Visions of a Road Trip

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

WORLDWIDE | Sunday, 17 October 2010 | Views [288]

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.

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.

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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.

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Visions of a Road Trip

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

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