desert sky

ok so I lied a few days ago I said no more sky pictures but I love them so yet another one is here for you.

taken somewhere between winnemucca and reno on a potty break for the dog.

ouch

these plants from the valley of fire had a funny prickly feel some parts reminded me of a cats tongue.  no clue what they were though.

big horn

while hiking in the red rocks of Valley of Fire in las vegas we were looking up at petroglyphs when what did our little eyes spy but these lovely creatures:




we stayed and watched and tried to get some good pictures, hard in teh direct sun, for a good 20 minutes.  they watched us with a mindful eye. 

always fun to run across some creatures. 

this will be the last of the red rock you will see I know you are probably bored with it.  I took a ton of pictures and who knows maybe in the winter another will pop up but for now this is it.  vegas trip picture show is almost complete.


this picture of my husband amuses me:

is there water in the desert?

why of course



and we took a little ride on this to find out where it would take us.  anyone know?



can you see what is in the distance??

petroglyphs

these are at the top of teh latter to atlatl rock from yesterday's post but can also be seen throughout the valley of fire.

stairway into the sky

ok so that isn't the real stairway to atlatl rock this is:




but the walk is worth it.  at the top of the stairs are some rally cool petroglyphs.  but if you don't want to take the stairs take a short hike through mouses tank and they are all over the place.

creatures feature

i loved these fast looking albino chipmunks   they are actually white tailed antelope ground squirels.

arches

valley of fire has several arches in them




when deciding what pictures to post on the blog and trying to keep it to one per page its hard not to fill a whole month with the same site.  I promise I wont do that with valley of fire resisting is hard but not impossible.

valley of fire

ok I teased you the other day with a better place then red rock canyon in Vegas, Nevada and here it is:



this is your first glimpse just after arriving at the pay station.  $10 gets a car load into this beautiful park full of surprises. 

valley of fire also happens to be Nevada's first state park as well.




so if you have a choice and can only do one state park while in vegas go to this one.  its about 50 miles from the strip and so worth it.


this post is part of the creative exchange.  Check them out some awesome talent there.

which end is which????

i can't tell which end is which on this spider but I was really glad it was behind glass.  ewwww.  gives me the hibby Gibby's.  He was on display in the red rock canyon visitor center along with this guy.

the tortoise and the hare

several desert tortoise were at the visitor center in red rock.




and since I didn't actually see any live ones here is the hare sculpture at the visitor center in red rock canyon.  it made me smile



and this made my husband laugh at me

desert rose

so over at mortal muses  their next challenge is texturing.  I have never tried this and thought ok here is my chance.  so here is my very first attempt at texturing.  I was going for a bit of a collage type look but really wanted teh yellow to stand out.  what do you think?  could I do something different?



and so that you have a refrence this is the picture I started with




I don't remember the exact number of layers but I think I ended up with around 15 of them.  and believe you me I am NOT an expert at layers they still scare me quite frankly but eventually I will have them figured out right? hahahaa

color in the desert

desert flowers

A few flowers found in the desert. I think many people misunderstand how beautiful the desert really can be.

these little beauties close up in the heat of the day