In April 2022, we drove to Monument Valley and entered the park and drove the 15 miles interior loop. This is one of the views with the tiny 3 pointed monument in the far distance. The sun was high but cast some nice shadows on the few sparse plants.

In April we camped just outside of the Monument Valley entrance at a remote campsite offered with a place called Rent-a-tent. The views in the evening and the morning were stunning. This view is a late evening view with the sun low and setting in the west. This view is looking south some some parts of the mountains bright while others area in shade. The sky was changing from blue to light blue and brown as we walked down this road.

Just at the edge of Town is a nice big park with many miles of trails that backs up to the large mountains to the north of the Town. In late March we walked up into the park for a bit. The snow was still on the tips of the remote mountains.

In early April 2022, I did a road trip to the southwest and include spending a night in Mojave Preserve on BLM land on a mostly undeveloped campsite. We stayed near the Kelso Dune part of the reserve. The night we arrived the wind, dust and sand was really blowing. Luckily that night the week dropped down mostly.

Today visited and drove thru Monument Valley in AZ/UT. After we visited the park, we camped just outside at a place called Rent A Tent.

From there I did two paintings. One later in the evening as the sun was going down and a second painting in the morning.

It was very late when I started this painting about 5:30 PM and windy. The light was quickly fading over a steep hill next to me. So I never finished the painting. While I was painting, I kept feeling a nudge on my elbow and looked down and there was this nice golden who had wandered over looking for attention without making a sound.

On a Southwest road trip this spring, we camped above the Rio Grande River one night. We arrived to late to paint the river and mountain behind it that night, but the next morning I was able to paint mostly the winding river the dark mountains in the distance.

On the East side of Sonora Pass/108 is the Leavitt Meadow trail leading to Secret Lake and Roosevelt Lake and other Wilderness Area destinations.

This view is from that trail showing the summer bright green and yellow aspens and the distant hills and places where the volcanic rock connects with the gray of the granite.

The eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Range is so different from the Western side. This view near Hwy 395 and Hwy 108 shows the dry, sage in the foreground and the rapid, steep eastern slope of the Sierras behind it. The western side is filled with views of 70 miles of slowly changing conifers and trees before it reaches the same snow capped peaks.

In early September, I was in Bridgeport, California for a painting class. I got up early and went to photograph the morning light on the Bridgeport Valley and Mono Basin. This is a view on the Twin Lakes Road looking south westerly.