There’s a large percentage of people in the US who have never left their state. With so much variety of scenery, culture, food and weather not very far away getting out and roaming is such a joy.
Even rolling along into other worlds. Yes there are places that transport me to a favorite SciFy novel! It takes longer than a teleporter trip to get there but, they are so unique and make for a worthwhile trip. I selected both Bisti Badlands Wilderness and Death Valley National Park posts to re-share. Take a peek at a few photos as part of our Sunday Stills “Other Worldly” theme and enjoy my full trip posts below to be transported to these special, unique places.
Bisti Badlands Wilderness
Where is there an area of weird, alien looking landscape that we’ve never heard of? In New Mexico, of course. Also known as the home of Roswell, aliens and Area 51. Bisti Badlands wilderness is in the northwest part of the state and is managed by the BLM.
We spent a full day and over 8 miles exploring on foot through the valleys, up and down the hills and trying not to get stuck (or lost) somewhere.
We visited this other worldly wonder in December 2019. It was very cold at night (and we weren’t in the new camper) and I never did really feel warm inside. It was the first time we burned through a 30lb propane tank in 2 days! Fortunately, once the sun was up our midday hike wandering about got me warm and comfortable.
I have many photos of this wilderness area and hope you take a few minutes to click through to the original post on our stay. Without anything nearby it’s quite a journey to get there because there but is easy to navigate to the turn off. Be fully supplied as it is quite a distance to any town, fuel, food.
Death Valley National Park
Unlike Bisti Badlands where I wouldn’t recommend going in the winter, Death Valley National Park is perfect for a winter trip. As the hottest place in North America, the season for comfortable temperatures is during our winter. For our stay here in 2021, we managed to have cool overnights and pleasantly cool days. The exception was a 24 hour period of 40mph gusts. The wind started up after dinner and raged all night. I’m not sure I enjoy trying to sleep in a rocking camper! There is no cell service in 99% of this park which meant a morning drive up to the visitor center to see if we could get an updated wind report. Fortunately, it would be dying down later that afternoon; otherwise, I was ready to go wheels up and relocate.
Spend enough time here and you’ll leave discovering quite the variety of landscapes and geology. It’s like no other place I’ve ever visited. From sand dunes, to salt crusted dry lake beds random tea pots and moving rocks!
Check out our original posts on this unique visit.
About the Photo Challenge
A weekly themed photo challenge hosted by Terri. Check out her Blog and come back and visit for more SundayStills and traveling posts!
More Sunday Still Posts
Thanks for visiting our travel blog and I hope you enjoyed finding the #SundayStills Challenge. You can join the weekly challenge by visiting our hosts blog Second Wind Leisure. and checking out Terri’s post for this week, Out of this World.
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Those are awesome. I remember going to Palm springs with my hubby a few years ago and when we were landing I said I felt like we were landing on Mars.
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I love Rick Steve’s quote, “Travel is a political act.” I think this is true both for foreign travel and domestic travel. Getting out to see other places and talking to people who are different than you lends to a greater understanding. I’m lucky to have visited all the places in your beautiful pictures… and there is so much else to see!
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Thank you for the quote and compliment. I also feel lucky to be able to venture out far and wide to explore. There’s so much more to see, learn, do out there and we can’t wait to continue the journey.
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Great captures. Both these places look very otherworldly. I’ve never been to the Bisti Badlands Wilderness before. I’ll have to add it to my list for when we visit New Mexico.
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When you plan a Bisti badlands visit, follow that up to the famous four corners. We did not head there and I wish we had even just for that small moment in time where you can touch 4 states simultaneously!
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These areas of our Southwest are truly inspiring, Cheryl! The one shot of Roswell looks very alien, doesn’t it? I see how rumors can get started! Death Valley seems full of surprises, too. I continue to be in awe of how animals and insects can live under these harsh conditions. Thanks for sharing your other-worldly adventures!
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So true about animal life in Death Valley…there’s much more than we would imagine. Plus we found a waterfall and creek making life sustainable!
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