America's NATIONAL PARKS - How amazing nature can be!

As Ryan and I journeyed through the United States over a couple months on the way up to Canada, we discovered so many wonderful places! I wanted to share these briefly with you as you may find them just as inspiring as I did.
First was Yosemite and Sequoa National Park...where we got our first taste of springtime snow..

 Then we went to Joshua Tree National Park where it was a lot warmer! Here we had to stop for a very rare desert tortoise, crossing the road. He needed a little help getting up the sandy embankment on the other side, so we gave him a little helping nudge then drove on thinking how lucky we were to have seen this little critter in the middle of the baron desert.

Then onto Old Paria and Grand Staircase National Monument. The layered colours of the earth here is what grabbed me. This is close by to the famed 'The Wave' which now features on many computer desktops!

Whilst cruising through Utah, I couldn't help myself and did something I've wanted to do for a long time - Go Skydiving over beautifully coloured sandy earth. Here's me waiting for my plane!

After this thrill of a lifetime...we headed on towards the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks.

We picked up some great mugs whilst we were in Zion. Making a deliberate point to only buy mugs made from potters.

Another place we wanted to see was Mesa Verde National Park, where we went on a couple of tours through cave dwellings to get an inside perspective.

Of course we had to visit Mt. Rushmore to learn a little more of the history of America and see these great sculptures carved out of the side of a mountain...however, they forgot to note Ryan as the 5th President..

We visited a couple of underground caves such as Jewell Cave and Wind Cave, and they had the most beautiful crystals inside. Unfortunately it's never easy to get a good photo in the dark! My favourite National Park in America though, is the very first to be declared so - Yellowstone National Park. The colours of the earth and rings of colour in the geothermal pools were very influential for me and I hope to return there again some day! You'll see why with these images.

The last National Park we visited in America was Glacier National Park, where we then crossed over to Alberta, Canada. More on that later...

Salvation Mountain - California

During our travels through America, we came across some very interesting sights...
This grand tribute to God, has been evolving for decades by Leonard Knight and is located just a short way from Palm Springs in the desert of California.

Its 50 foot height and 150 foot breadth is made totally of local adobe clay and donated paint. Leonard, who is usually on site (even on the hottest days!) working on the project, is more than happy to give you a tour throughout the inside of the structure. To explore the outside, there is a yellow brick road to follow up and over the top. We felt as much on an adventure, as Dorothy did!

 It truly was a remarkable place, and you can't help but respect and appreciate this man's commitment of faith. Relying on donations and goodwill to feed himself and his helpers, and provide supplies for his life's work, Leonard is a testament to what you can achieve in one lifetime!