We made a trip out to Lost Dutchman State Park near Apache Junction this morning. It borders Tonto National Forest and the Superstition Mountains.

The clear blue skies, cactus and red rock mountains create some incredible beauty.

This Saguaro cactus seemed to get tired of holding it’s lower arms up. Either that or it’s hiding.

Saguaro and Cholla cacti in front of the mountain range. Note the blue skies.

All these cacti with Superstition Mountain in the background. There are a number of hiking trails back in and around the mountain. We didn’t take many today as it was rather warm. There’s a nice campground in the park, so we may come later when we can do some hiking and see the lights of Phoenix at night.

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Cacti, Saguaro, Cholla, Lost Dutchman State Park, Superstition Mountain, Apache Junction, AZ

Tags: Arizona State Parks, Photography by john
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We’ve now spent two days exploring the area around Albuquerque.

Petroglyph National Monument, Boca Negra Canyon

Yesterday morning we explored Boca Negra Canyon in the Petroglyph National Monument.

It’s a great place to get a sense of the past inhabitants of the area.

Also the geology of the region.

Notice the moon in this one.

Sandia Crest

We took the Tram up to Sandia Crest. It’s billed as the world’s longest tram, rising from 6995 feet to 10,678 feet and a 2.5 mile cable. It’s a spectacular ride.

There’s a hiker’s shelter at the top of the peak on the ridge, about a mile from the top of the tram.

The view from the back side of the ridge (there’s a ski area over there).

The sunset on the ride down was special.

Volcanoes

This morning we hiked around the remains of volcanic peaks that have been extinct for 140,000 years.

The peaks themselves are underwhelming for those of us used to Pacific Rim volcanoes such as the peaks of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada. But still, we saw a lot of wildlife, including interesting insects, rabbits, hawks circling overhead, songbirds, and lizards.

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Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sandia Crest, Petroglyphs National Monument

Tags: Destinations, Photography, RVing by john
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Got Nikki this camera for Mother’s Day.

We went down into Clark’s Creek this afternoon and took a lot of pictures. We saw a Mother Barred Owl and two babies.

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Bird, Photography, Pierce County, Clark’s Creek Park

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Nikki took this photo in Minnesota last October. Notice there is no ice to keep off of.

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Photography, Minnesota

Tags: Destinations, Minnesota, Photography by john
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When wandering along the waterfront in Port Townsend last month, we found this pattern where an old piling had rotted off and left the reaminder burind in the gravel.

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Port Townsend

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Hudson Point Marina, Motorhome, Port Townsend, RVing

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Nikki took this image in front of a building by the Hudson Point Marina in Port Townsend, Washington.

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Tags: Photography, RVing, Washington by john
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Looking to the southwest from Paradise on Mt. Rainier, you can see the Cascade range stretching for miles.

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Cascades, Mt. Rainier, Snowshoeing

Tags: Destinations, Mt. Rainier, Photography, Snowshoeing by john
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My boss arranged for the group, and family members, to go up to Paradise on Mt. Rainier today. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. With all the cool nasty weather this winter, the road to Paradise was closed for something like 10 days, after getting 13 feet of snow in 10 days or so starting January 29th.

Today the sun came out the mountain stayed mostly visible, along with the other Cascade mountains in the area. They currently have 15 feet of snow on the ground at Paradise where they measure the snowpack. Of all the places in the world, Paradise held the record of most snowfall in a season until 1999, when Mt. Baker beat them.

Nikki got some good pictures that I will post over the next few days. We’ll start with this one from the parking lot at Paradise just before we started home.

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Mt. Rainier, Snowshoeing

Tags: Mt. Rainier, Photography, Snowshoeing, Washington by john
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Take a look at this view of Mt. Baker from the front of The Admiral while sitting at the Hudson Point Marina and RV Resort in Port Townsend, Washington. All for only $30/night.

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Ahrens Adventures, Hudson Point Marina, Motorhome, Port Townsend

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