We also spotted a nice small red lizard. He was enjoying his sun spot and was extremely good at camouflaging himself.

There was a skink looking lizard as well who was very colorful. He was very fast and not very interested in sticking around for me to photograph him.

Finally after searching for a long time we finally found the lizard I was looking for. It was the same type of lizard as last year but unfortunately he was younger and I didn’t have the amazing color that the other did. He had the prettiest patterns and shapes including spots and stripes all over him.

He was posing all over the place, a perfect little model of a lizard. He was on rocks, near old branches, and of course the beautiful red sand.

He really was funny, running all over the place, stretching, and doing push-ups. It was awesome to see such a beautiful animal such as this lizard. All of them were beautiful and it just reminds me how much I love taking photos of animals and other wildlife.

It was gorgeous, one of the most exquisite sunrises I have ever had the pleasure of watching. The way that the sun peeked over the mountains and seemed to crawl across the dunes was near magical.

With the sun newly risen, another aspect of this desert land was revealed to us; the texture. The lines and contours that have been etched into this land are amazing. The sun really accents its natural beauty and exaggerates the shape through definition.

There is so much beauty hidden in this desert it continues to amaze me. People assume that a place like Death Valley is barren, godforsaken land, but it is in a place like this that people can truly feel near god or some unearthly presence. Here, and every where around us is beauty, we just have to open our eyes and find it ourselves.

But a place of beauty is still incomplete without a bit of fun. My mom and I went down into the crease of the dunes to mess around. We played with the puzzle like pieces of dried river bed.

And even played with our own exaggerated shadows stretching across the desert floor. M for Multer, go travel buddies!!!

The dead heat of the afternoon was slowly creeping in around us so we quickly made our way out of the desert and moved onward to our next stop. Though ultimately our next stop was Yosemite, we made a stop along the way in Manzanar Historic National Park.

For those of you unfamiliar with this park, it is an old Japanese internment camp turned into a place of reflection and historical contemplation. Set beneath the beautiful snow-capped mountains near Mt. Whitney, this one square mile of land was once reserved for the relocated Japanese in California. It is intriguing and saddening to visit this place but most of all for me at least, it is a place to consider the decision of the past and wonder what the decision of the future may hold through the reflection and remembrance of a place such as this. The pillar in the cemetery here really brings this idea to the foreground.

Tokens of remembrance are left here like the long chains of paper cranes and coins for those who once had to call this place home. We can only wonder and remember this time where the world seemed a little darker for everyone.

After this stop we made our way upwards towards Yosemite with one more small stop along the way, Mono Lake. This unique lake is saltier than the ocean and is surrounded by strange monoliths that look like coral that wound up out of the water.

It si a strangely beautiful place, with blue-green waters and the snowy mountains behind it, these spires have an amazing location. Stuck between summer and winter, this strange place stands solitary.

There is almost no wildlife here to speak of except two species. The exotic seagull,

and it’s swarming food source, the Alkali Fly.

They sit in droves at the salty shores and only seem to move at the disturbance of humans. Upon which they rise up and swarm in black masses until the intruder is forced to run away due to fear of choking from the massive amounts of flies. Terrifying really…

Moving on, we finally made it to Tioga Pass, the entrance to Yosemite. This was quite a turn around because all of a sudden we found ourselves surrounded by deep snow banks and extreme snow run off.

In one day, we had gone from 108 degree deserts to snow laden valleys. It was quite a shock and seemed like this single dy had spanned weeks. However it was a very nice way to return home, what better views are there when returning home than half dome? Ok there are some but it was pretty nice!

It was a day that seemed to last forever but finally we found our way home. So here we are, safe and sound after a long week of adventure. As always, I am ready for more

Today was a day of reminiscing, we went back and visited many places that we saw last year on our road trip to Michigan and loved. The first of our most memorable revisits was Horseshoe Bend, a colossal gooseneck near Lake Powell.

This extraordinarily impressive geological monolith is one of my favorite views I have ever seen. Sadly the lightning was a far cry from last years and resulted in shadowed photos. Good photos or not, this was beyond amazing and I am really glad to go back and have another chance to see this unique structure.

One of the most memorable parts about going to Horseshoe Bend last year was the amazing lizard we found. This beautiful creature had spots and brightly orange colored stripes. He was gorgeous and today I was on a lizard hunt in hope of finding a similar lizard. In the end I did, see the next post for the full story but here is one photo for now.

Our next revisit was to the Vermillion Cliffs, which includes the Navajo Bridge and the Cliff Dweller’s Lodge. This wonderful park is surrounded by beautiful red cliffs and blue skies.

The first part of the park contains the Navajo Bridge, which bridges the beautiful Colorado River.

The Cliff Dweller’s Lodge is home to one of my favorite photos I have ever taken. The old adobe home on the side of the road with turquoise door and window frames that can be found at the Cliff Dweller’s Lodge is a truly beautiful little piece of ancient times.  Before I gave the picture of only the door and window, but now here is the entire house.

Surrounding this old home are the Vermillion Cliffs and these strange boulder homes that have been built up and once upon a time, lived in.  These strange homes are littered about in a hap-hazard fashion but are extremely intriguing due to their balanced and fragile looking structure.

While exploring these old places my mom and I were having fun stopping at every single Native American jewelry stand we came across. All over the side of the roads are little stands full of gorgeous hand made jewelry, dream-catchers, and pottery. We had a lot of fun shopping around and talking to the local Navajo’s about their beautiful home.

After a long day of reminiscing we took an unexpected turn and decided to go to Death Valley.

We had plans of going to Bishop and then Devil’s Postpile National Park, but found out that it is still closed due to the snow pack they still have.  So yes, a strange choice for the summer where even at night it is 107 degrees outside, but we did it anyways. So tonight we find ourselves staying at the Stovepipe Wells in the heart of Death Valley after driving down an omnisouly straight and long road out into the desert.

Tomorrow we will hike out before sunrise to see the sand dunes in the early morning glow before the sun bears down on us with its unforgiving heat.

Utah is one of my favorite places to visit because it has such astounding beauty that is unlike any beauty i can seen near me. Red rocks, canyons, desert expanses that stretch for miles, and of course the bluest skies you will ever see. Our trip began today hours before dawn heading out to St. George, UT, right past Las Vegas. This means that our day was entirely full of about thirteen hours of driving without any planned stops along the way. However any good road tripper can find amazing little adventures and detours to occupy time and make the day seem less daunting and more fun. Our first stop was to take pictures of dilapidation.

One thing about desert is that there is no end to the amazingly broken down and graffitied houses on the side of the road. It just so happens these are some of my favorite things to photograph. So we pulled off down a tiny road and found three old homes that had long since pasted their prime days.

Shells of their former self, gutted, empty and abandoned, left only for the sun and time to slowly peel away the paint off the walls, these houses are the definition of desolation. Here they are simply forgotten remnants of a life no one seems to care to remember. They have a sadness and a mystery that hangs from the broken ceiling beams that I find extremely alluring.

Speaking of forgotten desolate places, our next stop was a tiny ghost town that could hardly be called that. Just a few miles from Mojave Desert National Park is Silver Lake, or what little is left of it. An old Talc mining town, today there are only a few scarce building foundations buried in sand and a cemetery with a few solitary head stones.

On a happier note we then made our way to the Devil’s Playground in Sin City, yes Las Vegas. We stopped to gorge ourselves on the Bellagio’s glorious buffet and do a little shopping in 100 degree weather. Look I even have proof

As usual the food was glorious and we had to sample all sorts of delectable treats that elsewhere we would never find.

We also explored the gardens in the Bellagio which were beautiful and with some sort of American patriot theme.

So here we are after the first of many days to come of adventure. Tomorrow the fun really begins with our first national parks including Zion, Cedar Breaks, and Bryce Canyon. I can’t wait but for now we can only wait for dawn to come and watch the sun slip away behind a veil of red.

Only life’s most beautiful artifacts can be found were no one would expect life to thrive.

Mojave is a majestic landscape filled with rocky outcroppings and valleys filled with blond cacti. To me, Mojave is blue skies the stretch beyond the reach of the mountains held up by the arms of the prickly cactus that dwells below.

At the entrance I was able to discover a strange new unknown species called the Gabriel. I was able to photograph its strange behaviors. There was the normal behavioral patterns,

The lounging stretching pose that harkens to possible ancestry to extremely odd primates…..

There was also a nurturing side that showed some obvious caring,

There was also behavioral patterns of strange joyful behaviors that caused spastic and odd behavior.

Finally is the most interesting ability that the Gabriel has… levitation

During our trip we are following around my dad and my brother as they ride their bikes around where ever we happen to be.

In Mojave we explored the area around the visitor center which was an old train station. With the dilapidated of their old remains, it was a beautifully haunting place.

It was a good day and I look forward to even more adventures soon.

Driving through the Arizona deserts and the flatlands around Utah, we found a little turquoise stand amongst precariously perched rock pilings. There were also the remains of an old adobe house, it had no roof, no floors, nothing except for a turquoise framed door and window. This was one of my favorite places that we stopped at during our road trip. It felt like an entirely different world. A place of red sand, monstrous rock pilings, and windows within windows that let us look into this strange alien place. There is something haunting in this forgotten building and the lonely doorway left behind. Looking through those windows you can see the world the way it once was, before grand cities or electronics. Just the simplicity of nature.

Oh wolf eyed lover
Look into my eyes
And know
I am not your enemy
I am a part of you
A dark soul
To complete
Your hollow entity
Dance with me
Oh wolf eyed lover
Under the dying moon
As the deserts burn
And the ashes settle
Sway with me
Like the deserts
Treasured flower
Let the moon
Bear silent witness
As the earth stands still
Oh wolf eyed lover
Howl to the moon
When I am gone
Call me back
When it has been
Far too long
You won these lands
The barren deserts
And forsaken lands
Oh wolf eyed lover
Don’t you see
It is no longer
A dog’s world
But mans
We are dying company
Hunted and alone
We can’t fight them
Off forever
Together we stand
Oh wolf eyed lover
The deserts dying flowers
Float gently to the ground
Where the ashes have settled
And there is no longer sand
Here we face the moon
As our last stand
Where once we danced
Is now a deserted land
Oh wolf eyed lover
Can’t you see
The world has moved on
And left us behind
There is no more room
For happiness and love
Only survival
In these hard times
Oh wolf eyed lover
Don’t you understand
This is the end
The separation
Of you and me
Has finally become reality
Our entity once whole
Ripped to pieces
To be no more
Oh wolf eyed lover
I will wait for you forever
Turn on eye to the desert
And one ear to the wind
To listen for your cry
Carried by the moonlight
I will dance with the moon
Wishing it was you
Oh wolf eyed lover
Save me a grave
Under the cactus tree
Where flowers fall
And the moon watches
As the dust finally settles
Together we lay
As it was meant to be
Separated by life
Brought together by death
Oh wolf eyed lover