Sunset Point, Bryce Canyon, Utah /  by Liesl Pfeffer

Sunset Point, Bryce Canyon, Utah
November 2015

No words really for how it felt to look upon this view. I was so glad to be there with good friends on the second last day of our road trip. I was thinking of how soon I would have to go back to the big dirty wonderful city of New York, and I was just trying to soak up as much fresh air and pine tree smells as possible. 

Sunrise Point, Bryce Canyon, Utah /  by Liesl Pfeffer

Sunrise Point, Bryce Canyon, Utah
November 2015

As you drive around the south-western United States you start to wonder how many beautiful national parks can be clustered within hours of each other. The amazing Bryce Canyon was only half a day from Antelope Canyon in Arizona, which was also only half a day from the Grand Canyon.  I haven't seen a natural landscape this magical since Cappadocia in central Turkey a decade ago. In Turkey they call these spire shaped formations fairy chimneys. Here in the US they call them hoodoos. I think we were lucky to see these hoodoos with a light covering of snow, it made the view even more serene and breathtaking. 

Rock Stop, Orderville, Utah /  by Liesl Pfeffer

The Rock Stop, Orderville, Utah
November 2015

This fifty year old pink Flintstones-style hut used to be some kind of dinosaur museum. The current owner bought it and turned it into a rock shop where one can buy local petrified wood, colored glass, quartz and all kinds of other rocks. I managed to resist the temptation to buy anything, telling myself my bag was already heavy enough.

Horseshoe Bend, Arizona /  by Liesl Pfeffer

Horseshoe Bend, Arizona
November 2015

No, this doesn't look like the promotional pictures of Horseshoe Bend. To get a photo like that, one has to stand riiiiiiiiight on the edge of the cliff, just above a completely unprotected drop all the way to the bottom of the canyon. So, no, I don't have any pictures of that view. I was terrified just watching Dan get as close as he did in that first photo. 

 

Antelope Canyon, Arizona /  by Liesl Pfeffer

Lower and Upper Canyons
Antelope Canyon, Arizona
November 2015

Since it is pretty dark down there, I wasn't sure if I would be able to take a correct exposure. I didn't take very many film photos, focusing instead on enjoying the view and taking iPhone photographs to have something to look back on later. So, I was pleased when I had the film printed that the handful of pictures I took on my camera turned out ok! (I used my F1.4 50mm prime lens, 200 speed film and 1/30 second exposure time).  

The first three photos here are from the Lower Canyon, which is much narrower and is accessed by climbing down fairly scary (for me, with my fear of heights) stairs/ladders. The next two photos, where you can see the canyon is much wider, that is the Upper Canyon, which can be accessed at ground level. Both canyons were very beautiful, though the Upper Canyon was busier with tour groups, probably because it is more accessible.

Lake Powell, Arizona /  by Liesl Pfeffer

Lake Powell, Arizona
November 2015
Pictured here are Dan, Joy, and I
All photos by me, except the picture of me, which Joy took with my camera

Because it was late fall, sun was setting early, around 5pm every day. So every day we tried to reach our destination before the sun fell. We got to Lake Powell just in time and quickly drove up above the lake to this viewpoint. We strolled around with a handful of other people, and saw the color of the landscape dramatically and quickly shift. We took each others' portraits, enjoying the fading of the light.  

 

Grand Canyon, Arizona /  by Liesl Pfeffer

Grand Canyon, Arizona
November 2015

I felt really fortunate to see the Grand Canyon twice in one lifetime. The first time I came here was on a month-long road trip with my family, in 1991, when I was 12. We hired a minivan and the five of us packed in there every day and traced a path all over the western half of the United States. I remember stopping to eat picnic sandwiches in national forests, staying in Super 8 motels, singing along from the middle seat to cast recordings of Broadway musicals, talking to other kids in hot tubs and swimming pools at night, sucking the helium out of a deflating balloon we bought at Disneyland and speaking in high pitched chipmunk voices. I remember drinking Hershey's hot chocolate and eating Apple Jack cereal. I remember Metallica released Enter Sandman that month and my brother had it on repeat on his discman.

I remember when we were at the Grand Canyon, we couldn't believe that people were climbing out onto rocks that seemed to be balanced precariously on top of long columns of sandstone. My brother pretended to leap from the edge at one point and my little sister burst into tears because he really seemed to disappear from sight for a second. 

Tahquitz Canyon, Palm Springs /  by Liesl Pfeffer

Tahquitz Canyon
Palm Springs, CA
November 2015

There is a two mile loop trail just outside Palm Springs up through Tahquitz Canyon to the falls. I was mesmerized by all the rocks on the ground, wondering if I would find the perfect chunk of quartz, and wondering also if I would have the nerve to sneak it into my pocket and take it home with me. Nice hike, no quartz (probably for the best). 

Colorado Desert sunset, California /  by Liesl Pfeffer

Sunset, Colorado Desert, California
November 2015

Me in the backseat of the car, a passenger whilst we were driving through the desert highway at dusk: "we should stop soon"... "we should stop and see the sunset"... "it looks like its really beautiful and I want to take photos" ..."I'm just going to put my window down and take some photos" ..."oh boy its beautiful we should pull over if you see a turn off" ...."i really think we should stop". Poor Dan. Like driving all day wasn't enough, he had this whiny photographer in the backseat and Joy in the front seat desperately needing us to get to the first town so she could have a rest room stop. Eventually I got my way and we stopped and I got a couple of photos that do the pink desert light pretty much no justice at all, like most photos of sunsets. 

Salton Sea, California /  by Liesl Pfeffer

Salton Sea, California
November 2015

A big salty lake in the Colorado Desert in California, we skirted its shoreline for half an hour while we zoomed deeper into the desert towards Salvation Mountain. We stopped for a moment to take photos of the strange hazy light that was floating over the water. Later in the day, and after the sun had set, we passed by again. this time stopping at the tiny seaside community of Bombay Beach (population 295) for a drink at the Ski Inn, recommended to me by a friend in LA. We put songs on the jukebox, looked over a well-loved geology book about the Salton Sea shared with us by the friendly bartender Steve and stuck a signed $1 bill to the ceiling. 

Cabazon Dinosaurs, California /  by Liesl Pfeffer

Cabazon Dinosaurs, Cabazon, CA
November 2015

We pulled off Interstate 10 to visit Cabazon Dinosaurs on our way from Los Angeles to Palm Springs. Cabazon Dinosaurs is an unusual theme park / attraction featuring some truly enormous sculpture dinosaurs, seemingly in the middle of nowhere (as the mountains in all directions in these photos will attest). This is one of those places that makes me wonder at, and be grateful for, the strange things that human beings decide to do. According to Wikipedia, sculptor and portrait artist Claude K. Bell built the first sculptures to attract customers to his Wheel Inn Restaurant, which opened in 1958. The first dinosaur, named Dinny, was made out of spare material salvaged from the construction of Interstate 10 at a cost of $300,000. Um, wow.