Spongebob Rules

Billy Connolly once described taking his two girls on a journey back to his roots in Scotland, trailing around the places of his childhood and telling them stories of his life there, immersing them in the history, the music, the culture of the place.

Asked upon their return home to America what impressed them most about this odyssey they both replied 'Sesame Street on the hotel TV'.

Why am I telling you this ?
Spongebob Squarepants. Say no more.

Hot desert night

I'm sitting outside the General Store at Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley. It's just after 9 at night, the temperature is 36 degrees, the stars are bright and the crickets loud. An awe-inspiring place; we've spent the day visiting the huge dunes north of here, the salt flat at the lowest point in America (84m below sea level) and watching the sun set over Death Valley from a high ridge. At the hottest part of the day we experienced 44 degrees, beating my previous record of 42 degrees in Sydney in 1979 ! Simon has been taking his new camera for a serious test run, and something over 120 photos await viewing and editing. We were winners in Las Vegas, scoring Simon's camera for a bargain price and having the cheapest meal out so far.

Lots of photos of mine for uploading but it may have to wait a few days as we're out of interweb range for the next day or two.