Mules, Death Valley and Trains

Between our two trips this summer we had the pleasure of hosting one of Samuel's friends from Highschool, John Danner. He stayed with us for about a week.

While he was here we made our first trip to Death Valley. It was a really fun trip (although both Abel and I got carsick on the way there...it isn't really a trip until some throws up, right?)

We first went to the Sand dunes. Abel was thrilled! This was the biggest sand box he had ever seen!Abel's sandbox!

We drove to Furnace Creek and ate lunch there. We then drove on the 20 Mule Team road (they used to use wagons pulled by 20 mules to haul borax out of Death Valley). We saw a 20 mule team in the "Mule Days" parade in town. It is an amazing feat to get 20 mules to turn!

We then drove to Scotty's Castle.

View from above where Scotty is buried (next to his beloved dog...)

The "castle" is very interesting. Apparently Walter Scott (Scotty) was scamming wealthy people to invest in his mine in Death Valley. Suspicions arose when people realized they were getting no return on their investments. Some of them decided to take a trip out to see the mine. Scotty heard of this plan and took some action. He didn't have a running mine (he used all the money given him to gamble and drink!) So, what did he do? He staged a hold up of the wagon carrying the men to the mine. When Scotty's brother was accidentally shot he called the whole thing off and confessed.
One man, Albert Johnson, had such a fun time playing "wild west" that he kept coming out to Death Valley and to visit Scotty. His health was improving drastically with each trip, so his wife also wanted to come. She insisted on a comfortable place for these trips. In 1922 construction began on the castle. They built it in a Spanish Colonial style. It was really something to see! They have all original furniture with most of it in the same place it was when the house was being used by the Johnson's.
The Johnson's and Scotty became such good friends that they built him his own little house on the property, he had his own dressing room in the main house and he was there all the time.
Word got out about this castle that people started going to see it. They hosted people for meals and sometimes even to spend the night. Scotty was such a dynamic man and storyteller that he took the spotlight (and the Johnson's were more than willing to let him have it). People came to know it as "Scotty's Castle".
The castle cost Johnson about 2 million (in the 20's!) to build. It never was finished.

We also went to the Laws Train Museum just outside of Bishop. They have made a little town there with buildings and items from the area that weren't being used anymore. Abel really enjoys it because you can go in the big train and ring the bell!

In Engine #9

Abel and John

Samuel and John also went to see the Bristlecone pines (Abel and I had enough of curvy roads!). These are some of the oldest trees in the world. One of them is called the Methusala tree and is about 4300 years old! We tried to get there on Sunday with a map from the computer. We ended up turning back because of a very deep hole in the road. We later found out that basically only four wheelers can go up that way! Our little car would never have made it...

Also during John's time with us we went to our first ever "Mule Days" where Bishop celebrates the contributions mules have had in this area in the past. As I mentioned before they were used in Death Valley to carry the borax out. One of our members has two mules and a wagon, he helps out at Mule Days every year. They have a rodeo of sorts, but it was a lot more fun than any rodeo I have ever been to.

We had a great time with John (hopefully he feels the same way!!). It was nice to have an excuse to go explore the area more. We are hoping to get up to Yosemite this summer (only about an hour away!) and some more of the sights. Hopefully (hint hint) we will have some visitors soon to go look at more sights with!!