Death Valley, California! 
When we left Las Vegas this morning the heat wave had broken  - good day for cooler weather since we were planning to cross Death Valley.  The highest temp we ran into was 95, and that was only at the lowest point.  

The rest of the day was comfortable and the car didn't overheat!  We didn't expect much from Death Valley, but we were wrong - it was very impressive.  The mountains were a combination of sedimentary layering and random  volcanic rock.  The colors were muted but there were layers of pinks, beige, blacks and blue-grays.  We drove down into Death Valley and the elevation was below sea level.  Fifteen minutes later we were above the valley at 4800 FT.
  We arrived at our overnight destination, Bishop CA, in time to have dinner at a really nice local restaurant, Whiskey Creek!!