susan, at the hot springs

On our recent travels, Susan and I visited hot springs both at Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge and the Alvord Desert. The springs at Hart were pretty crappy  — they looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in, like, ever — but the Alvord Hot Springs (good info here, on SoakOregon) were quite delightful. So wonderful, in fact, that we went a couple of times.((If you look at recent comments on the Web about the Alvord Hot Springs, you’ll see plenty of people complaining about the fact that the new owners of the springs charge $8 for a soak (24 hours of access to the pools, actually, or free with camping on their site). I never visited the old springs, but there were lots of old complaints about them being dirty and disgusting. Today, these springs are hot, clean and peaceful. It was worth the $8, in my opinion.))

I love this shot of Susan, looking out on the desert landscape, with my iPhone, once again. I have a bunch of good ones that I shot inside the springs, but this is my favorite.

The photo reminds me that part of our purpose when we set out on our travels this year was to find a few special places and new experiences. It’s been a great year, and I’m glad to have this memory (and the photo) as part of it.

An edited version this photo appeared in my Instagram feed a bit ago…

(As always, click the photo to see it larger.)

sunrise, alvord desert

alvord-sunrise-2

Six posts here in all of 2014. Maybe a bit shameful, but I was clearly preoccupied with many things, including the wholesale building of a new life.

I’ll have more to say this year for sure, but to kick off 2015, here is a shot from October’s “Great Alford Desert Adventure,” which was one of my favorite trips of last year. (Which, given last year’s travels, is saying something.)

It was 30° when I took this shot, but I really didn’t notice.

More later. I promise.

[where is this?]