Alison Hamlin Hughes Photography

‘Story Behind The Picture’
I still have to pinch myself that I got the chance to take this photo..
I saw a picture of on Google a few years ago, it’s probably not the kind of thing I would have searched for, but i couldn’t stop looking at it, a weird and wonderful piece of art!
I looked up the info on it, it’s called the Ghost Rider’ and is situated in Death Valley, in a little place called Rhyolite, a ghost town in the nowhere, like seriously nowhere!!! crikey!!!
Before this, me & Miles had been toying with the idea of a Road Trip to celebrate our 20th
Anniversay in Arizona/California, but we hadn’t plan anything, it was still a bit a dream then, Sedona was the main destination, as that’s where we got married.
So I said to Miles, this road trip we’ve been talking about, shall we do it? YES was the answer, so we started planning places we both wanted to see & experience. Initially we were going to drive from Arizona to California, and a ‘little’ detour in the opposite direction to Monument Valley was a must!
I knew Miles wasn’t mad on driving too many miles along those VERY long desert roads, but they fascinated me, I had one of them on my vision board!
So I dropped the question..how do you fancy driving across Death Valley? We chatted about how fascinating would be to see, it can be a dangerous place to be if anything went wrong with the car. We read lots of stuff about it, one article said take 2 spare wheels, not just one, if you get 2 punctures you are stuck and the heat is a killer, and other scary stories too.
The place where the Ghost Rider is located is quite high up in Death Valley, so a long way to travel but we decided to go for it!
Two year later… we were there!!! I was standing right in front of THE Ghost Rider, that photo that had been stuck in my mind, I was actually THERE!! I’ve never been anywhere so still, blazing hot, silent & eerie, with nothing for as far as you can see, it was absolutely AMAZING, it was like a magical ‘nothingness’
An experience we’ll never forget!
Not sure whether to add this to my gallery.. but wld definitely be different compared to my other gallery prints!
Would you like it on your wall 🤔I’m not sure!!

Pismo State Beach Pier.. visited here on road trip in March 2020, heading from LA to San Fransisco to try and get an early flight back to UK as we had got caught up in lockdown 😱
On the plus side, the beaches were deserted, as was Highway One.. it was beautiful!
Some of my travel photography is on display in my Gallery at The Design Shed Blakemere Village (UK based)

Moonstone Beach Cambria
This was taken on a road trip in March 2020, flew over from UK with my brother and got caught up in lockdown.. scary times!

Lake Isabella, Kern County CA
So weird seeing all those trees sticking out of the water like that!
The lake was beautiful, not to sure about the rest of Isabella, It was a one night stop over on our road trip, I think we could have picked a better town to stay in though!

Beautiful stained glass window we came across on a road trip in Scotland UK. St Mary’s Church, Greenock, Lower Clydeside. Est 1808

Shoreline Park, Santa Barbara California - Lockdown March 2020

Iconic view point driving into Monument Valley - Forest Gump Point, Halchita Utah.
What a road to drive!!
I took so many pictures in and around Monument Valley 🫢

Death Valley sunrise
We stayed in a really cool place in Beatty called Shady lady, previous to it becoming a B&B it was a brothel! - a historical one at that!!
Anyway, while taking photos of the beautiful sunrise, the owner informed us that we were looking out over part of Area 51👽👽👽

The Lone Cypress, California is one of the most photographed trees in the world!
If ever you are traveling Pacific Highway One in California, check out 17 Mile Drive at Carmel By The Sea, (near Monterey)it's really fab, and runs along Pebble Beach.
The road goes round a golf course with some super stunning properties, it's where Clint Eastwood lives!
You will also get the see the Ghost Trees along the same road
(I will share pics of those in a different post)
I took this pic in 2020 when I got caught up in lockdown over there, I went back in Sept 2022 but it was really foggy from the ocean, we had to turn back... maybe next time!

Sedona Arizona... said to be one of the most beautiful places on earth, its also said that the earths chakras run through here!
in September 2002 we got married here, by a Native American called Rahelio, it was the most amazing experience!
in September this year we returned to Sedona to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary, the weather wasn't brilliant, but this place is beautiful in any weather.
This image is available is as Wall Art in Acrylic or Canvas, I can also print this on Mugs, Coasters, Worktop Savers and Slate Plaques. Just message me for details 🙂