Our WEST TRIP 2017 in a Nutshell

Us  at MONUMENT VALLEY 9/9/17

Hello my Blog Friends!!!  Hope all of you are doing fine and had a great September... George and I spent 16 days traveling out west....  In a nutshell for those 16 days,  we saw 11 National Parks or Monuments,  3 State Parks,  5 Navajo Indian Areas,  and many SCENIC drives...   Total miles in our Prius:  5446 miles.   Total pictures taken:  Betsy 2651 and George 2731.     Our weather was GREAT except for one rainy day.  It was a little hot the first several days,  but then cooled off nicely for the 2nd part of the trip!!!!!   The ONLY complaint we had were the crowds and bus-loads of people in many of the popular parks.  I guess September is no longer a good month to travel since we enjoy going places without the crowds.

We were in this area in 2011 --but out of the 19 places we visited,  we had only seen 5 of them before.  This trip was MOSTLY in Utah --and a little of Arizona.   Basically, this was a new trip for us!!!!!  AND--there's much more to see in that area.. I already have a list made!!!! ha... Obviously,  we LOVE visiting there!!!

Favorite places we visited this year:
MONUMENT VALLEY Navajo Tribal Park  (took an awesome tour there)
ANTELOPE CANYON  in Page, Arizona   (took a fantastic slot canyon tour there)
BRYCE CANYON   (a favorite in 2011 and this year)
CANYONLANDS --Island in the Sky (fabulous overlooks/hikes)
There are MORE favorites --but I'll stop here.

Today,  I just picked out random pictures from some of the areas we visited....  Over the next several weeks/months,  I will key in on certain areas to feature in future posts...   Hope you enjoy today's pictures.

BRYCE CANYON  9/16/17

KOLOB CANYON 9/17/17

Crazy Woman eating (and lovin')  NAVAJO FRY BREAD  at Monument Valley  9/9/17

CANYONLANDS -Island in the Sky;  Candlestick Tower  9/11/17

THE ARCHES ---George at  Double Arch  9/12/17

CAPITOL REEF --  Egyptian Temple  9/13/17

Us  at MONUMENT VALLEY 9/9/17  (We had a tour guide who took all kinds of pictures of us while there.  What great memories!)

ZION  9/15/17

GRAND STAIRCASE- ESCALANTE NATIONAL MONUMENT  9/14/17  ---We took the Burr Trail Scenic Backway  and I captured this picture.   Made me sing:  "People!  People who need People..."  (Looked like people to me!!!! ha)

CANYONLANDS -Island in the Sky  9/11/17;   Mesa Arch --one of our hikes in that area!

BRYCE CANYON  9/16/17;  A close-up of some of the HOODOOS!!!!

NAVAJO BRIDGE INTERPRETATIVE CENTER, near Page, Arizona  9/18/17;   We walked across the foot bridge and got a picture of the Colorado River below, surrounded by the Marble Canyon.  In the background are the Vermillion Cliffs.

GLEN CANYON NATIONAL RECREATION AREA,  Page, Arizona  9/18/17;  This is gorgeous Lake Powell  (with its blue blue water!)

CANYONLANDS -Island in the Sky  9/11/17;   This nutty woman is enjoying the view --and getting some good pictures below.... (Hope she doesn't fall off!!!!)

ANTELOPE SLOT CANYON,  Page, Arizona 9/18/17;  We had never been in a slot canyon before --but it was like walking in a CAVE with the light coming in from the open top... Our tour guide took this picture of us  in the canyon...   I cannot wait to show you more pictures from this tour... Unbelievable!!!!

IF you think I am still excited about this past trip,  I AM!!!!   We had a marvelous time --and I cannot wait to share more pictures with you...  We have visited many gorgeous places in our country,  but this is one we highly recommend...

Welcome to OCTOBER!!!!!  Please notice my new HEADER picture above..  That is what we saw while taking a SUNSET TOUR in MONUMENT VALLEY on 9/9/17...   Also---be sure and check out my Photo Blog Post (click HERE)...  There are two more pictures not featured today from another of our favorite places,   CEDAR BREAKS National Monument...

Have an awesome week and month ahead.

Hugs,

A PERFECT Solar Eclipse --August 21, 2017

Both George and Jeff put together their total views of the Eclipse... This is George's picture....  Isn't it fantastic?  (Jeff's composite is at the bottom of the post.)  

As many of you know,   here near Crossville,  Tennessee,   we had a nearly perfect view of the Solor Eclipse this past month (8/21/17)......    So--my son and beautiful daughter-in-law came to see us that day..... Had a great day with them --and we all thoroughly enjoyed seeing the ECLIPSE....

Both Jeff and George are fantastic photographers  --and Dawn and I were lucky to have them with us that day.....They took some fabulous pictures for me to share today!!!    Hope you enjoy some of our pictures....

Son Jeff --who brought all of his fancy equipment --including his telescope...  We got to see the eclipse 'up close and personal' looking through his telescope....  AWESOME!

Another picture showing some of Jeff's special equipment!  Wow!

George (using his tripod, glasses and special lens) set up shop on the back deck......   He had been practicing ahead of time; therefore his pictures came out TREMENDOUS also.

Jeff and Dawn and I worked from the front yard.   Jeff was smart enough to bring us a tarp for shade (on that hot afternoon).   He just backed their car into the driveway and we had a perfect place to view this very very special event.   Dawn and I took pictures with our iPhones --and I got some with my Canon while wandering around.

I love this picture of Jeff getting some pictures with his camera....

Of course,  the four of us just HAD to have special shirts for the occasion.  Here is what the back of our shirts said.   Dawn (who is from Georgia) chose Georgia for her shirt instead of Tennessee. 

AND ---here are the four of us with our special shirts on!  We are all SO happy to be here.

Here is a picture I took with my Canon.   I called this our Crescent SUN.... ha

Also from my Canon,  there's just a sliver of light left before total blackout!!!!

TOTAL DARKNESS for 2 minutes and 32 seconds!!!!   I took this picture with my cellphone (using the flash)....   It got so dark that the solar lights in our yard lit up!!!!!!

Another picture (using cellphone and flash) showing our total darkness about 1:30 in the afternoon!!!  AMAZING...

And one more I took (with cellphone) --without flash!  Everything got so QUIET and STILL during that time.  I'm sure the wild animals didn't know what to think... I know that the birds must have taken a short nap because none were singing or flying around at that time!!!

This is one of my favorite pictures that George took...  The darkness was ending and the light was coming back.  This is known as the DIAMOND RING.....  Isn't it terrific?   Unbelievable!!!

Finally,  this is Jeff's great collection of the eclipse --from beginning to end.... For your information,  the eclipse started about 12 noon (our time --CENTRAL) and totally ended about 3:00... Darkness happened at about 1:30.  

I am so proud of both George and Jeff and of the awesome pictures they both got on that fantastic day.   I am still excited while thinking about it...  For me,  it was and will be a lifetime experience.  It's so nice to be at the right place--at the right time,   here at our home!!!!!!

Hope you enjoyed this half as much as I did as I shared it with you....  It was such a joy (after the sadness of the week before) to be home with such talented people.   Thanks Jeff and Dawn for coming here!!!!  I LOVED every minute of it.

Have a great month...  On another note,  I am taking a few weeks off from blogging and commenting---but will be back soon....

Hugs,