The day began with a specially arranged breakfast at Alabama Hills Cafe. They opened an hour early just to accommodate our group! The breakfast was incredible!! --slabs of ham, banana pancakes, bacon, chicken-fried steak, etc. We finished breakfast with applause for the staff who came in early for us. How special!
We then headed into Death Valley National Park, with a destination of Scotty’s Castle. The road appeared to go on forever, stretching into the vast desert, and our caravan provided a beautiful display of color against the tans of Death Valley.
And smack-dab in the middle of nowhere, we came upon Scotty’s Castle. What a surprise! We had a prearranged group tour for us, broken into two groups as we are so many numbers now! Our guide was Abby, dressed in period costume from the 1930s. She was a wealth of information. The castle was incredibly interesting. Fifty-three miles from the Furnace Creek Resort and within the park boundaries, Scotty’s Castle stands as a tribute to friendship. In the early 1900s, Walter Scott (Death Valley Scotty) convinced Albert Johnson to grubstake his gold mining expeditions. The gold never materialized but Johnson fell in love with Death Valley and took a liking to the colorful Scotty. Johnson and his wife, Bessie, built this two-million dollar home with luxurious appointments and Scotty claimed it was his and was building it from the profits from his gold mine. The tour ended in the Upper Music Room,
with a song played on the huge Welte-Mignon theater organ that has more than 1,000 pipes! It was just magical...just magical. After the tour, we all went our separate ways to explore Death Valley on our own. Many went to Ubehebe Crater, some to Badlands, and some just to drive and spontaneously explore.
We all met back at the Dow Villa for a drive through the Alabama Hills and up to the Whitney Portal. Whitney Portal is 9 miles west of Lone Pine at an elevation of 7,851 feet. It is the gateway to Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States. It is also the trailhead for the Mount Whitney Trail. The drive through the Alabama Hills was very unique, as we were surrounded on either side by odd shaped rocks, in which you could find spooks (that’s what the locals call them, aka ghosts), ocean waves, heads, animals, and many other figures. After passing through the Alabama Hills, we continued on an extremely windy road up to the Whitney Portal. It was a very steep ascent with drop offs that make you hold on tight to the mountain-side. This road is definitely for those who love driving!
After this great drive, we headed to dinner at the Grill next to the hotel, followed by our nightly meeting. Mary conducted a contest to guess the amount of Jelly Bellies in the jar. Theresa was the big winner! Thanks to Mary for the Jelly Bellies and the contest!
Tomorrow, we leave Lone Pine for Yosemite!
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