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    Visions of a Road Trip

    Photos from Worldwide

    There are [5] photos from Worldwide

    I awoke under a bridge in San Diego. Friends and I had nested there the night before after finding that any available hostel was miles away and even further out of price range. The drive back to the coast was filled with road signs that warned of unstable cliffs and falling rocks. Among those signs in the shrubbery were these flowers. These flowers seemed to signify a poetic balance. Their roots holding strong in such unstable grounds. As I knelt down in the sand and grass, snapping so many shots that I had cuts on my elbows with grains of sands pressed into them, my stomach flipped and spun with a sense like that of a serious vertigo. This was the last in which before beginning our adventure back east. Something so simple, natural, and pristine on a coast of unstable land. It spoke to me of something universal. Maybe something social or even a political/environmental commentary. Whatever it was out there that day on that cliff, I hope some of it landed in this photo. Views[224] I was in Vegas. The Luxor Hotel was comparable to the steerage compartment of an early 1900’s steam ship. Chewed gum welcomed a wandering finger under the nightstand at the bedside. The shower soap, pre-littered with an abundance of ambiguous body hair. Friends would gamble, drink and party. I needed a soul search. I found a ride-share via Craigslist. After an emotionally and physically trying road trip, I found myself at the shores of Mission Beach, California. I was greeted by friends and peers. I smelled salt water in the cool night with stale beer. They piled out of a 1992 Corsica and hit the bar. I pulled my tripod out of the trunk and pressed myself against the sidewalk. Noticing an archway with some accompanied palm trees, I saw a brilliant and consuming sky. I sighed. I breathed heavy. I set my shutter speed. 30 seconds. I opened my shutter. Views[312] After finishing breakfast (raw potatoes and kidney beans) and fixing the car, we got back on the road. While cruising through the desert, we happened upon a location known as Devil’s Golf Course. These crystalized formations had the sting and texture of a coral reef surprisingly discovered on a dry land mass. I took my seat and shot several frames. As I arose, I was overtaken with amazement. To see something so astounding and to realize it was purely natural was awe inspiring to me. Where I am from, everything seems fabricated. The experience here was breathtaking. Views[288] We set out through the desert with a GPS unit to guide us. We punched in our destination for Badwater Basin. This took us to an unpaved road. After running over a rather sharp rock, our rear-right tire blew out at 9:00 PM. After being stranded on the roadside for more than three hours, only three cars came in contact with us. One was a group of young kids with no idea how to help. The second was an elderly couple that could do nothing for us. The third was a car that simply passed us by. Within the sound of 60 mile per hour wind blowing through vast nothingness, you could hear wildlife rustling through the desert brush. We pitched a tent on the roadside. The blinking hazard lights on our car were our only comfort. The wind had died down come morning and with the new day’s light upon us, we fixed the tire problem. I breathed a sigh of relief and as I looked out in the distance I spied two strangers standing on a desert plateau. WIth their arms stretched wide under the heavens, their expression of relief and escape mirrored my own mind. Views[254] We left Devil’s Golf Course and, from a distance, you could see an enormous bright white patch amidst a brown dusty desert. As we arrived, our immediate reaction was tainted by a deluge of tourist activity. Exiting the car, my first observation was the rough wind’s delivery of all scents the bathrooms had to offer. We passed through the trail of meek onlookers and pressed on for three miles. As we had comfortably isolated ourselves, we could hear a consistent trickle of water. Water flows underneath the salt bed and given a hard enough foot landing, you will implant yourself into a salty shallow pool of water inches beneath. The underside of the salt flat has squared salt crystals which are a beauty on their own. Standing on this vast stretching terrain instilled a surreal feeling in me. It were as if I were on an unexplored plane of existence. I could scream my lungs out and before it would reach anyone, it would be lost in the wind. A wholly otherworldly experience hopefully delivered here in this photograph. Views[236]
     

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