a little town called rhyolite, nevada

so i enjoy road trips and driving, which i think is a very American thing. kind of like how people associate biscuts and tea with England, safaris with Africa, surfing with Australia and wild, cold wilderness with Canada (or people wearing flannel). but vehicles and roads have a very spiritual place in American hearts.

recently i got a chance to stay in vegas and drive around southern nevada and i had a blast. one of the places i went to was rhyolite, an abandoned mining town that is part art museum and part ghost town.

in 1906 rhyolite was booming, had tons of people, electricity, schools, hotels and a lively night scene. by 1916 the town was dead. since then its been slowly crumbling away until people who cared showed up and decided to fix some of the structures and turn it into an open air art park or sorts.

now known as the goldwell open air museum it features scultpures from a few different artists, maybe most prominently a dutch guy named Albert Szukalski who did the last supper and ghostrider out of fibreglass, using locals as the models.

the place is pretty wicked, and quick the drive to get to. but most certainly worth the trip. i loved it.

 

Now this place is nestled between two... Im from a coastal town so they look like mountains to me, but they might just be hills. And since this was a mining town there are open mines. At this point most of them are blocked off to protect visitors, but there are some that arent. So if you go to explore this place just be careful if you leave the paths.

I will also mention that if you choose to visit here you shouldnt take the route i did. Just stick to the highway. Theres a paved road that leads right to it... theres also an unpaved road. This road is an ass and will be dusty and make your compact car cry tears.



glass in a desert

today i was looking through some pictures i took almost two years ago when i first visited the city known to me as phoenixopolis. i was originally out here to explore the city and what would eventually become the school i am currently attending. while i was out here i wandered my delightfully pale ass over to the Desert Botanical Garden and had my mind completely blown out of my ear hole.

in case you have never heard of him, Dale Chihuly is an incredibly talented glass artist. his work goes for a crazy amount of money and is displayed all over the world.

well, i was at the garden when his exhibit was being displayed there. and i totally got pictures. so enjoy.

now, i apologize for my camera. it sucks. it is also KIA now. and that means i need a new one. but did you feast your eyes on the glass work? the colors? the shapes? i wish my photos could do his work justice, but it simply couldnt. the pieces were amazing and left me breathless. i ended up walking around the garden for close to five hours just staring.

now i would highly suggest looking up more of his work and also supporting the botanical garden. not just of phoenixopolis but also wherever you live. because its good karma. and i think we all need a little help when it comes to karma. plus its super easy. jut go out and do something nice.

dont do it for the thank you or attention, but because you should. people should be good to one another. being a fuck wit is a shitty existence. you get what you give, so if all you do is spout negativity and anger that is simply going to be your constant state of existence.

sucks, right?

so be good to one another people. im not saying go out and hug people or forgive some ass hat for punching you in the face (unless you deserve it) but say thank you, open doors for people, help old people with their groceries or garbage, be polite, use your  fucking turn signal- they exist for a reason and try to help a charity or establishment once in a while. they can use that money you were going to spend on dumb shit for something like helping to find a cure for cancer or aids. both of which suck and kill or hurt really fucking cool people. (like a certain Barreness who is super funny and very much an idol of mine and living the life. you go girl!)

like my aunt and grandmother. one is a breast cancer survivor and the other had intestinal cancer. both women are amazing, inspirational, strong and awesome. and apparently to fucking difficult to kill. which feeds into my theory of genetic mutation in my family leading to the birth of me- the most awesome lady ever.

so anyways, here is a gorgeous bike with a chick on it to end the post. try and figure which one i drooled over more.