Day 13: Las Vegas - Bakersfield 

After a quick breakfast in hotel Circus Circus we left Las Vegas, but as we didn't have a map of the city, we had some difficulty navigating our way out. We should have driven back to the highway that brought us into Las Vegas, but we decided to try a different route. This ended up costing us over an hour. Las Vegas is a bigger city than we thought.

Today we had two choices, either to drive to Bakersfield directly using the Interstate or drive through Death Valley.
We decided to drive through Death Valley, therefore we took the highway 95 north to Death Valley National Park.
Somewhere we missed a crossing which cost us a few extra miles.
The road to Death Valley wasn't very interesting. Nevada is one big desert and there is nothing special to see, except Las Vegas and Reno.

A few miles before Death Valley Junction we entered the state of California again, not far from there is Zabriskie Point, a viewing area from where you can see the lowest point of the United States (-282 ft.).

 The view was really spectacular and it was very warm and sunny. In summertime temperatures can rise above 120 degrees Fahrenheit in this area. (The white area in the picture above is salt, not snow)
We drove further and crossed Furnace Creek Ranch, the only hotel in the area. It is very strange to see this little oasis in the Death Valley.

A few miles north we crossed the sand dunes. It looked quite special and it made me think of the Sahara desert in Africa.

From this point we started to climb into the mountains. This is actually why they advise you to have water in your car at all times. The hills are so steep and the temperatures can rise so high that the engine of your car can get too hot.

From here the road was very boring, we didn't see any other cars for hours.
We drove through a few small villages, they looked abandoned and desolate. A treeless landscape, dotted with old houses and (abandoned) factories, perhaps this is what hell looks like.

When we crossed the China Lake Naval Weapons Center and drove up to Onyx everything started to look better.
At Walker Pass we had to stop for some cows on the road. We took photos of some of the cows under the Joshua trees.

The rest of the route was quite nice. We passed Lake Isabella and followed the Kern River to Bakersfield, passing some beautiful valleys and canyons.

We didn't have the chance to see much of Bakersfield, because when we entered the town we located the hotel quickly, it was nice that we didn't have to search for it.

I was glad this day was almost at the end. We had driven almost 450 miles and this day wasn't very special in my opinion. I think I will take the Interstate next time.
On the other hand I can now say I have seen the lowest point in the United States.

The hotel was quite nice. It is located near Interstate 99, great for the next day.
It is in an Industrial area so there is nothing much to do, but if you only want to overnight it will do just fine.
Luckily there are some restaurants in the area, so we decided to have dinner in a little restaurant next to the hotel, called Carrows. Dinner was cheap and very good. The waiter was funny and served us very well. We are still amazed that most Americans are so very friendly, and they are even friendlier once they know that we are from Holland.

Tomorrow is a special day again. A long drive to Oakhurst (Yosemite National Park), but first a visit to Sequoia National Park (home of the biggest tree in the world).

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