SuperBloom

Death Valley Shows Its Colors

Yesterday I returned from a trade show in Las Vegas. While there, I heard about one of nature’s spectacles. In nearby Death Valley a rare happening was taking place. Armed with my camera, I made the 2-1/2 hour drive to experience the so called SuperBloom.

Death Valley is the driest, hottest place in North America. Although the climate isn’t very hospitable, wildflowers do appear each Spring. But I learned that this past October rainstorms set in motion a series of conditions that led to a literal explosion of colorful wildflowers that blanketed the normally harsh landscape of the park.

Here are a few recordings of my visit to the 2016 SuperBloom:



I’ve been fortunate to have visited Death Valley at least a dozen times previously but I’ve never seen as many visitors taking in the colorful wildflower as I saw two days ago.

Click here to see a Park Ranger describe a “once-in-a-lifetime” visit to Death Valley.

How lucky I was to be able to see this unexpected event.

On The Road Again

Many friends and acquaintances tell me that they dislike long drives. On the other hand, I totally enjoy long drives, especially the cross-country variety that cover hundreds or even thousands of miles and span several days.

For my latest road trip I ferried Mom’s car from Grand Rapids to her Winter home in the Phoenix area.

I asked my 6 year old grandson to be my traveling companion, promising to visit a couple of “fun places” along the way. Logan and I packed our bags, hopped into the car and headed West for our week-long journey.

Here’s a photo essay of the places that we visited.


Arches National Park



Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park



Grand Canyon National Park



Antelope Canyon Navajo Park



Horseshoe Bend




Phoenix and the Flight Home


Logan checking on the grapefruit

a snack on board the plane going home

What a nice getaway. We delivered Mom’s car to Arizona one day before she arrived from Grand Rapids. But just as importantly I was able to spend uninterrupted time with Logan and record it on film.

 
 


One Huge Group Shot

We have a large extended family.

We aren’t able to get together often since we’re spread across the USA. So we hold bi-annual reunions.

With such a large group, you can imagine that it’s not easy to get members to pose for our family photograph.

Here’s the most recent recording.


Click above photo to enlarge

About 50 of our family members weren’t able to make it to this reunion. We’ll need a wider angle lens next time!

Photo Credit: Dan Johnson @ www.crossroadone.com