The melted water travels across the desert, picking up dust and gravel and reaches the Flagstaff lava field and then falls. Ultimately it ends up in the Colorado River and Grand Canyon. It was beautiful to see so much flowing water and rainbows in the water too.

It was another spontaneous trip to Joshua Tree, We decided in less than 12 hours that we would drive out on a hot August afternoon and watch the sunset. The magnificent mountains were the backdrop for the mysterious and magical Joshua Trees

We received a lot of advice about getting to Yosemite early, parking in one of the main lots and then taking the Shuttle, which takes you to just about every popular place, or you can hike from those popular places to where you want to be. This was our plan until my 14-year-old daughter sprained her ankle literally two days before our trip and ended up on crutches.  Our plans for hiking now had to be adjusted to Plan B: driving and parking as close to the sights as possible.

Any reason to travel and I am all on board. I have my life list, which shows my must-see locations and must-do activities, but actually, I am happy to travel anywhere to explore. I even believe strongly in exploring locally. No matter where you are, make sure to see something new. It is easy to capture something extraordinary, but the key to true joy is finding something extraordinary in all the things that seem ordinary.

Mountains are better than people, I prefer talking to trees and nature eases my peace of mind. We are in a weird time right now where in order to come together, we have to stay apart. The #GetOutside hashtag is now replaced by the plea to #StayAtHome.

JD is settling in and she is discovering a love of hiking in Arizona. She is trading corn stalks for cactus and getting out to explore the new setting. Expanding her comfort zone, JD started hiking through the Sonoran trails. She was excited to share her newfound love of hiking through Arizona.