Leaving Seattle, instead of heading due north into Canada, I decided to take a more scenic route and opted to go west to the Olympic Peninsula first for a bit and then take the ferries up into Canada. My intention was to first go camp in Olympic National Park for a little while and take it easy, exploring the rainforest there. After checking in with a ranger station and seeing how far some of the places I wanted to go visit were (the rainforest is on the southern part of the park and I was on the northern part), a ranger suggested I stop by and check out the Salt Creek Campground right up along the waterway between Canada and Washington. He informed me that this was one of the most beautiful local parks you could visit, and it was not as well known as Olympic NP. What a cool recommendation this turned out to be!

Read more

1 Comment | Permalink

Tags: Long exposures, Salt Creek Campground, Seaweed, Washington, WWII Bunker

Continuing on north and heading towards the northern edge of the lower 48, I passed through Seattle and got a chance to see my friends Matt and Julie. It was so nice to visit them along the way and such a blessing to be warmly welcomed to their home to spend the night. It’s always great to sleep in a normal home after spending lots of time on the road… 🙂 Passing through Seattle, I would get a glimpse of what the city had to offer, and I would make a stop at what, for me, is practically my Mecca: The Flagship REI store in Seattle!! Woohoo!!!

Read more

Leave a Comment | Permalink

Tags: Kerry Park, Matt and Julie, Mt. Rainier, REI, Seattle

After sunset the previous evening at Mt. St. Helens, I stopped about halfway between there and Mt. Rainier, wanting to get some sleep. That night I parked at a rest stop, one which had a sign that said you could stay for 8 hours max, far more than the typical hour or two you see at most rest stops. 8 hours? You know what that means! A place to get some shut-eye! I set my phone alarm that night to give myself just enough time to get going in the morning and make it in time for sunrise, but still with enough time on the clock to get as much sleep as possible. When I woke up in the morning and got ready to go, I looked at the clock and it looked like I would be cutting it reallllly close to sunrise. Would I make it in time to catch the most spectacular light? Let’s find out! Drive!

Read more

Leave a Comment | Permalink

Tags: Mt. Rainier, Pink light, Sunrise

After zipping on up through Oregon, the next state headed north was Washington. After having spent several months in the huge state of California and really exploring it in depth, it was amazing to zip right on up through Oregon and be hitting yet another state so quickly. The Pacific Northwest was already showing itself to be gorgeous and I was eager to see what else this place had in store for me…

Read more

Leave a Comment | Permalink

Tags: Fog, Mt. Adams, Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Sunsets, Trees

After enjoying a few gorgeous locations dotting Northern California, I was ready to visit a location I had been wanting to see for many years, Crater Lake. Like most of the rest of my trip thus far, it didn’t turn out the way I expected, and yet it turned out to be more incredible than anything I ever expected… 🙂

Read more

3 Comments | Permalink

Tags: Clouds, Crater Lake, Fog, Oregon, Rainforest, Sunset

Keep heading north from Mt. Shasta and you’ll find the Lava Beds National Monument. The road leading into the park from the north skims the California/Oregon border, literally just a matter of feet south of the border. Driving east, Oregon is to your left, California is to your right.

Heading into the beautiful areas here, I would find yet another location I hadn’t known about beforehand that would become tacked on to my rapidly growing list of favorite places in the world. 🙂

Read more

Leave a Comment | Permalink

Tags: Caving, Cows, Herons

So Mt. Shasta… it’s known for being a spiritual energetic vortex, like Sedona and several other places in the world. In the back of my mind, I was wondering whether or not this was just new age nonsense, but as soon as I got into the area, there was such an unbelievable energetic sensation that flooded my whole body. Being in the presence of this mountain felt so good, brought tears to my eyes, and inexplicably I found myself instantly falling in love with the place… 🙂

Read more

Leave a Comment | Permalink

Tags: Mountains, Mt. Shasta, Wildflowers

I gotta give some massive props to my facebook friends, particularly people like Tony and Danny who keep suggesting such wonderful places to go visit, places that I would have otherwise overlooked. One such place was the Lassen National Park, a park I’d never heard of. Turns out basically every national park here in the US is pretty spectacular, each for its own wonderful reasons.

I’d initially wanted to drive north via the coastal route, but after checking out Big Sur and having my fill that way, I opted to head inland (gas would be cheaper) and check out some of what was available here. Turns out that was a great decision… One of my first stops after leaving San Francisco was the very Yellowstone-like volcanic area of Lassen National Park. Let’s do a quick photodump of some of the beautiful sights of this area.

By the way, the photos on this blog you can now purchase prints of! Just click on any image you like to see it bigger and buy a print.

(All money from print sales directly support this trip and help pay for gas, food, lodging, and some much needed camera upgrades.) Thank you so much!!! 🙂

Read more

1 Comment | Permalink

Tags: Lassen, Mud pits, Volcanic

After a solid 3 weeks on the road, I was in need of some serious downtime to rest, and San Francisco was the perfect place. I’d been here before and had seen much of the must-see scenery, with a few notable exceptions. Spending a few days in a hotel with my french buddies and then spending a few more days in Berkeley with an old college buddy was great. In that time, I happened to shoot a few snappy snappies, so here’s a looksie at some of my favorite photos that I happened to take while getting caught up on this blog on the drive from LA to SF.

Read more

1 Comment | Permalink

Tags: Berkeley, Bridges, French friends, Rumi, San Francisco, Sea lions, Wheat fields

So Big Sur… one of the most spectacular sections of the California coast, complete with huge cliffs overlooking the ocean. Sandy beaches, colorful flowers, massive rocks, and amazing views… ah yes… 🙂

After coming back down from a night camping in Monterey, our first priority was to secure a campground in the park so that we had easy access out to the rest of the park and a known place to return to at night. Arriving early to grab a spot after someone had left in the morning, we managed to score an RV campground spot. While at $55/night it was a bit more pricey than a non-RV spot, we had the luxury of electricity (!!), clean water out of a faucet, and even wifi at the campsite! That’s livin’ in luxury! With a campsite next to a delightful river and underneath some gorgeous redwoods, we headed off to go explore this amazing place known as Big Sur. 🙂

Read more

1 Comment | Permalink

Tags: Beaches, Big Sur, Coasts, French friends, Rocks, Waterfalls

← Previous Page — Next Page →

About
Blogging about the journey as I follow my heart, listen to my intuition, and fully embrace life as it unfolds, to the very best of my ability. :)

• Categories

  • Animals
  • Cars
  • Events
  • Locations
    • Arizona
    • California
    • Canada
    • Colorado
    • Georgia
    • Idaho
    • Montana
    • Oregon
    • Seattle
    • Utah
    • Washington
  • Spiritual
  • Subjects
    • Camping
    • Canyons
    • Caving
    • Cities
    • Concerts
    • Deserts
    • Driving
    • Flowers
    • Hiking
    • Lakes
    • Mountains
    • Oceans
    • Rivers
    • Space
    • Sports
    • Sunrises
    • Sunsets
    • Timelapse
    • Trees
    • Volcanoes
    • Waterfalls
  • Travel

• Archives

  • May 2015
  • November 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • September 2013
  • December 2012
  • October 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • July 2011
  • April 2011
  • January 2011
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010

• Search