Joshua Tree: Flora, Fauna, Fantastic Fotos

 We saw these interesting lizards in the park, including the horny toad on the bottom right.

We also saw lots of blooming cacti and other wildflowers.

These cholla cacti were also blooming. We made a trip within the park to these guys.

Violet brought her good Canon to take night photos. Joshua Tree is supposed to have amazing stargazing.

The first night, we were at our tent, and the lights from the town were polluting the sky a bit. So the second night, we went back into the park after dinner, and it was cloudy. The clouds cleared enough for some photos, though not as stunning as we might have hoped. 

Anyway, here are a few of those photos.

On our final day, leaving the hike near the mining equipment, we took a dirt road back to the paved road, and happened upon this beautiful scene. Yes, that's snow on the top of the mountain.

Yosemite: Fishing on the Merced

While Stace and I were tired and napping after our Vernal hike, Violet was ready to go fishing. We're so glad she pushed us to get up and going again, as we enjoyed a gorgeous evening together.

At one point, Stace had the hook caught in his own shoelace, and at another, Violet caught a tree branch. She was able to get the hook free, but alas, no fish were harmed that day.

We found ourselves near Half Dome at the Golden Hour, and many people had their fancy cameras out. 

We happened to hit Curry Village hungry for dinner at the same time as the rest of hundreds of others. It took a while to get our food ordered and delivered, but the bartender did compensate with a healthy pour.

Our burgers were very yummy, when they arrived.

Stace and Violet took the Canon and the tripod out before bedtime, and got these beautiful shots. The stars are incredible in the Sierras.
 

Meteors at Riley's Farm

 Violet enjoys nature, including star-gazing, and Stace and I love Riley's Farm in Oak Glen. We've now been twice as a family over the last few years, once for Colonial Christmas and once for the Sleepy Hollow dinner theater. 

So when I saw Riley's note that they would be opening up late on Saturday night for the Perseid Meteor Shower, I thought, maybe we should make the (long) drive out and spend the night!

Plus, Vi has had a rather boring summer, and getting her out of the house seemed like a good idea. 

She didn't agree, to be honest, but in the end I think she'd say she had an OK time. And Cora stayed behind.

We got in around 5, in time for delicious dinner of chicken pot pie and beef/mashed potato pie. We then walked a bit of the grounds, through apple orchards and berry vines, past the goats and pigs. 

Stace got himself caught up in the stocks...again.

Cidery cheers!

Apple pie for dessert!

Then, we settled onto our blanket and waited for darkness.

We borrowed one of my dad's good cameras and figured out how to do a long exposure, for decent nighttime photos.

What glorious skies, our God has created!

Violet said this was the Milky Way in view here.

We were able to see a handful of meteors, too, which was very special. I've seen a few shooting stars in my life, but never a half-dozen in one night! 

Someone was able to catch a meteor on film! Well, digitally. Whatever. Riley's posted it on their Instagram - so cool! (Check above the tree on the right.)

We then headed to our hotel for  the night, and enjoyed the rest of our mini getaway.