Road Trip: Mesa Verde (2)

I will be back to posting photos of my beloved American Fork, UT tomorrow, but for now, here are two more of Mesa Verde National Park. This gives you a small glimpse into why I was so amazed just being there!

Check out my American Idol predictions here on my other blog.

Road Trip: Arches National Park (2)

You can't go to Arches National Park and not hike up to the Delicate Arch. Each time I go to Arches I am reminded of the amazing beauty and diversity that our amazing state is blessed with. It almost takes my breath away! I am so lucky that this is only 3 hours from my home.

Road Trip: Springville Museum of Art (3)

Road Trip: Springville Museum of Art (2)

One of our idols.

Road Trip: Springville Museum of Art

Yesterday we had a nice little outing down to Springville, UT to see the art museum. LOVED IT! Also, took a drive up Diamond Fork Canyon and ate lunch at the Herb Shop on Msin Street in Springville. Delish! Had a turkey wrap and hubby had a portabella burger.

This statue is at the entrance to the museum.

Answer to Yesterday's Pop Quiz: Kennecott Copper Mine and Road Trip: Draper (3)

Thank you everyone, for playing along. The answer, as DC Confidential pointed out, is the Kennecott Copper Mine. My husband said that those of you who said that the mountains were a product of crafty photoshopping were questioning my integrity as a photographer. I, however, am thrilled to think that you imagine me such a computer wizard!

Ok, some info about Kennecott. From my own experience, I know that it is quite impressive to fly over the mine as you come into the Salt Lake International Airport.

Facts (From the Kennecott website):

Bingham Canyon Mine has produced more copper than any mine in history -- about 16 million tons.

The mine is 2¾ miles across at the top and ¾ of a mile deep. You could stack two Sears Towers on top of each other and still not reach the top of the mine.

The mine is so big, it can be seen by the space shuttle astronauts as they pass over the United States.

By 2015, the mine will be at least 500 feet deeper than it is now.

If you stretched out all the roads in the open pit mine, you'd have 500 miles of roadway -- enough to reach from Salt Lake City to Denver.

*Also, here is a video about how Kennecott is helping our community (also from the Kennecott website). It's about a minute long.

Thanks for playing along.

Road Trip: Draper (2)

Nice statue... right? But look to the mountains in the background.

POP QUIZ: What is up with the mountains?
Answer/guess in the comments section on this post and I will be back tomorrow with the answer.

ps. There isn't really a prize, just know that everyone who plays this game is a WINNER ;)

Road Trip: Draper

This is the first in a series of photos I will be showing you this week. After the Photowalk yesterday we drove back to AF through Draper and over Traverse Mountain. It was a spectacular day and an opportunity to take some nice photos. I particularly like this one, but it would have been better 1/10th of a second later when he looked at me and smiled! (ps. I wasn't the one driving, for those of you who worry about such things!!) Happy Sunday!!

January Photowalk

These are some of the models (Andrew, Clara and Missy) that were at the January Photowalk today. Thanks Ann, for inviting me and making me feel so welcome there. I learned a lot about my Nikon D40 and enjoyed meeting other photography enthusiasts from the area. These were my "best shots."

Afterwards, we went to the Mad Greek and enjoyed some tasty food. I had the pepper steak gyro and it was delicious.

Road Trip Flashback: Provo's Rock Canyon Park

This is one from the archives, clear back to February 2006. We were playing with our new GPS that we had gotten for Christmas, doing GPS mazes, with some friends. Kids from all over town had come to Rock Canyon Park to sled. div>

Road Trip: SLC for the first KFC

Colonal Sanders's suit. His ACTUAL suit. ACTUALLY.

Did you know that the first Kentucky Fried Chicken, or KFC (Kitchen Fresh Chicken??) was in Utah? Most people are surprised or incredulous when they here this interesting Utah factoid. Two years ago they tore down the original one (On State Street near 3900 S. in SLC) and built a new fangled one, and it is chock full of KFC memorabilia.

Does anyone remember the jingle, "KFC has an all you can eat buffet. What did you say?..."

Late Christmas Post

I can't believe I forgot to post this before Christmas. This is also a roadtrip picture, because I took it in the Deseret Book in downtown Salt Lake City. They had many interesting, beautiful, intricate and/or crazy Nativity sets and they were ALL fun to look at. This was the most different one there, an entire Nativity of snowmen.

One more picture from SLC

This doesn't even begin capture the beauty and excitement that we enjoyed last Saturday at Temple Square in Salt Lake!

My three favorite City Daily Photos for today are:
Pasco (This is her VERY first blog post ever, so stop by and check it out and leave her a message!)
New Orleans
Rabaul

Fountain on the South Side of the Salt Lake Temple

Another photo from our trip up to Salt Lake on Saturday.

Exciting News: I ordered a new camera! I REALLY hope it will be here before Christmas.

My favorite City Daily Photos for today are:

St. Louis

Belgrade

Petaling Jaya

Temple Square: The Assembly Hall

Another of our photos from last night. The lights were actually much more amazing than the photos can show and the feeling there was incredible!

My favorite daily photos today are:
St. Louis
Brighton
Mt. Hood to Portland

(I have seen some other daily photo bloggers do this and I think it is a GREAT idea. I don't know if I will do it daily, but I will try to do it now and again.)

Road Trip: Salt Lake City - The Lights on Temple Square

Tonight we drove up to Temple Square in Salt Lake City to see the Christmas lights. Like always, they were spectacular. We had a bear of a time trying to find parking because there was a musical production going on downtown, as well as a bomb scare that shut down several streets. The news helicopters were zooming everywhere, but we didn't know what was going on until we got home.

We about froze ourselves, but had a marvelous time! I will be sharing more photos that we took with you later this week. This is the Salt Lake Temple and one of the most recognizable landmarks in Utah (along with the delicate arch).

NOTE: I bought a Panasonic Lumix FZ18 last month and have been taking several photos with it, but returned it this week because it was taking lots and lots of blurry pictures between the fabulous ones. For now, I am shooting with my Kodak Easyshare, again.

Geese at the Lindon Boat Harbor - Via the Dump

After shivering through another rainy Saturday (this is 3 in a row) we set out to find the landfill. We have a loveseat that was too trashed for DI and we need to take it to the dump, but we weren't sure where that was. We piled in the car and headed down to Utah Lake, where we found the landfill and the Lindon Boat Harbor.



It is UEA weekend here in Utah, which means lots of people camping, even amid the drizzle. This isn't actually IN American Fork, but it is pretty close. These geese were so happy to see me, they about drove me back into the car!

Bank of American Fork Hot Air Balloon: Close-Up

Bank of American Fork Hot Air Balloon: Last Week at the Antelope Island Balloon Stampede

It's here!

The anticipations is over. Sigh.

Spent the morning waiting in line, fighting my natural impulses to pick up free Frisbees and water bottles, and thoroughly enjoying the rigmarole that was the IKEA grand opening in Draper. Didn't buy anything, but secretly made a mental wish list. When is my birthday/Christmas/Mother's Day?

Highlights: The DJ rockin' Love Shack, the awesome parking spot I got and the smell of doughnuts that was everywhere. Hey, where was mine?

Lowlights: People thinking my baby is a girl. He ain't NOBODY'S girlfriend, either.