rocks

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Just a short drive from Boulder Bridge is Rapids Bridge in Rock Creek Park. You could technically walk, but I wore the wrong shoes and decided to drive instead. Next time I go to Rock Creek Park, I gotta wear my hiking shoes instead of rain boots. It had rained the night before I visited so I figured the ground was going to be wet. But I should have known that I would have wanted to climb up rocks and things so that’s when the hiking boots would have been the better idea. Anything for the shot, right?

So I was extra careful when I was making my way to this spot. I had to jump across a few rocks in order to get to a big one in the middle of the river. From the picture, it doesn’t really look like it because you can see land straight ahead but I swear, I was on a rock in the water. LOL.

At this point, I left my tripod in the car. I didn’t want to have anything in my hands that would throw me off balance and I knew that I wanted to get a low angle where the majority of the image would be of the water. So I sat on this rock and used it to help keep the camera steady. At that point, I made the mental note to wear waterproof pants next time I shoot Rock Creek as well. LOL.

My camera settings for this image are F13 at 1/3 sec and ISO 400 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide-angle.

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While planning for our trip to Oregon, Toketee Falls was high on my list of things to do. It looked so beautiful from all the pictures I saw and the best part about it is that the hike wasn’t too far. It was the perfect stop on our way to Bend, Oregon to get out and stretch our legs for a bit.

What you don’t see from all the Instagram and Pinterest posts is that this place is PACKED! Out of all the places we went to, this was by far the hardest place to find parking and the busiest trail. There were several times where we had to wait for people to pass in order to continue on to the trail. Regardless of how many people were there, it was still very cool to see and I’d recommend if you are in the area.

Although this was technically not on the trail, it looked like it could have been a short detour. There were a lot of people who were climbing around these rocks that Andrew and I decided to go down to see what it looked like. As Andrew was exploring, I captured this of him and Frankie. Yep, that’s Frank in the red backpack. He’s just not looking at the camera. LOL.

My camera settings for this image are F9 at 1/20th sec and ISO 1000 with my Sony A7II and 24-70mm.

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I was TIRED! I don’t know why but driving down to the Samuel H Boardman State Scenic Corridor was a trek! It took way longer than I thought it would have and by the time we were in the vicinity, I was just ready to go straight our Airbnb and lay in bed.

But then we drove past Meyers Creek Beach. Holy cow. This place looked beautiful. It woke me right back up. Since I was the one driving, I made a mental note to remember the name. As soon as we parked, I went into my phone and wrote it down so I knew where I wanted to go for the next day. Luckily, it was already in my notes as one of the first places I wanted to visit in the corridor. LOL, it was honestly no surprise.

So this image was taken the very next day. We didn’t make it for sunrise but this was still taken in the early morning. Unfortunately, the whole time we were in South Oregon there were barely any clouds. So I tried my best to fill the frame with the lines in the sand. But I think one of my favorite parts about this image is that even though there weren’t many clouds, you can still see a few clouds above the mountains but then you can also see it in the reflection in the sand. OMG.

My camera settings for this image are F6.3 at 1/2000th sec and ISO 320 with my Sony A7II and 24-70mm.

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If you remember Memorial Day weekend 2018, I went on the Old Rag Hike trail in the Shenandoah Mountains with my cousins. Well, a few weeks before Memorial Day weekend this year, I was trying to come up with a plan and asked everyone again if they wanted to go on another hike. Luckily, most were free and we ended up going on a hike that none of us had ever been before, Hawksbill Summit Trail.

It was a short stroll compared to Old Rag, but the elevation on the hike was no joke. In about 3/4th of a mile, you climb an elevation of 672 feet. So pretty much going straight uphill the entire way. I’m not exactly sure how long it took us but I want to say less than an hour. Once you get to the top, it’s totally worth it.

Luckily we started the day early by starting the hike at 9 am. There weren’t many other people on the trail yet and the trees covered the sun for most of the way which probably made the whole experience that much easier. By the time we reached the summit a few clouds had rolled in so I asked my cousin, Mona to sit on some rocks and pose for me. I loved how the jagged rocks were sticking out of the mountain. It was a little iffy actually getting her to that spot though.

You may have caught my other cousin, Karen on the summit too in last week’s post. LOL.

Overall, I would do this hike again if I were looking for a quick hike in the Shenandoah Mountains. It was strenuous enough to get a good sweat in, but it didn’t take all day which was nice.

My camera settings for this image is F4.0 at 1/2000th sec and ISO 500 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm

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Before settling into San Diego, we spent the last few days of 2018 in Joshua Tree National Park. I was so excited because I’ve never been but have always heard how amazing it is. It totally lived up to expectations. It is beautiful.

The if-y part about it was the government shut down. We arrived just days after it started and wasn’t sure what it would be like in the park. Since it was our first time, I don’t know if it was quieter than usual but it was definietly like we had the park all to ourselves. With a couple of random people who would drive by, it was great to explore without having to worry about being in anyone else’s way. But on second thought, it could have been the temperatures that deviated people from visiting. It was cold! and so windy.

I captured this image on the very first day of 2019. It was a sunrise hike to welcome in the new year and the last thing we did before leaving Joshua Tree. If you’re traveling with kids, Joshua Tree is a great place for them to explore. These huge boulder rocks are along several very easy trails and if they’re anything like, Axl, he loved climbing on all of them. The only hard part was getting him up before sunrise. LOL.

I was standing on some rocks when I heard from a distance, “Tita Angela, you are so far away!” I turned around and saw his little head peeking through the rocks and thought it was the cutest little scene. I’m so glad he enjoyed the national park and look forward to hiking with him in different places as he grows up.

My camera settings for this image is F6.3 at 1/100th sec and ISO 800 with my Sony A7II and 70-200mm zoom.

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A little travel flashback to last year in Maine. This was my first time in Maine and loved it. As soon as you stepped off the plane you could just tell that the air was different. I believe the word that I’m looking for is clean…

And I loved how close and convient Portland Head Light was to everything. I don’t remember exactly but it was like a 15-20 minute drive from our hotel and an even easier walk from the parking lot to this vantage point. But if I had my way, I would spend more time in Maine again this fall, especially in Portland. We only got to spend one night there but it was the cutest little town. I definietly did not get to see enough of it. Don’t even get me started on the lobster rolls. I’m pretty sure I had at least one every day that I was there 🙂

But if you have been keeping up with my current travel updates on Instagram stories, you’ll know that Andrew and I are on a ferry back to Bergen before we make the trek back home to Virginia. Planning this trip was fun but it depended a lot on this ferry. It was the only way Andrew and I would have been able to road trip around Norway without having to make a complete circle driving around. This was definietly the easiest and fastest way to do it. Hopefully the fun-ist way to do it too. I was super excited to see the sunrise from the water.

My camera settings for this image is F4.0 at 8 seconds and ISO 640 with my Sony A7II and 16-35mm wide angle lens. I did not use a tripod for this image, instead I just held my breath and balanced my camera on top of a rock and hoped it turned out well.