Day 9...

This morning we were up early for a tour of Scotty’s castle in Death Valley. Had breakfast this morning before we left but could only take a sip of coffee since it was already HOT outside. The castle was an hour away and with the stops of having to pull over for “urpiness” we just barely made the tour. Little story about the castle..

“Scotty” a cowboy from the area convinced millionaire Albert Johnson to invest in his gold mine. There was not a gold mine and when Albert came out west to check on his investment he found out what a fraud Scotty was. He went back East to work vowing to never giving Scotty another dime. When we returned home however he got to thinking about his dream of living out west and how much better he felt while he was in Death Valley. He decided to come back and have Scotty be his personal tour guide. They formed a friendship and Albert Johnson not wanting anyone to know that he was a wealthy man built a castle for himself but let Scotty take all the credit for it. The castle was to mimic a Spanish Colonial home.

The tile was gorgeous... some imported from Spain and some mass produced in Los Angeles in the 1920s.

I loved the curtains... so detailed and made from calf skin.

The organ was outstanding it still is working and when played sounds like a whole orchestra is playing with it.

I was so looking forward to taking pictures of large cactus in Death Valley and have only seen these small ones...

Other pictures from Death Valley...

The whole time I was taking pictures all I could think was that it looked like a sand and gravel business.

Our time was short here, Ainsley didn’t feel well and with temps at 104 we decided hiking wasn’t in hers or our best interest and opted for ice cream on the front steps of the general store before heading to Las Vegas.

Luckily the Jr. Ranger program was a short one and the kiddos got badge #3...

Vegas was a time to cool off in an air conditioned room, do laundry (that was interesting doing it in a hotel), order room service and just chill.