous for its sailing rocks (Wikipedia:...

1. Jan stays in bed a little longer and I go out and do some shopping and refuel the car.2. The view from our hotel's window is even better in the daylight.3. Street names in this town are great: Frank Sinatra Drive, Martin Luther King Highway, Mel Tormé Avenue...:)4. It appears that the city looks quite cool even in the day.5. We drive on to the Death Valley national park but because we leave quite late, we arrive shortly before dark so see very little. Jus...

1. We get up in high spirits, have a delicious breakfast and an enlivening conversation with a super nice waitress, who turns out to be Romanian and living here for 3 years now. Elena gives us some tips about nearby sights.2. We send out some postcards and by a weird coincidence I take mine from the stand and post them (the miniature post office is part of the souvenir store) without paying for them (just for the stamps), which I realize later on. Ha! See if they...

...we wake up to some beautiful sunrise views. We also have a very big breakfast which seems to give me stomach problems....we take the scenic 17 mile loop drive following droves of Japanese tourists in minibuses. Viewsare truly otherworldly and the whole area is surrounded by an air of mystique and ethereal beauty. God, did I really write those words? You have to come here and see this! Attention the road is rough at times....we find a middle of nowhere gas stat...

...we get up early, heat some tea, eat the meager remnants of our supplies and set off to climb back up....we take a 30 min hike to a beautiful overlook called Plateau Point and admire the canyon in all its splendor - our cameras get red hot from constant shutter release... It's chilly but sunny and gorgeous. Summer must be hell here though....because of shortage of food, hot tea or general fatigue we struggle a lot to get back up the 1000m path to the parkin...