Probably not "blonde proof." Definitely not "drunk proof."

Barney's car

Snowbow

Triple Take

An example of local "tree trimming." Seriously, only in Seattle.

My New Laptop

Definitely Not Rocky's Park

There is a fantastic park in the middle of San Diego, called Balboa Park. But not as in Rocky Balboa... which is, as an East Coaster, where my mind went when I first the name... but as in, Balboa the explorer who was considered the first to reach the Pacific from Europe. Opps. Blond moment there.

This park has so much in it... an artist colony, several restaurants, a TON of museums that would take you forever to go through. My favorite bits were the botanical gardens and the architecture. Made for extremely easy shooting. If you ever go to San Diego, make sure to stop here.

Life's a Beach

Last stop on my SoCal adventure was San Diego. They have beaches in boardwalks in San Diego. Funny, I've never seen the boardwalk on the Jersey shore, but I've been to several in California.

In San Diego, they have something called the Wave House. It is kind of like a rock climbing wall for surfers. Totally fun to watch.

Ghostbusters

Something that Death Valley has a lot of is ghost towns. I know, no pun intended... "death"... "ghost"..  but it is true. They dot the landscape in the most bizarre locations. I really don't understand why anybody would ever think of setting up shop in a place with "death" in its name, but there were plenty of prospectors in the early 20th century. How do you know when you are in a ghost town? You see a ghost of course.

Or you see really beat up old car next to a building that looks like it could have a ghost in it.

Road Runners

When you pay a visit to Death Valley, you spend a LOT of time on the road. Now, the roads vary in scenery as well as conditions. You have dirt, stone, mud and paved roads to contend with. Some times, it is hard to find the road in the landscape without the aid of a car for reference.

Points of View

The quintessential view of Death Valley is Zabriske's Point. It is THE place to be at sunrise. Dozens of photographers hang out before daybreak waiting for the magic to start. I didn't do this because i was confident that it would be pretty even a few hours later. I was right.

Another good place for a view is Dante's View. It is the highest spot in the valley.

In some places in the park, the mountains look like they may have been tipped on their side at some point:

Need to see what I mean closer up?

In a lot of the Valley, you will feel tiny. Can you find itty bitty Sarah?

Look at the Jeep:

The Racetrack

On the west side of Death Valley, there is something called, "the racetrack." It is called that because it is a huge flat area surrounded by mountains that look like grandstands. In addition, there are rocks that move around on the racetrack. Nobody has ever seen them move, so nobody knows how or why they move, but the theory is, when it rains, the "racetrack" becomes very slippery and the rocks move with the wind. It is very very cool.

Crater Climbing

This isn't a volcano. Nor is it a meteor crater. It is the result of some kind of explosion about 4,000 years ago. In case you were wondering, it took about 15 minutes to climb down and about 45 to go back up.

Furnace Creek

These photos are taken around the Furnace Creek area of the park. This is pretty much the "center" of the drivable parts of the park.

Death Valley

Ever since Mr. Minsky, my 7th grade science teacher told me about Death Valley, the lowest place on earth, I've wanted to pay a visit. I mean, I knew I was never going to make it to the HIGHEST place on earth, so why not take care of the other extreme?

I can safely say that ANY entrance into the park will blow you away, but I went in from the south. These are the pictures just from my drive in.

Yup, that is a double rainbow. And only about 10 seconds after I took this picture, the skies totally opened up for about 2 minutes. Never thought I'd be so lucky to see it rain in the desert!