What an absolutely fabulous day! One of those kind of days that could only have been made better by exploring it with my husband, Dan. Unfortunately, not this trip but to make plans for the future….

After several days of frigid weather, Arizona was blessed with blue, sunny skies and mild temperatures. Today’s plan was to hit Sedona for some beautiful shots. Sedona did not disappoint. I checked a couple of the articles I downloaded to see where I might be able to shoot. The article suggeste Oak Creek Canyon. Wow! The red sandstone was lovely, iron oxide interacting with the sandstone created the beautiful rock.

Once I made it to Sedona, I wanted something to eat. We always choose to eat locally when possible when traveling. Trying to navigate Sedona is definitely another matter. For someone with mobility issues, it ended up being a bit of a problem. After two unsuccessful tries, I chose the SaltRock Southwest Kitchen; it’s part of a spa/hotel, but they have free valet parking!

Part of a continuing issue for this photo traveler is that many locals and maybe I’m assuming they are locals is that everyone is in such a darn hurry. They don’t slow down and enjoy the scenery nor the journey. I bet I pulled over at least 50 times yesterday which is no small trick in the mountains.

I would love to go back and explore the area more especially the areas around Jerome and Stanton.

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Another crazy driving day! No, no, not another drive through a mountain pass, I actually took the interstate today. lol. For those who know me well know that I seldom take the interstate.

Today was about capturing the shot and I got some in Petrified Forest National Park. I am used to seeing badlands, but what struck me today was the colors, they were phenomenally special; striations in reds and greens. Then I took a picture of an old Studebaker. who knew I’d take my first pic of Route 66 in the middle of Arizona.

Of course, not every mile I drove was interstate and I got a pic of a great old gas station. I have a body of work I call Pardon My Gas.

I love my life even when I do incredbly STUPID things like ignore signs that say that chains or snow tires are required! Yep, I did that. I chose a path to travel today that led me over a mountain pass, not knowing that I had to go, nor knowing how far I would have to backtrack, I forged ahead. It was crazy! It wasn’t that I feared for my life, okay, maybe for a second or two, but it was scary nonetheless, like not being able to see more than 20 feet ahead of the car in mountain scary, but I think that God took care of this too. Because not more than three days before I asked Dan while driving through Estes Park how he knew where the road was. He pointed out the road markers, that’s what allowed me to keep going. The other thing Dan told me was to keep going which was exactly what I did, so no pictures of the car buried to it’s hood or some of the amazing landscapes.

Also what I was reminded of was to release your expectations and just enjoy the journey, I wanted to shoot the dunes at sunrise but I slept almost to the minute of sunrise. And since I can’t (yet) walk too far, my images are what I can shoot from my car.

So the highlights include shooting the great sand dunes, the oldest church in Colorado and an abandoned building with a view of the mountain, thinking while I’m there, “do these people undetstand how amazing their view is?