Scott Murray's opening reception at Angel Fire Gallery

Scott Murray's art is featured at this Angel Fire Gallery.

Inky, Pintki (Scott's mom), Gail and Scott are in the first photo; Gail, Pintki and I are in the second.

Home sitting on Half Moon

Am home sitting out on Half Moon off Mesa Vista. Lovely home, two cats and lots of privacy.

Rock climbing in Utah

Some people take breaks from the long drive by stopping for picnics. We stopped for rock climbing!

Some great red rocks in Utah that were begging to be climbed. As you can see, I didn't make the leap from the rock I'm standing on to the rock where Max is sitting.... just too much balance required, with nothing to hold onto.... and I wasn't feeling all that balanced at that time!

A most powerful place.

Rio Grande Gorge in Taos

After visiting the Earthship home, I mentioned to Max that he would see the Rio Grande Gorge soon. He kept looking, seeing nothing, and finally asked what it looked like. "A big tear in the earth," is what I told him. We stopped to walk to the edge of the gorge on the west rim side, Max looking around in disbelief! It is an amazing sight!

Earthship home in the Taos, New Mexico area

This is one of the most "famous" earthship homes in the Taos, NM area. Max and I stopped by on our way back to Taos from 4 corners on Friday. As you might imagine, Max loved the Hummer vehicle!

Welcome to Colorado!

We drove up 285 from Taos to Breckenridge, a beautiful drive in the mountains. The ski slopes at Breck are beautiful, as are the mountains!

We also saw a UFO Lookout post .....

Cold mountain water just outside Boulder was a great reason to stop and wade.

Hiking Italianos Trail on Taos Mountain

The Italianos trail is my favorite on Taos Mountain. It's scenic, quiet, easy, and takes you over the water at least 8 times.

Max loved the shelter along the trail, available for hikers who need it. The water was clear and very cold, and tasty, too!
As you can see, we built another cairn, and Max, who always loved climbing rocks, gives this rock wall a go.

Max's first night in Taos in a lightning storm

Max and I arrived back in Taos Friday, went to the Taos Inn for dinner, heard some great music at the Adobe Bar, and then saw amazing lightning north of town. We headed toward Eototo Road, going toward high ground, so Max could capture some of the lightning strikes. The odd thing was that there was no thunder or rain. Which is why the storm crept up on us, so that while Max was hanging out the window with his camera phone pointed skyward, we suddenly experienced a lighting strike directly over us. That was all we needed for Max to slide back into the car and we were on our way.

Aren't these shots amazing???

A stop at 4 corners en route to Taos

Max has heard me tell the story of the 6 week family vacation with my family the summer before I was a junior in high school. One of the MANY places my Dad took us to was 4 corners. It was a big deal and a big surprise, getting us up at the crack of dawn, packing up the camper, riding in the car with no breakfast for a while, with me asking more than once, "what are we DOING??????"
Dad drives down this lonely road, the sun is just coming up, and parks the car, telling us to "c'mon kids..... go over to that round disk and stand on it." I know I'm out of patience with the whole thing by this time, and just then Dad says, "smile, you are standing in 4 states at once!"
Dad was so proud of himself. I remember thinking it was the silliest thing yet, but now, looking back, it was one of the highlights of that 6 week trip.

And now I'm doing it to Max.... except that I told him where we were going! He loved it!

Monument Valley, UT - Wed night

We drove from the Grand Canyon to Monument Valley and arrived at dusk and stayed in Kayenta.

The Grand Canyon

Thursday we drove to the Grand Canyon - Max's first experience.

That black spec on the white rock is Max - who had to climb out to have a real "grand canyon moment"... I was content to just sit on the edge of an overhang. This is definitely NOT the place to be if you have any qualms about heights.