Spent 5 nights in Death Valley - high winds (50-60mph gusts) chased me out a day early and into a motel in Vegas for the night. There will be high winds in Zion tomorrow too, so I didn't get away from them but a showe did feel nice and Internet access is a good thing too.

My youngest son came down for a couple of days visit and we had a great time exploring and shooting. Here's a few of the ones I got - definitely a photographers location; can't imagine why anyone else would want to go there. ;-)

Spent a couple of nights at Valley of Fire SP in Nevada, very nice but not exactly and undiscovered gem due to its proximity to Vegas - complete wit weddings. :) At any rate, I'll go back again - well worth the side trip.

Day one of the trip was uneventful and I hit rain just as I stopped in Ft. Smith. Overnight the front hit bringing snow, and it took me 10 hours to get across Oklahoma. .

Finally got to Tucumcari for the night and then on across NM and into AZ. Did a quick drive by of the Painted Desert and then to Williams, AZ for the night. Going to head up to Valley of Fire SP in NV tomorrow.

All packed up and ready to head out. Looks like I will drive through some rain again this time, but not the 3 days worth on my last trip west so hopefully things in the trailer will stay dry (also add a new seal to the tailgate which should help). Will be posting some new pictures soon I expect. ;-) Got a new Nexus One phone to play with too. :)

Lift is on and the FJ drives just fine. I had a drop bar in the garage that was just right for the new hitch height and it also gets the Lock N' Roll receiver out of the way of the spare so I can leave it on all the time and still open the back door. The heavy duty rear springs are nice, too, since now the FJ's nose won't be pointing up so it looks like I have my brights on all the time.

Still cold and snowing in a lot of southern Utah, and I'm still hoping it warms up and dries out before I get there. :)

The OME lift goes on tomorrow, hopefully I can still get in and out. ;-) Then I can see what kind of drop bar I'll need on the hitch receiver to tow the trailer level. I also need to flush and fill the trailer water tank and fill the gas cans; wish gas prices would start back down instead of up

Noticed a flaw in the bubble of my RRS PCL-1 panning clamp and had to send it back for repair. They got it today and will get it fixed and shipped back by tomorrow, so even if it is shipped ground (which I expect it is) it still should be here in plenty of time before I leave.

Checked the DesertUSA wildflower forecast for DEVA and things look great for when I'll be there. Still cold with snow at a lot of the places I'm going in southern Utah, but hopefully it will warm up and dry out some before I get there. I'd hate for all the back country roads to be closed due to mud, and I'd like the overnight lows to at least be above freezing for camping. I have good sleeping bags and thermal underwear, though, so I should be OK.