All the Little Things: Day three

Well Hello! What a night and day! I didn’t have the best night of sleep , the ground was not quite as flat as it looked, but hey, what are you gonna do?! I woke up, again, at about 5… I opened my tent to see if there were any starts left. The moon and the Polaris were the only two left shining in the sky . By 5:30, they had both gone to sleep for the day.

The view from my tent this morning.

As I was sitting in my tent looking up, there was a loud screech behind me and to the left, back in the mountains. The initial sound startled me. It kept going for about 10 minutes. It was the most horrific blood curdling death screech that I have ever heard. It echoed off all of the mountains that surrounded me. I imagined a fictional werewolf like creature with blood soaked fur and a snarling grin with long white teeth. I don’t know why I imagined that being the creature dying, but I did. It finally ended, and I literally spoke out loud, “Shit, that was awful. What a way to wake up". That was almost as good a wake up call as when my friend Hannah, Darlene, and I were camping in Tikal, Guatemala and the howler monkeys woke us up with the their ferocious dinosaur like roars. That was intense! I talked with my aunt about my trip so far and she said, "Just respect your surroundings and it will respect you. The enemy is the mind, just enjoy." No better words could be spoken about my experience in the woods, I will take this with me.

I packed up early and went to Front Porch Bistro for tea and the interwebs again. I uploaded photos and wrote, then I was off to White Sands National Monument. The drive was only 45 minutes—boring drive too. I don’t know how people live in the desert with no shade and no swimming holes. It’s almost like Hell, I haven’t been, but I’m assuming that is what it’s like. Also, all of the towns that I drove through are dead. They are almost abandoned. I don’t understand how anyone makes any sort of living in these types of places. I can’t tell you how many buildings were left just as they were from years ago or had For Sale signs in the windows… that had probably been there for years. My grandpa told me before I left, “You know, you need to do a story over all of the small towns that are non existent nowadays. “Naw Papa, I don’t want to do that”, were my exact words. I was on a mission to get to Colorado, but if I drive though anymore small towns, Ill stop, just for you Papa.

White Sands picknick tables

White Sands was absolutely beautiful! Just miles and miles of stark white sand dunes put here just for our entertainment. At the visitor station you can get sleds and sled down. I thought I would go faster, but it wasn’t thaat fast, still fun nonetheless. Since it was midday and the sun was overhead, I couldn’t get a photo that shows the depth of this place. All of the white just blends together. I needed some shadows. But wow, the dunes were so tall and I had way too much fun than you should if you’re by yourself. It was great!

Just a reference as to how small we are.

This is what happens when you're a photographer and alone

I hit the road to Colorado. I drove down a two-lane road that stretched thoughout the countryside for hours and hours. I really enjoy just driving and looking at new things. I don’t know what I thought about for all those hours, but I was somehow occupied. I stopped a lot and took photos of things that interested me. I also stopped and long boarded down long rolling roads. That was fun!