SPS White Rim from above

This upcoming week marks the end of my very first travel assignment. I am taking ten days off before the start of my second assignment. During those ten days, my boyfriend and I will be doing a little traveling. By this time next week, I will be on White Rim trail in Canyonlands National Park. I am posting these photos, because you can see the trail that I will be on next week. I am so excited to see the park from this view!! I of course will take a ton of photos, and you will all be stuck with them for a while. After Canyonlands, we are headed to Glacier National Park via Salt Lake city! I have never been to Glacier before and am so wildly excited to see it. The Going to the Sun Road is scheduled to be open on Friday the 13th, it is very possible we could be some of the first people to travel that road this year. It is also possible the weather will turn and it will not be open when we are there. We will be camping most of the trip, and I do not know what type of access I will have. My computer will be with me for storage of all these photos I have yet to take....but as far as posts during the trip, I may not be able to do.

More of Lady

My family adopted Lady from the local humane society. She is a super cool dog with a taste for shredding things. I took these from my latest visit to Tennessee and have finally gotten around to posting them.

SPS Paint Mines

As promised, the paint mines....aren't they pretty?

Desert plants

While out enjoying the Paint mines (still saving the best photos for SPS) I took some photos of the surrounding plant life. Here are some of the photos I enjoyed the most. Normally, the place has a small stream running through and is a mecca for wildflowers, there were a few there, but not like years in the past, at least according to my source of information. I went hoping for wildflowers, but got some desert plants instead. I still like the final result.

Chasing Lizards

My boyfriend recently took me to a local park called the Paint Mines, and we explored some great rock formations that will be the subject of the next SPS post. While on the trail to the formations, I would see super fast movement on the ground out of the corner of my eye. The movement turned out to be lizards running around. They were fast little guys and incredibly hard to see in the dirt. I would be able to get them in my viewfinder, but then as I went to zoom in, the little guys would take off and I would lose them in the screen. It was also really windy, which made the super zoom even hard to use. I did manage to get a few good shots before they got too far away. The first photo is a bit distorted when looked at on the big screen, probably due to the wind with the digital zoom, but I still like how it looks in the smaller format.

SPS a little early

Here are some views of Canyonlands National Park. I really find that this park has several different types of scenery to enjoy, from rock formations to arches. The last photo is of wooden shoe arch, you can easily figure out where the name comes from. I am going to be heading back out to Canyonlands in a few weeks, and am really excited to enjoy it again.

Great Signs

While in Utah, I got the chance to grab a photo of one of my favorite signs. It is such a unique sign, that I regretted not getting a photo of the first time I was there years ago. Basically, all it says is stay on the trail or else you are killing life.

I am headed to Montana in a few weeks, to Glacier National Park in my week off between contracts. My boyfriend is coming with me, and I cannot wait to share the photos from that trip. I have not been to Glacier before and have been dying to get there for years. If anyone has suggestions, they would be appreciated.

Natural Bridges

Quite a view!

It looks like a cupcake!

I realized I haven't posted any photos from Natural Bridges National Monument. Its had been over a month since my trip to these great parks, and I haven't found time to post from a super neat one. I got there right after sunrise and found that I was the only one in the park, and was there for about and hour and a half before I saw another person. Here are a few views of the park, plus a bridge. The header of my page was taken from under this bridge.

It's mini shaving time

I was so excited to go home when I heard from my mom that it was mini shaving time! Mini horses often have trouble shedding out their winter coats, and you have to clip them in the spring. It is one of my favorite activities! They always look and act so pathetic in the moment but end up happy because they are finally rid of that heavy coat. This is Maggie enduring the process.

He will carry anything

While visiting the family in Tennessee, I also managed to spend some time with the animals. This is Chase, and he loves to carry anything you will give him. He particularly likes books, and beer bottles. He will also carry bags of chips, open or closed. He has learned to carry things to people if you tell him who to take the object to. In this case, we gave him the bag of Cheetos to carry to the counter. He gets very excited, and walks around with his entire butt wagging in excitement. It is hard to get photos of him carrying things, because he will not stand still long enough, and tends to walk towards the camera, showing off his prize possession.

Lying in the grass

The other day, I posted a photo of my cat rubbing up against my camera. I never explained why I was lying the the grass to begin with. I honestly am not sure I can explain it. I was playing with the dog and was trying to get some photos of her without her looking scared. It's hard to do, because she was abused in the past and always looks scared when you look at her. I was trying to get on her level and trying not to intimidate her. While I was on her level, I saw this dramatic sky and pictured this photo in my head before I actually took it. It turned out just like I had imagined, something that rarely happens with me. It is amazing how you can get a great photo and you do not have to go further than your front yard!

Capitol Petroglyphs

In Capitol Reef National Park, there is a wooden walkway near a rock wall laden with petroglyphs. There are some that are incredibly easy to spot due to the signs pointing the way. However, the further down the walkway you go, the harder they are to spot. I enjoyed finding many of the hidden petroglyphs and tried to photograph as many as I could find. There was a German couple also on the walkway, they would see me stop to take a photo and eventually they asked what I was taking photos of, for they could not find the petroglyphs. I pointed out several and they got incredibly excited by my finds. As I moved on, I noticed they followed my lead and stopped where I did to see if they could see the hidden petroglyphs. Alas, they were still having trouble, so they kindly asked for me to point some more out, which I happily did.
In the photo above, see if you can spot the petroglyphs. Look below for the close-ups. If you are having trouble finding them above, look below for the missing chunk of rock to use as a marker for the first photo.

PS, if you click on the first photo to enlarge it, you will easily spot them. If you like challenges, find them on the smaller size!

Pay Attention to ME!!!

I am posting from my mother's house in Tennessee. I managed to get a week off of work and decided to come back to retrieve a few needed items from storage. I got in about noon, and had to get out the camera this afternoon. We have plenty of animals that I try to get photos of whenever I am here. They tend to be overly friendly at times. You literally cannot go outside without one of them in your face seeming to scream, "PAY ATTENTION TO ME" They decide to follow you and chew on your hair, or your jeans, or stick their noses in frame .

"Why are you lying in the grass? You must want me to make an appearance, here let me rub against the camera for you"

"I wanna be Tina Turner, I have the hair for it...see"

"I see you trying to take that other horse's picture...not while I am here!"

Zion National Park

It is Saturday again....already! Where has the week gone? For SPS this week, I decided to post some of my favorite landscapes from Zion National Park. I have been to Zion twice, I remember Zion for its amazing beauty and the buses full of screaming kids! One of my favorite memories is the shear awesomeness of Checkerboard Mesa (photo 2). It is to me one of the more recognizable landmarks of Zion. Everyone pulls off the road to grab a photo of the Checkerboard Mesa. The lines in the sandstone give it that appearance.

I should also mention that the logo for SPS is a Zion photo. It was taken the first time I went to Zion with Amy. It was taken from the Big Bend stop in the park. The guides will tell you that there is nothing there, no trail heads, no facilities, but a fantastic view. Amy was the one with the skills to add the lettering and border to the logo. I went to that stop again, and was there at the wrong time with the sun, and didn't come close to grabbing a photo as cool as that one.

As the Sun Rises

When on my recent southern Utah trip, I would get up before the sun rose to try to find the perfect spot for the colors of sunrise. I didn't always make it, but still manged to get some great sky shots before the first rays of light hit the earth or right after they started lighting up the sky. These are from Canyonlands, and Bryce Canyon. The first and last are from Bryce. The second one is from Canyonlands, I found it very cool that the sun reflected off a small area of water in the canyon, and it was incredibly bright. The third is from the road to Canyonlands, well before dawn, the moon was out and glowing in the sky. I think these are some of my favorites, because I felt like I was the only one awake to see the world. I was often the only person around, and I felt like the world was waking up just for me. I know it sounds silly, but in that moment, I knew the world was showing off for me just a little!

A fulfilled promise

While on my 6 day road trip, I was driving south to Flagstaff, Arizona to take a very southern route back to Pueblo due to a big snow storm. I had my trusty atlas with me, and saw Sunset Crater National Monument not far from my planned route. So I called my favorite friend Amy, and asked her about the park. I wanted to know if it would be worth it to go, because it would be pretty dark by the time I would have gotten there. She said it seemed like a cool place and that I should go if I got the chance. She also told me to take a photo of the sign, because it was a cool looking one! I did get there pretty late and managed to see a small portion of the park, and got some interesting sunset photos. Ironic?

You can see the crater in this last photo. I have plans to go back because it is an awesome looking park and my photos of the lava flows did not turn out so well in the dark. It is on the list for my my next extended leave from work.

Red Canyon

On the road to Bryce Canyon National Park, you travel through Dixie National forest's Red Canyon. It has rock formations that are similar to Bryce Canyon. There are also two super pretty red rock tunnels that you drive through.

Here are a few snapshots of Red Canyon for Super Park Saturday. Remember, SPS is for all public lands!