Death Valley

We went to Death Valley in March.  We stayed in Furnace Creek Campsite.  On the second day, a dust storm picked up and didn't let up until the night before we left. We lost a roll of paper towels and a coffee pot broke.  I thought the wind would pick up our tents and carry us away!  We had a great time, though, seeing the interesting land formations.

 Sand dunes:

 Getting farther and farther away:

 See that little dot? TOO far away! Come back!

 Mosaic Canyon

 Natural Bridge:

 Dust Storm! Hurry to camp!

 Badwater Basin salt flat:

 The sign says "Sea Level" so we were BELOW sea level!

 No snow, salt!

 Really, salt!

 Painted by the Artist

 Windy:

 Storm on the way home!

 Driving home in a snow storm!

Sweet Peas

We went to a friend's house a few weeks ago and she had a lovely patch of Sweet Peas.  She let my daughter clip some and bring them home.  They smelled so good and looked so pretty on our table.  My great-grandma had a huge patch of Sweet Peas behind her garage while I was growing up.  I remember the sweet smell, I loved it!  But why didn't she ever clip any to put in her house?  Why didn't I clip any and take them home?   I will never know.  I do know that next fall I am going to plant my own Sweet Peas and clip them in the spring and put them in a vase on my table.  These pics were taken after a few days, so they weren't their freshest, but still so pretty and fragrant.

Swarm of Bees!

We had a swarm of bees come visit us last week!  This is the third year in a row that we have seen a swarm of bees in our yard.  The first time, it was during a birthday party in our backyard.  You should have seen those kids run!!  This time, they were out front, and this time, they gathered on our tree branch!  We watched from the safety of our front room, looking through the window.  In just a few minutes, most of  the bees were piled on top of one another.  We had a little science lesson and learned that the bees were moving to a new hive due to overcrowding of their previous hive.  I didn't know if they would make their new hive somewhere in our house or tree, but was hoping the stay was temporary.  It was.  They left in just a couple of hours, almost unnoticed.  Whew!  It was exciting, though.