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Mark

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Newport Beach, California

We enjoyed an early dinner at the Crab Cooker on the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach today. I highly recommend that you stop in here if you are visiting Newport Beach. Great food in an easy atmosphere. Service is on wax paper and paper plates. Tonight's meal... clam chowder, lobster, potatoes, tomatoes, rice, butter, bread and beer. Good thing that I have been running or bicycling everyday this week.

Photographs are posted in the Newport Beach gallery here. (Nikon D700 - 50mm f1.4)

Mark

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San Clemente, California

We headed to one of our favorite breakfast stops this morning, the Coyote Grill in Laguna Beach. I love their Chilaquilas.

After breakfast we drove down Pacific Coast Highway to San Clemente. We enjoy walking around Avenida Del Mar. The city hosted a street fair/market today with several local artists and local farmers selling their goods. A friend of mine and talented wedding photographer, Tara Seiling, had a display of her wonderful photographs.

We headed down the hill to the San Clemente pier at T-Street beach and visited the Park Semper Fi Marine Monument honoring the United States Marines.

Photographs are posted in the San Clemente gallery here. (Nikon D700 - 24mm f2.8)

Mark

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Corona del Mar, California

We headed to Corona del Mar for breakfast and a long walk this morning. It was a nice day to be by the cool water.

Photographs are posted in the Corona del Mar gallery here. (Nikon D700 - 24mm f2.8)

Mark

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Zion, Utah

We enjoyed our beautiful suite at the lodge a little too late last night and got a late start to our day in Zion National Park. Our first stop was at the Riverside Walk. This was an easy and beautiful hike along the Virgin River. This is also the launching point for the more challenging Narrows hike that actually goes up the river. The canyon walls are so steep that the river is the trail.

Our next stop was at Big Bend to see the valley views from a different angle before heading to the Emerald Pools hike. This was a nice place to cool off under the never ending waterfalls. Part of this trail is paved and a woman overturned her motorized wheelchair and fell down a good portion of the hillside. Her husband and three of us ran down the hill to lift her back up. This was not easy because the ground was steep and loose. We moved her a couple of feet at a time until we got her back on the trail. It looked like she was going to be fine. I was a bit beat up and worn out from that experience, so we took a break at the Zion Lodge before finally hiking out of the park on the Pa'rus Trail. We did get off the main trail to follow the river and stopped to put our feet in the cold fresh flowing water. We hiked about 6 miles today.

We had a nice final dinner in Zion at Oscars, before returning to the lodge to enjoy a beer and the sunset from our balcony.

Photographs are posted in the Zion gallery here. (Nikon D90 - 16-85mm f3.5-5.6 VR)

Mark

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Zion, Utah

We drove from Bryce Canyon through Red Canyon to Zion National Park. Our route allowed us to see the rest of scenic byway 12 before heading down highway 89 to UT 9. This is not the recommended route by all of the mapping websites, but it was the shortest and most scenic. UT 9 includes a very long tunnel that seemed to go on forever.

We had lunch in Springdale before checking into the Cable Mountain Lodge. Our suite is huge and faces Zion. The lodge location is perfect. It is the first property outside the park entrance. We are able to walk from our room into the park in seconds. This also means the view from our balcony is fantastic.

After checking into the lodge, we headed to the park. Our first stop was the Weeping Rock trail. The trail ends at the Weeping Rock. This is a rock overhang that weeps water everyday. The park ranger told us that the water takes over 1,000 years to travel through the rock before it comes out at the Weeping Rock. We also took a short hike on the Hidden Canyon trail. Our next stop was at the Zion Lodge. It looks like a beautiful place to stay while visiting Zion. Our final stop included a short hike to a viewing point for the Court of the Patriarchs.

We returned to our lodge for a swim in the pool with views of the park. We picked up pasta, pizza and wine to enjoy a sunset dinner from our balcony. I also attempted to capture a few night photographs. The stars are bright.

Photographs are posted in the Zion gallery here. (Nikon D90 - 16-85mm f3.5-5.6 VR)

Mark

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Bryce Canyon, Utah

We got an early start on our visit to Bryce Canyon National Park today. In exchange for our early morning we were among the first on Navajo Loop and Queens Garden trails. Our hike started with a steep descent into the canyon through a slot canyon. The trail continued along the bottom of the canyon before climbing through a maze of colorful hoodoos. This hike totaled about three miles, but the hills and altitude made it seem longer. Tired from our hike, we decided to drive to the end of the park to Rainbow Point at 9,115 feet. On the return trip we stopped at every view point until we reached a beautiful picnic area for our lunch. After lunch we hiked around a few more points around the rim of the canyon. We also checked out the Bryce Canyon Lodge. The lodge is in a beautiful setting, but it was fully booked when we planned our trip. Our final stop in Bryce Canyon was at the Mossy Cave trail. The highlight of that hike was a waterfall that we stopped at to put our feet in the cold water. We hiked approximately 6 miles today.

Photographs are posted in the Bryce Canyon gallery here. (Nikon D90 - 16-85mm f3.5-5.6 VR)

Mark

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Capitol Reef, Dixie Forest, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Byway 12, Utah

We started our day with a visit to Capitol Reef National Park. The park is filled with colorful cliffs and canyons.

We headed south on scenic byway 12 through the Dixie National Forest and stopped for a picnic near the road's summit at 9,800 feet on Boulder Mountain. The views from the mountain provided a great backdrop for our picnic. The forest included a beautiful mix of birch and pine trees.

We continued heading south on 12 to Grand Staircase-Escalante and through a narrow pass with dramatic drop-offs within a few feet on both sides of the road. Needing a break from the winding road, we stopped for a hike at Calf Creek. The trail follows Calf Creek through a red stone canyon.

12 eventually turned west and delivered us to Ruby's Inn at Bryce Canyon National Park. The hotel is in a great location at the park's entrance. They really play up the cowboy theme. It feels a little like Knott's Berry Farm.

Photographs are posted in the Capitol Reef, Dixie Forest and Grand Staircase-Escalante galleries here. (Nikon D90 - 16-85mm f3.5-5.6 VR)

Mark

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Arches National Park, Dead Horse Point & Moab, Utah

We got an early start to our day with a drive through Arches National Park to be among the first to arrive at the Devils Garden Trailhead. The hike started off on a well groomed trail for almost a mile to Landscape Arch. Then things changed and at points we did not know if we were hiking or rock climbing. We were using our hands as much as our feet in several sections. We also ended up crossing a fin (a tall rock that is only a few feet wide) with a massive (looked like Grand Canyon sized) drop-off on one side and at least a 50 foot drop off on the other side. This was enough to give anyone vertigo. The photographs will give you a taste of our experience. Our total hike/rock climb exceeded 5 miles and we were rewarded with amazing views of different arches an unique vistas. We slowly drove back out of the park and stopped for several short hikes at the major sites.

Our next stop was Dead Horse Point State Park. This is a Grand Canyon like park towering 2,000 above the Colorado River. The dizzying views are incredible.

We returned to Moab exhausted from our day of hiking and climbing. Pizza, pasta and wine... a perfect ending to the day.

Photographs are posted in the Arches, Dead Horse Point and Moab galleries here. (Nikon D90 - 16-85mm f3.5-5.6)

Mark

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Monument Valley to Moab, Utah

We woke early this morning to sit on our balcony at The View Hotel to witness sunrise at Monument Valley. It was peaceful and beautiful. We went for a morning hike along the rim of the valley before leaving the valley for Moab.

The drive took us through a variety of unusual terrain that had us keeping one eye on the road and the other on the scenery. Once in Moab we had a great early dinner at Fiesta Mexicana. The margaritas were large and strong. We will be up early to visit Arches in the morning.

Photographs are posted in the Monument Valley and Moab galleries here. (Nikon D90 - 16-85mm f3.5-5.6 VR & 35mm f2.0)

Mark

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Monument Valley, Utah

We drove to Monument Valley early this morning and arrived early enough to drive into the valley. It is beautiful, but the drive is better suited for a 4 wheel drive vehicle. We are staying at The View Hotel. This is the only hotel on the grounds and it is situated on the edge of the valley. The views from our balcony are amazing. The landscape here is filled with fantastic rock formations (monuments). I could not stop photographing the valley. I am hoping that some of the photographs do justice to the beauty here.

Photographs are posted in the Monument Valley gallery here. (Nikon D90 - 16-85mm f3.5-5.6 VR & 35mm f2.0)

Mark

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Sedona, Arizona

This was a great day in Sedona. We started with a 5.4 mile hike along Oak Creek on the West Fork trail. This is a perfect trail for a summer hike. The trail is sheltered from the sun by forest and massive stone walls. We also took advantage of the fresh flowing water to get our feet wet.

After the hike, we rented a Jeep from Barlow Jeep Rentals. The staff helped us identify the best locations for our interests. It was a blast. Our first destination in the Jeep was Schnebly Hill Road. The road included an 1,800 foot climb in 5 miles. We had great views of the hills and valley. Our next destination in the Jeep was Soldier Pass. The trails here were challenging. We had to drive over a pile of rocks to enter. The windshield was pointing skyward and we hoped we were coming back down on the trail. This was our warning of the challenges ahead. We had to drive very slowly in some sections and it often felt like one or more of the wheels was off the ground. Our Jeep experience was a lot of fun.

We needed a break and headed back to our hotel for a dip in the pool before an evening in the old town and dinner at the Open Range.

This was a great day in Sedona. We are exhausted.

Photographs are posted in the Sedona gallery here. (Nikon D90 - 16-85mm f3.5-5.6 VR & 35mm f2.0)

Mark

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Montezuma Castle and Sedona, Arizona

The first day of our holiday was primarily filled with highway miles. However, the end of the day was filled with beauty. Our first stop was at Montezuma Castle National Monument. This is an ancient cliff dwelling that has survived the centuries.

From the monument, we started the drive into Sedona. We stopped at most of the scenic view points because the views were amazing.  I took a few photographs at each stop. We also stopped at Chapel of the Holy Cross. This is a beautiful chapel built into the red rock and overlooking a valley.

After checking into our hotel we headed out to Tlaquepaque for dinner at the Oak Creek Brewery & Grill.

Photographs are posted in the Montezuma Castle and Sedona galleries here. (Nikon D90 - 16-85mm f3.5-5.6 VR & 35mm f2.0)

Mark

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Aliso & Wood Canyons Park, California

We went for a 3.6 mile hike in Aliso & Wood Canyons Park today. I feel like we are ready for all of the hiking we will be doing on our Arizona / Utah holiday.

Photographs are posted in the Aliso & Wood Canyons gallery here. (Nikon D90 - 16-85mm f3.5-5.6 VR)

Mark

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Dana Point, California

We had a nice morning with breakfast at the Harbor House Cafe in Dana Point before walking around the harbor and the bottom of the bluffs.

Photographs are posted in the Dana Point gallery here. (Nikon D700 - 50mm f1.4)

Mark

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