Month: November 2016

Sunday Serenity: Time

Posted on by Annie

Some days, I want to rush ahead: see that next view, get to that next stop, put another pin in my travel map. I know, I know: it’s the journey, not the destination. But sometimes its hard for me to remember that, especially when the days are rushing by, first Thanksgiving, then Christmas, and soon it will be New Year’s Eve and then 2017. Do you feel like that too? If you do, please join me and take a deep breath. Then let it out slowly and savor these images. Everything always takes time to grow. Your character, your learning, your friendships,…

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Trona Pinnacles

Posted on by Annie

One of the best things about desert country is that it’s really easy to find freaky looking formations like the Trona Pinnacles. These things are worth the 5+ miles of washboard gravel road it took to get close to them on Thanksgiving Day (because doesn’t everybody go exploring geological formations on Turkey Day?). This is the view from about 2 miles away so you can get a perspective on how “out there” they are, in more ways than one. Then you get closer and realize these things are awesome! They have been the setting for several sci-fi things like Star…

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Sunday Serenity: Details

Posted on by Annie

Sometimes, I need to be reminded that life isn’t just the huge and sometimes overwhelming things, as it has felt the last few weeks. Life is also details, like this image. It could be a view of something under a microscope or a close up of a lace pattern but it’s actually salt dried over time on the flats at Badwater Basin here in Death Valley. As I walked the half mile out to the end of the Badwater Basin trail, I heard a lot of different languages and thought about how all of us — different words, different countries, different…

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Art in Rhyolite

Posted on by Annie

When people heard I was headed to Death Valley, one of the top suggestions was to go see the ghost town of Rhyolite, not too far away across the Nevada state line. Calling it a ghost town isn’t really accurate. It’s a ghost town with one hell of an outdoor collection of art, the Goldwell Open Air Museum and Bottle House. The ghost collections are kind of spooky but I really liked trying to capture that spookiness. There is a small maze next and my friend Mary is walking it so you can get a sense of scale, the artwork…

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Titus Canyon

Posted on by Annie

Every camp gathering needs an adventure, and Sunday we had ours when Mary, Linda, Linda, and T Rex (the dog) and I piled into the Subie for a trip down Titus Canyon in Death Valley. The early part of the road was pretty much washboard quality, but worth it to see the big vistas and high mountains of Titanothere Canyon. This is the view from the top of Red Pass (elevation 5250 feet), the divison Titanothere Canyon and Titus Canyon. That’s the road down there, that little narrow thing through the bottom of Titus Canyon. The rock formations were truly amazing. I…

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