Paris. Maui. Venice. Death Valley.

When my husband and I planned our second anniversary romantic getaway to Death Valley, I was expecting a barren desert wasteland. We were going mostly because of the adventure of trying something new and half for the irony of spending a wedding anniversary in a place as awful sounding as "Death Valley."

But, let me tell you, Death Valley turned out to be one of the most spectacular places I have ever been. There was so much to see and do! Our weekend was packed with all sorts of adventures and memories. Here are just a few:


Here's our lovely campsite. I admired the snowcapped peaks even in Death Valley. Who says it doesn't snow in Southern California?

Beautiful desert drives.

Badwater Basin: Lowest elevation point in the US, 8th lowest elevation point in the world! The white fields are salt flats. I verified that fact with a swift swipe of the ground with my index finger and a quick lick of my finger.

I decided to take advantage of the sun and the heat by making sun tea on our dashboard using a ziploc bag.

Making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches out of the trunk before hiking.

Natural arch. The teeny blue dot below is me.

It was so, so windy that Saturday that the rock piles that hikers make on trails were blowing over, I blew over and bruised my shin on some rocks, and Michael's shirt flapped like a flag in the wind. At least it made the almost triple digit temperature much more bearable.

Hiking the Mesquite Sand Dunes. There are about a half dozen places with sand dunes in this park.

How do these little wildflowers blooms on so few drops of rain? There wasn't much plant life in Death Valley, but every little shrub and flower impressed my socks off simply due to the fact of its existence.

And I thought Los Angeles gas prices were high... This is the Chevron in the heart of Death Valley.

Being our weird selves:

Getting in touch with our hick selves.

Super hick with his Japanese shirt.

The best part of the trip was hanging out with this guy. Happy year two, Michael!

All in all, I officially recommend Death Valley National Park to those who love nature and don't mind getting sweaty.