Things You Might See At The Rodeo....Camera Hat

Marmot

A Yellow Belly Marmot pauses before disappearing into his underground home. I have never seen a Marmot in our area. This one was in Utah. They are big for a rodent, about the size of a large cat and very shy around people, always on the lookout for a place to hide.

Ferris Wheel

Prescott Valley Days

Things You Might See At The Rodeo....Gear

Super Moon

 I decided to try shooting that big super moon on Saturday night to practice for Sunday. I'm glad I did because it was too cloudy on Sunday so these are all I was able to take. The bottom one is with my 42X lens fully extended.

Up In The Air

This was the last balloon to take off.
I tried for a close up of the people in
the basket as they rose up and moved
away with the gentle breeze.

Seeing Red

Smoke

I wanted to do one last post about the fire burning near Prescott.

This is one of the big slurry bombers taking off from the Prescott Airport. 

I have posted some higher resolution photos on flickr.  

Fighting Fire From The Air

These are some of the aircraft that are fighting the fire near Prescott

Floating On Air

 One more shot from last Sunday's balloon fest.

Fire On Granite Mountain

We have a wildfire burning in Prescott. This was taken from the airport through smoke that was lit from behind by the sun.

One of the fire fighting planes was taking off from the airport and flying into the smoke. As of last night, 5000 acres have burned. Homes are being evacuated.

The sun through the smoke was just a red ball in the sky. This picture is exactly what it looked like.

Those Beautiful Balloons

I always look forward to the balloon fest in Prescott Valley. I love the colors and watching them float gracefully across the sky. This was on Sunday morning.

It's fun to watch these balloons come to life as they get "fired up".

Tsunami On The Square

The 15th annual Tsunami on the Square drew a huge crowd on Saturday. Lots of circus fun was had by all.

For more information on this event
click here.

Branches Against The Sky

Happy Father's Day to all of you Dads.

Hudson

Yesterday's reflection photo was a close up of the front fender of this nice old Hudson. 

Twisted Reflection

Rehearsal

This group from Columbia was rehearsing at the Prescott Valley Town Hall for the Tsunami On The Square performing arts and culture fair in Prescott this coming Saturday. They are one of the groups that will be performing at the Courthouse Square.

I'm not sure how anyone can look this graceful on stilts. They also did a performance at the Prescott Valley Town Hall last Saturday which I missed, so I am glad I happened to see them during this rehearsal.

Wednesday Window......Cockpit

The Rolling Hotel

It says "Rotel Tours" and "Das Rollende Hotel" on the side of this big bus. Have you ever seen one? I have seen them before but I found this one in Capital Reef National Park. The crew were busy setting up a picnic for the tourists who were out enjoying a beautiful spring day. This is a German tour company that takes tourists all over the world and gives them a camping experience. The front part of the bus has rows of comfy seats and the back part is where the people sleep. I found this article  about it if you want to learn more. 

Windy Landing

 

It took some good piloting to land in the Tim's Toyota Center parking lot in Prescott Valley on a day with winds gusting over 40 MPH. It was a police, fire and military expo that was held a few months ago and I never got around to posting it.. They had planned to have a Black Hawk helicopter but it was too windy for it to land in the parking lot between the light posts. This one is the Yavapai County search and rescue helicopter.

Baby Face

There were some cute little ducklings on the pond in Mountain Valley Park in Prescott Valley.

                                                                      

                      Twelve baby ducklings out for some swimming lessons.                                                

Road Trip...Behind The Gifford House

Fruita, Utah

Capital Reef National Park

Road Trip....Inside The Gifford House

Inside the Gifford House at Fruita, Utah is a store where they sell fresh home baked pies and bread and many other tasty things to enjoy. Most of the house is a museum with some of the old furniture that would have been used when it was a home. 

Road Trip....The Gifford Homestead

The Gifford farm lies in the heart of the Fruita Valley and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The original home was built in 1908 by Calvin Pendleton. In 1916 the home belonged to the Jorgen Jorgenson family who lived there until 1928. The Gifford family occupied the home for 41 years, 1928 to 1969. The farm is in a beautiful green canyon with orchards of peaches, apples and cherries. Dewey Gifford sold the farm to the National Park Service in 1969 and it is now part of Capital Reef National Park in Utah. This is a beautiful park and I will be posting more and hopefully better pictures from here later. This is where I found the horse that I posted on May 21.

Wednesday Window....With Reflection

Road Trip....Mexican Hat

There is a little town in south east Utah called "Mexican Hat" 

This is how it got that name. 

Big Bird

Great Blue Heron

Fun On The Lake

Lynx Lake