More Southwest Travel Photos

The American southwest, with its relentless sunshine and rich history, offers a wide range of opportunities for photography.  The light is ever-changing, making one moment as unique as the rest.  The lights and shadows play and dance across the landscape.  Here are some more of my favorite shots from this past month's journey.

Camped at Homolovi Indian Ruins.

The land is dotted with ruins, some older than a thousand years.  It is here, in this stark landscape, that I began the Kokopelli novel.  The land is swept clean by the winds, and there is power here. It helps that there is modern development only in pockets and for many many miles that land can still speak for itself.  The ancestral spirits of those who lived here before are palpable, and the silence is soothing to a weary soul.

Example garden of the three sisters at Visitor Center at Homolovi.

View of the site from the Visitor's Center.

Mound that is the remains of a building at Homolovi I.

Pottery sherds are everywhere.

Homolovi was also a restorative experience.  Our next destination was Arizona--Rick by now was very excited, anxious to see his family and old friends. 

"Exit Now Yellow Horse Indian Store."  AZ/NM border on I-40.

Rick at the Petrified Forest Visitor Center.  The drive through the forest was too long (read too expensive) for us to visit.

San Francisco Peaks visible from the east.  Almost to Flagstaff!

Indian Store rocks.

We visited three or four addresses in Flagstaff for bookstores and left information.  Then it was on to Sedona.  I decided to take Oak Creek Canyon--forgetting how intense the switchbacks were on this road.  It is very scary from our RV (for me anyway), and I was too nervous and too busy holding on to take many pictures.  Too bad.

Roadside geology.

Oak Creek Canyon

A safe stop (finally!) in Oak Creek Canyon.

Entering Sedona's red rocks.

From Sedona and several bookstore visits, we descended into the Valley of the Sun.  Along the way, just before you go "over the rim"--that is, over the Mogollon Rim and down into Phoenix proper, there is one more amazing stop and we caught it at just the right time of day--sunset at Sunset Point, on the Black Canyon Freeway.

And this mysterious message on the canyon floor at Sunset Point--Hourrelzy.  Anyone know what it means?