“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”— Robert Swan
Lest you think I get too political about the idea of saving our planet Earth, today I merely celebrate Earth Day in photographs for Sunday Stills. I’m fortunate to be retired and can explore seven US states on my recent road trip in March and April.
Earth Day, Earth Week, or anything to do with earth, dirt, rocks, water, our planet, etc, is our theme for Sunday Stills this week.
Nothing like a life event like my daughter’s wedding in San Diego, California, to ramp up my explorer’s heart and visit places I’ve never seen! So please indulge me with this slightly-long post as we celebrate our beautiful EARTH from the perspective of our recent road trip.
“Earth Day was founded in 1970 as a day of education about environmental issues, and Earth Day 2023 occurred on Saturday, April 22. The holiday is now a global celebration that’s sometimes extended into Earth Week, a full seven days of events focused on green living and confronting the climate crisis.” ~ Source
Three Days of Driving Amidst Snow and Flowers
After two days (and two overnight stays) of driving from Eastern Washington (our home state) through Idaho on Interstate 84, the entire state of Utah via I-15, through a corner of Arizona, and another corner of Nevada via Las Vegas, we arrived in Southern California on the afternoon of the third day.
Once we approached Southern California, the hillsides were alive with orange poppies and yellow daisies in super bloom mode. We continued south on I-15 to San Diego. I drove from Vegas to San Diego, so any images of the super bloom were taken by hubby with my phone… Ahem.
We arrived in San Diego in warm temps of 70F (21C) and settled into our motel where we would stay an entire week for the wedding and family activities. As luck would have it, the hotel staff had issues with our room keys, so they simply upgraded us to a suite at no extra charge. This included a kitchenette with a full refrigerator, stove, dinette table, and living room. Note: We chose motels that were dog-friendly and offered free breakfasts.
I couldn’t resist sharing this second-story view of the Lamplighter Inn showcasing San Diego’s gorgeous spring weather. Having a suite for 7 nights was truly amazing.
Then it rained for two days straight, but that didn’t keep us from exploring in between downpours. We took a drive out to Mt. Helix in La Mesa near where both Hans and I grew up as kids. Mt. Helix can be seen from all points in San Diego and is easily identified by its historical cross, and where sunrise Easter services are held.
When the sun came out and illuminated the cross for a few moments, we knew the upcoming nuptials, as well as our trip, were blessed.
From Mt Helix, this view of Eastern San Diego looks to the east toward Mt. Cuyamaca in the Peninsular Ranges System. You can get an idea of the yellow flowers that covered the hillsides.
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” ~Native American Proverb
Here is another peek at the bride walking with her dad surrounded by oak trees, plants, and flowers.
San Diego’s weather was perfect for the wedding day and this Earth Mother was one proud mama.
More about the wedding in an upcoming post.
The Desert Blooms
As you may have read in my pastel color challenge post, we left San Diego after one week for a much warmer Scottsdale, Arizona, as guests of Marsha. Seeking more super blooms, we found these desert daisies in nearby Fountain Hills where my brother lives.
Mother Earth Creates an Oxbow
Three days later, we left Scottsdale and drove north toward our destination in southern Utah. We stopped in Page, near the Utah/Arizona border to visit another iconic geologic rock formation, known as Horseshoe Bend. (Many thanks to Donna of Wind Kisses, who recommended this slight detour!).
“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” ― John Muir, Our National Parks
Here we were joined by hundreds of tourists from all over the world–it was Good Friday and likely a holiday for many. Walking this trail about one-quarter of a mile from the parking lot, you don’t know what you are going to see until…
…The Colorado River takes a major oxbow turn to create this!
Using my trusty Lumix FZ300 with its amazing zoom lens, I caught a rare glimpse of these kayakers w-aa-yyy down below on the river.
Utah Here We Come!
As we drove through Kanab, Utah just north of the Arizona/Utah border, the landscape gradually changed from desert to red rocks.
“Look after the land and the land will look after you, destroy the land and it will destroy you.” —Aboriginal Proverb
You know you’re nearing Bryce Canyon National Park when these rock formations, aka hoodoos, pop right up along the road. These reminded me of pictures I’ve seen of Easter Island off the coast of Chile. But first, we had to drive through two short tunnels.
This and other scenes greeted us as we drove toward our next motel 3 miles from the park entrance.
If you choose not to enter the park, you can still see hoodoo formations from Hwy 12, near the town of Tropic.
A Peek into Bryce Canyon’s Incredible Earthen Hoodoos, Fins, and Windows
“Bryce Canyon National Park is named for one of a series of horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters featuring colorful formations called ‘hoodoos’. Erosion has shaped colorful limestones, sandstones, and mudstones into thousands of spires, fins, pinnacles and mazes. It was designated a national park in 1928.” ~ Words on my new coffee mug
In Bryce Canyon National Park lives the world’s largest collection of earthen hoodoos, fins, and windows all carved out of sandstone. These exist worldwide, but Bryce has the largest collection and the most variety.
A smaller national park compared to Yosemite or Yellowstone, one can visit Bryce Canyon’s four overlook areas from the main road and see them within a few hours. From the main overlooks, from north to south: Sunrise Point, Sunset Point, Inspiration Point, and Bryce Point, you see what is known as the Bryce Amphitheater.
The hiking loop trails (Navaho, Rim, Queens Garden, and Peekaboo) were closed due to the snow. Bryce Point sits at 8300 feet in elevation!
“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity.” ― John Muir, Our National Parks
The Saturday before Easter is busy in a National Park. The trick is to get through the park entrance early and drive to the points of interest. Because there was so much snow in Bryce Canyon, whose summits range from 7700 – 8300 feet in elevation, many campgrounds, roads, and trails were closed. We were told by park rangers to stay only on the paved roads and parking turnouts at the overlook points.
Fine by us, since we had Brodie. Most national parks prohibit dogs on the trails to reduce erosion in fragile ecological environments. He attracted a lot of attention as his breed (Boykin Spaniel) is rarely seen in the West.
“Stepping out onto any lookout, you are invited to connect with an amazing example of some of the most unusual terrain on this planet, making you feel as though you are stepping foot on the edge of another world.”― Stefanie Payne, A Year in the National Parks: The Greatest American Road Trip
Bryce Canyon was really amazing to see, but this was one of many more stops on our continuing trip. After a two-night stay in Bryce Canyon City, we drove north through Salt Lake City (Utah) and stayed two nights in Logan, Utah. I will share more about Salt Lake City and our last stop on our road trip in Montana in next week’s post.
What Can YOU Do to Honor Our Earth?
This article, 13 Small Things You Can Do to Help the Earth Every Day lists simple things you can do to help our Earth. I realize driving an electric hybrid auto on a long road trip would have been better for the Earth–but I’m not there quite yet, but some of what’s listed in the article, I do regularly:
- Use your own grocery or tote bags. I have collected too many. Walmart and Target have ceased offering plastic bags in their stores.
- Re-use your coffee mug and water bottles (we do this on road trips, too).
- Buy in-season and local produce. Our local farmer’s market is 4 miles down the highway! Support your local growers and buy their produce.
- Plant your own garden. I’ve grown tomatoes and we recently planted four apple trees!
“Preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.” — Carl Sagan
What I’m Inspired by This Week
Each week I find inspiration from my fellow bloggers’ photography challenges. I enjoy incorporating these into my Sunday Stills weekly themes.
- Cee’s Flower of the Day
- Dawn’s Spring Festival
- Johnbo’s Cellpic Sunday
- Marsha’s Wednesday Quotes: Gardens and Earth Day
Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders
The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post.
- Remember to title your blog post a little differently than mine.
- Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
- Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
- Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
- Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
- I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.
This Week’s Featured Bloggers
Sunday Stills is a wonderful community of bloggers and photographers who desire to connect with one another. Below are this week’s links from bloggers who shared their earthy photos. I add these all week as new links are posted.
A huge thank you to the 30+ links for last week’s pastel color challenge!
- YOUR BLOG POST’S LINK HERE:
- Between the Lines
- Brashley Photography
- Cee’s Photo Challenges
- Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
- The Day After
- Deb’s World
- Frost on the Moose Dung
- Graham’s Island
- Green Dreams
- Hugh’s Views and News Image shared in comments
- Light Words
- Loving Life
- Middleton Road
- Musin’ With Susan
- Now At Home
- Philosophy Through Photography
- Quaint Revival
- Roberta Writes
- This is Another Story
- Whippet Wisdom
- NEW WillowDot21
- Wind Kisses
- Woolly Muses
- Working On Exploring
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I’m excited to see your interpretations of Earth Day/Week! Join me again next week for the theme “Roads, Paths, and Streets.”
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