Visit and enjoy a National Park soon!

You just can't go wrong. Every park we have seen is just so amazing. The places that have been preserved are all the best wow-spots in the USA. We spent 3 days at Canyonlands National Park in the less visited area of the park called the Needles. The campground in the park was tiny and filled, so we drove to the almost as spectacular campground on BLM land 4 miles down the road. We had our own orange bubble sandstone rock as a backdrop, and the view for miles of the mesas and lowlands of Canyonlands. Here is the beautiful claret cup cactus in full bloom:

 I just loved how the trails wandered through the canyons surrounded by pink, orange and red sandstone spires and walls. Hiking over the sandstone on slickrock was similar to hiking on Sierra granite when you are going cross-country, but the trail is marked with ducks. No, not real ones, but rock pile ducks.

The desert flowers are still blooming after a rainy spring. (snow too, 2 days ago). Here are 2 flowers I don't know!

Sunset on the first night.

Peter played uke while I watercolor painted the landscape. I'm finding that I am learning how to paint the desert. I think my paintings have improved over the last time, which was in the Grand Canyon 4 years ago. I'm hoping to make a few new one-of-a-kind books with desert themes with all the paintings I've done on this trip. There is no shortage of beautiful landscapes to paint!