Monday Complaints

We all know how Mondays seem to go. Instead of enjoying the weekend, it seems that everyone involved in your life (work, home, family, friends, etc) spent the whole weekend thinking about extra projects, issues, and drama they can throw at you today. For me, there is always that spark of excitment/anxiety associated with the 15 minute drive to work.
I walk in the front door, turn off the alarm, start the oh so blessed coffee (The best part of waking up is Folgers in MY cup!), and strap into the coveted captain's chair. Just like that, I take the lead and turn PROBLEMS into "Opportunities for Improvement" - and make it look easy.
While I start my day, I know that so many of you start your's with a similar routine. No matter how good we are, we need that little venting session to clear our minds. So in response to my wife's amazing "Friday Letters", I am starting "Monday Compaints". Every Monday, I will post "Monday Complaints", and you can chime in and share your complaints in the comments section. To start this off, I will be giving away a one of a kind.... wait for it.... wait for it..... PAT ON THE BACK!!!! (LOL), because that's the only thing we ever get. Here we go!

Monday Complaints:

Dear IT, while you provide a huge service, your timing always stinks! (except for Tom).
Dear Weight Watchers, we have been friends for about 2 weeks, and your helping me get over my addiction to food, but why do you have to be so difficult! Calories - Proteins - Carbs - Sugars - I just want to be skinny!!!!!!!!
Dear COD Zombies, I am also addicted to you, but when a 12 year old starts cussing me out online, you've got another thing comin! 
Dear Wife, not that I watch it, BBBUUUUTTTT - last night Kourtney had a point... sometimes you need to show me that you love me by going camping with me. It's just overnight.

Well that's it for this Monday, if I keep going I'll blow up! (lol) Let me know what your complaints are!

Wes

The Racetrack, Death Valley, Ca

THE RACETRACK

During my roadtrip through Death Valley, one of the places I had never heard of was The Racetrack or  Racetrack Playa, nor had I heard of the Sailing Rocks. As mentioned in a previous post, these rocks sail along the ground. When the ground gets wet, the water freezes, then the wind pushes the rocks along the ground. Set inside some awesome mountains this ended up being a great place to take pictures. I captured the first couple of pictures during the day, but I must confess I had more fun at night. 

At night we could see all of the awesome stars. Not a cloud in the sky. One weird thing about this place, when the moon is just right, and your facing away from the sun, it looks like there is fog in the valley - weird - but there wasn't a cloud/fog at all. 

Here I caught a shooting star in the photo! I was pretty excited about that! :)

And one of my favorites from the whole trip - The Moon! 

All in all this was an awesome place to stay. If you pass The Racetrack, and continue own the road, there are some great campgrounds to stay at. Just beware, we had some coyotes take off with a spatula and empty can. WE WANT THAT BACK!!!! (lol)

Wes

Zabriskie Point, Death Valley, Ca

Today I want to share a post on Zabriskie Point in Death Valley, Ca. This was an awesome vista point/ interpretive hike. We spent about 2 hours hiking around, and it was a blast. We started to the right of the parking lot, made a full circle, and came up through a cave to the right of the parking lot. It was pretty awesome. Also, there are restrooms here - so that helps.

In this last picture you can see the hug hill we hiked over. We started on the opposite side of the darker part (right), and hike across to the left, down the ridge, and back up the hill I am standing on. It was pretty tough, I was huffing and puffing but made it! 

Zabriskie is definitely a place to visit. Have fun! Let me know what you think! :)

Wes

Abandoned Towns - Death Valley, Ca

One thing I noticed on our trip to Death Valley, Ca was the amount of abandonment. They don't call it Death Valley for nothin. I will walk you through a couple of places we saw - some planned, some not. The first pictures show the town of Rhyolite.  Rhyolite is 35 miles from the Furnace Creek Visitor Center on a paved road heading north (left) from Hwy. 374. It was definitely interesting to see, including the shacks in the background, rattlesnake signs, and the abandoned mine on the hillside that I desperately tried to talk my friends into stopping for.

Rhyolite - Death Valley, Ca

Rhyolite - Death Valley, Ca

Rhyolite - Death Valley, Ca

Leadfield was also another interesting town. It is located in Titus Canyon, with an abandoned mine. It is little bit off of a hike off of the road, but worth it. 

Leadfield, Death Valley, Ca

Abandoned Quarry, Death Valley, Ca

Last, we found this random abandoned quarry. We don't know what it is called, but it was pretty cool. A ton of equipment was left here, along with a huge hole in the ground. It's always interesting to see these things. It's also great for pictures & photo shoots. 

I hope you liked this post, and please comment & visit my facebook page by clicking HERE. 

Have an awesome day!

Wes

Eureka Sand Dunes

Hello Everyone!

Eureka Sand Dunes - Death Valley, Ca - Jan 2013

When we arrived my brother Albert, and friends Clay & Brian decided to go for a hike. I decided to stay and setup camp, as I don't necessarily like hiking in sand (lol). 

Eureka Sand Dunes - Albert, Clay, and Brian

 I want to share my experience while at the Eureka Dunes in Death Valley, Ca. We spent the first night of our road trip this month, at the Eureka Sand Dunes. If your planning on going to Death Valley, Ca, and the weather report says it will be 70/40 - DON'T BELIEVE IT!!! It was 14 degrees at night, and was so cold that I could not sleep for more than 10 minutes at a time, and ended up using my single burner stove as a heater inside the tent. No matter how cold it was, this was one of the most awesome camp sites ever! Here are some pictures from the trip:

The views were just amazing - especially at sunrise.

This campsite does have an outhouse - but it is not very.... let's just use the word 'nice'. You are able to have a fire here, and may even find some foxes to play with - like us. My hope is that you would want to visit the Eureka Sand Dunes because of these pictures. Let me know if you need any help planning a trip and I'll be more than happy to help! 

Thanks for checking my blog out. Please leave me a comment! :)

Wes

Death Valley Road Trip

I just came home from an awesome road trip through Death Valley, and want to share some pictures I took along the way. There are definitely too many stories to share all in one post, so I'll share some now and some later. I've added a mini map of Death Valley sites (thx google), so you can keep up. :)

Our first stop was at the Eureka Sand Dunes. I believe that these are the highest sand dunes in North America, standing at 700ft. That first night started out fun as we played with two foxes, curious about us, then turned to an ugliness only described as "14 degrees"! I'm sure my lack of being prepared for the cold didn't help. :) 

We then went to see Ubehebe Crater, which was formed by a volcanic eruption. 

We then moved onto The Racetrack, which is best known for the Moving Rocks. As I understand it, when the ground gets wet, it freezes, and the wind pushes the rocks along the ground. Again it was 14 degrees. In the middle of the night my friend Clay & I came here and took some awesome night pictures (I'll share these on another post). While we were asleep, some bandit coyotes stole our spatula - WE WANT THAT BACK!!! (LOL)

We then went to Scotty's Castle. This was a great spot to stop for lunch. They also have some awesome tours that we didn't have time for. Also, my friend Brian & I are set on setting up a huge air soft battle here. We also think they should make this a COD map.

We then went through Titus Canyon - WOW! Now I realize this is not on the map above, but this is a must see canyon trail. It's a little bit of an 4x4 road, but is absolutely awesome! I'll share more pictures on my blog, but trust me - Titus Canyon is legit! 

The next day I went on one of the coolest, exhausting, scenic, awesome hikes I've been on. Zabriskie Point. This was an old Borax mining area, and has many interpretive trails. Our trail started on the right, went all the way around the mountain in the picture, and came up within feet of the parking lot. Definitely a hiking trail I recommend.

On our way home we stopped at the snowed over Mono Lake. Great place to stop and stretch your legs. Overall this was a spectacular trip, and I wish I could share all of my stories and pictures with you in this one post. I promise I will post specific posts about this trip at my blog. I want to thank Clay Carey for teaching me more about photography on this trip. Please go visit his photography site here. I am simply an amateur compared to him. 

If I had to leave you with one message, it is this: GET OUT! See your part of the world. Support State/National Parks. We are missing the awesome beauty around us. It's a shame to let it go to waste.

- The Wes
Location:Death Valley, Ca
I blog at randomactsofwes.blogspot.com