The skies near Zion National Park during tonight’s dramatic sunset. Music- Silver Lining by First Aid Kit. Believe it or not, these two women are from Sweden! You’d think they were from Nashville. You can purchase their latest album “Stay Gold” at iTunes Watch at HiDef at Full Screen The companion post of still photos to follow.
Category: Uncategorized
On The Road To Delicate Arch
Took a quick trip over to Arches National Park with my main purpose to shoot Delicate Arch at night, under the stars. But along the way, I had to drive through that amazing Southern Utah landscape again including Capital Reef National Park.
I’m Heading To Yellowstone For Christmas This Week?
I will be passing through Grand Teton National Park and visiting friends working in Yellowstone this coming week. The weather report calls for SNOW Friday night at Yellowstone Lake where I will be camping! The employees celebrate Christmas every August 25th at Yellowstone. Legend has it that a group of people years ago were stranded in a blizzard at Yellowstone on August 25th. I hope history don’t repeat……..
Aria Sign
My Favorite Bird … to photograph
Bad Reviews That Are Comical
I travel a good bit and don’t usually stay at The Ritz but there’s a hotel plus a restaurant in the area I live that get some of the worst reviews I have ever read about. They are so bad but so funny. I once went to this restaurant and paid $30 for a Philly cheese steak. The fries are extra and the $4.50 Coke allows no refills. Here are some samples of comments on Yelp of the restaurant and hotel.
The Restaurant-
“Third mistake was walking in, finding no one, asking if they were open and finding a drunk passed out man lying under a table who yelled “Yes”. Did he get up, no. Was he most likely the owner based on previous Yelp reviews, yes. Did he look like a drunken fool who should be ashamed of himself, yes.”
“Our table was greasy and the menus even greasier. We were surrounded on 3 sides by uncleared nasty tables. I almost blew my gasket when I opened the menu and saw the prices… $17.99 for fish and chips? $16.99 for a cheeseburger, tacos for $34.00?!!?! WTF!! We are in the boondocks Utah!
The greasy kid brought us water in giant very thick plastic cups (NO STRAWS) = GROSS. i ordered the cheapest thing on the menu – cheese enchiladas for $9.99. I turned around, and was absolutely HORRIFIED when I saw the greasy son go back and turn on the grill… Then the father came over and asked if we wanted beans with our enchiladas… And then yelled “give em a scoop of beans”.
Meanwhile, flies start congregating and landing on me, so sick! We noticed the owner walking around with a yellow fly swatter… As if the son cooking our meal and eating next to dirty dishes wasn’t unappetizing enough, the father/owner started swatting flies against the window 5ft from us (rather than clearing the dirty dishes that were attracting them).”
“Freaky. Weird. Unfriendly.
The minute we walked in the host guy told my two sons, ages 6 and 7, not to touch anything. He then told me the last time a child touched the neon sign he broke it and it cut him and the dad had to pay $169. I asked him if the dad sued him and he looked like he was pissed or just didn’t understand. Then he led us back to the back room and told the boys not to touch the bottles of wine on the table in the center of the room. Then we opened the menu which had about 200 items on it and it was over priced. I looked up and noticed we were the only ones there and there was a dirty table right next to us and the host and some lady were stuffing their face and watching TV. I thought I was in a Rob Zombie flick so we left.”
“The Ambiance: Seating consisted of “By the TV or not by the TV?” There was only 1 TV in the place. Plastic cups without straws, not classy.
The Price: $15 for a bacon cheeseburger, $6 for a side of fries.”
The Motel-
“The owner is a bully and has no customer service skills at all. First of all, it took a half hour to book, repeating the spelling of the name. Then took another 15 min to confirm the reservation at the day of since we would be arriving late, repeating the spelling and intent of the call over and over.
Our shower was barely dripping water so we went to the office after dinner to let him know. He came strutting to our shower, turned it on and said “it’s working”.
“Owner rude to the extreme. He almost made me cry.
There is no air conditioning only a air conditioning unit that is really just a fan programed not to go below 90 degrees.
After I went to office to complain about the “AC” and the owner screamed and yelled at me and my 1 year old who I was carrying in my arms. He called me a liar and was very intimidating.”
“Very weird place. Very, very, very rude and unfriendly owner/manager. Gruff and rude. Room was very marginal. Promised Wi-Fi, but it didn’t reach my far-away room #22. I came back and he said, “Too Bad”. Not a nice place. The unfriendliness of the staff was almost third-world, totally out of step with the beauty and spirituality of the surroundings. Avoid.”
“That was worst hotel that I ever stay. Dirty, TV did not worked; the rooms are disgusting carpet, only primer on one of the wall. Overall this hotel is a disaster. Do not stay here even if it is the only hotel in town. Owner very rude, replay to my statement that rooms on web site looks better than in reality, his response was “everything looks better on pictures even you”
If you have any bad experience, please leave a comment.
Don’t Try This Photography Technique
Colorful Coalmine Canyon
The setting sun lights Coalmine Canyon afire in Northern Arizona. Click on photo to purchase a print.
Storm Through White Pocket Time Lapse
A dark storm passes over the unusual landscape at White Pocket in Northern Arizon
Photo of the Week- Bighorns on the Edge
I can’t believe a herd of any mammal would be afraid of me. As I was hiking around the backcountry of Zion National Park in Utah, I was confronted by a bunch of ewes. I was so threatening to them, they decided to hightail it to the edge of a small cliff, huddle closely together, which is their defensive posture. Of course, I get this a lot from females.
