PHOTOS FROM THIS DAY WITH LARRY LINDAHL As soon as our destination was set for Sedona, Barb went to amazon.com to start her research. She wants to make sure her Kindle is well stocked and she gets a few books about the area to imagine and plan our trip. She always thinks of me when hunting for the best locations and the treasure that she bought for me this time was url=http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Sedona-Landscape-Highways-Collections/dp/189386099X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336836051&sr=8-1Secret Sedona, Sacred Moments in the Landscape. It is an amazing find written by photographer Larry Lindahl, and includes a generous number of his incredible photos of this special place. Ah, modern technology... I was able to "meet" Larry online and set up a hike with him for this evening. He was... read more

PHOTO FROM THIS DAY AT PALATKI, LOOP ROAD & AIRPORT MESA In the afternoon we decided to visit the Palatki Heritage Site, but after maneuvering our rental through the dusty roads we arrive at the site at 2:45 only to find they close at 3 and a reservation is required. On the way in we met a tree (see photos 2, 3 & 4) that gave an impression of just how hot it was. A piece of bark was peeled back and hanging as if a tongue hoping for moisture. That and a spot on the way out that was beckoning me to climb was all we got of this Palatki place this day but we hoped to return before we left. Photos 9 thru 15 were taken from the first turnout on the right coming ... read more

Photos from our last day Our last day before heading home. Up early and out shooting with barely a whimper in the car. The Screamer had been subdued. Right around photo 7 I was waiting for a large bull elk to come into the light as he crossed the Merced when a group of 3 pulled up, jumped out of their car and came running to get a quick snapshot. Animals in Yosemite know they are safe, but they still have that animal instinct. They startled him but he didn't run. He did, however, alter his course and took himself out of my expected elk-in-the-wild shot. Hope one of the intruders came away with a prize. We again drove up to the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias and again the gate was closed. This time, however, ... read more

Photos from this day in Yosemite As hinted in the beginning of yesterday's blog, there was no way Snafu Airlines would get us to Yosemite on time for photos. Fortunately the rental car guy said he'd wait for us if we were late. We arrived after they were closed and he was still there. He didn't have to be. It was Saturday night. I tipped him enough to let his girlfriend know we were grateful. He knew we'd rather sleep in Yosemite than Fresno. Making matters worse, a day or two before we left Yellowstone I noticed something brewing in my lower right jaw, and by the time we were at max altitude on our way to Yosemite it was in full-blown abscess. When asked by the attendant if we needed anything from the cart, I ... read more

Yellowstone photos from this day ~~~ Grand Teton photos from this day Barb & I have always planned spontaneous trips, ever realizing how weird planned spontaneity sounds. On our honeymoon, for example, we took the money her dad gave us and drove until it was gone. Wherever we stopped at night we just got out our maps and roughly figured where we might go the next day. The next day never turned out as planned because we always left room for spontaneity. In our planning for this trip we figured we'd see Grand Teton National Park at some point. This turned out to be the day. The weather was the same each of the days we were in the area, but I can't help wondering if the mountains would have been more photogenic on any of ... read more