California poppy

Just some California sunshine to brighten up your day! I planted some wildflower seeds last fall in my front yard and I now have desert lupine, California poppies, and some kind of red salvia. I'll need to reseed soon, however, as summer here in the desert will soon be upon us.

Above Big Pine~SkyWatch Friday~April 29, 2011

Hubby and I found a road which wound up into the Sierras above Big Pine, so we followed it to the end, where it was closed off for the winter. We and several other cars stopped and got out to explore this beautiful area. Unfortunately, at some point, a fire roared down the canyon, destroying several homes and forcing the evacuation of the entire town. It's always saddening to see such destruction. But, up in the canyon, all was peaceful and quiet. SkyWatch Friday for April 29, 2011.

Early morning sun and petroglyphs~SOOC Sunday~042411

Early one morning, hubby and I headed out to find the 3rd petroglyph site outside of Bishop, CA. We had a general idea where it was and found the dirt road down to it. We were the only car there all morning. The area was still in the shadow of the White Mountains, but as the sun came up over the mountains, we were out climbing among the rocks and I looked up to see these rocks and one of them had petroglyphs on it! There were literally many, many petroglyphs here and we just barely began to explore this area, but we'd been there for two hours, so we headed back to town and breakfast! I would like to go back some morning and explore it further. Maybe our next trip? SOOC Sunday for April 24, 2011. If you do go exploring in these areas, please be careful! As I was walking through the sagebrush, I heard a "sssssssssssssss" a couple of times. I didn't see anything, but the third time, I went into instinct mode...heart pounding, adreneline rushing, and I literally ran back to the road! I didn't want to stick around to see what it was! I definitely could feel the spirits of the "old ones" here! To view other participants, please go to: http://www.murrieta365.com/

"Sky", Photo Time, Day One, April 24, 2011

This was the sky above the mountains above Big Pine, CA on Thursday afternoon. It was snowing in the higher elevations of the Sierras and the road was closed beyond this point. Photo Time, Day One for April 24, 2011..."sky".

Alabama Hills wildflowers~Sunday Stills Challenge~042411

Hubby and I just returned from 6 days in the eastern Sierras! Ahhhh....what beauty! And, there were plenty of wildflowers there to admire, including these! I believe that the yellow ones along the highway (Highway 395) are desert dandylions. I found the other ones up in the Alabama Hills and I'm not sure what they are! The Alabama Hills are just outside of Lone Pine, CA, up the Whitney Portal road. Sunday Stills Challenge for April 24, 2011 "wildflowers".

Road Trip~Sierras~Scenic Sunday~042411

Hubby and I have just returned from a 6 day road trip through the eastern Sierras. I was off this past week for spring break and he also had some time off, so away we went! Our last trip there was in December, 2010 and we were anxious to get back to see how much snow there was. And, yes, there was a LOT~ in fact, it snowed up in Mammoth and North and South Lake (above Bishop) while we were there. That was okay...we enjoyed seeing the snow! We spent our first night up in Hesperia, so that cut an hour off Sunday's driving time. Upon arriving in Lone Pine, we drove out to the Alabama Hills, hubby's favorite spot. The next day, we drove up to Aspendell Lake, which is north of Bishop. It was cold and windy and by afternoon, it was snowing! Brrrrrrrr! Here are some photos from our first two days. No, those aren't birds in the photos! My Nikon was SO DIRTY and had dust on the mirror and hubby tried to blow it off, but it just blew to another area! :-( So, I put my camera away and used hubby's for the rest of the trip. When we got home, he took it to our local camera store for a cleaning (which usually would take only 10 minutes, but mine took 30!) The guy asked, "Where does your wife store her camera, in a BARN?"...okay, okay...I get the message! From now on, I keep it in an old camera bag, away from horses, dust, alfalfa, and dirt! :-) Scenic Sunday for April 24, 2011. To view other participants, please go to: http://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/

Fence gate~That's My World~April 19, 2011

I'm a sucker for fences and gates. I admit it. And, there are plenty of fences and gates up in the Sierras! I found this one today, and used my camera's manual setting, thanks to some help from hubby. I can't wait to do more exploring tomorrow! :-) That's My World for Tuesday, April 19, 2011. To see other worlds, please go to: http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/