Sky framing rock framing rock
I don't even understand the colours happening here, but that really is what my eyes were seeing.
Mystery
Eileen knows the names of lots of the flowers we found. I do not.
Greens
I was struck by all the horizontal layers of shades of green.
What I meant to shoot
Picture 2 of a 2 part set. This is the photo I was trying to take.
Wide spaces
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Meta
Photography photography.
Walk-In
The Walk-In, you know, as opposed to the Drive-In at the edge of town. This is the theatre where I watched the first two Star Wars movies.
Library
This building was the town library when I grew up. It was the Post Office before that. The librarian gave Don Schroeder and I each a huge envelope of old Canadian stamps that launched our Philatelic careers!
Petroglyphs
Several of our hikes featured petroglyphs, but this last walk of the day had numerous areas like this. Petroglyphs are art and designs carved into the rock by scratching, picking or scraping. In this case they come from the Ancient Pueblo Peoples who lived here approximately 300 BC to 1150 AD. I was hoping to find the one called "Mystical Bat Woman", but haven't spied it yet.
The shadows are growing longer
Our day is drawing to a close.
Searching for Prairie?
I know Eileen is a river person, but photos like this make me wonder if we instinctively search for "prairie" when we travel. It makes me want to see what picture Eileen was taking!
Ravenscrag
Heading south and east from Cypress Hills, this looks like it's out of a western movie set.
White domes, red sand, blue sky, various plant colours
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Exploring hard and soft textures
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Typical Vegas Wedding
I guess people still go to Vegas to get married, though I suppose this is just a photo shoot.
Prickly Pear Cactus attempting cloning
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Valley of Fire drive
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Penguin? Eagle? What do you see?
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Rock prairie meets rock foothills
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Shapes, lines, colours, textures, and shadows.
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Shapes, Lines, Colours, Textures!
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Sunset gazers
Altogether I believe there were a total of 11 people up on these buttes with us watching the sunset. There's plenty of space to be with your thoughts.
Albert beneath tree
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McGillivray Falls Trail, Whiteshell
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Resting Cormorants
El Arco is where the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez meet.
Photo by Eileen
The Art District is filled with galleries and visual delights.
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La Lupita, tacos and Mezcal!
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4 salsas, 3 mezcal, 2 fruits, 1 chili mix, 3 tacos.
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Cabana heaven
Don't hit a cactus! 🌵
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Darkness Flattens
As the sun dips below the horizon the landscape once again flattens.
Camouflage Failure
This guy is less hidden, looks sort of disgusted with me, and is keeping a keen eye.
Lighted paths
If you look into the valley you can see the path we climbed to our sunset watching perch on 70 Mile Butte
Borderlands Lookout
Looking over to Montana
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My favourite selfie
Sage
I have no wise words.
Who needs trees for a campground?
Humble, clean facilities, friendly hosts. Not a high level of privacy between sites.
Swirls
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Textures
So many textures!
Sidelight
There was so much magical light on many of our hikes.
Lodgepole convergence
This is the furthest east you can find lodgepole pines in Canada. Makes for a stunning campsite.
Entering Red Rock Canyon
This was our first view entering the Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area
To the bridge
Now we are headed out to explore the bridge. Since tractor trailers are crossing it, we figure it should hold us as pedestrians.
Eileen is a river person
Here Eileen stands on the state line with one foot in Arizona and one gambling that the bridge will hold in Nevada.
A view FROM the MOCPT Memorial Bridge
A reverse of the earlier shot, this is from the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge facing Hoover Dam. I like several things about this picture. 1) The cars at the very bottom by the power station, and those on the dam top, giving a sense of the immense scale. 2) The shadow of the bridge we are standing on. 3) The angled towers on both sides of the canyon. 4) The lake and white water line at the top of the photo.
Rio and Mirage
A view from our home in Las Vegas. Behind the nice colours of the Rio you can see the LOVE banner on the casino complex behind, where we watched the Cirque show.
The Palms
Another view from our room. You can see two "Palms" towers, and we are staying in the third.
@#$&% Tower
Don't know why, but felt compelled to take a picture of a despicable building.
Dusk in Vegas
One last view from our room, showing Caesar's Palace to the left (our supper) and The Bellagio to the right (fountains you might see another day).
Barren or Lush?
Darth Vader?
People like to look for recognizable shapes in the rocks. I clearly see Darth Vader.
Agave
A natural desert plant, possibly most famous for it's use in making Tequila!
A view OF the MOCPT Memorial Bridge
Now we're standing in the middle of that road across the dam, looking downstream, where the water comes out down below, and admiring the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. It appears to be quite high!!
Leaving Calgary
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Desert Cactus
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Cactus closeup
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Likin' Lichen
I found the vivid lichen colours quite striking. I'm not sure what the black surface is, but it creates a great contrast to the yellow and orange and red around it. (Nevada desert hiking tip: Look for the black areas on the rocks to see petroglyphs!)
Succulents & Cacti Galore
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Vivid Green
Such sturdy, robust leaves, both in colour and texture, and their design almost matches the rock and plant texture in the background.
Red (Striped) Rock Canyon
Sedimentary rock is cool!
Barren or Lush Reprise
I love the green vs white vs red vs grey vs brown.
Cuba Sailboat
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Container Park
Ya, it's a bit blurry, but I hoped to capture what a lovely outdoor space this was, on 3 levels, made entirely from shipping containers, with a kid friendly play zone, and startups and eateries.
Camouflage Success
See how it's eyeing me?
I believe it's a side-blotched lizard, since it's fairly tiny at 6". If it were larger, it might be a desert iguana.
Hiking Trail
This particular part of the trail needed limited signage to keep us on the path.
The White Domes
I loved the shapes and patterns defined both by the red and white colours and by the curves and holes and lines from erosion. If you look above and to the left of the human in the picture, you can tell why this area is called White Domes.
And a hint of green
This destination is called Balanced Rock, and while it looks more precarious from other sides, I enjoyed the Prickly Pear cactus on this side.
COLOUR!
Skies just like the summer prairies, highlighted by the contrasting red and brown rock colours. I loved the smooth blue and the ragged red.
Greenery
The tufts of plant growing on all the horizontal surfaces was striking to me, as was the bright green grass that was growing in the shade of each little tuft. Plants are mighty!
Visitor Center
Okay, the Visitor Center is behind me. I just liked this view.
Bighorn Sheep
The last 20 minutes of the drive before entering the valley was flat as the prairie south of Winnipeg, but without trees, with a real sense of isolation. Then just as we were approaching the first signs of red rocks, we saw some wildlife. I consider them our welcoming party.
SambaLatte
We did manage to find a place serving delicious coffees. They even managed to do Valentines in our coffees!
Sunshine, pool, book, lounge chairs!
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Le Petit Dep
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Entering the Freemont Street Experience
The start of the digital displays and sound as I described above.
Freemont Street - wider view
Here is the heart of Old Las Vegas - people (maybe don't look too closely), lights, noise, ziplines, nightlife.
All Berries!
One of the gifts of the "land of the free" is never ending sugar cereal options. Hooray for me. Eileen enjoys a coffee in warm morning sun through an open balcony door.
Supper
Eileen's entree - cornmeal crusted chile relleno, stuffed with roasted eggplant and manchego cheese, with sweet red pepper sauce and balsamic glaze. Ya, it's a stuffed pepper.
Lake Mead
Standing on Hoover Dam, looking upstream you can see just a tiny piece of Lake Mead, created by the Hoover Dam. The white area vividly shows the highest the water has been, in 1983, the only time the side overflow chutes were used.
Intake Towers
Standing on the Arizona side of the dam/river and zooming back a little, you see one of the intake towers which takes in the water that provides the pressure for the turbines to generate electricity.
Selfie
Saw some glass, and noticed a nice couple who looked like they were having a great time, so I took this photo.
Power!
Creative tower placements are needed when the power comes from deep in a gorge.
Hoover Dam
What a colossal mass of concrete! Yup, those are people walking along the road at the top, to remind you of the scale. The dam is 660 feet thick at the bottom, almost the length of 2 football fields.