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Olympic National Park
For our summer vacation this year, we decided to drive to Olympic National Park and spend a week exploring the Olympic Peninsula. We went all the way the first day and stayed at the Log Cabin Resort on Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park for the first three nights. On the fourth day, we took the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, British Columbia, for the day. In Victoria, we had tea at the Empress and revisited Abigail’s Hotel, where we had honeymooned 25 years earlier and enjoyed shopping. For the next three nights, we stayed in the Lake View building at the Lake Quinault Lodge. Here, we took a boat tour of Lake Quinalt and explored the Lake Quinalt Rain Forest and the coast around Kalaloch. Finally, we drove through Mount Ranier on our way home.
A Clear Day @ Glacier
The rarest of events happened yesterday, I woke up to the Flathead Valley without a cloud in the sky during winter. With such rare conditions, I cut out of work early and we headed up to Apgar on the shores of Lake McDonald to capture a few images. We spent about an hour walking along the shore before driving through Apgar Village. On our way out we drove to the old bridge that starts the South Boundary Trail and watched the ice chunks flowing down the river.
A few days in Florida
Jolie and I visited the East Coast of Florida for a few fun-filled days. We first went to Fort Lauderdale and stayed a few nights in the Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood. We toured Downtown Fort Lauderdale, including a stop at Cafe Bastille for one of the best breakfasts we have ever had. This was followed by strolling along the riverfront walk, the historic buildings on Moffat Avenue, and finished with some shopping on Las Olas Boulevard. The final part of our visit to Fort Lauderdale included attending the Tool concert in the Hard Rock Live Theater, a fantastic venue.
Teddy’s Park
A winter visit to Apgar
A day in Glacier
Shores of Saint Mary Lake
A Day @ Glacier
American Northeast
After years of planning, we finally got to go on her fall color trip to New England. The night before was stressful, hoping Lois (Jolie’s Mom) did not get delayed in her flight to our house to watch the kids. Once they landed, Jolie picked them up at the airport at 9:30 pm, and we still had to finish up the final packing and preparation. We got up at 4:30 am to get through security for our 6:45 am flight. We flew through Salt Lake City, where we had a fun breakfast and a mimosa sampler.
Joshua Tree National Park
Old Faithful
For some reason, I decided to challenge myself and shoot every photo for this trip in JPG instead of RAW. This is what happens when you don’t use your camera regularly, ‘minor’ settings get forgotten sometimes. We booked a room for a couple of nights at the Old Faithful Lodge and drove up from Denver. This first day was all driving. We stopped for the Park signs at Grand Teton and the southern Yellowstone entrance.
Land of the Ancients
We spent several nights camping at the Morfield Campground in Mesa Verde National Park. The weather was perfect, and we enjoyed exploring this part of the state. We spent a couple of days at Mesaverde and then a day driving around the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument with a visit and hike around Hovenweep National Monument.
American Southwest
Day one started early before sunrise at the Doubletree in Grand Junction, Colorado. We drove 20 miles via the west entrance to Grand View overlooking Independence Monument. We arrived around 6:30 am, waiting for some morning light on a brisk morning.
The Bechler River
We did a 5-day backcountry llama trip into the Bechler River region of Yellowstone National Park in September of 2014. We used Jackson Hole Llamas (No longer in business) for the excursion and had one of the best trips ever.
Moab
We drove over the mountains to the Moab area to check out the sights and surroundings. What an amazing place to visit. We drove in through Cisco, a somewhat abandoned town before crossing the Colorado River near the historic Dewey Bridge. Stops included Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park Island in the Sky District, and Dead Horse Point State Park.
Lake Yellowstone
We made the long drive from Denver to Lake Yellowstone in the center of Yellowstone National Park. We drove through Casper, Thermopolis, and Cody with the start of our adventure via the East Entrance to the park. Fall colors are turning around the park, only helping the grandeur of Yellowstone. We stopped at Sylvan Lake on the way into the park before getting checked in to our room at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel.
Camping @ Michigan Lakes
I spent a night backpacking with my buddy Ford in the Michigan Lakes under the east side of the Nokhu Crags. This area is accessed via Cameron Pass on the Northwest corner of Rocky Mountain National Park. This was a quick one night trip. The highlight of the trip was watching a stand off between 4 elk and a bull moose in the drainage below us. The light was dim and was just one of those occasiions where we just watched the action and didn’t even try to capture it on camera.