I’m taking a bit of a vacation with my son, with the two of us traveling to places that are impossible to visit when we’re in Japan. First we headed for Death Valley to sample the 120 F / 50 C degree temperatures while we searched for film locations from Star Wars: A New Hope. (The majority of the Tattooine scenes were filmed in Tunisia, but several shots, including the R2-D2 and Jawa scenes, were shot in Death Valley.) A warm thank you to the Target in Apple Valley that had the foresight to stock an R2-D2 figure for us — we forgot to bring one, but they came through for us. We then visited Area 88, I mean Area 51, before arriving in Las Vegas to catch the outstanding Penn & Teller magic show, a favorite of mine. On Sunday we’ll drive some patches of Route 66 and search for ghost towns on our way home. The two of us have really been awed at the massive open spaces we’ve found around us, which could swallow Japanese cities and even prefectures with ease. It’s inconceivable in Japan that a person could drive on a 50 mile stretch of road without a single soul around, but that’s what we’ve been experiencing on this trip.
A nerdy trip to Death Valley and points beyond.
