Joshua Tree, Zion and Bryce National Parks

Awesome shots debilu, thanks for sharing them! ☺

I agree, Deb. The National Parks we've been to have been wonderful treasures.....!

Pretty cool pics and geography there Debi. Didn't look like you were dressed for hiking though ;)

Did you run into Bono?

Think you meant geology, Al!!

Yeah probably.

Though I would take the geography out there too! Big sky country.

Bono?
I was expecting warmer weather - I had sneakers, sweater and jeans in the car, thought that would be enough. Need to check the weather more closely next time. Actually Zion was quite a bit warmer than Bryce. I've been working most of today on a photo book, needed a break.

Gonna have one printed out? Which site are you using?

The sky was gorgeous out at Joshua Tree at night - so many more stars than I usually see.

I was just going to use Walmart - they make a nice, leather bound book, not too expensive - do you know a better site? I don't print my own anymore.

Neither do I. I never used it myself, but a friend of mine said she really liked mypublisher.com.

Thanks Victor.

Trying to be hip for all those kids out there
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Joshua_Tree

Ahh - I didn't get the Bono thing either!

OMG those are some awesome photographs!! Looks like a nice place to visit. Thanks for sharing!

ahh too!
All I could think of was Sonny Bono, and I knew he died...

Deb, maybe you can post photos of the wildflowers in that forum and get an ID. Hopefully, they were not introduced or else it might set off another fight! People in that forum seem to look for a rumble more than European and S. American soccer fans! To paraphrase a classic line, 'I went to a fight last night and a native plants discussion broke out!'

Did you catch cold, Deb?!

hee hee, yes, I'd especially like to know what the blue one is.

No, still healthy so far. I dressed warmer for Bryce.

Hee hee - I was referring to the 'Ah too!'

hee hee

Wow! Beautiful Deb!!!!! Love the Arch, rock patterns, Joshua tree's....everything. Thank you for sharing those and so glad you had a great vacation.

Thanks for the photos Deb. Reminds me of my desert rat days.

? Please elaborate, David.

Kicked around the lower Colorado River for a decade, Victor. Quite an experience to go out to eat at 2AM when it is 103 degrees and you can feel heat from the day radiating off buildings. Had a community well--1,250 feet deep. We hauled water. 1.5 cents a gallon. Amazing what you can conservative when you have to (we had two 2,000 gallon tanks). Surprised me how many Germans and French vacation in the Mojave desert in July and August. It was our best season.

Gluttons for punishment, I'd say. When I first lived in Tucson, I wore all my sleeveless tops till I noticed that everyone wore tee shirts. Then I bought a lot of tee shirts. Covering up conserves body water! Coming from New England, I had no appreciation for dehydration and drought. And when I moved back, I remember how green everything looked, how my bones ached in the moisture. My DBF commented that we live in a swamp and don't even know it.

Sounds like quite an interesting experience for both of you!

I want to go on vacation now...maybe someday...lol.

Going thru my photos for a book, I found another shot I liked and thought I'd share it.

Wow!

i just found this - wow, what beautiful pictures! It looks like it must have been a wonderful trip. i'm so glad you got to go!

Thanks Amy, it was a great trip. I'd like to see all our national parks some day!

Lovely, Deb! Bryce reminds me of fairy tale castles....all pink! That's a gorgeous shot!! Keep 'em coming!! Can't get enough of them!

Thanks Louise. I took about 400 pictures but settled for about 50 for my book.

What beautiful photos! What beautiful subject matter!!! Yowza! I know what you mean Thom. I want to go on vacation now really bad. Deb, thanks so much for this wonderful tour. I hope to get out and see these parks myself someday.

Harper

debilu - I'm going to Palm Springs, CA in about 3 weeks. Thanks for posting your pictures - now I know I must check out Joshua Tree. Can you recommend anything else within a few hours drive? (It's a business meeting, so I am limited to afternoons for sight-seeing.)

thanks!
Songs, we only saw Joshua Tree in CA, so I can't suggest anything else there. I didn't see anything close by on the map.

I posted on the native and wild plants forum and Katlian responded with this web site with the wildflower listings - very cool!

http://www.nps.gov/archive/jotr/activities/blooms/update/update.html

Cool!