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Death Valley National Park

Death Valley Route from Pahrump

We stayed in Pahrump, Nevada (a little east of the park) the night before because there was more opportunity for cheaper gas and places to stay (Saddle West Casino).

Late December is definitely the time to visit Death Valley. The temperature was only 60°, excellent for exploring the desert and hiking around. Understandably, some of the hiking areas were kind of crowded, but we didn’t get to those until later in the afternoon after getting to Bad Water Basin. The lower portion coming in from Shoshone was very quiet.

After passing one of the first salt flats, we came upon a couple of coyotes. One of them was very curious and walked around the car to the driver side after we stopped. Hopefully they aren’t used to people feeding them, but it made for a nice photo op.

Death Valley

Dollar Coin Production Comes to an End

Presidentail $1 Coin

The US has had a poor relationship with the dollar coin. A few years ago George W signed a bill that required the production of the presidential dollar coins, greatly increasing the supply. The problem is that we continued to produce the paper dollar and few Americans wanted to make the switch to the coin.

The treasury needed to spend about $650,000 to build a storage facility to house the excess coins and about $3 million to transport the coins. So, Obama/Biden are going to greatly cut back on coin production.

Keep in mind, if the US made a 100% switch from the paper bill to the $1 coin, we’d save about $5.5 billion over the next 30 years. Sticking with the dollar bill is a huge waste of taxpayer money.

I had been happily getting dollar coins through the US Mint direct ship program. That program allowed you to get a $250 box of dollar coins without any shipping or extra costs. They are now charging $12.50 shipping and handling, further discouraging us from making the switch to the most cost-effective currency.

La Jolla Cove, California

Ford GT

Joan and I stayed a couple of days in La Jolla (pronounced La Hoy-ya), which is just north of San Diego. It was a very nice town and a great place to hang out for a couple of days.

When we first arrived, I was a little discouraged because there are a lot of rich folks, and that usually means the downtown doesn’t have the stores and character I like. When we first got into town to grab some breakfast, I parked next to a Ford GT I only recognized because I recently “drove” one in my Need For Speed iPod game. Despite this $200,000 car and the myriad Porsches and Mercedes cruising around, we found breakfast at a nice spot selling bagel breakfast sandwiches and some awesome scones for what I thought were very reasonable prices.

Joan and I both really enjoy college towns like Davis, CA and Madison, WI because of the off-beat stores and lots of cheap eats. Sadly, there isn’t a Chipotle in La Jolla.

Those issues aside, La Jolla is a wonderful coastal town with great access to beaches. Right in the village there are some very small beaches and rocky shores where you can view seals and sea birds. A few minutes north and you can get to the Blacks beach, which is closer to to the UC San Diego campus and para gliding port. The beach there is large with lots of room for walking, running, and enjoying the sunset.

La Jolla, California