When I was a kid we would watch Walt Disney’s Wonderful
World of Color on channel 4 almost every Sunday. On occasion they would present these mini documentary shorts
and I recall one of them Tour of the West (first aired July 1955) was about a
family’s road trip across the Western United States. I don’t remember much of the details except for a station
wagon driving on mountain roads and a strong desire to see in person all the
iconic locations they visited. Fast-forward
from 1966 to 2013 and I finally decided it was time to fulfill that bucket list
entry and at the same time add some nice memories to the minds of my kids.
Everyone, including my wife, thought I was crazy when I
proposed the road trip, driving from Moorpark CA to East Texas and then on to
Mississippi to visit grandparents, aunts, uncles, and lots of cousins. Then
returning. Even crazier was taking
four or five days to get there while stopping to visit cool sites all along the
way. And even more foolish was
being stuck in a car for hours on end with a five year-old boy and twelve-year
old girl. I wasn’t fazed by the
negativity and knew that this would be a trip that they would remember for the
rest of their lives. I can hear
them say to their kids…”I remember that trip we took with our dad way back in
2013…it was awesome!” And perhaps
they will do the same, albeit in some sort of hovercraft or personal air car
using hopefully a renewable energy source.
I researched and created an itinerary for the first leg of
the trip: California to Texas. I
decided to document the trip via iPhone video to have a record so the kids
would actually know it really happened back in ’13. I packed the Civic with
bags of Capri Sun, water bottles, pillows, blankets and plenty of snacks to
last days. Each kid had their own DVD
player and a bevy of DVDs and other electronic devices to keep them entertained
during the many hours in the car. As a note: Avery’s choice of movie for the entire trip to
Texas was Star Wars Episode III. I
would hear light saber fights coming from behind me hour after hour after
hour. Curse you George Lucas.
We headed out on Wednesday June 19th with our
first stop targeted for Death Valley National Park, a place I’d always wanted to visit. Out in the middle of nowhere North East
of Los Angeles, Death Valley was a good first place to immerse the kids in the
world of U.S National Parks. After taking
the “scenic” route, where the term road is used very loosely, we made it to the
first inhabited area called Stovepipe Wells, that had a ranger station, a small
general store and a hotel. The
first stop was into the store for a cold drink and bathroom break. We quickly discovered why Death Valley
is known as the hottest place on Earth.
The 110 degrees hit us like a blast furnace and even the short 20 feet
walk into the air-conditioned store wasn’t short enough to stop the sweat
dripping down the brow. Even
before entering I knew the gift shop portion of the store would be problematic
with my kids, but as you will hear from further stops, they are obsessed with
the need to get something at every gift shop known to man. This one was no exception. “Dad, can I get this. Dad, can I get that.” I settled on a few trinkets and one
snack item each. Olivia was easy. She just wanted gum but Avery picked
out a chocolate bar. I didn’t think much of it At the time, but if I learned
one thing on this trip it was never buy a five year-old a chocolate bar in
Death Valley. We left the store
and by the time we got to the car and drove down to purchase entry passes the
next building down I discovered the reason why chocolate and 110 degree heat
don’t mix. The bar had to have
melted in a matter of minutes or less and you can guess the result: Avery was
covered in brown sugary mess – from his face to his hands and a bit elsewhere
as well. It took a bottle of water
and a lot of tissues (which I smartly brought along – of course I also brought
wet wipes but this job required heavy lubricant) and cleaned off the soiled,
yet happy, young man. Who knows
how much chocolate actually made into his tummy but I managed to get most of it
off. To his mom’s chagrin, the
fingernails would have to wait until bath time.
The ranger at the station suggested we start out at the Mesquite Flats sand
dunes which were just down the road as a good first stop.
The view driving up was amazing – like being in some David Lean
movie. We parked and got out and
walked the dunes. Of course the
iPhone 4S was out and taking pictures and video right away. Avery, as any boy his age would do, was
running up and down the dunes pretending to be Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars
reference#1). Olivia was another
story – complaining of the heat, which was understandable. She eventually went back to wait by the
car. Another discovery I found was
that an iPhone can actually overheat.
After about 10-15 minutes it stopped working and a warning appeared
about excessive heat. It must be
hot if your iPhone stops working. Curse you Steve Jobs.
Next stop was the Visitor’s Center at Furnace Creek – the
main one in the park. Luck had it
that there was one covered parking spot left – which meant a lot as this is
where we found out the official temperature was 110 degreess, displayed on a
large LED outside the center. We
cooled off inside. Toured the
small museum about the valley and made it out without buying anything in the
gift shop. A tribute to my
resolve, though you will see this resolve erode later in the trip. A ranger was nice enough to tell us
about other places to visit that would be easy with the kids and accessible since
we only had the afternoon to explore.
Next stop was Badwater and the one spot in the valley I
wanted to visit. It is the lowest
point in North America, 282 feet below sea level. They even have a sign up on the overlooking ridge so you can
realize how low you really are.
Again, my adventurous son wanted to run all over and explore while the
sensitive daughter was complaining about the heat and wanted to go back to the
car. We didn’t stay too long but
it was memorable none the less.
Next was a jaunt down and around Artist’s Drive with a lot
of interesting geological views.
The kids got mad that I kept stopping to take pictures. Tough. I probably would never be there again so they can just…
After the drive we headed to one of the highest parts of Death Valley – Dante’s
View with a stop at Zabriskie Point along the way which gave great views of the
valley. I’m glad I remembered the
Ranger telling me that on the last half mile to make sure to put the car in 3rd
or 2nd gear because it was quite steep. The views were superb but we also had our first “owee”
incident when Avery tripped over a rock and skinned his knees. Luckily, I was prepared for the need
for triage and had Neosporin and Band-Aids on before you could say, “I’m stuckon Band-Aid brand ‘cause Band-Aids stuck on me.”
With the sun quickly falling down behind us we drove out of
Death Valley and on the way East to our first pit stop: Las Vegas, NV. The lights, the glitz the smelly smoke
infested casino.
(Next on A Road Trip
Adventure Across America: Sam’s Town, Hoover Dam and the tale of the lost
briefcase.)
Rich Burlingham copyright 2013
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