Feeling so very alive in Death Valley
Everything about our stay in Death Valley was unique. This national park is in the top 3 largest parks in the country at 3 million acres. There are 2 roads into the wide expanse, and only a couple of RV parks tucked deep inside. As you can imagine there is no cell reception. As Aaron still needs to work to pay for this adventure, we needed wifi. And I NEEDED to experience death valley, it was bucket list for me. What I ended up needing to do was book a room at the only hotel in death valley, and we’d park Big Dan in the parking lot. The idea seemed luxurious, being able to spend some time in a hotel after all of these months in an RV. I’m here to tell you it was not. It was a PITA to move all of our stuff, we weren’t used to sharing a room with the kids, and I was concerned about Covid germs.
You know what though, didn’t even matter. This park is absolute top 3 of our entire trip (and since you know I’m writing this months after it actually happened, it still remains that way). I had come specifically to photograph the night sky. Unfortunately, with the exception of the first night, the nights were cloudy. The first night that we arrived we were stressed from arriving too late, after dark. And driving a 38’ motorhome through the pitch black of death valley, and then trying to find a good place to park it in a parking lot was stressful. So we opted to head straight for the pool. It was crystal clear that night, and the pool was warm. We floating and gazed at the infinite visible stars in the night sky, and as a family I feel we will talk about this experience forever.
Every place we visited for a hike or adventure was like being in a completely different world, with its own little ecosystem. It wasn’t just flat desolate desert, but salt flats and slot canyons and dunes and borax deposits and painted mountains and completely unique landscapes like devil’s golf course, hell it even had a ghost town. And this was only what we could see in our couple of days here, there were craters and off-roading trails and mysteriously moving rocks we didn’t even get to see because we just didn’t have the time. Each time we parked I just knew I’d expense something that I’ve never experienced before, like being 138 feet below sea level, or me letting my kids pluck and eat a piece form the pickleweed plant because some older couple who were out bird watching suggested trying it. The whole experience was exhilarating and inspiring, we felt so very small and alive in this place.
