Bryce Canyon Hoodoo's

This shot was taken on a visit to Bryce Canyon, Utah, during the early part of October 2009. This canyon is filled with literally thousands of hoodoo's whose mystical shapes inspire imagination and intrigue. A hoodoo (also called a tent rock, fairy chimney, and earth pyramid) is a tall, thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland. Hoodoos consist of soft sedimentary rock topped by harder, less easily-eroded stone that protects each column from the elements. It appears impossible that the destructive forces of water carved these fragile landforms.

Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by wind, water, and ice erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks. The red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular views for park visitors. Bryce sits at a much higher elevation than nearby Zion National Park. The rim at Bryce varies from 8,000 to 9,000 feet .

At Bryce Canyon water in the form of ice is the most efficient form of erosion for breaking rock into smaller pieces. The Paunsaugunt Plateau receives approximately 100 inches of snowfall a year. It also experiences about 200 days of freeze/ thaw. Which means that everyday a small amount of snow melts and runs into the joints and freezes at night. When water freezes it expands to form an ice wedge in the joint widening the space. As the ice wedge grows by more water leaking into the joint and freezing it will finally break the rock.

This is called frost wedging. Small pebbles and large Volkswagen bus sized boulders commonly fall from the sides of existing hoodoos and the sides of the Paunsaugunt Plateau by frost wedging and gravity. The smaller pieces are washed away by the monsoons and snow melt. Boulders explode into cobble sized pieces when they impact the ground. The resulting debris is then washed down slope by snowmelt, flashfloods and gravity.

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2009 Super Run Car Show

Description: This 3-page PDF file provides information and pictures of the Super Run Car show held on 09/24/2009 in The District at Green Valley Ranch and in downtown Henderson.  I have attended this annual show for the past four years and really enjoy it. They always have some real classics. This year we even attended the night show which included a Jan & Dean concert. It was a fun evening. Be sure to check out my show favorite on the bottom of the last page.

Viewing Tips: You can click the scroll bar on the right side to scroll down to the next page. If you have trouble reading the text, use the (+) button at the bottom of the page to "Zoom In" and the scroll bars to position text for reading. For best viewing, click the “Fullscreen” button on the bar shown above.

Jack-in-the-Beanstalk

This was taken out by our pool in August 2009. Sometimes I get an idea, just start playing around – experimenting – and come up with something that I think is interesting. In this case I took an over-exposed picture that I was going to discard and kept hitting the “One-Step-Photo-Fix” in my Paint Shop program. After five hits I ended up with this image, which inspired the above title based upon a thought I got while looking skyward when I was lying around the pool reading a book.

Pitman Wash Images – Still Life

The photo on the right was taken on 6/30/2009 during one of my morning walks through the Pittman Wash that runs along side of our apartment complex in Henderson, NV. How this rock got deposited here is a mystery, however I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to capture it before it was eventually washed to a new resting place. At the time I shot the photo, I actually envisioned it as being a nature “still life”, hence the assigned title. I like the "crop" because it brings out the Cat-Nine-Tails better. The location is right under the Green Valley Parkway overpass that crosses over the wash.

The Zen Garden at Bellagio

Picture Notes: In May of 2009, Connie and I made a trek to the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens inside the Bellagio Casino, one of our favorite places to visit on the Strip. Brilliance abounds inside this breathtaking botanical garden. The attention to detail is astounding. Four times a year, you get to admire the essence of every season recreated with exceptionally gorgeous plants, flowers and trees thoughtfully arranged to inspire full splendor. Specially designed lighting spotlights every flower to accentuate its best features. To ensure that this marvelous garden maintains its magnificence 365 days a year, a staff of 140 expert horticulturists theatrically arrange gazebos, bridges, ponds, and water features uniquely for each season. This theme for this Spring's exhibit was a Zen garden which featured a walk-thru butterfly house. It was absolutely stunning.