-
Southwest 2015 – The Titanic Cliffs of Horseshoe Bend
Tuesday, December 8th, 2015 Today will be our last full day of wandering the Great Navajo Nation and northeast regions of Arizona. There were many places near Page, AZ and we were going to hit up a few of them including the famous Horseshoe Bend just south of town. Because were going to be local for the day, Julia and I had slept in a bit after spending a long day out at Monument Valley and what felt like a super long drive home in the pitch black of night with nothing more than the stars above to guide the way. Breakfast was the usual quick Greek Yogurt, then we…
-
Independence Day at Big Bear Lake 2016
Monday, July 4th 2016 I took a drive up to Big Bear Lake to catch the legendary fireworks show that I had often heard about for the last twenty years. The show was not scheduled to start until around 9pm, but I wanted to get there early so I embarked on the one hour drive via Highway 18 (a.k.a. The Back Way). It seemed that many had the same idea and where heading up that same way, primarily high desert locals like myself. There are a few other ways up to Big Bear from the Mojave Desert which include some off road access, but this was the most direct method…
-
Southwest 2015 – The Land of Towering Sandstone
Monday, December 7th, 2015 Julia and I got hopping to another awesome adventure that would have us traveling eastbound through the Great Navajo Nation today. We had a light breakfast, showered up, then packed all our camera gear and equipment into the Starship. We had a long drive ahead of us and no time to spare. We left our hotel in Page, Az and started our drive along Highway 98 to Monument Valley. About 30 minutes into our drive, I saw a hitchhiker which I typically avoid, but something compelled me to pick him up. I hit the brakes as we approached and stopped to pick him up. Our new…
-
Mini Venture – Big Bear Winter Drive
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2016 Today I wanted to get out and renew my Annual National Parks Pass for 2016 which meant I was going on a winter drive to get a new one. One of the great benefits of living in the Mojave Desert is knowing how close it borders several of California’s mountain ranges, particularly the San Bernardino mountain range. During the winter, this becomes one of my favorite local mountain destinations. It is home to many beautiful mountains communities including the popular city of Big Bear. The drive there is only an hour via Highway 18 from Victorville and in the winter, it can often be a pretty…
-
Southwest 2015 – Journey into the Great Navajo Nation
Sunday, December 6th, 2015 “Farewell Williams, it’s been an amazing week, but the time has come for us to explore the northeast regions of Arizona!” We got up early today to get a good head start on the road to come. We grabbed all our stuff, loaded up the Starship and made a hasty checkout from our cozy room at the Rodeway Inn and Suites. Our breakfast was a very small Greek yogurt to go and it was just moments before we finally hit the 40 east toward Flagstaff and took the 89 northbound toward Page, AZ. Naturally we were going to hit up every interesting photo opportunity we could along the…
-
Day Venture – Highway 58 to Mojave, CA
Monday, April 11th, 2016 It was a stormy looking day and I decided that I wanted to venture out toward Highway 58 in search of some photo opportunities. I invited my mom to come along for the ride since I know that she loves getting out on small adventures like these. We started by taking Old Route 66 from Victorville to Lenwood and that’s when we hopped onto the 58 westbound toward Mojave, CA. The first half of the drive was amazing, the rain had started to really come down and began flooding several parts of Route 66 from Oro Grande to Bryman, but it was nothing that the Starship…
-
Southwest 2015 – Where the Wild Things Are
Saturday, December 5th, 2015 After sleeping in the past couple of days, Julia and I felt a lot more charged upon waking this morning. We got up super early and even decided to take a walk through downtown Williams to get the blood pumping and decide what where we were going to have breakfast this time. It was brisk, but not freezing like the previous mornings so taking a stroll was perfect. We had seen a place called Cruiser’s Route 66 Cafe on the way into town and even photographed it last night, so we figured we should give it a try. “Ready for a morning walk through Williams, AZ.”…
-
Day Venture – Exploring the Lucerne Valley
Saturday, April 9th, 2016 Today I decided to take my parents out on a small venture to the areas east of Victorville. We had driven past this place many times on the way to Joshua Tree National Park and sometimes while taking a day trip to the city of Big Bear up in the mountains. This trip would be different as I decided I wanted to actually explore this region of the Mojave a bit more which lies at the northern foot of the Big Bear mountains. For years I had always seen a massive switchback road leading up one of the mountains, so today my curiosity had me place…
-
Southwest 2015 – Rock Piles and Night Trains
Friday, December 4th, 2015 It was a great friday morning and we slept in just a bit too much. We were definitely feeling the exhaustion catching up with us so getting a couple of extra hours of sleep today was very much needed. Julia and I grabbed some greek yogurt with walnuts and honey for a quick breakfast and then got ready for the day. We didn’t have a particular destination locked in for today so we decided to visit Red Rock Crossing in Sedona again to see what else we could shoot since last time felt a bit rushed. Once our gear was loaded into the Starship, we plugged…
-
Mini Venture – Minor Earth, Major Sky
Thursday, April 7th, 2016 I’ve been living in the Mojave over 25 years now and it’s nothing new to those who know me that when a Flash Flood Alert is in effect, it’s time for me to take my diesel out to play. Flash Floods are not very common out here so when they do happen it’s usually accompanied by some very gorgeous looking skies and that is always worth hauling along a bag of camera gear for. My gut feeling told me to head out to the El Mirage region and it did not disappoint! The skies were incredibly photogenic and the water that flooded Mojave Road was super…
