Death Valley

One of the walls painted by the owner at the Opera House.

Painted ceiling at Opera House



Park at Scotty's Castle

Michael . . . Scotty's Castle in the background

The colors and formations are incredible

This was a lookout site we drove up to that was called "Dante's Peak". Have to see it to appreciate it.

This past weekend we went for a drive over to Death Valley. Michael wanted to do the trip on the motorcycle; but unfortunately (I think) I had hurt my hip and was unable to ride that far in the sidecar. We ended up going the traditional way in a car.

It was a gorgeous weekend and a wonderful time to visit the 'real' desert. It certainly wasn't what I expected and had some really cool things to see.

Saturday we drove over to the outskirts of Death Valley and stayed in an extremely old and out-dated hotel with an Opera House. There is a woman there that is an artist and an entertainer that puts on a one-woman show. She painted her own audience on all of the walls and ceiling of the theatre, along with many painting in the hotel itself. I'm sure at one time she was a very good entertainer. However, she must now be in her 80's, with failing vision and voice and is still trying to keep this little showcase in the middle of nowhere afloat. It was very 'unique' and worth visiting. The hotel itself was a little rough, but also 'unique'. There are no televisions, radios or phones there. Actually, there was no cell phone service at all in Death Valley.

We toured a place call "Scotty's Castle" that was really cool. The history and stories of this place were very interesting and unusual.

There were many little sidestops in this park that were breathtaking. Because of the sun and our lack of talent, our pictures don't do it justice. Highly recommend this to all of you. Oh yeah, I now qualify for a lifetime pass to all of the National Parks that was just $10. Sometimes it pays to get old :-)

New Years

One of Peyton's favorite parts of the park

Sydie swinging and swinging and swinging

Peyton and Grandpa on one of the many big snakes we have here in Vegas :-)

This year for New Years, Jeff and his family drove over to Las Vegas to spend a few days with us. We had a lot of fun and the weather was wonderful. We went to a great park that is close to our house that Peyton and Sydnie love.

Christmas Eve 2008

Tim's house, who was smart enough to be out of town at the time.

Max and Grandma



Chloe and Jake

Irena, Katie, Kris and Debbie

Chloe being silly

Mike and Max being 'cool' with their matching hats.


Just a few picture from Christmas. It was a cold and different Christmas this year. I usually really look forward to the Holidays, especially Christmas Eve. This year everything seemed a little off and it was probably me . . . literally. Not all of the family were able to be in Salt Lake. Tim and his family were in Idaho and Jeff and his family had just moved to Phoenix and were unable to get away. It was nice to see Debbie, Ben and Chloe and that they were able to travel from Dallas to be with us.

This year the adults didn't exchange presents. We donated money to Primary Children's Hospital in remembrance of Trent Duvall. Trent was my brother's (Gary) Grandson, who died in November after a long and devastating battle with leukemia. We wish there could have been more that we could have done to help that family.

Christmas was once my favorite time of year, especially Christmas Eve. It is nice to have everything bought, wrapped, baked and cleaned and be able to enjoy the excitement of getting together and sharing in the food, fun and love. The older I get and the more separated our family gets in miles, my favorite time of year has become anytime we can all be together.