Tuesday 4/3/2012
Off Hwy. 95, we could see Big Dune. We had tried to see it the prior day, but because of high winds, visibility was minimal. |
Big Dune is 300ft above surrounding land. It is maintained by BLM management. The dune is open to motorized and non-motorized recreational use. |
An abandoned building, out in the desert. |
Views just south of Beatty, Nevada. |
From Pahrump to Beatty, Nevada it is 73 miles. |
We went through Beatty, Nevada, a town we had gone through a couple of day prior. |
From Beatty, Nevada to Scotty's Junction it was 35 miles. |
At Scotty's Junction, we turned west onto Hwy 267 for another 26 miles, before we entered into California. As soon as we entered into California, we headed down a mountain. |
Shortly across the border, just before Scotty's Castle, we started to see lots of green plant life. |
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As we came down the mountain, we could see Scotty's Castle out in the middle of nowhere. |
Construction of Scotty's Castle started in 1922. It cost $1.5 to .$2.5 million |
The Joshua trees were in bloom. |
Picture of the visitor center in the distance. To the left of Joe, was what looked to be a wishing well. We were waiting for our tour to start of the castle. |
I was most impressed with the details in the doors and gates. |
After several visits to Grapevine Canyon, in Death Valley, Albert Johnson purchased land and started to build a villa for his vacations, because his health improved. |
Albert's wife Bessie, wanted a more comfortable place, so the castle was built, and it ended up being a winter home for them. |
View into the courtyard. |
Lengthwise view of courtyard. |
Sundial in courtyard. |
Stairs going to second floor in courtyard. |
Tour guides are dress in 1939 clothing to fit the era. |
Door in courtyard leading into the main living room. |
Main living area or Great Hall. A rock fountain was built below the tapestry. |
As water dripped down the rock wall, evaporation cooling was created. |
On the other wall of the Great Hall was the fireplace. |
Archway's going into the Great Hall. |
Another fireplace in the guest living room. |
The dining area. |
Most of the dishes came from Italy. |
Sink in kitchen. The kitchen was not used much because there was a cook house on the property. |
Leather curtains |
View from walkway above in courtyard. |
Bell tower in distance. |
Door to walkway or stairs going down, from upstairs of castle. |
Entrance into other bedrooms from the walkway. |
Music room on first floor below the bedrooms. |
In the music room, there is a 1,121 pipe Welte theater organ. The organ is played on the tour. |
Door leaving the music/organ room to the spiral stair case. |
Looking up! |
Door leaving the spiral stair case.
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Pretty cool castle and the desert dunes was neat to see also-I liked all the tile work in the castle and the lattice stone work in the different areas.
ReplyDeleteHi Sis, Yes it was a pretty neat place considering the year it was built!
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