FREE ARCHIVED BLOG & PHOTOSET

I originally wrote this for Patreon on July 8, 10-12, 15, & 17 2016 during my first long distance road trip (to Colorado and Utah!). I no longer use Patreon and have replaced it with my website (here) but thought I would share some of my old blogs with you for FREE to show my appreciation for you visiting my website! <3

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Wow, time has flown and so much has happened! We left at about 6am on Saturday. We drove 1575 miles in 32 hours. Two time zones over we arrived in Denver (Sunday). Before meeting up with the friends we’re staying with we went to Red Rocks, which was beautiful of course. We hung out with our friends on Monday. Tuesday we were going to hike to Lake Isabelle but about 1000 feet up the mountain my car’s alternator decided to die. We spent the rest of the day getting that fixed. Hooray. The place we took it to was wonderful and drove us to a nearby park while we waited for them to fix it. The park ended up being a locked fenced baseball field and it started raining soon after we got there. We jumped the fence and found an unlocked door which ended up being the electrical room. We hung out in there until the rain stopped then we chilled on the bleachers the rest of the time. Once the car was fixed we drove around Boulder for a bit. Wednesday/yesterday we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park and hiked about 5 or 6 miles on Timber Lake trail. We camped overnight and today we hiked over 10 miles from Green Mountain trail to Granite Falls. Omg we are so tired and sore! That was the longest hike we’ve ever done in one day. We took a few rolls of film yesterday and today and I’m looking forward to getting them developed!

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We had to stop and get a few photos here yesterday on our way to Black Canyon of the Gunnison. We even got a couple of quick nudes on film! Black Canyon is so amazing. Photos and words cannot describe the enormity, magnificence, and wonder of this place. We took some landscapes and nudes (and the sunset!) and camped here last night. We got up early enough to shoot some sunrise nudes. I’m so anxious to see all this film!!! We just showered at a truck stop and are getting lunch before heading to Arches National Park!

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We made it to Utah yesterday and spent the night next to the Colorado River. Camping in the canyon we could see so many stars! Tonight we’ll be camping in a different section of the canyon and getting up super early (again) for more sunrise nudes. Most of the nudes are on film but we’re trying to get some digital samples to share until we get the film developed.

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We camped in the canyon again last night after our sunset hike/shoot at Dead Horse Point State Park. We’ve really been roughing it: living out of my car, sleeping in a tent, brushing our teeth at gas stations, wearing the same clothes 2 days in a row. I’ve actually really loved it even though some parts have been stressful. We don’t even know where we’re sleeping tonight yet! But that’s part of the adventure. 😊

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Hi guys! I’m currently in the back of my car attempting to get some sleep while we drive through Amarillo and northern Texas on our way back home to Charlotte. I’m sad that our epic road trip is almost over but all good things must come to an end, right? I wasn’t able to post as much as I wanted while we were gone. I didn’t think beforehand that we would be mostly in national parks and therefore wouldn’t have much signal at all. But! Now that we’re on the road 4G is on and I’m able to post stuff to pass the time! Don’t worry, I won’t totally flood your patreon feed/email. I just want to share a couple more photos of the places we’ve been since I last posted. Once we get back home I’ll start taking batches of film to get developed and I’ll be able to share so much more from the trip! I have several rolls that I used to take landscapes that are earmarked to be doubled over with self portraits or a model so Colorado & Utah will show up on here for a while. Yay!

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AD told me this bed was his new best friend. I don’t blame him, it was the first real bed we slept in in 2 weeks. Our last night we decided to splurge and stay at a bed & breakfast called Kelly Place outside of Mesa Verde National Park. One of the best decisions ever! It felt amazing to sleep in a bed and have an actual bathroom. The breakfast the next morning was delicious! This B&B is special because it’s also an archaeological site with ancient Puebloan kivas, pueblos, and other artifacts on the property. They give a booklet to all guests so they are able to do a self guided tour around the property and even encourage guests to enter the kivas! I have a video from inside one of the kivas that I’ll upload to the Smugmug once we get home. Kivas are ancient Puebloan sacred spaces that were used for religious and ceremonial purposes. They are circular underground rooms with a fire pit that you enter from above using a ladder. The thing that impressed me the most was the intricate way they stacked the logs for the roof. I don’t have a photo because it was too dark inside but wait for that video! I’ll be doing a lot of uploading this weekend after we get home.

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Got home safe and sound yesterday! Our trip by the numbers:

32 hours driving there
5 national parks
2 state parks
33 miles hiking beautiful landscapes
15 rolls of 35mm film
5 nights with friends
5 nights in a tent
3 nights in a car
1 night in a B&B
42 hours driving back
5100 total miles driven

So sad that it’s over but glad to be home.