Week 14 entry...
Of all the places I visited during a trip to the southwest of the United State several years (each one seemingly most stunning than the last in their sweeping vistas, incredible beauty, and ability to make your jaw just hit the floor in awe), I have to say I was the most purely excited to visit a little out-of-the-way place called Goblin Valley.
The name alone is just so much fun on its own, conjuring up images of squat little creatures running to and fro, perhaps squirreling away food or surprising unwary visitors as they pass through.
Then when you see it, you realize your mind's image wasn't that far off:
Isn't that just cool?
But I wasn't excited to go there just because it was so unique or that it was a place I'd never been before. No, I have to display my triple-laminated dork card and fly my geek flag high when I admit that it was such a place of excitement because that's where a scene from the Star Trek spoof Galaxy Quest was filmed.
I have been a Star Trek fan since I was about 8 years old, watching it with my older brothers at 6:00 pm on Fridays after dinner. (Not the original airing of the series, of course -- I'm not *that* old.) It was one of the few programs our parents would let us watch, and we were always glued to the set each time. That love of the original series, though never equaled, expanded over the years to encompass all the spin-offs, each of which was worthy and entertaining in its own way. Some may have taken longer for me to 'get into' (Deep Space 9) or to find their own footing (The Next Generation), but others entertained me from the start (Voyager). So when Galaxy Quest came out, this movie that was clearly spoofing the entire Star Trek history and culture, I admit to being a little dubious at first.
At least, that is, until I saw it. Then I pretty much couldn't stop laughing for a week and probably watched it eight times when I first got the DVD. (Note to self: you should remember to watch it again soon.)
About halfway through the movie, there's a scene where, in pure Star Trek form, they've won a fleeting but temporary victory against The Bad Guy but have sustained Serious Damage to the Ship -- they now need to find a planet that will have the stuff they need to fix the ship before The Bad Guy comes back and obliterates them.
And what better place to create the look and feel of an alien world than this:
So when we pulled into the parking lot of the visitor's center, I pretty much was out of the door before the car even pulled to a stop. I zoomed down the first path I came upon and promptly lost myself in the maze of goblin formations, keeping an eye out for the little alien beings or for Captain Taggart. Shaking his head, my husband followed me at a safe distance behind, ensuring he was not immediately linked to this apparent idiot running around and climbing everything and laughing herself silly while randomly crying out "Never give up! Never surrender!"
Yeah, not gonna lie -- best day ever. ;)
This is my entry for the fourteenth week of Season 8 of therealljidol. This week's topic was 'twitterpated'.
If you think Goblin Valley looks cool from just these little snapshots I took, you should definitely go do a Flickr or Google Image search for 'goblin valley' -- you will be amazed at the beauty of that place.
Inside the world of the movie, 'Never give up, never surrender!' is the tagline from the sci-fi TV series Galaxy Quest, the very-similar-to-Trek TV series that an alien culture mistakes for actual historical documents, and sets in motion the events of the movie.
As always, thanks for reading.