I can remember when I first visited the desert; the year was 2007 and the locations varied through Western Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas via a road trip with friends. I grew up with hardwood forests featuring scattered evergreens, rolling hills, and the Great Lakes. My adventures prior to college consisted of trips within Michigan or Canada, staying close to the Great Lakes landscape. When I visited the Mountains of Colorado and then the Western Slope, I was stunned. Driving further south, I felt as though I was on another planet taking it all in, mile after mile trying to process this landscape. I wasn't really fascinated with the desert after that trip, but I was introduced. Years following, I visited more desert landscapes - Death Valley, Southern Utah, parts of Arizona, and New Mexico. With each visit, the desert landscape was burned into my brain and quickly became something I couldn't stop thinking about.