We had a great time exploring Antelope Canyon and a little of Lake Powell.  Kevin and I had never been to Antelope Canyon before and we definitely plan on returning for some serious landscape photography!

Heading out to the slot canyon.

The Grand Canyon ... that was our final trip on the "Tina & Phuong take on Arizona" expedition.  We had gone to the Canyon when Phuong first arrived, but that was the Trash-the-Dress shoot, so we decided to end our trip here - a place that Phuong was so excited to see.  We brought Yoshi along as well since Phuong developed such a close relationship with him during her stay.  We stopped by Snowbowl on the way to take a photo illustrating the change in season from the photo taken on the first day, seemed befitting.  It was a fun trip, but at the sam time a bittersweet one.  After ten years of not seeing my high school friend, I had grown accustomed to her presence again ... hopefully it won't be another ten years before we meet again and take on another destination :-)!  Love ya Phuong!!

Back to where our trip began ... on top of Snowbowl.  Amazing how different it looked after almost 5 weeks.

A couple of weeks ago we headed out to the Sierra Nevada range of California where we had a destination wedding to photograph.  Kevin used to live in these mountains and has a real passion for them ... especially Yosemite National Park, so this was a real treat for him to go back home, if even for a very short time.

I personally have never been to this part of the world so I was like a kid in a candy store!  Every turn revealed something new and wonderful.  We started our trip near Sequoia National Park where the wedding was to be held.  We spent the first day scouting the area and grabbing some nice nature shots along the way.  The day after the wedding we headed north to Yosemite National Park.  We were on a tight timeline as this was already Thursday and we had to be in the White Mountains of Arizona for another wedding by Saturday.  Hence, we weren't there during the best time of the day, but it was specatcular none-the-less!!  As we passed through, we stopped frequently to take travel shots (I used to do a lot of trvel photography and really enjoy it), landscape shots (duh...), and of course those must have, silly tourist shots.  We stopped for lunch at the famed Ahwahnee Hotel and then headed on through the park over the Tioga Pass to the eastern side of the Sierras. A big highlight along the way was sighting a black bear in a field feeding ... a really awesome sight!!!

We made our way to Mono Lake, a world-famous lake amongst landscape photographers, for sunset.  I have always wanted to take landscapes of Mono Lake and was quite happy with what we got given the tight time frame.  We had dinner in Mammoth Lakes (Kevin lived there and it is one of his favorite places) and stayed in Bishop.  Before heading home the next day we stopped in at Mountian Light Gallery which was founded by the late Galen Rowell.  He was an amazingly talented photographer.  I once attended one of his seminars when I was in college in Florida and he was nothing short of inspirational.  It was a treat to walk though his gallery!

An impressive view of Yosemite Valley.

Kevin and I love animals and we have a real soft spot for anything that has had the misfortune so early in life to be orphaned.  On Tuesday evening we came across a poor baby striped skunk that had obviously lost its family.  With little coordination and no sight, it had wandered into the middle of the road.  We are so glad we came across this little guy because had we not, it's outcome looked to be very bleak.

We brought it home, did some research on the internet, went to the pet store, bought some formula and made a home for him, complete with a heating pad to stay warm and stuffed animals to keep him company when we aren't holding him.  Based on our research, we estimate his age to be about 2 weeks ... he is soooo tiny.  We are already attached and are praying for a good outcome.  We will keep you posted on his status :-).

His first night ... he was very tired :-).

The day before we left Florida, I took Kevin to one of my favorite places ... the St. Augustine Alligator Farm.  Not only does it have one of the most impressive displays of alligator and crocodile species in the world, it also has one of the best natural bird rookeries (a communal nesting site) in all of Florida.  Afterwards, we headed back down the coast stopping one last time along the way to enjoy the sounds of the ocean ... I really do miss Florida!!

We decided to play tourists and pose with a young gator ... really, I just wanted to hold one - it was so cool :-).