death valley

death valley gets cold.  really cold.

two weekends ago for my man's birthday we went camping and started the day with a handful of maps.  over breakfast at this delicious little beach cafe we took a look and decided where we wanted to go for a few days.  i've always wanted to go to death valley (i have no idea why, i didn't really know anything about it) so we picked that route and hit the road.  the path took us out of los angeles, by my old place in lancaster, past mojave, and on into more desert.  the whole weekend was without technology (except cameras) - no phones or gps, just the map and us.

i don't think i can describe how expansive death valley is.  it is large valleys surrounded by terrific mountains.  crazy things like random sand dunes in the middle of nowhere, the devil's golf course (google image search that), ubehebe crater, and the racetrack with "self-moving" rocks.  it's thousands of stars in a clear sky.  it's feeling completely isolated - in a good way - because you're definitely 50 miles from the nearest people, but probably more.  it's the beauty of a place so pure and so unique.  it's something you need to invest time in, and we only had three days to explore.

it was also our first time "real" camping together - making a fire, cooking, and using our tent.  and i must say, we're pretty good at setting up and taking down our tent together.  we discovered that i am a wimp in the cold...oh wait, i already knew that.  it was freezing at night, but so worth it.  the second morning it was snowing on us and everything was covered in white.  such a great weekend, and really nice to explore a place in the states that's interesting.

these descriptions don't do it justice, and i can't even try to accurately describe it.  you'll just have to pack some gear and some food and go see it for yourself :)