OK, here's the Death Valley day.

The Entrance to the Park:



One of the many breathtaking views as you drop down into the Valley:



We never expected to see a "General Store" & Filling station in the middle of nowhere, but here it was. All alone, nothing for miles. A real tourist trap as there is nowhere else to buy refreshments & gas for a long way either side of this (Stovepipe wells):



This is one of the long, straight roads through Death Valley. The dust blowing across the road is from a dust devil. Foolishly, we stopped the car and went to play with the many dust devils that spawned in the heat of the sun and managed to get an awesome video of me stood in the valley with a dust devil passing right over me. I got covered in sand, but it was a great feeling! We also drove the car through one and it sounded like someone was sand blasting the windows!



We went to Ubehebe Crater, which as the next picture explains is a recently formed crater caused by a volcanic explosion.



What is is and why it's there (Sorry about the bird poo!)



We stayed at Furnace Creek that night, which as the name suggests was rather warm and had it's own general store, essential for restocking our water bottles in the car:



This is one of the 2 canyon walks we went on the following day (take plenty of water and sun screen if you do this!). Again, breathtaking:



On the way out of Death Valley we stopped at "Bad Water", so named because the water is bad! This place is 282 Feet BELOW sea level, yet nothing more than a puddle of water is visible and the mineral content is exceptionally high making the water toxic.



Then we hit the long straight road out of Death Valley towards Las Vegas. I love these roads that are straight as far as the eye can see - we just don't have room for things like this here in the UK!



Hope you enjoyed this little insight to Death Valley, I'll post a few from Vegas, but don't have many to show really.

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More great photos Andy.

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What you do today you will have to live with tonight

Thanks :)

Las Vegas was our next stop, before heading off to Palm Springs.

We stayed in the Luxor Hotel. Everyone has seen it from the outside, so here's an alternative view:



The buffet restaurant was like nothing any of us had ever seen before. So much food!



The theming, like all the Hotels in Vegas was amazing. This was indoors:



This was the best externally themed Hotel, the New York, New York - I stayed here last year and it is a great place to stay:



Each Hotel has it's own Casino and they are all huge! See how empty it is? It was like that throughout our stay!



More great theming in one of the Hotels:



This last pic is one I took in 2003 on my first trip to Vegas. It's too good to miss out of the mix though:



After Vegas we headed off to Palm Springs, but came across Calico Ghost town on the way, so guess what's coming next?!

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. . . for Robert [Stealth Eagle] - A Dedication to this Much Warranted Thread in the SETI Cafe - Thank You Sir!




> great Photo's all around - keep iT up y'all . . .

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Thank you Richard.
Andy those are some great photos.
The ones of the Luxor remind me of my stay there a few years ago.

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What you do today you will have to live with tonight

. . . Most Welcome Robert - 'ave a good sleep Sir

> speakin' of 'large / small sizes' :]

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Having a break from posting the holiday snaps.

Tonight was the final leg of the Somerset Carnival and it visited my home town of Weston-super-Mare. Unfortunately the rain was coming down in sheets, but you can't kill a good carnival atmosphere and tonight the rain didn't dampen spirits.

We arrived early and took a sneak peek at the "holding area" where all the carnival floats are prepared for their 3 hour procession around the town.



Every float is checked before leaving and blown light bulbs replaced.



A lot of the floats have dancers, this one had people stood absolutely still, holding a pose. It was very effective. It must be hard to stand for so long when it is so cold & wet!



The floats come in all shapes and sizes with many different themes. The USA featured on 2 of the floats this year.



This one was animated robots and was very good. I am sure it will be this years winner.



This was another float where the people held perfectly still.



And this one was creepy!

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Nice Pics Andy Worth, You even mentioned the Ghost Town nearby, I live on Calico Blvd. Of course If You saw the Ghost Town, then You only saw half of It, The Rest is at Knotts Berry Farm in Anaheim CA.

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Savoir-Faire is everywhere!
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Nice Pics Andy Worth, You even mentioned the Ghost Town nearby, I live on Calico Blvd. Of course If You saw the Ghost Town, then You only saw half of It, The Rest is at Knotts Berry Farm in Anaheim CA.

Thanks :)

We never visited Knotts Berry this time around, but stayed at the Hotel Pepper Tree in Anaheim which is literally 5 minutes from Knotts. That's where we ended out little tour actually.

If I'd realised I was driving by your home I'd have popped in for refreshments! ;)

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Nice Pics Andy Worth, You even mentioned the Ghost Town nearby, I live on Calico Blvd. Of course If You saw the Ghost Town, then You only saw half of It, The Rest is at Knotts Berry Farm in Anaheim CA.

Thanks :)

We never visited Knotts Berry this time around, but stayed at the Hotel Pepper Tree in Anaheim which is literally 5 minutes from Knotts. That's where we ended out little tour actually.

If I'd realised I was driving by your home I'd have popped in for refreshments! ;)

There wouldn't be much besides water, But then I live pretty simply, Coffee or Tea and right now I'm out of Tea. :D

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Savoir-Faire is everywhere!
The T1 Trust, T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, America's First HST

Again Great photos Andy. Thanks for sharing.

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What you do today you will have to live with tonight

Last night the snow came here.. But even if it has been a snowstorm all night, and also during day, it doesnt cover the ground.. it just blows away.. ;-))
Today it was - 1`C, and about 20 meter/sec northern wind.. you can count out
how cold it felt.. ;p I took some few photos, the air was filled with salt, the wind made it unpossible to hold the cam steady to take any proper photo.. The two first is taken from Inside a window in my house (upper floor) nr.1 without any zoom. The 3rd i took whilst hiding half behind the north-eastern corner of my house ;-))
Its not much photos..but its enough to let you see how it looked like here
today.. at the western end of Norway....

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Still nice pictures Moon.

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Not to late to order an Anni Shirt

Moon those are great photos.
Thanks for sharing.

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What you do today you will have to live with tonight

And big too. :o

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Savoir-Faire is everywhere!
The T1 Trust, T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, America's First HST

And big too. :o

Slightly smaller than the recommended 1024 * 768 actually

Great Pics Moon. I can feel the chilled wind from here ;)

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Great photos moon.

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With each crime and every kindness we birth our future.

Youre welcome ;-)

Yes, as long as the photos are kept
under 1024 * 768 it should be ok..but i guess
they may look bigger, since they are so cold.. lol

btw..the darker spot on the middle of the first
photo is salt on my window. Normally there`s a lot
more.. but lucky enough not yesterday, or it wouldnt
be possible to take any photo through it.. ;-)

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