A solo road trip to Seven Magic Mountains
Once in a while, I get obsessed with a place or an idea and must make it happen. Exhibit A: Seven Magic Mountains. It’s a large-scale public artwork by Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone, featuring “seven thirty- to thirty-five-foot high dayglow totems comprised of painted, locally-sourced boulders” in the desert outside of Las Vegas.
Seven Magic Mountains ticked a lot of the boxes of what gets me excited: public art and neon colors and a highly Instagrammable backdrop of sweeping desert skies. Despite the fact that I am not a huge fan of Las Vegas and also not generally a fan of long drives, the two-year exhibition of Seven Magic Mountains is up this May (although there are rumors to make it permanent) and so: I had to make it happen! On a spare weekend, I embarked on a solo adventure in the 2018 Chevy Cruze out to see a bunch of giant colorful rocks in the desert.
In short: Seven Magic Mountains did not disappoint–especially at sunrise. It was weirdly stunning, especially with the sunrise lending a soft pink glow to the desert rocks, expansive skies and wide stretches of open spaces and succulents. The rock piles are overwhelmingly big, and the inherent strangeness of how they’re stacked in the middle of nowhere–along with the unnaturally bright colors–gives you pause. It’s meant to offer a creative critique on the midway point between the natural and artificial, and I think it does evoke a discussion around that–especially given its proximity to the strange mirage of Las Vegas. 
That said, it was quite a drive to get there: a solid 250 miles from San Diego! Because it was such a long drive, I decided to stay for the night in Las Vegas: a place that I mostly hate, but it always feels like kind of a cultural experience to just walk around and observe. Walking along the Strip was actually a really nice way to stretch my legs after four hours in the car: everything is SO spread out, so I ended up logging 14K steps in just a few hours. I used HotelTonight to find a room (use code CAMOROSE for $25 off your first booking!), and had a delightfully un-Vegas night in with a good book, a face mask and a cold-pressed juice and ginger shot. And then I was up bright and early for a sunrise visit to the Seven Magic Mountains before continuing back to San Diego! 
Overall, I’m so glad that I made the trip to see it and actually didn’t mind the journey too much. I tried to make the most out of it instead of dreading it, and I think that made a big difference.
Here are a few of my essentials for a solo road trip:
Plenty of healthy snacks and hydration: I took a few tips from my friend Ashlee’s guide to a solo retreat, and loaded up an insulated bag with delicious things to eat. I packed my standard snacks: coconut La Croix, RXBAR‘s, apple slices (and to-go packs of dipping peanut butter) and giant hard pretzels. Also: I’m a big believer in indulging in In & Out on road trips! I absolutely grabbed a cheeseburger and fries when I stopped for gas. Since so much of this drive was through the desert, I also made sure to pack extra bottles of water!
A solid podcast queue: I feel like podcasts are the biggest thing to shift my ability to enjoy long drives by myself. They keep me entertained and engaged, and make a boring drive SO much easier to do on your own (although I actually think they’re also great when you’re on a long drive with other people too!). A few that I enjoyed on this drive: Criminal, Death Sex & Money, Reveal, Out of Line, The Pitch, and Here to Make Friends.
A prime sing-along playlist: My BFF Aly makes the best playlists, and I always love discovering a bunch of new music via her. A few of my other curated-by-Spotify favorites that are ideal to belt out by yourself: songs to sing in the car, hot country, 2000s smash hits, and one-hit wonders. CarPlay in the Cruze made it super easy to find a Spotify playlist and rock out!
At least one friend who is available for a solid catch up session: Thank you, Miamah, for being available to chat . Also: I love how integrated the speakers and microphones are in the Cruze, so that I didn’t have to worry about holding my phone so that I could hear or that people could hear me. David is always telling me I don’t need to yell when I’m talking on the phone in the car, but I feel like I kind of do if my phone is on speaker!
A car with good gas mileage AND wifi!: The drive was definitely loads more comfortable in this cute little Cruze! It was also a lot more affordable because of how good the gas mileage was (48MPG on the highway), and a lot less stressful because the dash tells you exactly how much gas you have until you need to get more (I always get nervous about that, especially when driving in the desert with long stretches between rest stops and gas stations. And a car equipped with reliable 4G wifi also makes driving in the middle of nowhere a lot more reassuring: no worrying about losing service and not be able to access directions or contact people. It was the perfect little solo road trip vehicle!
