In 2006, my husband & I took a trip to Death Valley between Christmas & New Years. For anyone who loves geology, Death Valley - in spite of it's name - is amazing. My Dad said, "what in the hell for?" I explained that it's a great place to see rocks because there is no trees or foilage hiding the rocks. My Dad also loves trees and thought it a great joke. He may be in his 80's now, but still has a wonderful sense of humor.

We took a 27 mile gravel road - more like small, rough-edged boulders - to what is called The Racetrack. Rocks have left mysterious tracks through the hard-as-concrete ancient lake bed. A USGS crew once took GPS devises and found the Racetrack to be absolutely flat. The theory is that when it rains, the water sheets out due to the flatness and soaks into the dry bed making it slicker than ice. My brother-in-law confirmed this fact as he ended up splat on his ass during a rare rain on the track. Wind comes into play next by pushing the rocks, forming the tracks you see. This track probably took several storm events to create such an irregular and interesting trail. It was definitely a trip to be remembered.