Needles - Friday, 20th September

When we woke up in daylight this morning we saw this in the hotel car park, an old locomotive once run by the Death Valley Railway Company:

Also in the car park our holiday transport:

We headed off bright and early leaving Furnace Creek behind riding toward the lowest point of the USA, Badwater Basin situated in Death Valley that is nearly 300 feet below sea level. The sign here is way up the rock face and, identifies sea level:

Here is a sign that is easier to read:

Here is a plaque detailing the typical temperatures experienced in Death Valley. What it must have been like for the early settlers before the advent of air conditioning one can only imagine:

Today we experienced temperatures up to 94F.

After Badwater Basin we continued south to Shoshone in brilliant sunshine on empty twisty roads as good as any experienced in Europe (not all roads in the USA are dead straight!). We then crossed the Mohave Desert stopping for a picnic lunch in the welcome shade of some trees in the Kelso rail yard.

Continuing south across the Mohave Desert we entered the Joshua Tree Monument ultimately arriving at Amboy on historic Route 66:

At the iconic Roy's Diner in Amboy we headed east along Route 66 to our overnight destination, Needles:

Tonight we are staying at the Best Western Hotel, Needles in Needles and will be eating at the adjacent  Giggling Cactus restaurant.

So, that is another 300 miles under our tyres making a tad over 600 miles in 2 days. Further adventures along historic Route 66 await tomorrow as we continue to head east.