Nature's Inspiration {Me}

Sharing the inspiring views that I found in nature last week, which keep my creative brain running!

Thanks to my son who ran the Red Rock Marathon, I had a reason to be up at 4:30 am to enjoy a full and beautiful day here!

He did an incredible job, by the way, coming in 2nd in his age range and 7th overall for a full marathon!  He ran it in 3 hrs. 24 mins. 11 seconds and doesn't even look tired here, as he came across the finish line!  Amazing!

So grab a comfy seat and put your feet up {like I did here with a view of the marathon finish line}!  Did I mention that I really enjoyed not running in this one and only taking pictures and cheering?!

Funny that my chair is right next to this sign!  Oh well I get sidetracked easily...on with the day!

I got to enjoy the candy colored sky...

and the sun, as it came peeking up over the horizon!  Amazing every time I see it!

A view of one of the amazing mountain ranges found here and the starting line for the half marathon people {the full marathon people started in the dark, right before sunrise}!

Funny story to this picture!  See the blurred shoe in the bottom of the left corner?  That is my son in the middle of the marathon!  I never claimed to be a great photographer!  Spectators were able to ride on buses around the scenic loop while the marathon runners were in the race!

This is one of the only trees {as strange as it looks} found on the scenic ride through all of this desert land.

This is the cactus {Joshua} that is native to this desert and they are everywhere.

You also see a lot of skimpy looking bushes and...

sagebrush, which is native here in Nevada.

More of the mountain range.

I love the way these rocks were formed!

A closer view of the rocks with the Las Vegas Valley beyond.

I love the many unique rock formations found here in the desert.

I am inspired by the contrasts that I find here.

I never get tired of driving this scenic Red Rock Loop and seeing these incredible colors and views that nature has offered for me to see!  Have you ever been lucky enough to visit Red Rock Canyon {a favorite spot found in my Las Vegas Valley}?  If not it should definitely be on your list!


But wait...tune back in next time for the rest of this day!  All that you saw here was only up until noon!  I spent the rest of the day with my daughter, capturing inspiring landscape pictures for her photography class, and I found more inspiring views that nature had to offer me!