Tyler Paige - Blog: March 2013

Hi, my name is Tyler and I'm about to write a novel.

So much to say about this adventure that I don't know where to start. Okay, I'll start on Friday morning, March 8th. Kelle and I spontaneously decided to field trip it to Death Valley after an 8 hour school day which means we didn't leave Ventura until 9pm (oops) but luckily we had provided ourselves with a surplus of coffee, 5 hour energies, and cracked pepper sunflower seeds. We had snacks, a map, and a six hour drive ahead of us.

We arrived near Death Valley around 1 am. I say near because 'twas quite dark and we actually had no idea where we were. No cell service. Since it is so late and I am a nervous anxiety wreck as it is, I started freaking out. After all, this is the place where they filmed The Hills Have Eyes and that shit is scary. After hyperventilating a bit, we get to the top of the valley and start down the grade. Hit the spookiest, weirdest, creepiest patch of fog where we couldn't see 3 feet in front of us. Super creeped. Super hyperventilating. Are we having fun yet?

Eventually we make it to the campsite where a teacher and other classmates are happily sleeping in their tents, mind you it was definitely around 30 degrees outside. With this in mind, we decide to sleep in the car. There are fucking Hills with Eyes out there! Blah blah blah we get comfortable and Kelle decides she wants to set up the tent because my Ford Focus is too miniature for her 6' body. That's cool, I was totally fine with that but then I had a brilliant moment: We could sleep in my trunk! Without stepping any precious feet out of the car, we put down the seats and somehow maneuvered everything that was in the trunk into the front of the car; a stove, massive bags of camera gear, duffel bags, tripods, etc. I wish someone, maybe the Eyes, would have taken a photo of our sleeping arrangement. Half our bodies in the car and the other have were cozy in the trunk. Hilarious. We slept a happy 2 hours.

At sunrise, we made ourselves some delicious drip coffee and headed to the dunes. So hot, so sweaty, so tired and so dehydrated, we trekked across the dunes. Our awesome teacher then chauffeured us around to the places above ^.

We ended the day by going to Badwater. Which are dried up salt beds that stretch for miles and miles..and miles. It looked like snow. We shot the sunset, ate pieces of salt, took many Polaroids, and had tourists take an extremely awkward and cheesy photo of us (on purpose of course, come on). We then hit the road..in the dark..again. And made it home safe and sound..obviously we did because I'm not writing this blog post from the Eyes' cave. I don't think zombies know about WiFi yet.

Highlights: eating two bags of sunflower seeds, getting a speeding ticket for going 35 in a 25 zone, working on our moves, creating a double exposured Polaroid, traveling with cool people, buying fireworks, being on the road, being free.

Here are a few Polaroids: