Death Valley

Death Valley is amazing because it is the lowest, hottest and driest place in North America.

Hottest = Second highest temp ever recorded on earth at 134 F.
Lowest = 282 feet below sea level near Badwater. Badwater is shown above.

Badwater is a huge salt flat at the bottom of Death Valley. As the water trickles down to the bottom of the basin it carries salt (Sodium Chloride) from the mountain sides. This salt remains as the water evaporates creating a huge salt flat. It is really cool, there was a 2 inch deep lake sitting on the salt flat while we were there. We took off our shoes and walked out on the water. AWSOME.


I like this place because it is very calm and quiet. I could whisper across the lake and you could hear me clearly. As I mentioned above, Badwater is the lowest point in the western hemisphere at 282 feet below sea level. If there is a big enough quake this will keep falling lower and lower.


Surounded by the Sierra Nevada Moutains, we climbed out of the Valley on our way back to Mountain View. We drove 1100 Miles total in the trip and it was well worth it.

Thanksgiving

On a damp summer day in 1869 there were five horses pulling a particularly heavy load up a cobblestone pathway in San Francisco. A man by the name of Andrew Smith Hallidie watched the heavy load drag the five horses to their death. Hallidie employed his Engineering ingenuity and solved the problem by inventing the Cable Car. I was lucky enough for my family to visit in late August and we rode them through the town. (you gotta do this if you come to San Fran)

From left: Brent (Raps MVP), Mom, Lindsey, Dad and Me. Thanks Jesse for taking the picture. These things are pretty cool and it is America's only MOVING national monument. And ofcourse we road hanging of the side.

Anyway, I am really thankful you guys were able to come visit me and I still can't believe the amount of travelling you did while you were here. I hope everyone had a great CANADIAN THANKSGIVING!!

Here is another cool picture I took of the Financial District in downtown San Fran. I took it from Coit's Tower.

The pyramid looking building is called the Transamerica Pyramid. It is the tallest and most recognizable skyscraper in San Fran.