Second Day (Death Valley)...

So this day was spent going in the opposite direction! After a nice lunch at Furnace Creek we headed our toward the South (I think) toward The Devil's Golf Course, Bad Water and Artist Drive/Pallet. Devin wasn't really sure about it at first and couldn't really understand what I was trying to describe to him. So our first stop was Devil's Golf Course and he was truly amazed by that. The ground is really impressive (and dangerous). He decided he wanted to walk around it a bit so we venture out and then I thought it would make a really neat photo so I threw him over my shoulder and walked out a little ways and found a "nice" spot for him to sit. So while he sat there and explored the unusual landscape I went back to the truck and grab my camera. It probably wasn't the smartest idea but he seemed to really enjoy it.

From there we went to Bad Water and just walked around a bit. We then drove down Artist's Drive and both of us just took in the amazing landscape. The sun was starting to set so it was truly an amazing sit. We took the right toward the end to stop at Artist Pallet and at first Devin said he wanted to stay in the car. However, once he saw people walking up the hill he decided he wanted to do that too. So we slowly made our way up the hill and it was pretty precarious but he did incredible and a couple of folks comment on that to him when we got up there. The return trip wasn't as hard because we found an "easier" path. All I can say is I was really impressed with him and all the walking (and not falling) that he did. Granted we were stuck together, there is no way with the terrain that I would have just let him go on his own, but it was really cool.  When we arrived back to the truck the moon just crested the mountain and I quickly made the capture to right.  It was truly an amazingly beautiful site to see.

When we arrived back at camp we lit a fire and made a really nice dinner that included hot dogs and pot roast (thanks Denise). The fire was going good enough that we just played Super Tic-Tac-Toe for about an hour until we headed in. The scene was neat and I needed to bring the cameras in from the truck so I make this capture at right.   Oh by the way, he smoked me in the game too.  It was really a lot of fun and we both really enjoyed it.  It also helped with the moon being out so we could see what we were doing!

For the most part I didn't take or make many photographs on this trip. We spent most of the time together and as such it didn't lend itself well to photography. However right behind our camp site was this really interesting outcropping of a hill. The moon was almost full and the lighting on it was really amazing. So after we finished up with Devin's bath and he was getting dressed I grabbed a camera, tripod and cable release and made this capture.

All in all it was a really wonderful trip and we both had a really great time. For some crazy reason I truly enjoy the peace and quite found out in Death Valley. For instance at one point everyone at Devil's Golf Course left and it was basically just the two of us and not being able to hear anything and to just experience it is really amazing.