Ivanpah Solar Power Plant

While traveling for work this week, I spent the first couple of day in Vegas, and then headed to California for a couple of days.  On the border between Nevada and California sits the Ivanpah Solar Power Plant.  This is a concentrated solar thermal plant that uses reflected light to turn water to steam which drives turbines to generate electricity.  We decided to take a few minutes to hop off the freeway and grab a few shots.  It's hard to describe the enormity of the place.  Between the three towers, there are more than 350,000 mirrors.  No, I didn't count them, I asked my good friend Google. 

A Saturday Road Trip

The other week, we loaded up the family and took a drive out to Vernal, UT and Dinosaur National Monument.  Though I've lived in Utah for most of the last 30 years, this is the first time I'd been to this area.  It was well worth the drive.  Not only is the area amazingly beautiful, the dinosaur stuff is pretty fascinating.  If you ever have the chance, you should check the area out.

This is an image I grabbed in the main quarry exhibit.  It's pretty fascinating to see so many bones in one spot.

These three followed us around long enough that we brought them home.  I think we'll keep them.

I love this panorama of the Green River and Split Mountain.  Such a beautiful spot!

 

At one stop, we found a small pond that was inhabited with a pretty good collection of frogs.

We even saw this guy wandering around the pond.

On the way home, rather than heading back the same way we came, we headed north and traveled through the Flaming Gorge area.  This is the view of the gorge from the Dowd Mountain overlook, one of my favorite places.

A Few More From The Flower Garden

Lots going on in the flower garden these days.  This set of images was shot using the 100-400mm lens.  While it isn't a macro lens, it does a pretty decent job of getting in close.