February 26, 2018 - Tanya recaps Death Valley National Park and 24 African American Namesake NYC Parks

Tanya's Daily Scoop
Covering the West Coast & the World
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 8 DAYS

Death Valley trip report

The entrance to the park (c)travelincousins.com

Well folks I'm baaaaaaack from out in the middle of nowhere!

As you know, I've been traveling and exploring in Death Valley National Park.

Riding out of the window taking pictures (c)travelincousins.com

Still have -182' to go (c)travelincousins.com

Badwater Basin (c)travelincousins.com

I left off with you on Friday when we were heading out to the lowest point in all of North America, a place that has little to no cell phone signal and is pretty much a bonafide no mans land!

But how fascinating is this: 
Badwater Basin is at -282 feet below sea level and the lowest place in all of North America and yet it is only 84.6 miles from Mount Whitney, which is the highest point in all the contiguous United States with an elevation of 14,505 feet.
Tell me that this is not crazy?!

Throughout the weekend visit I had loose "plans" of seeing a few sites that I had yet to explore...

• The Natural Bridge
• Darwin Falls 

And one that I missed out on during my last visit - which was also my first visit...

• Mesquite Dunes

As luck would have it Dave and I were in a rental (a brand spanking new rental with only 53 miles on it at that).    Well we were gonna do a bit of breaking her in (why are cars always referred to as her?!)

But being that we rented a passenger sedan, there were a few roads that high clearance vehicles were required and that was not us!

SO instead of checking out spots that were not particularly typical of what you'd expect at a place like Death Valley - I had to make some last minute adjustments and here's where we went instead:

Badwater Basin (c)travelincousins.com

• Badwater Basin - at 282 feet below sea level, the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere — is possibly the hottest place in the world, with regularly recorded summer temperatures of 120°F (49°C). 

Footsteps in the sand (c)travelincousins.com

Mesquite Sand Dunes (c)travelincousins.com

• Mesquite Dunes - At the northern end of the valley floor, nearly surrounded by mountains on all sides, these dunes have been used to film sand dune scenes for several movies including films in the Star Wars series. 

Whats left (c)travelincousins.com

• Rhyolite Ghost Town - Founded in 1904 and dead by 1916, Rhyolite was one of several short lived boom-towns from the late Gold Rush era. People were drawn to the desert on the edge of Death Valley by the promise of gold found amongst quartz in local mines, and by 1906 the town had all the promising indicators of permanence with largest population in the area. Read more on the Atlas Obscura website​

Although considered a Death Valley Ghost Town, Rhyolite happens to be just outside the boundary of Death Valley National Park.
​35 miles from the Furnace Creek Visitor Center and actually across the state line of Nevada

Going into Nevada...Again (c)travelincousins.com

• Sand Creek - This stream of salty water is the only home to a rare pupfish, Cyprinodon salinus. 

The boardwalk at Salt Creek (c)travelincousins.com

Itty bitty Pupfish (c)travelincousins.com

We also went to Furnace Creek and to Stovepipe Wells, as well as Panamint Valley (with absolutely ZERO signal or wifi and where we stayed).

In front of our cabin (c)travelincousins.com

The backyard at Panamint (c)travelincousins.com

The word “Panamint” actually refers to a division of the Shoshenean Indians, also called Koso, who once occupied the Panamint area.

Little did I know what great history there was at this little privately owned "resort" -

• Panamint Springs Resort is the last privately owned establishment inside Death Valley National Park. It was grandfathered in when Death Valley the National Monument (February 11, 1933 - October 30, 1994), became Death Valley National Park on October 31, 1994.
• At an elevation of 1,926 Panamint Springs Resort was built in 1937 by Agnes and Bill Reid. Agnes Reid was a cousin of “Buffalo Bill” Cody. 
  The Reid’s operated this quaint roadside establishment together until the early 1940’s  when Bill passed away. In the spirit of strong   frontier women, Agnes continued to run the resort alone until 1959. She was known for her warm hospitality, good humor and love of wide open spaces.
• In March of 2006, Panamint Springs Resort has been owned and operated by the Cassell Family, who are also known for their warn hospitality, good humor and love of wide open spaces. They rescued this historic resort from its deplorable state and with vision and drive, a new adventure begins in a wondrous land of grand adventures.
  
  

We all know that I am all about grand adventures and if you noticed I only have 8 more days until my next adventure begins!!!

While driving around Death Valley this came to mind:

Well those are my wise words for the day. I hope you have a GREAT one and that you'll come back and see us tomorrow.

Oh and I just came up with an idea...
I'm gonna do a Complete Death Valley Trip Report with lots more pictures, information and findings from my 2016 visit as well.
​I'll be sure to post this fun and informative article soon!

Ciao 4 Now,
-Travelin' Tanya

Elisa's Daily Scoop
Covering Long Island & NYC Boroughs
​CURRENTLY ON LONG ISLAND
​

24 African American Namesake Parks in NYC

Happy New Week!  Ok, so it's not as happy for me as I would like it to be.  Starting the school week after Winter Break recess is not that easy - especially after a night of insomnia!  

I did not fall asleep last night until 3:30AM!!  Gianna had trouble as well and this morning, we were both like zombies.

Add to that, the kid broke out in some kind of rash last night and after a 30 minute conversation together trying to figure out the cause (at 2:30AM), I gave her some Benadryl and told her to see how it looked in the morning.

Well, it had faded, but it was still there.  I don't know if it's food related or product related.  I'm going to give it another day.  It's not itchy, so it's clearly an irritation of some kind.  The fun never ends!

Now, let me vent about this upcoming week.  As I've been talking about, the school Father-Daughter Dance is this Friday night.  As one of the co-chairs, we will have some last minute things to do during the week, and then, of course, set up for the dance Thursday evening and Friday Afternoon; then working the event from 6pm to 9pm and finally, clean up.

Additionally, the girls have drama practice this week after school; Gianna is getting a mani-pedi on Wednesday and Kelsey has a hair and nail appointment on Friday afternoon, prior to the dance.

Thank goodness, there is early dismissal on Friday! In any case, they are both very excited.  

Anyhoo...this is the last Monday in February - wow! did this month fly by!!! I hope it was a good one for you!

Today will be my last feature on Elisa's Long Island and Travelin' 25 for Black History Month.

While doing some research about state parks for leisure activity like hiking and exploring, I was totally inspired as I stumbled upon information about New York City parks.  

That got me thinking -- how do our parks get named?  And that led me further to the realization that many of the New York City Parks are named after famous Black New Yorkers!

What a great idea for a story!! 
24 African American Namesake New York City Parks (click title link for full story).

Arthur Ashe Stadium - Flushing Meadow Park, Queens. Named for tennis great, Arthur Ashe (1943-1998) (photo credit: en.wikipedia.org)

And that is precisely what I'm bringing to you today!  This was a super fun article to write because I learned and acquired so much knowledge about these great black New Yorkers for which these outdoor spaces are named!

Highlighted in the article are parks from the four outer boroughs of New York City - Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island.  My hope is that this gives you a whole new perspective when visiting parks AND that it inspires you to pay a visit to the ones featured.

West New Brighton’s Corporal Thompson Square on Staten Island was named for Corporal Lawrence Thompson, the first African American from Staten Island to be killed in the Vietnam War. (photo credit: RealEstateSINY.com)

El-Shabazz Playground in Brooklyn is named for the civil rights leader El-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz (1925-1965), also known as Malcolm X. (photo credit: nycgovparks.org)

The borough with the most African American namesake parks is Brooklyn with 19, Bronx and Queens Counties are tied with 5 each, and last,  with the least number, Staten Island has 1 park whose name honors a black American.

Dred Scott Bird Sanctuary is within Grant Park in the South Bronx and named for Dred Scott, a slave who sued for his and his family's freedom in the famous Dred Scott v. Sanford case of 1857. (photo credit: nycgovpark.org)

My hope is that Tanya will have wifi today and tell us how her Death Valley National park trip is going.  If not, I'll be posting some pics that she texts to me for her Daily Scoop!

Here's to a day filled with joy!!

-E
xoxo