Death Valley is the largest National Park outside of Alaska with over three million acres.

On the way we stopped at the Amoroso Café next to the Amoroso Opera House and Motel for a wonderful breakfast and unique atmosphere.  The Café is only open Friday to Monday.

Our first stop in the park was the Furnace Creek Visitor Center 190 feet below sea level. At noon it was 96 to 99 degrees.

Then the Harmony Borax Works Interpretive Trail. The rear wagon wheels were 7 feet tall and the 20-mule team wagon train was more than 100 feet long.

50 miles North was the Ubehebe Crater one half-mile wide and about 500 feet deep created from a massive volcanic explosion about 2,000 years ago, we watched as a father and daughter walk to the bottom. This was well worth the drive.

We visited the Stovepipe Wells Village but everything was closed due to a power outage. We were disappointed because they have a couple of nice shops and restaurants. We were glad though that we have a large fuel tank, Diesel was $5.27 a gallon. Oh well we were prepared and brought food and water with us so we moved on to the Badwater Basin 282 feet below sea level, the lowest point in North America.

The Artist Drive was the best part of the day. The nine-mile drive is a one way narrow and winding, but nicely paved road. The road has a length limit of 25 feet and we are 22 feet. The landscape and colors were amazing.

We stopped at the Gold Canyon trail and took a short walk into the canyon but at 96 degrees it was too much for us so we returned to the truck and continued our adventure.

Zabriskie Point was a short-paved trail to the viewing area. The views here were spectacular and the time of day about 3:30 was good for photos. We watched a guy hike a steep trail to a peak across from where we were, I was jealous because that use to be me but I was happy for him.

The 20 Mule Train Canyon Drive was not what we expected. We thought it would be a drive that the mule trains took, wrong! It was just the name given to the canyon. The road was narrow, dirt with very sharp curves and at one place the hill was so steep when we reached the top I could not see the other side so creeped over the top which turned quickly. It was challenging but glad when we were out.

Death Valley National Park was a 60-mile trip from our campground and when we returned we had logged in 285 miles. Another National Park off our bucket list.