Obligatory Year In Review: Places I Visited

I was fortunate enough to visit many beautiful places in 2008. As an example, April and I would frequently head over to Red Rock Canyon for a little sightseeing and that is always a treat.

My job as a tour guide for Big Horn Tours allowed me to get a more intimate view of the west rim of the Grand Canyon, though I never once had a camera with me. I also spent a lot of time in Boulder City to see the Hoover Dam, as well as many a Big Horn Mountain Sheep!

This post will deal with some of the special trips taken by April and me, starting with my birthday trip to what stands (for now) as the most beautiful place I have ever seen, Bryce Canyon. Without a doubt, this place is amazing. The whole area is breathtaking. We started out with a visit to nearby Kodachrome Basin and were blown away with the beauty of the place. Little did we know (well, I did since I did a report on Bryce Canyon in the 5th grade) that there was even more to be found.


Words cannot describe everything we saw, and we only saw a tiny portion of the place. A return trip is in the works for 2009!

After Bryce we made a brief stop to Red Canyon where the beauty seemed to never end. We even found a rock formation that resembled Homer Simpson. Not bad!

All of it - Kodachrome, Red Canyon, Bryce, was reasonably priced (free in some cases) and worth ANY penny spent on the experience. My hard drive is near capacity with all the precious photos.


Later in the year, sort of as an anniversary trip, April and I spent a couple of days in Palm Springs, Ca. We absolutely loved the 50's & 60's feel of Palm Springs, Palm Desert, and the whole area. Everything from the windmill farms leading up to our destination to the gorgeous landscape at Palm Desert Canyon exceeded all expectations.


We stayed at a very swanky resort nearby that featured 8 pools, all of which were fed by the natural hot springs underneath the Earth. Open 24 hours and never any cooler than 85-103 degrees, the relaxing soaks in every damn one of those pools made for a most relaxing trip.

As it happened there is an art festival that goes on every Thursday in Palm Springs and that made for an even better time. MMMmmm...Serendipitous festival!

The last place I'll tell you about was a more local destination, the Valley of Fire.

GODDAMN that's some mighty fine lookin' nature there. Amazing colors, unreal rock formations, giant canyons, and MANY a petroglyph to astound and amaze. This is only about an hour away from us and we can't wait to go back.

All told, we had a lot of fun enjoying the world around us in 2008. Sure, we got to go to other places together, but I doubt you are all that interested in hearing about my attempt to be Best Man at a friend's wedding in Batesville, Indiana.

In all, 2008 was a great year for seeing beautiful things in Andy Land.

Coming Up: People I Met in 2008