Last week Tom and I took a new kind of hike. We didn’t follow a map or a path. We pulled off onto the side of the road in a place that looked interesting next to the Kit Fox Hills and then we just picked a direction and hiked. We have been driving by the …
From March 2015
Yearning for Easter
Lent took me by surprise. Not because the date snuck up on me – Ash Wednesday was duly noted – but there wasn’t a worship service to attend within a two hour drive so no ashes on my forehead this year. For the last 30 years, Lent was the most hectic season of the year. …
Heroes Are My Weakness
Sometimes, at the end of a long day at work, the most satisfying thing to do is read a fun romance novel. I like romance novels because they always have happy endings. I can count on it. Bestseller novels can be gripping, but I hate investing my time in 300 pages of a book that …
Lower Vine Ranch
At Scotty’s Castle I lead house tours and Tom leads underground tours. I also work in the visitor center and sometimes have part of a day to do some costume sewing for someone. Another duty that Tom and I do occasionally is trailing the Lower Vine Ranch Tour. Lower Vine Ranch is the place that …
Zabriskie Point
Zabriskie Point is one of the must-see places in Death Valley and Tom and I stopped by last week. We would have gone sooner, but it was closed from the time we got here in January until the first week in March. Zabriskie Point needed renovations and wasn’t scheduled to re-open until the end of …
Sidewinder Canyon
Last week Tom and I hiked up a canyon that isn’t in any of our Death Valley hiking books: Sidewinder Canyon. Several people had recommended this hike and its companion Willow Creek Canyon. Both canyons are located in the southern part of Death Valley south of Badwater Basin and close to Mormon Point. We drove …
Challenges with the Blog
Last week I had some challenges with my blog posts. I try to write a post five times a week, but last week the computers here at the Castle were not cooperating. As you know, we do not have cell service or internet where we live in Death Valley. We are adjusting to that. Don’t …
Spring Break
It is spring break for the universities and schools in southern California and Nevada. Which means that we have now entered into the busiest time of the year for Scotty’s Castle. Instead of 300 people taking tours every day, we have between 600 and 900 taking tours every day. Today all my tours had another …
Night Sky
Death Valley is a wonderful place for star-gazing. The stars are clearer here than just about any other place in the United States. Death Valley has been rated one of the top ten places in the US for night sky viewing by Fodor’s Travel and is one of only three national parks that has earned …
Coyotes and Ravens
There are two kinds of wildlife we see every day at Scotty’s Castle (besides the regular visitors): coyotes and ravens. Both of them come in pairs and both of them are very smart and adaptable. We have a pair of coyotes that include the castle grounds in their territory. Coyotes here are small, about 30 …