The many days and years of her life had been busy, challenging and rewarding, and sometimes overwhelmingly difficult. And over the years she began to dream the dream, as many do, that she could, just once, run away and escape from it all. She dreamed of Death Valley National Park, of a winter’s journey which promised her beauty, calm and a quieted mind. So when her life stress hit the tipping point, Jackie Keller left the university, packed her car and moved to the desert where she found everything she had dreamed of, plus blessings and adventures she had never envisioned. Through this true life story the reader can see the stunning beauty of this glorious national park, explore its history and share the rhythm of day-to-day life in the small community of Furnace Creek. Walk with her through a season of exploration, laughter and renewal. “For anyone who wants to rediscover his/her true self or perhaps find it for the first time, you are invited to join this middle aged professor who quit her job and went to live and work in a vast and imposing desert. It was a winter spent watching, learning, questioning and discovering things she would never have found without her self imposed exile….a beautiful true life story which Dr. Keller masterfully and artfully describes.” Shelley Stokes, Ph. D.