Road Trip!

Route 66, Arizona
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I will be incommunicado for the first part of the month. My husband and I are taking another trip down to the Southwest area that we so enjoy, both for the incredible scenery and the mystical history behind its scattered ruins. This will be the first time we hit Four Corners, where Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado meet, so there will be much to discover. We fly into Las Vegas, then immediately set off on a week-long road trip, mostly spent exploring the National Parks in Utah, to finally end up in Salt Lake City for a few days before heading home.

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I am including a tentative itinerary here for any armchair travelers among you who might be interested. Of course, plans are always subject to change! Leaving the house and furry companions in the capable hands of our big sons, we will be free souls wandering wherever whim takes us…our favourite thing in the world to do!
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Grand Canyon, Arizona

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My much-loved regular readers do not need me to say that I am rendered breathless at the thought of photographing Antelope Canyon, (high on my bucket list), and Bryce Canyon, not to mention Monument Valley! Think of every John Ford western flick you’ve ever seen with the red spires and buttes…are they not beyond magnificent? I am literally aquiver with anticipation!

Grand Canyon, ArizonaThis is the plan:
2nd: Vancouver to Las Vegas
3rd: Las Vegas to Zion Nat. Park
4th: Bryce Canyon, UT,
5th: Antelope Canyon, AZ
6th: Monument Valley, AZ
7th: Mesa Verde, CO
8th: Arches Nat. Park, UT
9th: Canyonlands, UT
10th: Salt Lake City and environs
11th: Salt Lake City to Vancouver

Chapel On The Hill, Sedona

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My camera awaits...batteries charged and memory cards lined up. When I get back online, I hope to have many wonders to share with you. I’ll try not to bore you with an excess of photos, but like an overexcited child, I don’t always know when to stop…and moderation never was my strong suit!
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I may check in whilst away, but striving to take in as much as we can, we spend very little time in hotel rooms. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back. In the meantime…happy blogging!!
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The photos above are from a trip to the Arizona in 2007
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Egyptian Shadows

As my last post was of Egyptian skies, I thought to continue with more of this country's beauty for Shadow Shot Sunday.

There is a wonderful luminosity to the light in Egypt as it reflects off handhewn columns and ripples over sand underfoot. Everthing the sun touches here turns golden, contrasting sharply with the dim inner spaces that sunlight doesn't reach.

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Ancient temples are this photographers's dream, affording perfect studies in sun and shadow...

light against dark.

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The Temple of Horus at Edfu

I became fascinated by patterns formed as sunlight struck the ornate pillars and swept across deeply etched hieroglyphic images.
Kom Ombo Temple, Aswan

Moving along pillared halls was like walking with giants. I marvelled at the height and breadth of the columns, each one precisely carved by the master craftsmen who built these temples many centuries ago.
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Karnak Temple, Luxor

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Kom Ombo Temple, Aswan

As if the decorated columns were not sufficiently beautiful, they are topped by magnificent capitols,carved into breathtaking swirls and flourishes.
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These temples were once painted in brilliant royal hues of blue and red. Occasionally, one lifts one's eyes to spot a majestic falcon on an archway overhead, wings spread wide to protect his pharaoh, feathers still bearing traces of the blazing turquoise and gold that once made it soar.

How astounding it is to stand in these decorated halls built for the glorification of kings and gods!

Hypostyle Hall,

Temple of Luxor,

Luxor

Medinet Habu,

Mortuary Temple of Ramses III,

Luxor

Time and pollution have faded the brilliant colurs and worn gouges into the sandstone, but nothing will ever completerly diminish the magic or the magnificence of Ancient Egypt's treasures...

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Many thanks to 'Hey, Harriet' for hosting this Sunday event! To see more, do drop by her page at...
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http://heyharriet.blogspot.com/
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Giraffe Rescue Centre, Kenya

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Just outside Nairobi, there is a sanctuary that rescues and rehabilitates giraffes . Tall platforms let visitors feed the giraffes by hand and stroke their velvet noses. Fortunately, most are happy to buy the animal food provided...the centre needs all the help it can get.

The day we visited in 2006, a bus pulled in full of children from the Precious Gifts Daycare. The children were incredibly sweet and well-behaved in spite of their excitement. I spent more time watching them than the giraffes! Like parents everywhere, moms and dads plopped their kids onto a wall to
get pictures of them with the animals in the background.

I'm not sure these boys were altogether
thrilled with the experience! They were eager to feed the giraffes and raced off as soon as they were finally lifted down...

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This cute baby came galloping toward us looking for all the world like any clumsy colt. The giraffe became one of my favourite -and most frequently photographed - animals of the trip

Our time in Nairobi was brief, before heading off on our photo safari, but it was a wonderful introduction to our African holiday...