Dan and Whitney's Excellent Adventure
Partners in crime: Videographer Dan McBride and Photographer Whitney Lewis
Purpose for the trip: Video interviewing artists for FantasyCon (in Las Vegas and Los Angeles), stock photography, meeting strangers and telling their stories through photo and video, and lastly - finding inspiration for the love of the art. Nature, people, the beautiful world we live in.
Day 1: Road trip from Salt Lake to Vegas
I love road trips. Listening to music, telling life stories, asking strange questions, getting sentimental about all the memories from past trips along these roads, and of course stopping along the way for photos.
Here was the first sunset of the trip, just on the side of the freeway. I left Dan at the car and took a walk down the path:
Above and below, the photos on the left were taken from the car, the photos on the right were taken... well, at a certain fast food restaurant with a big yellow M. I am not generally a patron of this establishment, but when you have to pee... sometimes a McDonalds will have to do. Also, they have an awesome playground!!! I am almost ashamed of how proud I am that I waited in line behind half a dozen children to go climb through the tubes. What I really wanted was a ball pit!! But alas, I shouldn't be picky. After all, we walked in, used a restroom, played on the playground, took photos, and left without buying anything. Thank you McDonalds!
Every time I drive over the hill on I-15 and see the lights of Las Vegas emerge, I always think "I should stop and take a take a picture" but fear stops me. Parking on the side of the freeway in low visibility is something I do frequently for photos, but it's not exactly safe. The danger of our trip began here and I finally took the photo I've been dreaming about. (slight exaggeration on the importance of this photo, but it set a great tone for the trip to stop anytime the voice in my head tells me to pull out my camera...)
Checked into the hotel, and wandered Fremont Street. I stopped and danced Charleston with a street drummer. Hugged a few strangers... It's a fun place, full of interesting people, activities, music. I think my favorite was the electric cellos.
And it was St Patricks Day weekend, so we got festive with the tacky green sequins! Awesomeness.
And this photo I love. There are locks and names and all kind of things attached to this sculpture of a heart. It sounds cliche, but I still feel strongly about it - Wouldn't the world be an incredible place if we all just loved each other? I am ready to live in a world of unconditional love. I appreciate and admire artists who use their talent to remind us to love the people in our lives. I will strive to do the same.
See the other blog posts from this Road Trip:
Day 2: Red Rock Conservation Area