Colorado 2018 – Family Trip

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This past June, our family flew to Denver and then did a road trip around Colorado. I wanted to share all the pictures and locations in case it helps anyone else plan a family trip to Colorado.
About 80% of these were taken with my iphone 7+ and then my favorite scenes were shot with a Fuji XT-2.

Day 1
We took an early flight into Denver, rented a minivan, picked up a cooler, some ice, and some food and then hit the road for Estes Park.
By the time we got there, found our hotel, etc. it was time for dinner and then we headed into Rocky Mountain National Park to enjoy the evening in the mountains.

We drove part way up the main mountain road for some nice views and then came back to Moraine Park where there were lots of deer and elk roaming around.
It was the most amazing weather this evening. 75 degrees and a soft breeze. It was perfect weather for elk watching. We must’ve seen at least 50.
3 of them ran across the road right in front of our car.

 

Day 2
Woke up at 5:00am, headed into Rocky Mountain National Park for a hike to Dream Lake and Emerald Lake. Passed a bunch of elk on the way. We were done with our hike at 10:00am and as we were leaving, the parking lot was filled with hundreds of cars. Perfect timing for us!!

In the afternoon, we crossed the the Rockies on trail ridge road. Check out the big bull elk we saw at the end of this photo set.

Next, we ended up on the west side of the park by Grand Lake and did the short walk to Adams falls.

In the evening, we drove up to the top of Mt Evans to catch the sunset at 14,000 feet. It didn’t disappoint. It was cold but gorgeous!!
We even got to see 6 mountain goats including a couple of babies.
We were right by the bathrooms at the top and they were right there. They were a bit too close for comfort but it was still really cool
If you are deciding between Mt. Evans and Pike’s Peak, I would strongly recommend Mt. Evans because you dont’ have to pay the $45 toll and you don’t have to worry about when it opens and closes.

Day 3
We drove up over Loveland pass then through Keystone and then on to Breckenridge.

In Breckenridge, the boys got to practice panning for gold, then they had their first gondola ride up to peak 8 where they have the Epic Discovery Adventure Park. The first adventure was the alpine sleds. We took the ski lift up even further which Reid was not a fan of. When we got on the ski lift it was 75 and sunny. By the time we got to the top 15 minutes later, it was raining and they closed the sled run. We had to wait for jeeps to drive everyone back down the mountain.

By the time we got down, the rain stopped so they did a giant maze, then some mini golf and by then the sun was out so we did the alpine sleds a couple times.  We all had a blast!

Next we drove to Aspen and spent the evening at Maroon Bells which is the most photographed spot in America!

Aspen was crazy expensive so we stayed in the neighboring town of snowmass that was 1/3 the price of Aspen.  Our hotel neighbor had a motorcycle which just had to be used for a photo.

Day 4
We drove out to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. It was very rainy but still led to some incredible views.

We then drove out to Great Sand Dunes National Park. The drive with the storms was really cool and when it was time to play in the sand, the skies cleared up and the kids had a blast rolling down the sand hills and wrestling.
It was definitely the most photogenic spot on our trip due to the amazing evening light.

 

Day 5

This morning we did a high ropes course just outside of Salida. Mayz and Reid were both a bit scared at first but by the end, they wanted to do more!

Who would have thunk that our cheapest hotel of the trip would be a 4* Marriott with an indoor/outdoor pool. Not bad for $95. Thanks Hotwire!
We had a nice evening stroll in Garden of the Gods.

After dinner we went for a short walk around Garden of the Gods.  What an amazing place to have in the middle of a city like C-Springs!

Day 6

Today we started the day going way above the clouds up to the top of Pikes Peak at 14k+ feet.  Personally I found it to be super expensive and overly touristy. I guess I shouldn’t complain since we were also tourists, but Mt. Evans was much nicer.
However, it was a rainy day in Colorado Springs so with the low rain clouds, we were able to get WAY above the clouds up on Pike’s Peak.

Next we headed back down and did a tour of the Cave of the Winds. It was really cool learning about how the caves were formed.

Next we had a great lunch with Aunt Dawn and Uncle Jay who live in Colorado Springs.

From there it was on to Denver where we went to the Capitol building and then a quick visit to Mile high stadium but there were no tours left in the day so we didn’t get to go in to the stadium.

Day 7

Last night from our hotel, we had a beautiful sunset and this morning, these boys were champs with a 3:45am wakeup.
They held up pretty good today!!
Now it’s Home Sweet Home!!

Reynosa, Mexico Mission Trip

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This past Christmas, our family had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Reynosa, Mexico to build a small home for a family in need.
Here is a quick highlight video that summarizes our trip:

Our family met up with a group of 16 other people from a church in Kansas and headed down to Texas where we crossed the border into Reynosa, Mexico.
There, we met up with a much larger group of another 160 people made up of various teams from around the country.  This was all organized by an amazing orginazation called Strategic Alliance (www.StrategicAlliance.org).  The founders, Roland and Carolyn, have been going to Reynosa for 25 years.  They’ve built up relationships in the community and go there to help build houses in this extremely poor part of the world.  The community we got to serve has a large infrastructure built up around the nearby garbage dump where people scavange most of what they own.  Most shelters are build from old pieces of plywood, bricks, tires, tarps, anything they could find.
The houses that are getting built would be considered sheds in America but to them, they are huge upgrades.  They are 12’x20′ wood walls built onto a concrete slab.  They have windows, a door, a loft, and a metal roof.
When we arrived on site, the foundation had already been poured and there was a pile of lumber, metal, and screws for us to work with.
The materials had to be counted to make sure we had what we needed and then separated for what parts would be used for trim, walls, studs, roof purlins, etc.
It was then moved to an area where a team could start painting.  Unfortunately it was misty rain and cold all day so the paint was not drying properly and with the muddy ground, the freshly painted pieces got dirty very quickly.
By the end of the first day, we were able to get one of the walls put up.

  

The hotel that we were staying at was much nicer than we were expecting.  Other than not having hot water, it was actually a very comfortable room.  Their cafeteria provided our meals and drinks and we were well taken care of to make sure nobody would get sick from eating or drinking the wrong thing.
The hotel was a 20 minute drive from the worksite so on some of the days that were really long, some of the people could bring some of the younger kids back to the hotel to rest/relax.  The kids all helped out with painting and stuff and they also were able to play with some of the local kids down there.  The only problem was that every day we were there, it was cold and rainy so many of the kids didn’t come out in that unusual weather.  After we left, it was back up in the 70s and 80s.

By the end of day 2, we had all the walls up.

By day three we got most of the roof and loft done and then the 4th day we had to finish the house, decorate it, and hand over the keys.

After lunch, all the teams walked through the area leading to the dump and the dump itself where lots of people live and we handed out rice, beans, and tangerines to all the locals.  It was an amazing experience.  This little house that we built will be a home for grandma Marisella and her husband Saul along with potentially 13 other people (kids and grand kids).  I hope that it helped all the kids to realize just how blessed we are to live where we live and have the opportunities that we do.

If you are interested in going on a trip here, we will probably be going back over Thanksgiving with a group from the Detroit area so please reach out if you are interested.  To learn more, you can check out StrategicAlliance.org

1600 mile road trip in the Southeastern US including Georgia and the Carolinas

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Last week I had an opportunity to explore part of the country that I never explored before…the Southeast.
Here is a highlight video which includes some aerial clips from my drone:


10/28/17
I had a short flight from Detroit to Atlanta. The flight was only $160 roundtrip which was amazing! The Atlanta airport is huge. I needed to take a train to get my luggage and then another train to get my rental car.
It was pouring rain so instead of trying to rush up to Amicolola State Park, instead I did my grocery shopping and had dinner.
That night I camped in the van and it was ccccccold. When I went to bed, I layered up and was sweating but by 5:00 am I was frigid. It was 30 degrees and the wind was whipping and roaring and it was shaking the van so I definitely did not sleep well.

10/29/17
I got up an hour before sunrise and found the top of Amicolola Falls. It was very pretty with hints of fall color starting to show up. A very light snow was falling. There wasn’t a whole lot to see from the top. The best place to start is the west ridge falls access trial. There is a small parking lot and an easy path to the lower side of the falls which then has another 175 steps down to the lowest viewing platform.

I then drove half an hour to the Monteluce winery but it was too late in the season. Most of the vines were dead but it was a really cool building.

The next stop was the Woody gap overlook which is where the Appalachian trail connects. It was insanely windy up there. The wind was whipping everywhere to the point where it was really uncomfortable to be outside for more than a minute.

I then went to Anna ruby falls which was pretty and easy to access. There was a decent amount of fall color. Due to the easy access, there were a lot of people so using a tripod for the waterfall while standing on the boardwalk was tough because people walking on there would cause camera shake. It was a very pretty scene with the multi-tiered falls and the color in the leaves was really nice!

As I drove to Toccoa, I hit a traffic jam which was weird being out in the middle of nowhere. Turns out there is a random Bavarian style German town called Helen which is a big tourist destination apparently. It was really overcrowded so I didn’t stop.
I continued on to Toccoa Falls which was a pretty wedding site with a simple waterfall as a backdrop.

I proceeded to Tallulah gorge which was a canyon with a few waterfalls. It was LOTS of steps and an ok waterfall but I had too many layers on and was super hot and sweaty so I didn’t explore all the falls. I went down a few hundred stairs which led to a swinging bridge across the canyon. It was another few hundred more steps down to the next falls but I opted to not do that. I didn’t even end up getting my camera out so this is just a quick iphone shot of L’eau d’Or Falls

From there I went to Black Rock Mountain state park. The view from the visitor center at 3800 ft was the best viewpoint. It was too early in the day so once I scoped that out, I drove back down to Clayton, rented a room, had dinner and then headed back up for sunset. The sky was pretty but it was a cloudy horizon so the undersides of the clouds never lit up from the sunset.
I stayed the night at the Days Inn in Clayton.

10/30/17
This morning I was up at 5:00am with two hours of night mountain driving so that I could catch the sunrise on the Blue Ridge parkway. Totally worth it by the way!! The East Fork Overlook was a perfect location to watch the morning light change over the mountain ridges. Parts of the parkway had trees that were covered in ice which was gorgeous. It was extremely cold and windy up there. Unfortunately at one point the road was shut down for ice so I had to drive 1.5 hour around to get to Asheville.

 

Next was a tour of the Biltmore mansion. Those Vanderbilt’s sure knew how to live it up!! I spent some time checking out the exterior grounds and also walked around the inside.

I then drove over an hour to Chimney Rock State Park for some hiking but unfortunately the park was closed for some reason.
About 3 hours drive from there was Corangee National Park Swamp. I did the 2.4 mike boardwalk loop but was somewhat disappointed that all I saw was lots of squirrels and a deer. Not what I expected from a swamp. Most of it was dry except the lake in the far corner. I had some photo ideas over there but decided to stay away from the low angle water shots because I didn’t know if there were gators in there. Better to be safe!

Then, it was a drive through the cotton fields and onwards towards Charleston.

It ended up being almost 10 hours of driving today.

10/31/17
This morning I woke up at 6:00am and drove down to The Folly beach pier on folly island to watch the sunrise. A good sunrise typically needs clouds for the sunlight to reflect off of. There were no clouds in the sky but there was still a warm red glow in the horizon which was amazing.

I drove an hour to Mt Pleasant and did a Tour of the Boone plantation. They have a long oak tree tunnel drive which was pretty but the morning light was too harsh from the side so I waited around a few hours for the sun to come up. The tour of the plantation house was interesting and it was neat to learn about the history of the slaves and the land.  From a photographic perspective, the oak trees covered in spanish moss were just amazing!

Next, I drove over to Angel Oak Tree which is a gigantic 400 year old oak tree. It was really beautiful to see but I was yelled at by a guard for taking a picture with a tripod because she said that my tripod could hurt the tree. Ok.

Moving on, I drove to the Botany Bay Plantation on Edisto Island to hike out to the beach to photograph the old trees in the water. I was super disappointed to find out that it was closed. There is not much happening on that island at this time of year so most things were closed. It took a few hours with some help from Cheridy to find a place to stay for the night. Once the sun was lower in the sky, I went back to photograph the tree tunnel that leads to the plantation and then got some nice photos at sunset on the way back to where I was staying for the night.

11/1/17
This morning I was out the door around 6:00am and had to drive, park, and hike in the pitch dark which was super creepy. It was very still so you could hear every creature rustling in the woods in the dark which wasn’t fun being out here alone.

I got out to beach while the tide was still high. There were downed trees everywhere from the hurricane which made navigating difficult because there was no path. I had to wait for the water to recede and then run around a downed tree and then wait for more water to recede and run around the next downed tree. I have no idea where the tree was that I was going to photograph. And it was dark so it was very difficult to navigate. The recent hurricanes clearly did havoc as there was no clear path to walk on.
I got some beautiful photos with motion blur in the water. I eventually found the tree that I wanted to photograph but apparently it had also gotten knocked over by the hurricane. Bummer.

While doing really long exposures, I had two cameras with me so while one was on a tripod, the other was propped up in a tree which mostly worked out pretty good!

Next I drove to Statesboro to visit with my friend Lori Grice and her husband Dewayne. I got a tour of their studio, and then we went to lunch at Vandy‘s barbecue which is a very famous barbecue place in Statesboro.

After lunch, I drove to Savannah and went for a walk and enjoyed the beautiful 70° and sunshine. I just brought my phone with me and took some photos of some of the old houses and buildings.

I proceeded to the Wormsloe plantation just outside of Savannah to see the 1.5 mile long tunnel of oak trees. It was amazing!

I then drove through Savanna during rush hour to get back up to Hilton head Island to visit my friend David Gerwals. He is an amazing photographer among many other things that he does. We spent the evening talking about business. I stayed the night at his beautiful house right near the ocean.

11/2/17
This morning I photographed the sunrise on the beach at Hilton head, and then I started heading south.

I passed through a small fishing village called Damian and photographed a few of the shrimp boats on the river.

Next I headed to Jekyll Island. I explored some areas that I wanted to photograph later but right now it was clear skies and sunny which is not good weather for photography so I went and rented a hotel and relaxed for a few hours.


Later in the day I went back and spent a few hours exploring the driftwood on the beach and photographing the dead trees as the tide and light changed. It was mesmerizing and the time just flew by. By the time the sun was down, the mosquitos started to come out in full force so it was time to go!

11/3/17
Today, I woke up at 5:00am and headed back out to Jekyll beach long before sunrise to photograph the stars with the gnarly trees. It was incredibly peaceful. No wind. No bugs. No people. Just me and nature. Initially when I arrived, the nearly full moon was still out which lit the trees and the night sky. I was there long enough to watch the moon set and then watch the sunrise. It was a fantastic morning!
The tide changes dramatically in an hour time span. Driftwood that you can walk out to would be 40 ft out in the water in just a short time.

I then drove about 4.5 hours to Providence Canyon State Park which reminded me a lot of Bruce Canyon in Utah or maybe better yet, the smaller Red Canyon that is just outside of Bryce. Providence is a small canyon that is out of the way but it was still pretty.

Another 1.5 hour drive to the Callaway Gardens to kill some time. It is a big campus that has a lot of areas to check out. I only had an hour before they closed so I did a loop around everywhere and then stopped in at the butterfly garden and the discovery center. It looks like they also have a beach, zip lines, climbing walls, golf, and lots of other neat things to do.

Next it was back to the Atlanta airport to start packing gear before heading home.

1500 Mile Family Vacation Road Trip around California

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In May of this year, our family headed out to California to hit some of the main natural attractions.

5/20/17

We flew into Los Angeles, rented a minivan and hit the road.  We arrived very late at night and by the time we got our rental car it was already close to 1:00am.
I was trying to find a hotel with breakfast included and all the places I called were booked.  Finally I found a place and got us a room.
Unfortunately it was a total dump.  The hotel was gross and the “free breakfast” was literally peanut butter and jelly served out of a cooler in the parking lot…yikes!

 

 

5/21/17
The next day we drove the 4-5 hours to Sequoia National Park and enjoyed the mountain vistas and the gigantic/beautiful trees.  Some of these trees are mind blowing because they are so huge!!

I love this tree that has been lying on the ground for the last 100 years.  At one point, a family even lived inside this tree.

This helps give a size perspective on how big these things are!

Next, we headed over to the neighboring park of King’s Canyon.  The gorge off the side of the road is beautiful.

One of our stops was Grizzly Falls.  The wind was blowing like crazy and with the gushing waterfall and all the spray coming of the falls, it felt like we were in a hurricane.

Some areas of King’s Canyon really remind me of driving through the alps.

Near the end of the King’s Canyon road, we found this pretty little waterfall.  I had never been to King’s Canyon, so I was expecting that the end of the road was going to lead to a vista point but it didn’t.  It just ended in a small loop that turns you around the other way.

As we were leaving the park, the sun was setting which created some really pretty views with the mountain backdrop.

Looking back east, I love seeing the winding mountain road leading into the park.

We ended up driving about halfway to Yosemite and spent the night.

5/22/17
The next morning we drove into Yosemite National Park.  Yosemite has always been one of my favorite places but the infrastructure there is just not able to handle the crowds.  It took 45 minutes to get into the park waiting in line at the entrance. Once in the park, there was an hour long traffic jam.  It then took us half an hour to find a parking spot. By the time we found parking, it was time for lunch.  We wanted to go do a short hike.  We waited 15 minutes for the shuttle to come, then the shuttle which was taking us about 3 miles took 45 minutes due to all the traffic jams.  We did a really nice 1.5 hour hike to Vernal Falls.  On the way back, we waited one hour for a shuttle with enough room for the 5 of us, then the 3 mile ride too another 1.25 hours to get back to the Lodge.  In other words, it took us almost 6 hours of driving/waiting to do a 1.5 hour hike.
It’s beautiful, but the traffic, crowds, and waiting were exhausting.  I will only go back if it’s off-season.

This photo was taken on the trail to Bridal Veil Falls.


Tunnel View is one of my favorite viewpoints in the world.  The waterfalls and unique landscape are mesmerizing.

Here is a quick photo from the mist trail at Vernal Falls

In the evening when the park started to empty out, we drove up to Glacier Point to watch the sunset and that was definitely one of the highlights of Yosemite.

Here is a pretty shot of the side of halfdome being lit up by the sun.

From this view you can see Nevada Falls and Vernal Falls way down in the valley.

On our drive back into the valley, we had some beautiful sunset views.

5/23/17

This morning, Kole and I woke up at 5:00am to go do photos around the valley at sunrise. We found a few really pretty spots along the river and then went back to Tunnel View.

We then met back up with everyone else and spent a little time exploring the valley before doing a short walk to lower Yosemite falls.

Next, we drove out to San Francisco.  Driving through the central valley in California, it was 102 degrees.  45 minutes later, in San Francisco, it was 65 degrees.
We stopped for dinner at pier 39 which was a fun place to explore.  The boys loved the Sea Lions.

Next, we stopped at the Palace of Fine Arts.

We hoped to see a sunset over the Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin headlands, but that whole area was shrouded in clouds and fog. We stayed at the Mirage hotel by the zoo.

5/24/17
The next morning, sunrise was cloudy. We planned to drive up to Twin Peaks for a view of the city, but that was also covered in fog. We drove out to Baker Beach. The boys played around on the beach and we enjoyed the nice view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

 

After that, we drove around city and stopped at the famoun Lombard street and then moved on to the Painted Ladies where we had a picnic lunch.

Our plan was to drive all the way down highway 1, but most of highway 1 was closed for mudslides. We were able to drive about 20 miles of the 100 miles before the road was closed and we had to turn around.  It was very cloudy.

We stayed the nigh at the El Castell hotel in seaside.  They had a cheap price, decent room, good enough breakfast and a heated pool so the kids had a blast.

5/25/17
The next morning, I started to feel really sick so we had a slow morning.  Cheridy and the boys went and had some pool time while I stayed in bed in the room.
Since Highway 1 was closed, we had to drive back inland to make our way south.  We stopped at the famous Hearst Castle and did a tour.

5/26/17
Todaywe made our way out back out to the coast and stopped off in Malibu, Santa Monica to explore the Pier, and then Venice Beach.

After that we got to meet up with cousin Caleb who lives in the West Hollywood area and he took us up to the Griffith Observatory and then we had a fun dinner at a Korean barbeque place near his apartment.

5/27/17
Today was just a long flight home with some rest on the plane!

 

 

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