Joshua Tree National Park

Almost alien, definitely beautiful in a surreal way, these wind mills comprise the landscape for miles.
I love the rock formations and of course, seeing these giant "boulders" rising from the earth made my hands twitch and my forearms feel pumped with the image of climbing them.
This is a Joshua Tree for which the park park is named.
Alas, we didn't get any climbing in, although there were climbers everywhere. We did however, set up camp at "Ryan Campground" and hike around in the desert. The pics below are from an old ranch just beyond Ryan's Campground.

As we got a fire started and threw some dinner on the grill we watched the sun set over the mountains.

We only stayed one night, but it was an amazing experience to stay in the desert. Coyotes' howls closed in around the camp site. They ran around us, but stayed in the shadows. When I looked into the shadows with my headlamp, I could catch the reflection of their eyes or even make out the outline of their form as they circled. Yeah, I was a little nervous, but I think they were more scared of us.

Westward Bound-California

First we headed to the east coast and hung out in Vermont for a wonderful (albeit too short) of a time.

Then we continued West to California. Shortly after we arrived, my sister and her boyfriend joined us from VT. In our time there, we hung out with family and friends and then golfed and hiked.
The picture above is from Tahquitz Canyon where we spent the day hiking.

I'll admit I'm not much of a golfer, but the golf courses were beautifully kept and we enjoyed our time on the course irregardless. The two shots above are from Silver Rock Golf Course.

Kenrokuen Garden in the Winter

Winters throughout this region of Japan are known for being COLD and WET. Thus, it's common to see trees and bushes supported by ropes so the snow doesn't cause too much damage.
In the middle of winter, the garden stays open late at night while musicians play and people enjoy the beauty of the winter.