Death Valley Driver

Today we have a 358 km drive ahead of us to Stovepipe Wells Village,  one of the few places to get a room in the middle of Death Valley. We drove away from Mammoth Inn and went back to Mono Lake. We passed Erik Schat's Bakkerij and bought some decent breads for our picnics. We drove through the Sierra Nevada and had a picnic close to the Lone Pine Information center. We continued further on Highway 190 until we came in Death Valley. It was a still a long way before reaching the village. Funny thing is, I had to input the correct coordinates of Stovepipe Wells Airport into the GPS, because Stovepipe Wells Village had no house number. The signs along the road ask to to turn off the airco in the car. The temperatures this day went up to 117 degrees Fahrenheit ( 47 degrees Celsius!!!) after checking in to our room we took a quick shower. After shopping for some food and water, and free ice, apse decided to visit a couple of sights: the famous Zabriskie Point, The Golden Canyon, Badwater and in returning we saw the sand dunes. Temperature was still 109 degrees ( 42 Celsius ) at 7 pm. After driving back to the lodge and grabbing something to eat, I wanted to go swimming in the open air pool. Unfortunately a sand storm had just started. When I opened the door, the sand flew straight in my face! So forget about swimming here, go take another shower to get the sand out of everything. Off to bed and ready for Las Vegas!