Death Valley; Part I
I used to be a world class shut-in. I mean, I go could weeks without leaving my house, but then, those were the days I was on the brink of shoving my head in the oven. That must be taken into account. I don't consider myself a shut-in any more, but these past three weeks have seen little of me on LA streets. I haven't done much with friends, if anything. I've made my daily trip to the dog park and that's it.
Sometimes, when I'm around a lot of people, particularly at parties or spending the night at a friend's place, I can't help but feel what they're feeling. I'm an empath--we're all empaths--and when energy's bad, we're bad. When energy's good, we're good. It must be that the energy of Los Angeles has been bad these weeks. Or maybe there was too much of it from too many people, and I went into energy overload. I decided I needed to get away, go somewhere desolate, clean my slate and refuel.
I thought of surrounding areas of desolation.
The Mojave? It just burnt to the ground. The Sierra Madre? Too cold right now. San Diego? Too crazy. Mexico? Too full of easily purchasable narcotics.
What about Death Valley? Ahhh...I always wanted to go there.
I remember getting to the "D" in our World Book Encyclopedia collection, and thinking, 'Whoa! Death Valley. 300 feet below sea level! 134 degrees in the summer! I bet that's the coolest place on earth! What would it be like, if I could beam myself there right this instant? What would I see? Oh, here's what I'd see. Pupfish. They can live in 120 degree water! Whoa. Sidewinder Rattlesnakes! No shit! And that little bugger right there is a...Kangaroo rat, who cares. Dude, that place must be awesome. I bet if I beamed myself right there this instant--and only for, like, three minutes because its hotter than an oven, surely--it would look like the moon, all desolate and shit. I bet its all salty, and uninhabitable and there's nothing and no one for hundreds of miles.'
And my thoughts would be interrupted by my sister and mother making fun of me, as per usual, but this is not a fucked up family story. What's important about that rant is the last sentence: I bet its all salty, and uninhabitable and there's nothing and no one for hundreds of miles.
I must go there. I must go to Death Valley right this instant.
Within twenty minutes, the girls and I were on the road, headed for the rustic cabin waiting for us in Furnace Creek, Death Valley (200 feet below sea level! Whee!), a five hour drive from our little place in Glendale.
--
It was dark when we finally drove into the park. A curious thing about Death Valley, is that it crowns on all sides of the park in a ridge of mountains, 4-5,000 feet above sea level. The drive in is a drive down from all directions, like sliding into a bathtub. This makes night time driving into Death Valley precarious, particularly if you left so hastily you forgot your glasses, or the map of Death Valley you carefully printed (in color) on your desk back home in Glendale. Equally as curious, is the fact that Death Valley has no cell coverage (Holy dark ages!) though it wouldn't have mattered, because you forgot the charger to your cell phone, and it is dead in your purse.
The most curious thing about Death Valley is its one radio station. For hundreds of miles there has been nothing but Christ chatter and Country (disconcerting that is--not being able to get hip hop on the radio for hundreds of miles. I almost felt compelled to pretend I was totally heterosexual. Eat some chaw, say "Let's hang dem lesbos") but the moment you enter the park, the one radio station which can be heard throughout is a Classic Rock station. You can't imagine how odd it is to creep into a place named after death for the first time at night, through lithic rock formations to Pink Floyd's "One of These Days." You feel as if--and this is really dating me--you've got only five minutes to make it to the valley floor before Dr. Who and his phone booth disappear, for the Daleks are coming! The Daleks are coming! We must save Death Valley from the Daleks!
By the time we made it to our cabin at Furnace Creek, it was midnight and we were plum tired. There were a million new smells to be smelled, but Murph and Max could've cared less. The kindly Shoshone man at the desk handed me the key to cabin 6, and we three trudged there and passed out. We were so alone; so magnificently alone.
Except for nature that is. I vowed, "Tomorrow I must find some of that fancy nature stuff."
Comments
I made a little noise when I read this. I was hit with the exact same "I must go to Death Valley immediately" notion a few years back when I was living in San Francisco. With no mutts and a suspended license, I took the really long way to get there and slept outside in the desert because I forgot about trying to find accomodation and it was Easter or something and everything was booked with French tourists. It was the most restorative few days I've ever spent, though. In retrospect, it was probably dumb of a girl to sleep outside in the desert alone, but it seemed like the smartest thing in the world at the time. And, on the way there, I actually learned to like some country music and "There is no Arizona" is the only song I'll sing at karaoke. I've recently been thinking I desperately need another trip like that, but sadly there's nowhere on the east coast that beckons like Death Valley did that year.
Posted by: reckless ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.thebunnyblog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at November 16, 2006 06:40 PM
exterminate! exterminate! ex-term-i-nate!
Posted by: warrenm at November 16, 2006 07:04 PM
Hey Bunny.
Sorry to split hairs, but a RED phone booth? You have seen Dr Who, right?
Honestly, it's enough to make a nerd despair...
Bunny Edit: Dude, its been, like, twenty years. Cut a girl a break.
Posted by: Ned at November 17, 2006 06:49 AM
Hah, you're right, that would seem like a crazy Doctor Who moment! EXTERMINATE!
Also, couldn't find a picture of the Tardis? :P
Posted by: Edeniade at November 17, 2006 03:01 PM
20 years?! They just did a new series, which was fantastic. Dr Who was actually sexy.
Posted by: Ned at November 19, 2006 02:03 PM
I just realised I got an official edit. Oh, the honour... this had better develop into a conversation.
Posted by: Ned at November 21, 2006 07:03 PM
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