ANGELA B. PAN

Would I go on a road trip like this again? Absolutely. It was such an amazing time but really hard to describe. Everyday was packed with adventure and new things to do. Yes, it was exhausting but it was so much fun.

Since I’ve been back, a lot of friends have asked me how Sue and I didn’t kill each other after being in a car together for 10 days. I told them that it wasn’t bad because we just listened to a lot of audiobooks. We listened to ‘Modern Romance’ by Aziz Ansari  and ‘I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons’ by Kevin Hart. Both are read by the author and both are hilarious. Although, I’m partial to the Kevin Hart book because it was more about his life and how he became such a positive person with a humongous work ethic. To be honest, I wasn’t that big of a Kevin Hart fan before, but now I am. So much respect for him.

And while Sue was sleeping in the car and I had full control over the radio, I’d listen to the classic book: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. Its probably my 3rd or 4th time listening to it but it never gets old. I always learn something new whenever I listen to it. I think its because every time I listen to it, I’m at a new stage in my life and new principles apply to me. So if you’re looking for book recommendations, check out the Secret. If you’ve already read that or not interested, check out ‘I Can’t Make This Up’. It’s hilarious and the stories are really entertaining. You won’t be disappointed.

Also along the drive, we made stops in the middle of the road multiple times so I could take pictures like this one. That made for some exciting times 🙂 This was on the way to Tent Rocks. A beautiful place with a scenic drive.

I took so many pictures on this road trip. There are so many beautiful sights in this country. It’s a little difficult to figure out where to really begin. So, here’s one of the major highlights that happened at the very end of our trip when we arrived in San Diego, California. Before leaving on our road trip, we had a couple of activities in mind for San Diego. That all went out the window as soon as we arrived. We were so tired from the travels that our main objective was to just ‘chill’. No plans, nothing to do but relax and enjoy the beach town. Our first stop on the only full day that we were there was to a farmers market to pick up some breakfast. The farmers markets change locations everyday so luckily we were there for the one in La Jolla. The food is always so good at these farmers markets since they’re so fresh. I loved it. Green juice was callin’ my name.

Once we were full, we walked over to La Jolla Cove in hopes to just sit on the beach and lay out. That too went out the window once we saw the seals and sea lions hanging out on the rocks. There must of be at least 20 of them! Daddy sea lions, Mama sea lions, and the cutest of them all- BABY SEA LIONS!!!! OMG we were freaking out. I’d never seen so many of them at one time.  What started out as a casual walk around the cove ended up being 3 hours with these animals. I loved every minute of it. It was so fun to just watch them sleep, fight, play, and walk around. I’m not sure who squealed more, the sea lions or me.

Stay classy, San Diego.

I’m home! and I’m exhausted. Who knew driving over 3,000 miles would wear a girl out so fast. But in the past 10 days I created memories that would last a life time. So many great adventures and sights. In the end, looking back at all 7 states we drove through I could honestly say that I would not have changed a thing. I had a freakin’ B L A S T!

This image was from our very first stop in Covington, VA at Falling Springs Falls. Upon arrival, I didn’t know much about it. I just knew it was a huge waterfall really close to the road and on our way to Nashville, TN so it was the perfect pit stop to get out and stretch our legs. Little did I know that it was SO beautiful. My favorite part was being able to see the waterfall from the very top of it AND the very bottom. All you had to do was climb a couple of rocks and you were there! It kind of reminded me of Slijalandsfoos in Iceland because you can actually walk behind it too. Too bad we weren’t wearing our bathing suits or I would of wanted to jump in.

I definietly want to come back here on a hot summer day with Andrew and Frankie. It’s only 3 hours away from where we live. Frankie doesn’t like getting wet but I’m sure he’d enjoy the trail and hanging out outdoors with us.

I still can’t believe we drove all the way to California. There’s a lot to catch up on so be sure to check out the blog for the next few days and I’ll be uploading a youtube video as well. I don’t even remember half of what I filmed so that should be very interesting. HAHA!

H O M E!

Arrived into Dulles airport real late last night and went straight to bed. Today I plan on catching up on a lot of emails, laundry and image editing. Any image or place you want to see in particular? I’m taking requests. LOL. Can’t wait to start diving in to these photos. Only problem is that I took so many pictures that it’s hard to figure out where to start! Its a good problem I guess 🙂 More stories about our road trip as the blog posts start rolling out and there will be a youtube video!

But it feels so good to be home.

In general, many people ask me for my secret shooting location or favorite spot to shoot in DC. It’s hard to say. But what’s easy to say is my favorite parking spot. It’s 100% the paddle boat parking lot at the Tidal Basin, as seen on this map. It is by far the most centrally located parking space to all the monuments, but for some reason hardly anyone parks here. Theres always plenty of parking whenever I go. Plus it’s freeeee! The only down side to this parking lot is that it’s closed during Cherry Blossom season. 2 weeks out of the year? No big deal. I’ll take it!

Even if you’re feeling a bit lazy and don’t want to leave the parking lot, you get some beautiful views like this one. I love these new swan paddle boats. They make things so much more interesting.

I shot this with my fav, Ice Neutral Density Filter 10stop to get that silky smoother water. My camera settings for this image was F7.1 at 25 seconds at ISO 500 on a tripod on a super cloudy but beautiful evening.

Starting tomorrow will be images from our trip! Can’t wait to share with you! EEEKKKKKKKK.

Flying home today from our crazy road trip adventure. Everyday was jammed packed with excitement, food and sight seeing. I can’t wait to tell you all more about it. Over 2,600 miles under our belts, I can definietly say that it was a trip that’d be hard to forget. But I’m so glad we’re not driving back. Faster, airplane, faster! 🙂

I’ll definietly have a youtube video for you as soon as possible.

For now, heres an image I took earlier this year at the National Cherry Blossom festival in DC. I specifically remember thinking that I wanted that guy to get out of my shot but I figured that after 10 minutes of waiting, he wasn’t moving. Sometimes I like to pretend I’m taking pictures of something, that way people will think that they are in my shot and will want to move. Nope. Didn’t work for him. He was far more interested in what was down there than what I was doing. Oh well. At least I was able to line him up with the sun burst.

But even though I had the time of my life on this road trip, it feels good to be going back home. Looking at this image makes me think about how much I love living where I live and I’m super grateful. Theres no where else in the world like Washington DC. For the good and the bad. It’s always exciting.

My camera settings for this image was F/20 at 1/40th of a second at ISO 500. My aperture was super small so I was able to get the sun burst even bigger and sharper but the ISO was pumped up a little bit so I could shoot it fast. I also love that it smoothed out the water. Just don’t drop your tripod in there 😉

Today on our road trip we’re driving from Oklahoma City, OK to Roswell, New Mexico. Over the weekend we zipped past the east coast and most of the central time zone with only a few stops. This was intentional because Sue and I wanted to spend most of the time in the south west. The temperatures will be hot but the pictures will be too, amiright? *high five* Really looking forward to the rest of this adventure. Follow along on my instagram stories to see what we’ve been getting up to in real-time.

The image above was taken just a few weeks ago in Arches National Park in Moab, Utah. I loved seeing these little cacti along the walking trails. Every time I saw one, I’d squeal. They’re just so cute. I bet if you were just walking, you wouldn’t even notice them. They aren’t very big and there weren’t very many of them but it’s little details like this that I love photographing. Things other might have passed by but if you really take your time and look around, they’re so fun to see. The sunrise lighting was perfect. Perfectly describes the mood I felt while I was there, happy and warm.

I did not have a macro lens with me on this trip, so I shot this with my 16-35mm wide angle. That was so I could make sure to get enough foreground and background in this shot. My camera settings for this image was f7.1 at 1/25th of a second at ISO 250. My favorite part is seeing the glow on all the plants in this image. Especially the tall purple flowers on the right hand side. Barely noticeable, but it’s there 🙂 And who knows who’s foot prints those are in the very front. They definietly were not mine.