Las Vegas & Death Valley National Park

Here we are on Las Vegas Blvd., also known
as The Strip. I could not resist capturing Barry
Manilow's name on the marquee.

This is the Luxor Hotel with its showpiece - a replica
of the Sphinx. The pyramid is the hotel.

A picture of the Stratosphere taken while Bill was
driving. I see this all the time on CSI.

Here you see the Excalibur Casino. People move from
building to building on sky walks and to ground level
on escalators.

To let you know that Las Vegas is more than The
Strip, we visited Andre Agassi's charter school. Many
of you know I watch tennis and have followed
Andre's career. I am so pleased he has created
this opportunity for less fortunate children.

Approximately 700 students, grades 1-12, attend
the school.

Here two fifth grade teachers help some students
with a car wash to help pay for an end of the
year class trip. We had a marvelous time
talking with the teachers.

Joshua tree.

We are now in California!

In the distance the evaporation basin of Death Valley
can be seen. We are 282 feet below sea level and
on hot summer days the temperature can reach
more than 130 degrees in the shade, if you
can find any.

We took a ride on a road across basin.
Here we witnessed the effect of heat and
evaporation on the mineral rich water
that periodically washes into the basin.

Even 1/4 of an inch of rain in the surrounding
mountains can trigger a flash flood. You can see the
rubble left from a recent flash flood.