Death Valley

After early morning Mass in Bishop CA we headed south on US-395 to Death Valley National Park. We’re awfully glad we did this in October and not in the middle of summer. Not only were we hot but the car’s radiator got hotter than it has ever been. The landscape was stunning but forbidding. It was spooky to descend to an elevation hundreds of feet below sea level! We especially enjoyed learning about the borax mining and refining operations in Death Valley in the 19th Century. The name 20 Mule Team Borax comes from the fact that the refined chemical was indeed hauled from the refinery to the railhead by large teams of mules.