Pearls & Prose

I think it’s time to say goodbye to the blog. Thank you so much for all the comments and Likes. I do appreciate them all. I’ve been doing this blog since 2009 and I’m ready to pack it in. I’ll be keeping the domain name, because I don’t want this to go to a porn site. I’d like to give a special shoutout to my cousin Susan for being so supportive.

How about I show you some favorite photos?

I know I posted this a couple weeks ago, but please indulge me. The Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park.

The Raspberry Sundae Peony

Massive rock formation in Arches National Park

My favorite “Spin-the-Bottle” Hibiscus

Abandoned house in Koloa, Hawaii

African Iris

My favorite teacup

Red umbrellas in Kyoto

A window box on Nantucket Island

under Kastanjen in Stockholm

Stortorget in Stockholm

Glacier Bay, Alaska

African Tulip Tree

Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve

A tulip Magnolia blossom

Alone at the beach

Bleeding Hearts

Blue mountains in Norway

A bike in Amsterdam

Arches National Park

A house in Santa Fe, NM

A beautiful tree in New Mexico

Canyonlands National Park

Autumn maple leaves in Maryland

More Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve

Strawberries from the Farmers Market

Shops in Bergen, Norway

That time we were watching the sunset above the clouds and under the clouds from Mt. Haleakala

The beautiful La Jolla Cove

La Jolla Cove again….

The entrance to Canyonlands National Park at sunrise

And finally, a Cleome flower.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, everyone! Thanks again for all your support.

{carole}

Did you know that parts of Back to the Future were filmed in Castle Valley? (Photos courtesy of The Red Cliffs Lodge Museum)

Thelma and Louise was filmed there too. (Photos courtesy of the Red Cliffs Lodge Museum)

They even put a Chevrolet on top of Castle Rock (photos courtesy of The Red Cliffs Lodge Museum)

(Photos courtesy of the Red Cliffs Lodge Museum)

This is Castle Rock.

Another viewpoint.

The whole area was stunning.

I have never seen anything like this. Just so much beauty in one place.

I believe that’s the Sevier River.

Great weekend, everyone!

{carole}

According to legend, the park is so named because of its use as a natural corral by cowboys in the 19th century, where horses often died of exposure. It’s a very harsh climate, and plants grow slowly due to the extreme conditions and usually have small leaves with a waxy coating to reduce evaporation.

Also reminiscent of the Badlands in South Dakota.

Some caves? And yes, the sky was really that blue. We had gorgeous weather the whole time we were there.

Boulders and an incredible view.

We couldn’t get over the rock formations.

Everywhere we looked, stunning views.

Such unusual rock formations.

We took a little accidental detour to Manti-La Sal National Forest, which proved to be lovely.

I don’t know the name of this ridge, but it’s beautiful.

One rock formation after another.

And then we stumbled upon dinosaur tracks!

There were signs everywhere to avoid standing to close to the edge. I’m surprised I didn’t get vertigo. It one thousand feet down.

This view was literally heart-stopping.

It seemed to be legit. There is a typo, however: “childern.” Sorry, I used to be a proofreader.

Great weekend, everyone!

{carole}

We left just when the sun was rising and got really lucky. This is how the entrance to Canyonlands actually looked.

Another shot. I may have put this in another blog entry.

The Mesa Arch. I was so lucky to get the sun on this one. I think it may be my favorite photo.

Middle….

And right side.

This looks an awful lot like the Badlands in South Dakota.

Another shot of the “Badlands.”

So much beauty in this park.

There were a lot of trails, which made it nice.

Just incredible views.

Such unusual rock formations.

I call this one “pointed rock.”

We went to the Visitor Center where we saw this view.

The sun was much higher.

We couldn’t get over how beautiful this park was.

I really liked the yellow wildflowers.

Great weekend, everyone!

{carole}

We arrived at the Windows Section of Arches National Park way before sunset. Parking was kind of a problem but we managed to get a good spot.

You can see why it’s called the Windows Section.

These look like caves.

The people look so tiny.

That’s my friend Jenni in the red and black. It shows the scale somewhat.

Once the sun started setting, the rock formations positively glowed.

Such amazing rock formations.

The rock formations were gigantic.

We had an amazing sunset too.

Great weekend, everyone!

{carole}

More of the Park Avenue section of the park. That tree is growing out of nothing.

If you look closely you can see a guy in a green shirt. Gives you an idea of the scale. It was massive.

Yet another photo of the Park Avenue section.

There were so many types of rock formations.

To me, it looks like a small village.

I think this looks like a sphinx.

Even the rock formations near the visitor center were incredible.

So much beauty in this park.

Last photo. We decided to do the Windows section of the park around sunset and I’m so glad we did. I’ll save those photos for part III.

Great weekend, everyone!

{carole}

I snapped this photo on the way to Kinkaku-ji Temple near Kyoto. I like the morning fog.

This is actually a radio station under a tunnel. Shot in Tokyo.

I hope I haven’t posted this photo before. Hard to keep track!

Lovely pink flowers in Kyoto. I think those are primulas?

I really like the bikes in Kyoto.

I think this entrance to a shop in Kyoto is so beautiful.

I found this building to be amazing. If you look closely you’ll see a full-fledged garden.

Great weekend, everyone!

{carole}

Of course, we had to do the Tokyo Skytree.

I think this view shows the height better.

The views were incredible.

You could see for miles. That’s when it hit me that Tokyo has the biggest population in the world.

Afterwards, we visited an English pub called Penny Lane. I love the Beatles, but never expected to see this in Tokyo.

This was fake, but it was an awfully good fake. It looks exactly like a Kwanzan Cherry tree.

Great weekend, everyone!

{carole}

I am still kicking myself for not taking a photo of the incredible dessert we had in Kyoto.

But my son said there was a place called Somi Somi where you could get the same thing.

But it was a pale imitation compared to the one in Kyoto. It was huge in Kyoto and the ice cream was much bigger. The fish-shaped thing was really delicious too. Sweet and soft.

We got these incredible crèpe things in the Harajuku District of Tokyo. My son got the one with whipped cream, Oreos and chocolate ice cream. Mine is on the right. I got a strawberry shortcake crèpe. Not sure why my hand looks so dark. Needless to say, we skipped dinner that night.

Great weekend, everyone!

{carole}