Quote of the Day

Quote of the Day

Back to our California road trip last June 2011 – Day 3 Monument Valley Utah

Read about Day one and two

Day three continues to what is my favorite part of our sight seeing trip,  Monument Valley Utah in the Navajo Nation.   You hear folks use the word breathtaking, well I tell you that is not adequate enough for Monument Valley!  Spectacular, outstanding, phenomenal, incredible, yeah.

Monument Valley belongs to and is run by the Navajo Nation which covers 27,400 square miles and consists of territory in Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.   The people still live among the hills of Monument Valley itself some with no electricty or running water.  It consists of very primitive roads that even four wheel drive sometimes has trouble navigating.   Only Navajos can enter and go through the park after hours.  The Indians  run the park and The View Hotel, where we stayed the night.  More on that later.

Now I will let some images speak for me:

Below is the famous section of highway before you enter the Valley.  This is where Forest Gump (favorite movie) stopped running, hwy 163 @ mile marker 13.  You see the monuments start to rise in the distance.

The familiar left & right Mittens and Merrick Butte.  Made famous in so many Westerns.  

We arrived around 3pm after driving from Mesa Verde.   After dropping off our things we took a ride through the Valley with a tour guide.   We enjoyed the guide (Darryl ) and the history he shared with us.  You are welcome to drive your own vehicle through the Valley but think twice before doing so.  The tours are well worth it for the information, your vehicle’s safety and the enjoyment.  Our tour lasted about three hours, we arrived back at the hotel just before sunset.  Overnight tours are available with a guide.  You can camp under the stars if it so suits you.

The Navajos make the rules here.  They sell where they want but you know, there is no pressure.  They wait silently and help you if you need it while looking at their fine jewelry and other souvenirs.

Below is a view right after sunset taken from our hotel room at The View hotel.  It is the only hotel within the park itself.  There are other hotels a couple of miles outside of the park. NONE of them have the view you see below.  Reasonably priced, I strongly suggest this is the place you stay if going to Monument Valley.  The hotel is newer and very nice with wonderful accommodations and restaurants.

And the unedited image below is the view from our balcony where I stayed up most of the night taking photos of the Milky Way and then sunrise in the Valley the next morning.  To the left you can see the hotel restaurant.  On a huge outdoor wall the hotel shows old westerns that had been filmed in the Valley.  What a place to stay, it was the chance of a lifetime and certainly Heaven to me.  I could not have been happier having our room look over the Valley the way it did.  Everything right there from the balcony!

Also in this image you can see the road that starts its wind thru the valley for 17 miles around.  Car headlights can be seen to the right.  It has to be extremely tricky to travel this road at night.

The Milky Way from Monument Valley

and a quick glimpse of the Moon behind the Mittens

The beginning of sunrise

And a final glimpse of the Valley from our room, unprocessed image using my fisheye lens

Goodbye Navajo Nation, until next time.  I will return….

Have a beautiful day!

How about something sweet to start your day?

Have a great day today!

Textures and Photoshop

Maybe you’ve noticed that I’ve been going crazy touching up my images with textures via layers in photoshop.  I can’t get enough, it’s like a bad drug!   Be patient, my obsession may subside in a few weeks!

I have been using textures for a while but then I came across textures and ideas from Kim Klassen.  Something about her images are very inspirational to me.  She offers short video clips on processing and techniques and I find them so easy to follow.  I just love them and the new lift it’s given to my creativity!

Enjoy and thanks for looking

Bettina

Stop and smell the coffee….

Something to cheer you up!

Here is a photo I re-touched using some texture layers from Kim Klassen.  Happy thoughts!

A December poem

An afternoon with the Fabulous Five

Well, maybe I’m stretching it with the fabulous part, little trouble making doxies!    I’ve been talking to my friend Boomer about getting together for a fun session with her husband Brett and their posse of dachshunds.  We finally found an afternoon that worked so off I went for a visit.

Now with Jack Russell terriers living in my house, we are used to alot of bouncing around and not alot of lounging around.   I’ve got to tell you, even though dachshunds were bred to hunt badger way back when, if it’s time to relax that’s just what they do!

They are such a happy go lucky breed, I can see why Boomer & Brett have such a collection of them.  I can’t speak for all five of their furry dogs but I know many of them are rescue dogs and for that I give them alot of credit.  These dachshunds didn’t all come from wonderful beginnings and took some work to socialize them.  But you wouldn’t know it by their behavior today, they are such loveable dogs with their own great personalities.

Zoe, rescued as an adult, sadly came from a puppy mill.   Well this girl always places in the ribbons at the annual Missouri Earthdogs Trial held each May at Purina Farms.  She loves the go-to-ground event and always does well every time.  Even with her age and hearing almost gone, Zoe’s nose still works and finds the quarry at the end of the tunnel every time!

It was a great day to hang with my friends.  You two are such a sweet and down to earth couple.   Thanks guys, I  loved every minute of it!