(11) Las Vegas, Nevada,

From the wonders of Death Valley in California we traveled to the second state on our map - Nevada - to visit the most famous city of the region, which is Las Vegas. Since we avoided highways whenever it was possible, we drove east along the picturesque route 190 to Pathrump, and from there to Las Vegas down road 160. The word "picturesque" with reference to Nevada is actually a slight exaggeration, as the area there belongs to Mojave Desert. It is therefore flat (the only variety provided by the mountains on the horizon), and the land is barren. When you look at the map, you will notice that the border between California and Nevada is America's longest diagonal line (640km).

The picture of Las Vegas from a distance gives you an idea what a change from the diversified landscape of California Nevada was (S):

The name of the territory - Nevada - comes from "Sierra Nevada" and it was given to the region in 1861, which marked the separation of this territory from Utah. The separation of Nevada was the result of great animosity between the mainstream Christian population here and the Mormons of Utah. One might venture a conclusion that 1861 was a year in which separatist tendencies seemed to be sweeping across the whole of the US and the animosities culminated in the outbreak of the Civil War.
Las Vegas may be the biggest and most famous city in Nevada but it is not the state's capital. It might be surprising for a European traveler to realize that in America the biggest cities - and at the same time the most obvious candidates - are not always state capitals. What's more, even second-biggest cities (like Reno in Nevada) would be wrong guesses in the case of some states. Struck by this fact - known to me from geography lessons at school but somehow forgotten - I resorted to Wikipedia to verify my intuition with respect to capitals of the states which were on the map of my American tour;). Here are the results:
California - Sacramento (I knew it, though the choice would be LA or San Francisco); Nevada - Carson City with the population of just over 55 thousand (my mind went blank); Utah - Salt Lake City (that's logical); Idaho - Boise (logical again, though I didn't remember hearing the name before); Wyoming - Cheyenne (logical); Colorado - Denver (that I'd known since "Dynasty";), "Dynasty" also taught me that the capital of Arizona is Phoenix; New Mexico - Santa Fe (I remembered seeing a very romantic video clip to the song by John Bon Jovi titled "Santa Fe", but the logical choice would be Albuquerque). This geography lesson taught me one thing: it must be unbelievably difficult for American kids to score an A in geography.
Anyway, continuing my trip to Las Vegas: below is a picture taken at about 8 p.m. from our hotel. The city is preparing itself for the night (S):

"Las Vegas" means "The Meadows" in Spanish. Considering the geography of the area, one must admit that the name very well reflects the character of the place. When I traveled through Nevada, I got an impression that it was a very poor state: agriculture has not flourished because the soil is poor and investors somehow have not swarmed in to venture huge industrial enterprises here. Gambling has always been the state's major economy and the only solution to the disastrous decline in the 1920s, when state authorities decided to re-legalize gambling. This has resulted in the growth of Las Vegas (almost 2 m people live in its area) and it becoming the Entertainment Capital of the World. Visible below are lights of the planes bringing guests who will spend the night on gambling, drinking and having fun, whatever this might mean (S):

Nighttime is the best time for visiting Las Vegas, but it's the worst time for taking pictures if one doesn't have professional equipment. If one does have it though, it's a bit dangerous and cumbersome to walk around with a huge camera hanging from your neck like the albatross from the Ancient Mariner's;), especially if one wants to have some fun. As a result, I took only a few good quality pictures with my little camera. I don't regret it though, since I totally focused on watching, absorbing and experiencing the phantasmagorical reality of Sin City. Captured below is one of the first views of the city after I got out of the car:

Las Vegas is practically one street called Las Vegas Strip, which runs through downtown Las Vegas for about 6.5 kilometers. It is there that all the hotels and casinos are located. Las Vegas lives at night - dozens of thousands of people flow along and across the Strip. The visitors are dazed by all the music and lights - midnight seems to be the city's rush hour:

To enter or not to enter? I will, but not here - I will eventually have a drink in the Luxor Casino. For the time being, I'm choosing a crazy ride on the roller coaster, which is located on the New York New York Hotel and offers incredible experiences: the stunning panorama of the city by night, stomach twisting and dizzying free falls and hair-raising jet barrel-roll simulations. If you ever get to Las Vegas, don't miss it;)

American hotels are probably a subject for a separate blog. For about $100 you get a spacious room with standard equipment, plus ice is always available from an ice machine; but, most importantly, in the bathroom one always finds a hair dryer and an iron with an ironing board. Below is a picture of the hotel in which we stayed during our Las Vegas trip: clean, comfortable, not too expensive - Holiday Inn Express hotels are definitely my favorite, especially because the rooms always smell nice (my obsession).

The picture below was taken after we left Las Vegas and traveled north-east:

Ahead visible is the landscape characteristic of Utah, a state which borders with Nevada and which has a population of over 2.5 m living in the area equivalent to 2/3 of Poland's territory.

Utah's geography is extraordinary since three geological regions meet there: the Rocky Mountains, the Great Basin and the most beautiful Colorado Plateau. The colors visible in the picture below are for me the colors of the Plateau - different shades of red;). It is a promise of an adventure:

Utah may not be a very populated state but if I ever had a choice, I would certainly choose to live in Utah. The state prides itself on all the most famous national parks of the American West: Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, Messa Verde, Monument Valley, Grand Canyon and Zion National Park, which is our next destination, already looming in the distance:

(10) Death Valley, California

(S) Reaching Death Valley. Located below the sea level east of the Sierra Nevada mountains, on the border of California and Nevada, Death Valley is famous for record high temperatures in the summer. When I visited it, the temperature there reached 50 C, and the car's air conditioning system was on the brink of breaking down. The first glimpses of Death Valley's unearthly landscape visible in the picture above made me feel as if I was descending into a mysterious and dangerous world.
Below are dry desert hills that we are leaving behind on our way down the Valley. Pay attention to the sky, it's quite unique:

Death Valley is actually a long low desert, with rain falling only in the winter and scorching heat beating down in the summer. However, American deserts are nothing like sand deserts in Africa: I could always see plants growing here and there. Although the picture below was taken at midday, the view isn't clear - it's all because of the heat and the distance. The area is very flat and one can see the mountains which are very far away but the illusion is that they are quite close. In fact Death Valley covers the area of almost 8 thousand square kilometers!

Stovepipe Wells Village is a place where you can spend a night, have a swim in the swimming pool and have something to eat. Naturally, you can also buy petrol for your further journey along and across the Valley. The carts here are museum exhibits and they are a nice addition to the otherwise monotonous view;)

Below are sand dunes near Stovepipe Wells - it is a desert after all:
We decided to take a one-way drive down Titus Canyon, which is 40 km long. It took us over 2 hours. Hopefully, the picture gives you an idea of the type of rock in which waters have carved the canyon:

Below is a panorama of the Canyon. The car is slowly descending 1.5 km down to the bottom of the picturesque Canyon. Click on it to see the colors and forms (S):

Here is a beautiful contrast of the color of the rocks and the sky. It is amazing how many shades of red nature has to offer (S):
On the way down the Canyon we pass a ghost-town: the sign explains everything:
It must have been quite a journey for postmen to reach Leadfield, which had a very inconvenient location. No wonder they gave up on it after a year or so. This is what has remained of the once populated area (I actually went up there to peep inside the buildings, scary though the walk was because of scorpions and snakes which live there):

We are already almost at the bottom of the Canyon - the scree here indicates the route of the water that changes the shapes of the soft rocks:

We are now on the floor of Titus Canyon, admiring its fabulous geology (S):
The road is quite narrow and now it becomes obvious why it has to be a one-way drive:
Can you spot cacti growing from the rock? I could hardly believe my eyes (S):

The serpentine drive along the Canyon was full of surprises. Here is a huge cave carved by the water - a nice shelter from the sun, and we are the only guests there (S):

The picture below shows you how high the walls of the Canyon were and how very small and actually lonely we were there. A strange experience it was, as if one could see the earth's entrails:

Standing outside the Canyon, I could hardly believe that I had actually been inside it;) Considering the type of car that we traveled in, the ride was very exciting indeed.

Below is the famous landscape of Zabriskie Point - formed from sediments of a lake that dried up millions of years ago:

Zabriskie Point is an arid terrain, 50 meters below the sea level, called badlands. However, I would call it wonderlands: there is something romantic about this sand turned into stone; you also somehow feel that this geological formation is primeval:

Below is the view from Zabriskie Point - in the distance you can see the car park. Though it wasn't very far away from the car park to the vantage points on Zabriskie Point, I got dizzy in the hot dry wind burning my skin. Luckily, I didn't have to spend the night in Death Valley, as the temperature fell from 50 C only to 30 C and I don't know how I would have survived the harsh climate for longer than the few minutes that I spent at each stop outside the car.

From Zabriskie Point we traveled to a totally different place: Devil's Golf Course. It was created of salt crystals after a lake dried here (S):

The area in close-up - it's dangerous to walk on the ragged surface. It is true that only the devil can play golf there;)

Our next stop is Badwater. It is the lowest area in Death Valley and second lowest elevation on the western hemisphere (86m). Its vast white area is made of pure table salt. The difference between Devil's Golf Course and Badwater is that the latter is flat, and walking on the white plain is not dangerous to your feet - tourist friendly, one might say;)

The other difference is that Badwater is flooded during rainstorms. Because of this there is still water under the surface of the salty layer - it will probably evaporate soon.

I took this picture standing in Badwater Basin - to give you an idea how vast the area is:

Death Valley is amazing because on a relatively limited area you can see such a variety of geological formations. On the horizon you can see the Panamint Range with Telescope Peak, which is the highest mountain in Death Valley. Its height is almost 3,500 m straight above the floor of the Valley, which makes is comparable to Mount Everest (when you measure the peak from its base, not from the sea level). Visible in the sky is the moon - already;)

Death Valley may be a desert, but it is a civilized one;) The buildings here resemble a public toilet and a bus stop. Well, in this area you can make a stop and have a snack. However, I doubt if anyone leaves the air-conditioned car to get some fresh air in Death valley;)

There is even a castle in Death Valley - beautifully located in an area which might be called an oasis;)
Again, look at the beautiful sky. The sky in Death Valley is cloudless - the heat between the two mountain ranges which surround the Valley is such that any cloud daring to float over the mountains into Death Valley's sky evaporates immediately. I actually saw a cloud melt away - it was amazing;) (S):

Below is a picture taken already outside Death Valley - we passed Shoshone, which has 100 inhabitants and which is situated 84 miles away from Las Vegas - our next destination. One evident sign indicating that it's no longer Death Valley is the cloud visible in the sky;)
The Nopah Range mountains here are unbelievably colorful, they look like layers of paint. I am wondering how rich the colors of the earth are.

I can't resist noticing the similarity of the colors and patterns visible on the mountain ranges with those characteristic of native American art - nature does inspire (another bright thought from my diary;)
I am now thinking of the famous final page of Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby (for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation) and I'm looking for an equivalent description of the wonder that Death Valley and the majestic mountains inspire. Any tips?