I have the beach on my brain as the temperatures look to be heating up again. Summer, please go away! Escape with me to the coast of Washington state at Ruby Beach. Take in the sunshine, knowing it’s only in the 60s out there! Enjoy and stay cool, friends!
The view from the trail down…
You can find some shade behind the big rock
Let the water come in and wash away those cares
Spend hours listening to the waves and looking through beach rocks
I’ve got Minnesota on the brain right now because I’m planning my trek there for Labor Day weekend. I am so excited to get up there for a while (I took several days off) and it’s going to be good to see my people. I’m excited to see the forests and the big lake (Lake Superior) as well as the small lakes. I’m hoping for good weather, but will take anything we get. I’m ready for Leinenkugel's and bonfires. Superior National Forest makes up most of the woods around where I’ll be, so I’m sharing some photos from previous trips for this Forest Friday. I hope you get to the forest and have a great weekend!
I have the Great Lakes on my brain, so I wanted to share some photos from around the glorious shorelines. When I lived in Michigan, I didn’t take advantage of the outdoors the way I would today. I can’t wait to get back and explore all of the things saved on my map. For now, enjoy some photos of the lakes that are unsalted and shark free!
Lake Superior is pretty special. It’s large, moody, and definitely in charge. These photos are from Duluth throughout the years.
Lake Huron is home, and the sky is often magical. Most of these are from the Rogers City area in Michigan.
Lake Michigan became home when I moved to the southwest corner of the state for college. Trips to the beach were memorable and fun. These photos are from all along that coast.
When I sit next to a body of water, I relax. The noise is calming, the smells are often refreshing, and the sky is soothing. Enjoy some photos from California in 2016 as I watched the sun set on my way back from Oregon Caves National Monument. (stay tuned for a post about that place tomorrow!)
Does the water bring you peace? If not the water, where do you go outside for peace and relaxation? Growing up on the Great Lakes, I was never far from soothing sights. Enjoy!
Kalaloch Beach is a beach I frequently visited this year and plan to keep in my rotation going forward. It’s a special place that I get to share with anyone who visits. I love it because it’s usually quiet, there’s plenty of space to spread out, and you can walk for miles. If you’re up in the Pacific Northwest, give it a visit.
I remember one of my favorite point and shoot cameras of all time - my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX3. The camera was 6 megapixels and 3x optical zoom. This point and shoot was lovely, until it glitched one time. BUT, before that, it felt like it was the best damn thing. It had a special long exposure mode called Starry Sky - up to a minute - and I would go around taking night photos for shit and giggles. I love setting the camera down and seeing what it can do when it brings in all the light.
I actually shared a little about this once here: GVSU Overexposed
Nowadays, I have an iPhone 14 Pro Max with night mode and a Google Pixel 7a with Google’s famous night mode. I love taking night photos or long exposure photos. I have a DSLR I need to learn how to use - would love to start taking pictures of the night sky.
Looking back to find photos for this post, I’m thinking about life before good camera phones. I have so many weird selfies and mirror selfies as well as just hundreds of useless photos. Nothing has changed, except I probably have thousands of useless photos now. It’s fun to sit here and look back life before camera phones. I would take my little Panasonic Lumix everywhere with me - I think I eventually just kept it in the center console of my car.
I love that I have a super camera with machine learning/AI in my pocket now. I can take photos to remember everything. I’m a huge fan of sharing life with everyone, an early adopter of social media before it was monetized. I love sharing what it looks like for me, real life, lightly adjusted if necessary to look as real to my eye.
Here are some photos from my Panasonic point and shoot over the years. Go do what makes you happy and take pictures of everything.
Back in October 2018, I visited Mt. Rainier (Tahoma) for the first time. I met a friend though a Twitter chat and he agreed to show me the mountain. I met up with him, we drove out towards the park and saw the mountain at sunset. From there, we camped nearby so we could get into the park early the next day to watch the sunrise over the peak but not before visiting the park at dark. I’ll never forget the magical sights from this trip. Enjoy some photos - and if you’re going, try to see it in different lights!
My first, up-close view that wasn’t from the freeway (at sunset, nonetheless)
The view of the summit at night, glowing in the moonlight
Just before the sun rose
First light on the summit
THE GLOW of the sunrise is hitting the sky
Full daylight - the mountain reflecting
And a bonus, of me in the sunset glow
One of my favorite places to go take a break, take a guest, or just stop for a minute is the Mt. Walker Viewpoint in the Olympic National Forest. It was suggested by a friend a while ago, and I’ve gone there for years.
The road up to the viewpoints is a winding, dirt road that pushes through the forest. I recently visited early in the morning to catch the sunrise, and it was spectacular to come around the corners and see the sun rising. VIDEO HERE.
Most of the time you can see Mt. Rainier in the distance from the Southern Viewpoint and sometimes you can see Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams. From the Southern Viewpoint, you can see the Olympics and Mt. Baker.
Enjoy some photos from over the years.
I’ve had New Mexico on my brain this week so I thought I’d share a few photos for this “Way Back Wednesday” post. It was a great year of living for me, finding a little bit of myself and connecting with my newfound friends.
I lived in the southeast corner of the state, near Roswell. The landscape was desert, with mountains and forests and great sand dunes just hours away. The Land of Enchantment is truly dynamic and I can’t wait to go back and visit.
White Sands National Park - truly spectacular
Carlsbad Caverns National Park - one of great underground views
Nothing like a New Mexico Fall - up in the mountains, anyway
Always an abundance of forest service roads
I had some of the BEST camping trips with friends in New Mexico
Chewy learned to love camping, too
And, of course, New Mexico had some of the best sunsets
My year (or so) in New Mexico helped me feel confident in my car camping techniques. I found what worked, what I liked, and what I needed. I adventured more, wasn’t afraid to get a little dirty, and found myself staring at the sky even more. I’m forever grateful for my friends and the land of enchantment.
I got this idea from a friend, and it was a long time ago, but I’m just now completing it and sharing them. I’m more of a sunrise guy, so I think that’ll be my next task. My goal will be to get a sunrise photo for an entire month, eventually. I have to get in a routine!
I present to you SEVEN SUNSETS in a row, without much explanation.
July 5 - on a walk through the neighborhood (featuring the pines I see daily)
July 6 - on a walk in the neighborhood
July 7 - in the neighborhood, again, but with more interesting clouds!
July 8 - You guessed it, in the neighborhood again over the suburban houses
July 9 - on an evening walk with friends at a local trail (I had so many I wanted to use, but this one was fun)
July 10 - My other half’s first kayak in his own on Lake Granbury
July 11 - walking the dog, almost forgot, but caught it!
On June 14 I started my drive to Michigan after work and a nap. I had the opportunity to work remotely, from my family’s house, way up north. The whole experience was set up so I could visit my grandmother and other family as much as possible for two weeks during a pleasant time of year in Michigan.
As the two week window came to a close, I learned that working remotely is quite possibly the best thing ever. I managed to stay busy and spend so much time with my family all in the same day, what a dream. I was able to exercise before and after work daily, kayak often, have lunch with best friends, and take long walks on the weekends. It is safe to say that I am not enjoying my home atmosphere nearly as much as the Michigan one. I am back to the grind - commuting, avoiding the outdoors due to heat and concrete, and wishing I was somewhere cooler.
Currently, it is a “real feel” temperature near 100 and too hot to ethically walk my dog on the expansive concrete around us. I’m looking through the photos from my time up north and thought I’d share some highlights to keep the spirit alive. I’ll be back for a visit, Michigan, sometime this year again.
I recently did a tribute to the Santa Fe National Forest for Forest Friday, but here's another because it's fresh off the brain from our recent trip. Here are a few views from our campsite, from the evening. Enjoy and I hope you can find the forest this weekend!
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