11/27 MY last sunset at Ash Meadows

I took these photos the last night I was at Ash Meadows.

There were lots of clouds....

and snow on the Funeral Mountains to the west!

Before coming to Ash Meadows, I had the idea that it never got cold in the desert....The snow on the mountains showed me how wrong I had been!

I will miss the desert and its amazing sunsets!
I'll let the following photographs speak for themselves!

The next morning, as I drove away from Ash Meadows, I thought about all I had done and learned and the friends I had made in my time here!  Goodbye Ash Meadows!

11/14 Sidewinder Rattlesnake : Ash Meadows

We saw this little sidewinder rattlesnake in the staff parking lot one afternoon when we were going home. It was maybe 10 inches long.

Peter, the person in charge of programs and education at Ash Meadows, ran home to get his camera. The snake seemed curious and kept extending his tongue towards Peter's camera. 

Watch how the snake moves. Can you see why it's called a sidewinder? Can you tell that it's curious about Peter's camera?

Peter caught the snake in this net, so he could take it to a safe place away from the parking lot. It was kind of a cold day, so when Peter set the net down, the snake seemed to want to stay in it where it was warm. Eventually, however, it slithered out of the net and back toward the parking lot!

11/22 Powwow: Pahrump, Nevada

On the weekend of November 22, there was an intertribal social powwow in Pahrump, New Mexico.

The first set of dancers had ties with tribes in Mexico.

The drummer.

The lead dancer.

Their songs and dances were done to
honor the Great Spirit and Mother Earth.

The next set of dancers were from many different tribes. Their dancing mimics the movements of animals.

11/23 Scotty's Castle - Death Valley National Park, California

Scotty's Castle is in Death Valley National Park in California. 

Walter, one of the volunteers at Ash Meadows, was once a tour guide at Scotty's Castle. The castle was flooded during a severe thunderstorm in October 2015 and has been closed since then for renovations. The renovations are at a place where tours are going to be restarted in December, but Walter was able to set-up a tour for Ash Meadows volunteers for Saturday, November 23rd.  Our tour guide, Isabell, has been a National Park Service employee working at Scotty's Castle for the past nine years.

Scotty's Castle is not really a castle and it wasn't built by 'Scotty." Scotty's Castle was built in the Spanish Colonial Revival Style for Albert Johnson and his wife Bessie. Walter E. Scott was a gold prospector who become friends with Albert Johnson, who was a Quaker, and didn't believe in naming things after himself, so he called his vacation home Death Valley Ranch.

This gate opens into the courtyard at Scotty's Castle. So why is the complex called 'Scotty's Castle?
Walter Scott was a swindler who told Albert Johnson that he had a gold mine in the Grapevine Mountains of Death Valley. Walter kept sending letters to Johnson saying he needed money for the mine. One day Johnson, who lived in Chicago with his wife, Bessie, told Walter that he was going to come out to see the mine.
Walter, nicknamed, Scotty, knew there wasn't really a mine so he paid some of his friends to wait behind some hills on the side of the road. He told them to shoot above the wagon carrying Walter, Albert Johnson and his brother when they drove by on the way to the "mine."
Walter reasoned that this would scare Johnson and send him packing back to Chicago without seeing the mine. However, the plan went astray when the men behind the hill got drunk and started shooting AT the wagon hitting Johnson's brother! When Johnson's brother was hit, Scotty, jumped down from the wagon and started shouting, "Stop boys, don't shoot! It's me!" Walter then had to explain to Johnson that there was NO mine, but Johnson thought this adventure was so much fun that he and Scotty became good friends! Over the years, Scotty taught Johnson to ride a horse and shoot a gun and they had many fun times together. Scotty was also a great story teller who entertained Johnson, his wife, and visitors to the castle.  That's how the castle become known as Scotty's Castle."

Most of the furnishings were removed from the castle after the flood in 2015, but just standing in the entryway reveals its glory.

The castle was built between 1922 and 1929. Water from a spring located about a mile away supplied electricity to the castle.

Every room has its own decor - unique tiles, lamps, 
doors, hinges and door handles. (All of the doors have 
handles, not knobs, because at that time, doorknobs 
were considered to be a sign of poverty.)

Some rooms had a water feature like this fountain 
which helped cool the air in the oppressively hot 
summers in the desert.

Many of the windows had wooden shades like these 
to keep out the sun in the heat of the summer.

Some of the rooms on the second floor have
 shaded balconies.

The second floor also had a balcony with a bridge 

to the"guest house."

A sundial adorns a wall in the courtyard.

This is the bathroom off Albert and Bessie's bedrooms!
 (They each had their own bedroom, but the rooms were connected by a doorway.) Albert was almost seven feet 
tall, so the shower head is up near the ceiling! See the 
separate controls for the shower and the bathtub!

This is the music room in the guest house. It houses a
Welte-Mignon Pipe Organ. This is the type of organ that
was used to accompany silent movies. Only a few of
this type of organ were made. The organ is currently
not in operation.

The music room has fancy lights,

carved doors,

these amazing baseboard tiles,

wrought iron accents, 

a door in the music room that opens to the outside and a spiral staircase to the ground.

 a close-up of the tiles and wrought iron above
the door.

Outside the house is an extensive swimming pool which was never finished, or filled with water.

The small rectangular objects are lights for the
swimming pool.
Behind the large, almost square windows, was
a lounge where people were going to watch
synchronized swimmers perform: a popular
pastime in the 1920s and 30s.

Behind the main complex is the building that houses
the Pelton wheel and generators.

The Pelton wheels still work, but are no longer used.

In 1946 before the Johnson's died, they created
an organization to take care of Scotty's Castle and
Scotty until he died.  In 1970, the National Park
Service bought Scotty's Castle for $850,000.
(It had cost between $1.5 - 2.5 million dollars
to build.)

Scotty died in 1954 and was buried on the hill
behind the castle.