Who's Awake? Me Too!

Three of my watercolor paintings are currently part of the 2018 Western Spirit Art Show at the Old West Museum in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  You can see these paintings at
https://www.oldwestmuseum.org/product-category/water-colors/ or visit the museum through mid-April.  I am happy to report that my painting "Who's Awake? Me Too!" has sold in the miniature show that is also shown during the Western Spirit Show at the Old West Museum.

Vermillion Cliffs & Condors

We left Las Vegas on Friday morning and headed North on I15.  We drove back through Zion National Park and were astounded at the number of visitors; must have been Spring Break.  Got some photos of the Virgin River Canyon, then stopped at Mt Carmel Junction for a late lunch.  The gentleman who served us said the local game warden had a feeling site for the California Condors just a mile out of town. I was not aware they were nesting in Zion again.  We got our first look at a condor soaring overhead, their wingspan is 9 feet, so they are almost un-mistakeable.  Headed south past Kanab on Highway 89A and found the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument Condor viewing station just three miles off the main road.  It was almost dark, so my photos aren't great, but we saw 9 Condors soaring over the Vermillion Cliffs.  We traveled from Ouray this morning and saw deer and elk just outside of town.  Saw a herd of 8-9 elk in the Colorado River west of Rifle, I was able to get some good photos with my long lens.  We also saw a moose in the willows on Colorado Creek between Steamboat Springs and Walden.  Unfortunately, it disappeared before I was able to photograph it.  Home before dark.

Henderson Birding Preserve

Visited the Henderson birding preserve yesterday and enjoyed seeing a wide variety of waterfowl and  smaller birds, including Anna's and Costa's hummingbirds, and my first loggerhead shrike. Pictured are Canada Geese, Snow Geese, and Ring-Necked Ducks.  Enjoying the beautiful weather here.

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

We left Laramie Saturday morning and headed south over Rabbit Ears pass, arriving in Moab, Utah in time to drive into Arches National Park and take a walk.  The following day we traveled through Monticello and on through Dry Valley, past Bears Ears NM and Natural Bridges NM, then Grand Staircase NM, spending the night in Escalante.  Arrived at Bryce Canyon early enough to get morning light on the rock columns from Inspiration Point.  We also visited Bryce Point before heading on to Zion NP.  We were fortunate to be able to photograph the desert bighorn sheep in Zion.  Drove on to Las Vegas and arrived at our hotel before dark yesterday.  Today we drove out to Spring Mountain Ranch, a Nevada State Park, where we took a short walk and enjoyed an abundance of bird life.  We then took the drive around Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.  Had a picnic lunch at Willow Springs and took a short walk to see the petroglyphs and pictographs.  We looked for the wild burros and the desert tortoise with no luck.  We did enjoy the landscape and vegetation, Joshua trees, teddy bear cactus, and mesquite.  We especially enjoyed the shirt sleeve weather, and some fruit trees were already blooming at the Spring Mountain Ranch.