We thought Red Rock Canyon and Mt. Charleston were beautiful. They paled in comparison to the Valley of Fire. It was just spectacular. It is not necessary to try to imagine how this earth was formed by the powerful force of water. It is clearly visible in every inch of the landscape. It is an unbelievable sight. Layer after layer of so many colors, each representing a different type of rock. We did study at the visitor/education center and find out that this area is only 4000 years old. It was formed when limestone platelets in the earth's crust off the coast of southern California shifted and pushed the lighter weight and softer sandstone to the surface. Looking at all of this beauty makes that so easy to grasp. We really enjoyed this valley. It is still desert but it does support more animal life than other places we have been. We saw longhorn sheep, ground squirrels that begged us for food (we did not feed them), tiny birds that preferred the ground over the air, and a jack rabbit. We had a hard time getting pictures of the sheep as they were always walking away from us. Their south end is not their best side! I do hope that each and every one of you will one day get the opportunity to see this incredible valley. We came back by Lake Mead. The lake is so far down that the pictures were not pretty. No one is concerned about the level because it is actually up over what it has been in past years. It is a massive lake so it must take years to see any change at all in the level of the water. We are heading on down the road tomorrow. We want to be situated elsewhere before the high winds hit here. We'll see what this huge windshield reveals tomorrow.
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