We did it. We drove 1800 miles with a 9 month old in the backseat just to visit some weird shit on the other side of the country. It was one of the most ambitious things we’ve ever attempted and we did it. Almost 10 years ago, I’d seen this movie called Into the Wild. I was captivated by the story, and when it got to the part about Salvation Mountain, my hair stood on end and tears welled up in my eyes, and I’d made it a point to go sometime in my life before I died. I’d rather get as much of this done as possible before I’m 40, because I imagine us finally getting an in-ground pool and just floating in it until we die after that. We arrived at Salvation Mountain after hours and hours of driving from Flagstaff, through Mecca, Indio, and finally into Niland, California – where we stopped at the Salton Sea (another place I’d always wanted to go to.. but I’ll blog about that another time). I smelled of dead fish and our car was full of flies trying to crawl into our mouths and nose and eyes from being at the Salton Sea. I was dusty and salty and hot, and I kind of couldn’t wait to find a hotel. There were no hotels around at all, and after two failed attempts at trying to find the mountain, we finally found it.

I was in awe of it. I was so excited to jump out of the car and take a photo with all 8 cameras that I’d brought with me (this soon proved to be annoying, especially when it’s 90+ degrees outside). Paul took Eden and let me explore on my own. I was very disappointed that I didn’t get to meet the man who built it. His name was Leonard Knight and he was taken away in December of 2011 and placed in a long-term care facility for Dementia. I was very set on making a small documentary if he was there, but he wasn’t, so I didn’t.

Everything is covered in paint, photos, letters, id cards that people have left there, prayers, psalms, and the word “Bible” is written more times than you can count, on every wall – every car – everything. The structure is immense. I climbed it, and haven’t felt like that since we visited Minister’s Treehouse. I’ll have to blog about that one, too – as it is another immense religious structure that Jesus apparently told some guy to build.

There was a man there taking photos and shooting a documentary. He took some photos of me and some photos of Paul and Eden. I don’t remember his name, but I might search for him later. In the center of the structure there were weird trees, and a buzzing. Such a loud buzzing noise – there were beehives inside of it. And I found a calico cat. I didn’t know how the cat was surviving, but it was a few miles away from Slab City, so I can only imagine that one of the residents there came to give the cat food and water.

You can view the entire set HERE.
All photos were shot with a Canon EOS Rebel T4i, about half of them had the fisheye attachment.

Eden Yzzy turned 8 months yesterday. How did that even happen? She’s been walking along the couch and scaling the walls, and has even let go a few times. She even finally started laughing more, except she usually does it when I say ‘ow’ after she pulls my hair. We’ve been teaching her lots of silly faces and noises and she’s such a pro at nailing them! I’m so proud of her when she learns something new.

Ferris Wheel, Abandoned Six Flags, NOLA

Land Between the Lakes, Redd Hollow

A photo of Kelsey the first day we met.

Bison Range @ LBL x running bison nebula

Paul on the beach from our 2011 vacation to Gulf Shores

This photo was taken underwater with a fisheye.

I still use the app sometimes, but not as much as I did when I first got it. It’s fun. I recommend it.

shot with afterlight app for the iPhone

Paul surprised me with a new Canon EOS T4i last week! It’s so much fun. I’m about to start learning how to edit videos. So far I’m really impressed with the video we’ve shot with it. Here are some of the first photos we’ve taken:

Sunset behind Starbucks in Clarksville. We were on our way to a housewarming party.

My dear husband and daughter. This photo makes me so happy.

Paul & Eden

Paul, blocking ember

Brandt, shoveling infinity

We are planning a trip to Joshua Tree National Forest next month and I am MEGA EXCITED. I’m really hoping to catch some good shots of the milky way and try my hand at time lapse in the desert.

Patience is a virtue.

PZ680 film from The Impossible Project shot with Polaroid Spectra System

These were all shot with an SX-70 Sonar

Color Opacification Test film for the SX-70

(I know these aren’t orchids, but they had a wonderful selection of cacti and succulents there. I died!)

This is me, 5 months pregnant

Adieu!