Favorite Yosemite Pix -You need to go!

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Photos from Canyonlands

Besides canyons there's a bunch of stuff on the surface that

are really cool. Like this split rock.

 I have such a hard time with canyons it's so tough for

me to get their breadth and scope.

 This was fascinating.

There Colorado and the Green rivers that run through Canyonlands

and eventually converge.

I have no idea which river this is but it's cool all the same.

I love the trees.

 They are soooo artistic.

Seriously.

Of course there was haze happening but

you could still see the layers and layers of the mountains and canyons.

Every scene is absolutely amazing.

Death Valley National Park

And Wow!

It is an amazing park.

The mountains are majestic and so different

 depending on what side of the road you're looking at.

You go around the corner and BAM!

There's that.

 We thought going into the park - we'd just blow 

through and it'd be boring.

 Boy were we surprised and bummed because we

weren't gonna be able to see it all.

Lots of trails to hike and see sights off the beaten path that we sadly,

didn't have time to do because we got there late.

 On a great note, we were sidetracked by other really cool things

we didn't know were gonna be there.

 Fun factoid. Any of you remember 20-Mule Team Borax?

Yeah, we just got dated LOL.

Although you can still get borax and I HIGHLY recommend

it if you have pets. Sprinkle it around your carpets, furniture let it

lay for awhile and vacuum it up.

Shazaam - smells great and fleas are toast.

ANYWAY, they mined borax here and back in the day it

was taken out by 20 mule teams to take it to market.

 An oasis in the middle of the desert.

Not a mirage, although you could see mirages out there.

It tricks you for sure.

 Did I mention the mountains change.

If you see green. That's copper.

 In addition to copper, gold, silver, antimony, lead, zinc and tungsten

were also mined until 1915.

 You can walk in the park - just not off-road unless its designated.

Tom went out to check the salt flat and 

picked up a chunk of it.

Looks like ice - but it is REALLY REALLY salty.

 There is also a neat campground and hotels on the premise.

Maybe next time we'll camp there and explore more.

 Scotty's castle which would've been really cool to see

wasn't open due to flood damage.

It was named for a prospector named Walter Scott who was

in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, but never owned the castle,

which is not really a castle.

Managed to catch the golden hour on the way out.

Check out that cloud cover.

No rain for the desert.

Second visit to Joshua Tree

Headed on down the mountain in Palm Springs  after dithering 

about looking for and finally found the Aerial Tramway.

Promised a 360 view going way up and huge mountain.

This is us going not riding the tram.

It was expensive, a 10 minute ride up and down the mountain.

Eh.

We then after lunch, getting gas, finally stopped at the visitor's

center and Tom got his "passport" stamped.

Are these not gorgeous flowers.

This is a claret cup cactus.

A Joshua Tree.

Fun fact it's a variety in the Yucca family.

 Below is the start of our 4 wheelin' adventure.

 The first half wasn't too bad.

Mostly just sand a couple of ruts. 

Can you see the road to the mountain?

Yeah we went down there.

The roads were rough, rocky, gravelly, twisting and turning.

We bounced a lot.

We even engaged the 4 wheel drive a few times.

I also, in hindsight should've gotten out and taken pix of

Tom coming down the really, really rocky ones,

but I was too busy holdin' on.

LOL.

 You see that rocky drop-off. 

Yeah we did that too.

We were totally surrounded by mountains.

We were in a canyon.

 On rocky roads.

It was wild, sometimes there were forks in the road

and we took one.

Whether or not it was the right one

It took a couple hours...

My hopes were no flat tire and we'd get out before dark.

LOL.

Highlights from the Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum

I seriously don't want to spoil it for you - but it's a must see!

Absolutely amazing and needs to be on your bucket list.

It goes from boyhood to President.

(Ahem-my hubby's best side 😉 ).

 Mrs. Keckly and Mrs. Lincoln is the name of the book

written by Mrs. Keckly. They were friends until they weren't sadly.

It's a very good read.

 The Lincoln house in Springfield...

You get a tour with a ranger and of course I have inside shots.

You need to go see for yourself.

Amazing from a log cabin to middle class America.

A self-taught lawyer and legislator - then President.

How cool is that.

Scappy time on the road

Again, let me apologize for the photo, cropping.

Totally awkward.

Anyway its fun and since I rearranged stuff

I wasn't as annoyed tonight.

LOL.

Using Pink Fresh and various embellishments.

Got some photoshopping to do and

hoping for more downtown tomorrow.