I grew up in Northern LA County and in high school my friends and I would make regular weekend trips to Death Valley in the cooler months and into the Panamint Range in the hotter months. We were much less interested in the geologic importance of these areas than the idiosyncratic nature of the people who lived there. In the Panamints there were still old prospectors searching for the next vein of silver which had clearly run out 40 years before. Along with viewing mountain goats and trekking through the valley we'd also attend Marta Becket's Opera House when in Death Valley. I would attempt to describe her performance but anything I write will miss the surreal experience of listening to a truly horrible operatic performance in full regalia surrounded by mid-west gamblers bused in from Las Vegas to take in "opera in the desert".
When I met my, now, wife, I had to go through the interview process with her step-father. That lasted for about two minutes until we realized we'd gone to the same Los Angeles college, (Barry went there), and that we had a complete fascination with Death Valley and surroundings. He was a geologist and now he had an eager intern who would help him scout locations and draft curriculum for his class field trips. It was shortly after our first trip that my wife said, "I guess I'm stuck with you". It's worked out pretty well..:).
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