salvation mountain
"GOD IS LOVE." These three gigantic words span across an even more enormous chunk of land splashed with a myriad of colorful pastels and patterns. You have arrived at Salvation Mountain. Located quite literally in the middle of nowhere in an area known as Slab City, Salvation Mountain is a wild and magnificent statement of one man's passion project and love for Jesus. Can I get an Amen!
What started out as a small statement of a personal conviction, Salvation Mountain has now grown into a Southern California icon boasting thousands of visitors from all over the world every week. Leonard Knight, the visionary and creator, used a combination of straw, adobe, and tons and tons of paint to make what actually turned out to be his second mountain (his first attempt had unfortunately collapsed). Drawing inspiration from his spiritual background, Knight used this mound of earth as a canvas to write biblical verses and share personal items which are scattered all throughout the mound.
I got to visit this beautiful place towards the end of last year and I was completely blown away by how grand and detailed it was. While climbing up to the top, I actually ended up having to hold my friend's hand in fear of slipping and tumbling to the ground (pro-tip: wear shoes with grip ladies n gents).
Speaking of pro-tips, here's a few more:
-stick to the yellow brick road (don't get yelled at by the groundskeeper!)
-wear sunglasses
-wear sunblock
-only park in the designated lot (someone driving a 4x4 off-road behind the mountain ended up receiving A LOT of bad words and some reprimanding)
-sure, taking a nice pic for your insta is great, but really take some time to enjoy the splendor of it all!
I hope you've enjoyed this post and are eager to book your first trip out into the desert to see Salvation Mountain for yourself! Don't hesitate to leave a question or comment below.
Yours,
TUCSON, ARIZONA
After our short but sweet stay in New Mexico, my friends and I drove about 5 hours west to visit Tucson*, Arizona. And oh what a lovely, lovely town Tucson is! We stayed for two nights at the cutest Airbnb in old town Tucson and essentially had the best lil' R&R sesh the whole weekend.
Fun fact: our place actually got featured on Airbnb's Instagram account the day we left!
For dinner, we explored the downtown scene and ended up eating some delicious tacos!
Speaking of food, here's some our other meals we home-cooked. Not only was this a great way to save money, it was also an opportunity to utilize that darling kitchen and create some beautiful flat-lays.
Although catching up on school work and editing our photos was a good use of our free time, we decided to to explore our neighborhood (even though the blistering sun was burning our backs the entire time lol). I never knew so much color could be seen on one street!
For our last night, we drove over to see Gates Pass for a breathtaking view of the sunset and boy, we sure were not disappointed.
On our way back home we made a pit stop at a nice cafe only to discover that the "Greetings From Tucson" mural was painted a block away! All in all, this weekend getaway to the Southwest proved to be more than what I could've ever expected. It was an amazing time spent with amazing company and I can't wait to get back on the road to visit again.
Check out the 2 videos I created from this trip:
See you in my next post,
*: took me a hot minute to learn that Tucson is pronounced "two-sawn, not tuck-son or two-son."
WHITE SANDS, NEW MEXICO
With the few weeks we have left in college, my girl friends and I decided to *YOLO* as the kids would say and embark on a 12 hour road trip to New Mexico in the middle of midterms season. Crazy, I know. But let me tell you something...it.was.worth.it.
The sole reason we took this trip to NM was to visit White Sands National Monument. Its vast landscape and beautiful sand dunes took my breath away and I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't just dreaming. The sun was beating down on us (literally my body was on fire--ok not literally but you know what I mean) and we caught the scenery right before the sun set.
Oh, and another exciting thing happened: we visited the dunes once more the next day and I decided it was the perfect opportunity to recreate Brad Pitt's latest GQ Style cover shoot (timing could not have been better!) which took place right in the exact spot we were in. Be sure to scroll down all the way to the end of this blog post for the final product ;)
A Few Tips:
-wear sunblock...LOTS of sunblock
-wear sunglasses/hat
-take lots of pics, there's plenty of space and plenty of time
-this park is HUGE so try to pick a spot that has a good amount of untouched sand dunes
-be sure you remember where you parked, we almost got lost b/c we walked so far deep into the dunes!
-wear a cute outfit (with color!)
See ya later alligator,
A WEEK (OR SO) IN NEW YORK
Graduation is near (omg) and I've only got a couple of days worth of "vacation days" available. Thus it was without a shadow of a doubt that I decided to pack my bags and spend my entire spring break over on the east coast. Best. decision.ever.
To give you a short summary of how I spent time in New York, here's a photo diary of my day-to-day. I tried to maximize the limited days I had but it turned out that 9 days in the big apple was plenty of time enough. I got to do everything I had on my list and then some...
DAY ONE: East Village, Solo Adventure in Lower Manhattan
DAY TWO: Upper West Side, Museum Day
DAY THREE: Ultimate 3rd Wheel, Upper West Side (again)
DAY FOUR: Solo Adventure @ MOMA, Times Square, Chelsea, Broadway
DAY FIVE: @momentswithvanna, CollegeFashionista Office Visit, Rainy Day w/ @lucysiyu
DAY SIX: Solo Adventure @ Whitney, Grand Central Station, NYPL, Top of The Rock
DAY SEVEN: Brooklyn, Dumbo, Wall Street, One World Trade Center, Oculus, Chinatown
DAY EIGHT: Solo Adventure in SoHo, Reunion @ Cookshop in Chelsea
DAY NINE: Last Day (cries), Brunch w/ Richelle & Elisa @ Gemma
To see more of what I did each day, watch my vlog series HERE
Stay tuned for a couple more NY-related posts on the blog!
Until then,
From the Archives: Selfies AROUND EUROPE
Despite the lack of happy thoughts I've had from this year's election results, I wanted to look through whatever I could to make me feel a bit better. I searched the internet for "cute puppy pics" and watched as many episodes of Bob's Burgers as I could. Then I felt a bit nostalgic and I looked through videos/pics of my study abroad trip last fall...
There's literally a folder in my hard drive titled "RACHEL'S SELFIES AROUND EUROPE" and it has almost all the selfies I took with my big ol' camera in front of various famous places and monuments. Looking through these pics made me incredibly nostalgic and even if in the moment I may have looked quite embarrassing to other people around me, I am so glad that I was consistent in capturing these special memories.
From Rome to Madrid and back, I was able to pull of some decent faces in front of the lens and I have to say, some of these came out pretty darn good! I started taking these selfies during the latter half of my study abroad trip so a lot of places were not documented.
Of course, if you're interested in vicariously re-living my time spent in Europe last year, check out my vlog series HERE!
Can you guess where I took all these selfies?
See ya'll in the next post,
Rachel
P.S.-I know many of my friends and millions of other people were not expecting the outcome of this election. Many are feeling hurt, disturbed, and unsafe. It's important to comfort those in this time of need--mental health is a key element of a person's life we often overlook. Furthermore, our country is beautiful in that we have the freedom of speech, the freedom to protest. So I encourage you to voice your opinion and participate in what you can in a manner that is full of love and respect. Check your privilege. Watch this new elect and be strong and brave in our actions. We realize now more than ever that we are not alone. Still we rise. Still we rise.
P.P.S-Miss u Bernie <3
IMPERIAL SAND DUNES
Playing and posing in one giant sandbox
Taking photos has got to be one of my favorite things to do in the world. I know, that's a pretty bold statement for such a generalized topic but it truly is. You can even read about my passion for photography
if you want to know more about me. Suffice to say, the moment I first heard the term "photoadventure," it was like a dream come true. Having friends who share the same love for such an
expensive
hobby makes it all the more merrier and has also allowed me to hone in on my skills and test out my creativity.
My friend Kevin and I decided to plan our next photoadventure and chose the
as the destination. Kevin had already visited the place before so I had full faith that the trip was going to be an awesome one. Just by looking at the photos of the place online I was pumped: Jakku-esque (for all you Star Wars fans) with breathtaking landscapes...what more could I want! After rallying up a few of our friends, we hit the road for our highly anticipated adventure.
Some tips and tricks on preparing for the sand dunes:
-
CHECK THE WEATHER
: you want to be dressed appropriately! Take a jacket in case your trip lasts till nightfall and wear shoes/sandals you won't feel annoyed walking in the sand with.
-
SUNSET/SUNRISE:
Whichever time of the day you choose, check what time the sun is up and goes down. I prefer sunset (only b/c I can't wake up at some ungodly hour). Golden hour here is
amazing
and the moments after that small gap of time are worth staying for!
-
MAKE A PLAYLIST:
From San Diego, this place is about a 2 hours drive aka
pretty far
. There's really not much to see along the way besides rocks and farms so create an awesome playlist with plenty of sing-along songs for you and your buddies to have fun with.
-
SNACK IT UP:
You're going to a desert so it's a good idea to bring water and a few snacks such as granola bars, fruit gummies, and chips. Our group discussed that next time we go, we'd take some
with us lol.
-
TAKE A CAMERA:
If you're a person like me and can't resist snapping away, take a digital camera. We tried taking some photos on our iPhones but the quality on the smartphone really didn't do the scenery much justice. (Of course, if you're visiting to just take in the view with your eyes, that's cool too!) I used my
with the
lens borrowed from a friend to get the shots above. For landscape shots, it's better to go for a lens that can capture wide angles (but a 50mm lens will look great for closeups as well!)
-
WATCH THE ROAD:
Once the sun sets, it's pretty much one road in the middle of nowhere on the drive back. Don't fall asleep at the wheel and be aware of the speed limit! Cops could be hiding out in who-knows-where.
Hope you enjoyed the photos and let me know if you ever get to visit or have any questions about my experience! Stay tuned for a short and funny vlog about our trip that will be on my
channel~
Yours,
Rachel
GOODBYE LA, CIAO ITALY
SHORT SD ADVENTURE
Wells Blog
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