The Travel Prescription: The Valley of Fire

If the temperature is over 100 degrees.....you may not need to visit a place called the Valley of Fire.

But of course,I visited The Valley of Fire State Park on September 3rd (a very special day to those in the know) and it was over 100 degrees. At one point it got sooo hot that I got confused.

This park is located about 50 miles outside of Las Vegas, Nevada right off of I-15 north. The drive from Vegas is pretty uneventful unless you like viewing desert scenery and driving fast. The speed limit goes up to 75 outside of town. It costs 10 dollars per car using the west entrance, from what I could tell on the east entrance you payed on the honor system....'cause I aint see no guard there!!

A 38 year old eye.

The rocks are a beautiful shade of red because of iron oxide (rust baby).

The Beehive

Believe me, it was as hot as it looks. When the wind blew, it was like a million hot blow dryers were directed right at you!!!

This part of the park was extraordinarily beautiful. To get the true feel for the magnificent colors you gotta come and see for yourself ......or maybe I just need to get a better camera :) It just looked like God had a paintbrush and a pallet of reds, yellows and grays. Sometimes it felt like another planet.

There were also a lot of different plants. Most was small bushes but I did spot a few cacti.

"Booty, booty butt cheeks."

So I then decided to try to hike the fire wave. But walking through hot sand compounded by the dry scorching wind was horrendous. I'm not sure how far I went, but I know it wasn't over half a mile.

There was also some signs of life. I saw a couple of lizards. I didn't see any snakes. The only sound heard was the wind, an occasional car and people speaking different languages. This, like some of the other places I visited were full of foreigners.