PT CHALLENGE 200 ~ SPECIAL!!

Hi folks!! This is Mitch, hosting on this special occasion for Picture This. It's the 200th challenge!!  PT has gone through quite a few changes since it first started. The site was actually started by Baz several years ago, over on Multiply. Eventually Baz moved on to other things (of course he eventually returned and is now a regular contributor), and Mia took over the running of PT. I think I first joined PT around that time, too. Mia also eventually moved on to pastures new and somehow I ended up as the chief admin for the site. Then we had the demise of Multiply and the hunt for a new home, which we eventually found here on Blogger.  I think we have it running nicely here now, although one or two folks seem to have disappeared. I'd like to thank everyone who has taken part, either regularly or occasionally, and a big thanks to those who have hosted the challenges. Here's to another 200........or more!!

Anyway.....to celebrate our 200th challenge, the theme is 'SPECIAL'. You can post photos of anything that you consider to be special to you........special places, special people, special times in your life, special pets.........it's your choice.......and to make it even better.....just for this challenge only.......you can post up to SIX photos!! And please folks, don't just put up a bunch of photos, please tell us something about them....where they were taken or why they are special to you.

The most special person in my life, of course, is Joanne, and together we have visited some very special places. Here are my 6 photos:

1) Joanne at Walnut Canyon National Park.


2) I don't like big cities very much, despite the fact I was born in one. However, New York is the exception. It has a special kind of energy I've never found in any other city.


3) Zion National Park, Utah. Unlike the Grand Canyon or Bryce Canyon, where you are above the canyon looking down into it, at Zion you are at the bottom looking up. The huge rock formations really make you feel small!!


4) If you wanted a house with a special view, this would be hard to beat!! This is the ruin of a Hopi box-canyon dwelling at the Wupatki National Monument, Arizona. Looking towards the San Francisco peaks (no connection to the city of the same name) in the distance. Imagine waking up to that view every day!!


5) No visit to the South-West of the US would be complete without a visit to the 'special mamma' of all National Parks.....the Grand Canyon!! For sheer size, it can't be beat. This is a view from the South Rim.


6) Although Grand Canyon might be the biggest and most famous of the National Parks, for me the most beautiful of the ones I've visited so far is Bryce Canyon National Park. The amazing sandstone spires have to be seen to be believed. A truly special place I hope to return to in the not-too-distant-future. Also, at just over 9000 feet elevation, it's the highest place I've ever stood without being in an airplane!!