I recently finished John Grisham’s newest novel “Gray Mountain.” I have enjoyed all of Grisham’s novels. I read all of them as soon as they come out and are available at the library. His early legal thrillers were gripping and exciting and deserved to be made into blockbuster movies. I also enjoyed John Grisham’s sidetrips …
From April 2015
The Amargosa River
While Tom and I have been in Death Valley, we continually hear about the Amargosa River. The Amargosa River drains all of this part of western Nevada and southeastern California. Supposedly the Amargosa starts in Beatty, and we have spent quite a bit of time in Beatty. And we supposedly cross it every time we …
Questions People Ask Us
One of the joys of being a National Park Ranger is getting to answer questions. You never know what the question is going to be. We have questions we get asked every day, and then we have questions that are only asked once. I thought I would take a few minutes to talk about some …
Eureka Dunes
Even though we have been exploring Death Valley for several months now, there are still quite a few places we haven’t gone. Last week we headed for one that we wanted to cross off our list at the northernmost end of Death Valley – Eureka Dunes. Getting to Eureka Dunes is a challenge because it …
All-Employee Picnic
There is only one more week in the “season” at Death Valley. Even though there are still 600 people going on tours every day, the seasonal rangers are packing up and getting ready to move on to their next jobs. So last week we had the All-Employee Picnic up here at Scotty’s Castle before …
A Visit from the Stetsons
Tom went to graduate school at Vanderbilt a year before I did and moved into a dorm. When he got all his things moved in, he started unpacking, and when he tried to leave his room, the doorknob fell off. He tried to get the door open but really needed someone from outside the room …
Tonopah
Every day I give tours, I say the word Tonopah. The Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad was intended to be the main railroad from Las Vegas to Tonopah Nevada, with spurs going off to most of the mining areas as they were developed. Albert Johnson shipped all the building materials for Scotty’s Castle on the Tonopah …
A Good Easter
After six weeks of preparation and (for me) dread, Easter came, just as it always has and always will. The day here in Death Valley was beautifully clear and warm. There was no sunrise service anywhere within two hours, so Tom and I attended our normal worship at the Date Palm Grove. We had laughed …
He Is Risen!
He is risen! This is the perfect way, the only way, to start the best day in the Christian year. He is risen! These are the first words I speak to Tom on Easter morning, the first words I say to everyone I meet at church, the first words I speak to anyone I call …
Wildflowers
Five weeks ago I wrote a post about the wildflowers here in Death Valley. They are tiny but mighty and fill the gravel fields of the valley with tinges of gold. Since then, even more of the flowers have been blooming and I have seen some new flowers that I have never seen before. So …