Death Valley, CA

[Shakey]

I thought you'd like to see these photos I took last week in CA.
 
I had to drive from Las Vegas to Los Angeles and I had some spare time so I took the long route via Death Valley.  From being below sea level to being in the clouds - awesome drive but time consuming!
 
I was near the China Lake Naval and Weapons Centre and got my own personal air show.  This is a large area about 200 miles North of Los Angeles where the US Military test weapons and practice with their jet fighters.  I stopped at the top of a mountain to take a break and stretch my legs from the taxing drive up through the mountains, down into Death Valley and back up through the mountains.  I was getting ready to make my way back down and start heading South towards Los Angeles so I stopped briefly at the top of a mountain.  You can see by the photos how cloudy it was that day and as I took a "break" I could hear a jet fighter off in the clouds.  I caught him outta the corner of my eye and he was getting ready to fly past me.  He saw me standing there, alone on top of the mountain and he made a sharp right turn and headed straight at me.  I was caught off guard as I was wondering what the hell was going on.  Was I somewhere where I was not supposed to be?  Should I duck for cover?  I was doing my best to snap photos with my camera phone but he was coming at me (photo # 216) at what seemed like full speed although I'm sure that jet could go much faster. 

Anyways, he flew directly over top of me, about 200 feet above my head.  I could almost reach up and touch the bottom of the plane as he buzzed over top of me, but I had to cover my ears as the deafening sound of the jet engines shook the ground and caused me to lose my balance.  I was in awe as he disappeared behind a mountain leaving me underneath a black cloud from his exhaust with the smell of burnt jet fuel in the air.  This was one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time and I was literally jumping up and down with excitement.  I could hear him behind the mountains and up in the clouds and I was hoping he'd come by and do it again.  Sure enough, about three minutes later he came out from behind the same mountain and was ready to whip by me again.  He saw me there and flipped his plane onto its left side to show me the underside once again (photo # 219) as he took off for another lap of his playground.

[Rolling_Thunder]

I spy F-18 Hornet...     

[LeeBoy]

That is cool!

[400/6/PAC]

Looks Lonely out there

[Mudhawg]

looks foggy too

[charger_mike75]

very cool pics   

[Silver R/T]

cool pics, would hate to get stuck there

[BigBlackDodge]

Hmmm............with the rising seas and all from globle warming we can dig a trench from the sea to death valley. That'll keep the oceans down!



BBD

[70charginglizard]

Cool!
Brings back memories on the trip I took down there to the first Mopar on the strip show after it's long hibernation.

That was pretty sweet driving thru the desert at dawn.

Good stuff!

[Charger_Fan]

Cool story & even cooler shots! I bet that thing was absolutely deafening as it blew past you. Man, piloting a warbird like that is definitely a job I could get used to doing.

Hey, I was in Vegas last Saturday, maybe we passed each other at some point.
This is the only cool thing I saw...but alas, they were closed.

[tan top]

nice pictures  ..................

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Great story Mike!

[Troy]

That's pretty cool. I need to travel more.

Troy

[Magnumcharger]

We send our CF-18's down to China Lake quite often. Did you see any markings on the fuselage?

[Shakey]

I spy F-18 Hornet

Ya got me.  I was lookin' for emblems on the side to see what it was but....

That is cool

very cool pics   

nice pictures 

I think so also.  Honestly, I was hoping to get some better ones but the speed of the jet coming at me left me little time.  I did get another shot of the gravel as I was clicking the button as fast as I could as I swung around while he buzzed over top of me.

Looks Lonely out there

I got two young girls at home that wake up in the middle of the night on a regular basis - it was nice to get away.  Also, you could go for about 20 - 30 minutes without seeing another car.  BTW - I could not get one radio station out there for about two hours - AM or FM, and this was also fine with me.

looks foggy too

Those are clouds Johnny!

cool pics, would hate to get stuck there

Before I make my way through a remote area I always fill the tank as you just never know.  At the same time, you may encounter other issues.  As is the case with me last week.  I was making my down one of the mountains and the road curved around bends with 1000 foot cliffs on one side and rocky mountainsides on the other.  There were many "rock slide" areas and I actually encountered some rocks on the road.  I misjudged the size of them and let me say, I'm glad it was a rental car.  It was kind of scary as the rocks ended up being just slightly smaller than a soccer ball.  The hit the floor boards on the driver's side about three times as I went over them.  NASTY!  I was heading down a 9% grade and the first thing I did was start to check the brakes to make sure the lines did not get damaged.  I was looking in the rearview mirror to see if I was losing any fluids (fuel, coolant, gear oil) and I was OK there.  I kept checking the brakes and everything seemed fine.

Hmmm............with the rising seas and all from globle warming we can dig a trench from the sea to death valley. That'll keep the oceans down!

it's global

Brings back memories on the trip I took down there to the first Mopar on the strip show after it's long hibernation.

That sounds like it would be very cool to drive on old B-Body through there.  The winding and hilly roads sure would give it a good workout.

Cool story & even cooler shots! I bet that thing was absolutely deafening as it blew past you.

I've witnessed a few fly bys at the stock car races so I kinda knew what was coming and yes, it goes right through the whole body.  You can understand why they call it a buzz!  I was in Vegas from Monday until Wednesday and unless you were at the craps tables at Paris I probably didn't see you.  I'll be back there in a couple of weeks.  Oh yeah with regards to that building in your photo, the former VP of Engineering now lives in the Toronto area and is a super nice guy.

Great story Mike

Glad all of you enjoyed it.  PS - there some VIN's in the thread I posted in a day or so ago that has all the photos in it.  Thinking about you when I was down there snapping pics.

That's pretty cool. I need to travel more.

I realize I am very fortunate.