Time Traveler - Take a trip down Route 66 for good eats and good times You can sit at a counter, a table or in a red vinyl booth. Most likely the waitress will call you “Hon” as she hands you the menu — unless you are at the Village Cafe in Barstow. Owner Henry Wong does not call anyone “hon.” Finding good food while getting your kicks on Route 66 is not a problem. Choices run the gamut from American Diner to Chinese. There are many eateries on the Mother Road, but I chose five nearby to explore. More...

Art on the Rocks: Inscription Canyon - Stand in the quiet of Inscription Canyon and let your imagination take wing. Close your eyes and you can almost see the Indians who used to inhabit the area, waiting for visions fueled by fasting and sacred drugs -- their prayers wafting skyward on smoke from their fires. They dreamt their mystical reveries and left their shamanistic art to mystify those who came later. More...

Navajo National Monument - Centuries ago, the ancestors of the Pueblo Indians lived spread out among the valleys and plateaus of the region, hunting and gathering wild plants and seeds, then migrating elsewhere as the seasons demanded. With the acquisition of domestic seeds for corn and other crops, they gradually became farmers, which allowed them to remain in one place and build permanent shelters, originally pit houses. More...

Shutterbug 101: Sometimes a Notion - In each photographer the spark of creativity is vitally different, each expression unique. Inspiration can come in many shapes and forms. A bug, a face, a landscape, flowing water or flowers can inspire you to pause and think, “yes, this is the time to make an image.” Recently for me, inspiration came in the form of a notion, an idea, a new piece of gear — all at the same time. Yes, it was my handy-dandy Lensbaby (no, I do not have stock in the company) and the new wide-angle adapter for it. More...

Rocks & Rockhounds - Rocks, contain clues to the geologic history of the earth and even the solar system. They tell of the earth’s violent and fiery origin some 4.6 billion years ago. They point to a process of “density stratification,” when earth’s raw materials – compelled by gravitational attraction – sorted themselves according to their density, forming a solid inner core, a molten outer core, a very hot but still generally solid mantle and a thin crust. More...

Hunting Dinosaurs in the Desert - Dinosaurs have such broad public and scientific appeal because they are portrayed as the gigantic and fearsome beasts who ruled the Earth longer than any other land animals -- about 150 million years -- and then suddenly and dramatically disappeared. More...

Get the latest desert temperatures - Take a look at desert conditions, and plan a trip to see the wildflowers! More...