Misc. Items of Interest (at least to me)

I hope everyone who reads this (and even those who don't) had a great holiday season! Although we weren't home for much of it, ours was great!  I haven't posted for a couple of weeks and apologize for starting out with a miscellaneous grouping of photos. We've been out of town a lot lately and on many days didn't have a hint of a cell phone signal. My phone is my hotspot, so no signal means no blogging.

Although these photos are very current, I'm dreadfully behind on regular blog posts. We've been on the road and exploring a TON lately and I promise that I'll get busy posting right away. I've got a lot of interesting things to post. As you know I've been spending a lot of time in the Joshua Tree National Park area. Yes, I've been to all the standard tourist spots, but we've spent most of our time searching for the things that tourists NEVER see. Things that aren't in the books, on the maps, or that most of the rangers aren't even aware of. The few people who do know about them, refuse to tell anyone their locations. Most of these places involve petroglyphs, pictographs and other historical places. For now though, here are some items that are not in that group, but caught my eye anyway.

As you know, I love old places, abandoned places and offbeat places. This "sign" belongs to what appears to be an interesting (but closed) place in the little town of Morongo Valley. I'm going to make it a point to get in there (even if I have to hop the fence) to see exactly what it was. Love that sign! What's left of it anyway.

 A Joshua Tree forest

 A wind farm. There are hundreds of these things in the Palm Springs area (where this was taken). I really think a ramrod straight line of anything looks odd in a natural setting.

 A little bit of odd in the town of Yucca Valley

 A nice sky over Yucca Valley

 Sunset in Hidden Valley, Joshua Tree National Park

 This is the first even slightly HDR photo that I've posted. To me, the jury is still out on HDR.

On this particular day, I think I was one of the very last people in the park. I hung around just to take the last several photos. If it had started to rain, it was more than cold enough to snow...

...................................................................
I promise that my next post will actually have a theme! Heck, I might even include photos of some thousand year old rock art. 


.





.

I am Cured!

I got the call today. Three and a half years, two surgeries.
It's gone without a trace. Cured!

Thanks to everyone for your support, prayers and positive vibes...

.

Central Coast - Oceano

The posts relating to our last two road trips are starting to back up on me.  Because the scenery and things we did on each trip was so different, I decided that I'm going to alternate posts from each one.  We parked our RV outside of the little town of Oceano. There is nothing noteworthy about the town, except for the awesome area it's in.

The view from our spot. The ocean is just the other side of those sand dunes. We decided to take a stroll to the beach and take in the sunset.

Just pick a spot and lay out your towel and umbrella

Is this a beach, or the Sahara Desert?

The French Foreign Legion blazing a trail to the next oasis.

It just goes on FOREVER...

This dune was at least 10 stories tall. If my wife was to fall,  she would probably be hurt. Please note that she has her priorities in order; her wine cooler is much more important that her safety. You can see how high this dune is by taking a look at our shadows and the people in the background.

Finally we got our payoff for all the hard work.

The beach was pretty awesome. Totally undeveloped.

Off in the left distance, you can see some vehicles and RV's. This beach is the only place on the west coast of the U.S. that you can drive on.

You think it was hard hiking to the beach?  We had to hike back after sunset. My new favorite APP on my phone is a compass...

.

Double Reflection

looks much better enlarged

The reflection in our patio door is not only of the sunset, but also of the reflection of the sunset off of the water in our swimming pool.

We'll be on the road for a week starting on Sunday. Our Internet connection is sure to be hit and miss, but I'll be checking in for sure! Have a great weekend everyone!

For reflections by other photographers go to Weekend Reflections by James.


.

Skyward -- Kauai

One more Kauai post after this one. I'm starting to get behind on other things. We got back from a little roadie to an awesome campground in the Cuyamaca mountains last week, so I have some photos from that and now we're leaving on another one in two days to the Santa Ynez Mountains. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining one little bit!


.

World on Fire

High atop the ridge line

Of hills to the east
We gaze anxiously westward
Waiting for the sun
To bend a knee
And take it's evening bow

On the far side of the hill
The ocean lies shimmering
Low clouds linger passively
Both awaiting their cue
To perform feats
Of reflective magic

Another minute or two
Before late afternoon
Jilts the day for evening
And sets the world on fire

Weekend Reflections - Laguna Niguel Lake at Dusk

enlarge for bests viewing

Laguna Niguel Lake at dusk

Weekend Reflections by other photographers at Newtown Area Photo.

.

Backyard Sunsets 6

Last Thursday it was in the mid 90's here. We had hot sun, black clouds, lightning, thunder, rain, brushfires, and rainbows. Put them all together and we had this...

please enlarge for best viewing

I PROMISE these photos are not touched up or enhanced in the slightest bit. The ocean is just over the hill in the distance.  In addition to the light shining directly at us from behind that hill, it also reflects off the ocean which is only a few miles away. A double whammy of light.   Add a little smoke in the air from the brush fires and oh man!

Backyard Sunsets 5

weekend reflections

click to enlarge for optimum viewing

Sunsets 4

Sunsets 3

enlarge these to see the details of the hill top

Sunsets 2

Dana Point

Missle Launch

Cereal Bowl and one pelican - Pismo Beach

Backyard Sunsets 01