Kreativ Blogger -- me?

I am pleasantly surprised that Hilary has awarded my blog with the Kreativ Blogger Award. Everyone loves getting an award. I'm mostly amazed people even take time to read mine. It's a mix-match of this & that. For this award I have to list 7 things I love. I thought about picking 7 random things, but I've done that already. So I thought, "What do I love most?" Obviously, my family is number one, but they all read my blog and probably don't want to hear about themselves. Well, Belle might. So I thought of where I love being most and there was only one answer -- national parks! It's hard to pick just 7, believe it or not, because they're all awesome. I've never been disappointed with any of them. But for this award, I've narrowed it down to these --

1. GRAND TETON -- This has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. Sadly, most people drive by it, barely seeing the park, as they rush into Yellowstone. It's a great place to see moose and bears. The mountain range speaks for itself and is probably one of the most photographed ranges of all time. Ansel Adams knew a good thing.


2. YELLOWSTONE -- If you like wildlife watching, this is just the place to be. The place is swarming with bison, elk, eagles, bears, etc. The thermal features are amazing. You never know what you'll see here. We've seen elk giving birth, baby bison walking across the road that couldn't be more than minutes old, bald eagles fighting with osprey, even a grizzly and her 2 cups taking down an elk. It's a wild place!


3. YOSEMITE -- This park is absolutely gorgeous. The waterfalls and rock formations are something you just have to see. It's amazing to look up at Half Dome or El Capitan and see the rock climbers. You can see their lanterns at night when they're sleeping. Looking down at Yosemite Valley is breathtaking.


4. GLACIER -- This is my playground now. We are less than an hour away from this park, so we go here often to kayak, hike, camp or look for animals. The Going-To-The-Sun Road is an absolute trip. In the winter, this road shuts down due to 30 feet of snow. The highlight of the park are the mountain goats, which is also what inspired me to write children's books.


5. GRAND CANYON -- I love this place simply because of how it takes my breath away every time I walk up to the rim. It's so big, so rugged and so complex. The North Rim is less visited than the South Rim and it's definitely worth visiting. On average, most people only spend 4 hours here or less. The last time we were there we spent 4 days. There's just so much to see here.


6. ZION -- Whenever we would travel north to places like Yellowstone and Teton, we always stopped for a few nights in Zion. The canyon is stunning with the Virgin River running through it. We saw our first porcupine here, sleeping up in a treetop.


7. DEATH VALLEY -- Some people simply have to visit this park in the summer just to experience the fury of the place. We went in January. This is the most unusual place. It's like being on the moon. Within minutes of driving through the park, you go through several different ecosystems. We spent an hour looking for any sign of life, even a bug. The sand dunes are amazing here. On our way out of the park we finally saw some wildlife. We saw a roadrunner, and right after that, a coyote. Imagine -- just like Looney Tunes.

So, that's 7 national parks I love. Of course, there are tons more I'd like to list, but I can only put up 7 of them. Below is a short slide show with a picture from each park.

I also have to nominate 7 people to receive the Kreativ Blogger Award --

1. Adrienne
2. Kim
3. Doda
4. Elliah
5. Brenda
6. Samantha
7. Christy