Morning broke at our B&B in Parhump. We seemed well rested to take on the day. After getting gas and ice at the local Maverick gas station we set off to our first stop – the Armagossa Opera House and Hotel.

The Armagossa Opera House and Hotel was the cummulation of an eccentric lady’s wish…that is…to build a theatre in the middle of nowhere. It’s an hour’s drive from Parhump. Looked abandoned with paint pealing everywhere. An unwelcoming sign stating “No Public Restrooms – Don’t Ask” was displayed in the window of the hotel office. Previously I had told Sharon that we HAVE to stay here. But now I’m glad we didn’t. Seemed unusual, if not haunting. Plenty of YouTube vloggers had ventured here making it somewhat of a anomoly in sea of casino hotels just hours away. What *if* we had stayed there? If there was an emergency, then the nearest town, Parhump, was an hour’s drive away. Taking that risk for the bragging rights to stay at the hotel would have made us vulnerable.

We ventured on to our stop – Death Valley National Park. After taking a photo in front of the sign we went to the vistor welcome center. There’s some what of a photo opportunity to take a photo in front of the temperature gage (after all it’s the hottest place on early), but today it was only 55F.

After buying a map and Christmas Ornament we went to a Borax mine with displays of a wagon and some old buildings. I wondered how early settlers carried in water and how they watered their horses. Also the Borax they mined was actually deposited on an old ancient lake bed.

Next was a hour drive to a crater in the northern part of the park. We passed by what would probably be the world’s loneliest picnic area in the middle of nowhere. We weren’t hungry at the time, but decided to eat there later on if there was no later options.

Miles and miles of nothingness were our views from outside our car window. I wondered how it seemed to early settlers. What was their take on this wilderness. Or maybe they were so used to it, it didn’t phase them. Whereas with modern society miles and miles of untouched wilderness is an anomaly. Someone close to me said you have to just about make some wilderness areas National Parks so they don’t develop it.

We arrived at the crater and found the elevation had made the weather change. COLD wind was blowing around us. We decided to eat lunch of cold cuts in the car. Afterwards we ventured out ever so slightly to take photos. There were people walking about the rim of the canyon, but because it was so cold I decided against it.

Nearby was the road to the racetrack – a picturesque sight with seemingly moving boulders. But rental cars were not recommended as the road was not paved and flat tires were common.

We moved to to visit Ryollite where a free outdoor art display and ghost town was the tourist attraction. The outdoor art display featured an artist resprentation of da Vinci’s Last Supper consisting of ghostly sheets around non existent figures. Other displays includeded a mine craft naked Venus de Milo statue and a concrete couch with mosaics etched in.

The ghost town consisted of buildings in ruin. They were fenced off keeping me from exploring. We took several photos before heading out to Beatty.

Initially the hotel clerk was unavailable when we arrived. This got us worried, but we decided to see what was available in town…and it was pretty much some mom and pop restaurants and a Denny’s connected to a hotel. We returned to find the clerks available and checked into room 6.

We went back to Ryollite to take pictures of the Last Supper at sunset and got supper to-go at Denny’s.

Tomorrow will be another visit to Death Valley before heading out to Baker for supper and Barstow for the night.