Anza Borrego Desert

People tend to have some vacation days around Christmas/New Year's so, if you ain't a skier, look to the desert...Anza Borrego Desert State Park:

The park is named after Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and the Spanish name borrego, or bighorn sheep. The park features washes, wildflowers, palm groves, cacti and sweeping vistas. Visitors may also have the chance to see roadrunner, golden eagles, kit foxes, mule deer and bighorn sheep as well as iguanas, chuckwallas and the red diamond rattlesnake.

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Peter Parnall

Peter Parnall has illustrated a lot of children's book over the years, most notably for the stories of Byrd Baylor. His style is real easy to spot. Bright colors, lots of empty space, and usually some type of cactus, bird, or desert cliff. Although his work might be a little "Southwest Trading Post" at times, his illustrations have always stuck with us since reading Everybody Needs A Rock when we were younger. Parnall also illustrated the first edition of Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire.Look: More books.MP3: Vetiver - ArbouretumMP3: Emitt Rhodes - She's Such A Beauty