We spent time in Death Valley, as we have for several years running. It was rainy, and when it didn't actually rain at the Valley floor it still was windy and overcast much of the time. We did not worry about overheating. When the weather allowed, we cycled or walked, but we also hunkered down and read, or played music, or (in my case) worked on kitchen projects.
The World Market is one of my favorite places to shop in Visalia, largely because we don't have one near our home and I never know what treats I will find. I picked up a pretty rice mix that became dinner with some of our holdover-from-the-Gulf shrimp. Can't say the rice really lived up to the purple hype, but it was tasty enough.
Another dinner took care of the Boudin left over from Louisiana. It too was easy to eat, what with eggs and homemade sourdough bread, but the finished dinner belonged in the Gallery of Regrettable Foods. I'm not showing it here; the in-process pic is bad enough. 
The National Park Service had tree specialists working on the local palm trees while we were there, giving them a severe trim. The sound of the chain saws, cut fans falling, and equipment working added to the noise of the nearby highway. This was the final result:
It was pretty enough, but hardly traditional. For reference, here is what the California Fan Palm (Washingtonia filifera) looks like in the wild:
It must be trimmed in order to get passage; the dead fans and stalks are quite rigid. A more traditional trim looks like this:
But hey, they didn't ask me. Incidentally, you can see the fruit clusters of this type of palm, hanging from the center tree. They're edible, but apparently a lot of work. The Timbisha Shoshone know what to do with them, but I don't.
More changes are afoot as well. The historic Furnace Creek Ranch, with its collection of restaurants, shop, motel and cabins, is scheduled for demolition and replacement beginning this year, right after Easter. It will be utterly gone by our next visit, and we've heard conflicting stories about its replacement. I was dismayed at the news until a shop worker told me that the buildings, which date back to the 1930's, are infested with rats and insects, miserable in the summer heat, and have air quality problems (did she say they had mold? hard to believe there) that were likely health hazards for the employees. We took the opportunity to eat at one of the restaurants two last times. We'd wanted to eat at the more upscale cafe, where they do fabulous things with seafood (in the deep desert - yes, I know) but it was always packed. Instead we ate at the bar and grill next door, where we could admire the memorabilia from movies filmed in the area and have beer delivered to our table. 
We liked their pizza so much on the first night that we ordered the same thing again on our final night there.
Roasted peppers, sausage, pepperoni, onions, jalapeños, cheese, with peperoncini as a garnish. The crust was excellent.
Good thing it wasn't far back to our campground.
