I split my week up into two halves and drove all over Eastern Washington photographing.  My dream job scenario.

DAY 1

Swiftwater Cellars + Hoist House Restaurant – Cle Elum, WA

Wild Earth Brewing – Roslyn, WA

Boudreaux Cellars – Leavenworth, WA

Boudreaux tasting room located in Leavenworth.

Icicle Brewing- Leavenworth, WA

Sleeping Lady Resort- Leavenworth, WA

Apple Cup Cafe – Chelan, WA

DAY 2

Nefarious Cellars- Chelan, WA

{cover shot}

Cave B Estate Winery + Tendrils Restaurant – Quincy, WA

Fidelitas- Benton City, Wa

Col Solare- Benton City, WA

Whitstran Brewing- Prosser, WA

Horse Heaven Hills Brewery- Prosser, WA

Desert Wind Brewing – Prosser, WA

Mojave – Prosser, WA

{night sleep in Prosser}

DAY 3

Snipes Mountain Brewing – Sunnyside, WA

Two Mountain Winery – Zillah, WA

Treveri Cellars – Wapato, WA

Owen Roe Winery – Wapato, WA

Miners Drive in – Yakima, WA

After a full weekend of shooting I returned home for the week and prepared for the next two dozen locations I had to shoot for the story.  Early Friday morning I made way to Walla Walla, WA.  I first stopped in Hood River to shoot a few Brewing companies.

DAY 4

Full Sail Brewing- Hood River, OR

pFriem Family Brewers – Hood River, OR

Aniche Cellars – Underwood, WA

The next stop on my list was Maryhill Winery.  But mother nature had another plan for me…as I was unable to get there due to Forest Fires.

Columbia Crest Winery- Paterson, WA

After my long drive to Walla Walla, I was beyond ready to settle down for the night.  I rented an Airstream for two nights at ‘Chilleville’ in Walla Walla.  Once I arrived, I was speechless to find my home for the weekend.  It was my first time sleeping in an airstream, and I hope its not my last.

DAY 5

Walla Walla Roastery – Walla Walla, WA

Inn at Abeja – Walla Wala, WA

Charles Smith Wines – Walla Walla, WA

Dunham Cellars – Walla Walla, WA

T. MaccaRone’s

Burnwood Brewing – Walla Walla, WA

Brasserie Brewing – Walla Walla, WA

Saffron – Walla Walla, WA

Jimgemanbar – Walla Walla, WA

I ended my day with a gathering at the Chillville party pad.  Zibby, the host for Chillville, had invited those whom were staying in the airstreams to join her and a few of her friends for dinner and drinks.  It was the perfect way to end a long productive day.  I highly recommend staying here if you find yourself in Wine Country!

DAY 6

Bacon & Eggs – Walla Walla, WA

Colville Street Patisserie – Walla Walla, WA

The Green Lantern – Walla Walla, WA

Marcus Whitman Hotel – Walla Walla, WA

Amavi Cellars – Walla Walla, WA

My shoot at Amavi was one of my favorites of the weekend.  I had a great group of people to photograph as well as a picteresque background.  We had arranged the shoot during a super moon!  And seeing that moon pop up over the rolling hills and mountains in Walla Walla was a sight to remember.  Simply amazing!

DAY 7 { Last day…long drive home }

Cadaretta Glass House  – Walla Walla, WA

Hedges Family Estate – Benton City, WA

Before I knew it, my journey and assignment had come to an end.  After two weekends of running around Eastern Washington, tasting fabulous wines and soaking in stunning views I was returning home.   This experience reminded me what I love about traveling and photographing.  I look forward to more opportunities like these in my career.   Till then, I have my first cover shoot and a lovely Blog to document my adventure!

Once again Nick Cavalier and I came together to work with artist, Brian Mackey on his most recent music video.  I flew into New Jersey this past July where shooting began.  The concept of the video was pretty straight forward…America.  What images come to mind when you think of America?  We wanted to capture imagery that went along with Brian’s lyrics and the journey many musician’s take while traveling on the road.  Nick and I documented along the way to Nashville, TN where the final shooting took place.  This blog includes images I took from our itinerary and the behind scenes of the the music video, “America”.  

Without fail, there will be some documentation of me on the ground shooting.  Thanks Nick ! 

Also, enjoy the video here:

http://www.cmt.com/videos/brian-mackey/1093279/america.jhtml

 OR

 http://www.1manshow.tv/music-videos/

My 32nd birthday was celebrated in various places in Oregon.  It sounds funny, but those commercials encouraging people to explore The 7 Wonders of Oregon inspired me to do jus that! So, my husband did some planning  and we narrowed down where in Oregon we were gonna stay – and we ended up in Mt Hood & The Columbia River Gorge area.

Day 1

 After we nearly hiked 3miles we realized the path didn’t seem so clear anymore. We were hopeful that the path would show back up again, and then decided to throw  in the towel  and head back to the car.  Once doing so we noticed a sign saying that the bridge was down and we could not cross the river to get to the waterfalls we were attempting to hike to.  Opps! Ha.  It just made the next hike even more rewarding

Made a pit stop at the local bar for food…and then it was on to location no.2 Tamanawas Falls

Day 2 : Painted Hills

After spending some time in the hills, we grabbed some food in town and headed back to enjoy a fire in our cabin.

Day 3 : Bday gifts and more sightseeing awaits Smith Rock

Tumalo Falls

Day 4 :Home

The drive home-  Just as beautiful as the drive here.  We did make a pit stop in Portland, which was a nice addition before going home.   All in all, my birthday celebration was filled with love, adventure, excitement, joy, fresh air, new discoveries, and new memories with my wee little family.  Felt very blessed!

One of the best parts about long drives is seeing the terrain change. Going from mountain passes, to some sun shine and flat lands, to just white space for miles upon miles. It keeps the drive interesting!    Most people (including myself) can get so lost in daily routines, stresses, worries, & responsibilities…and these drives make me slow down.  Look around and appreciate the world we live in.  It is therapeutic to me. Nothing is better then being rewarded with a colorful sunrise after being on the road for nearly 24hrs.  It is so refreshing.
Arrived!

To freezing, freezing weather- but nonetheless, we made it!

Before our trip was over we decided to drive to The Bluff (which we try to do every visit home).  And our visits here have become more and more adventurous as winter goes on.  Joel and I got stuck in the snow when we came out during christmas time, and then again, during this trip.  But, we keep making the haul during crappy weather to visit his Dad.  This time around, we had the help of his Mom and Sister.  Could be pretty bad, as no one really goes to this location during this season, but we have embraced the challenges and come home with great stories! Then it was back to the road home….

This trip has been on my bucket list for some time now, and I am very happy that my wee-little family and I got to do this.  Unfortunately, the first few days were beyond foggy and rainy, but we were rewarded towards the end of our trip.  Either way, we made the best of it, explored, and drove on the edge of the world!  Relive the adventure with me by checking this post out

Some of the areas we explored (especially with the way the weather was) reminded us of Iceland.  It was such a nice and familiar feeling- I could of spent hours here!

Meyers Creek Beach

Committing to a week long road trip with pets in the car, rain or shine, we had to stop to let the little guys play.  Sand dunes ended up being our go to pit stops.  What was amazing about the dunes this time of year was that no one was around.  We had the beaches to ourselves.  And the pups loved it, just as much as we did!

The redwoods have such an incredible spiritual feeling when you just stop and look up.  Soak it all in.  These trees are remarkable!  Could of spent days there. As the sun started to set we headed to a nearby cabin in the redwoods to rest.  It was so charming and incredible to wake up amongst the largest of trees.

Avenue of the Giants

As we slowly approached Cali the weather improved- allowing more time to be outside and explore the area.  This made us decide to add more time on to our journey just drive through San Fran to see Big Sur.  So, that is just what we did.

So, we watched the sun set over the bridge then drove a bit further on the coast and found a sweet little cabin for the night.  Turned on the fire, had some wine and pizza and slept the night away till the morning . Big Sur blew our minds.  We only had a day to see the ‘edge of the world’ before heading back to San Fran (where we had a hotel reserved for two nights) but it was so worth the extra driving.  We just look forward to returning with more time on our hands next time. Time to turn around….

We saw this really amazing cafe/gallery place on the drive along Big Sur and decided it would be the perfect place to stop and grab food and coffee before driving back to the city.  As we waited for our food, we enjoyed the views and some ice cream.  It was the perfect rest stop.
San Francisco! Because we didn’t have more time in San Fran, we made sure to jam pack our days with adventure.  The weather was perfect and the city was alive!
No shock that we would be on the hunt to find ourselves some good coffee on our stay…

And we did at Blue Bottle!

Last night exploring! Then the morning came. We had to pack up the car, check-out at the hotel, grab food & coffee, and start our long drive home.  BUT we made one last stop.

The Beach!  (and a nude one at that)

then we said goodbye

This trip was filled with such joy, beauty, warmth, laughter, love, appreciation, relaxation, great food, blue waters, rum punch, swimming, good talks, and FAMILY!

 Let me explain how we got here:

So, for Christmas this year my Mom treated everyone to go on this family vacation!  And everything about it was perfect.  I seriously can not thank my Mom enough for such a generous gift.

Beaches Resort

As you get older life has a tendency to keep you busy, stressed, distracted, and in general you just have more on your plate.  This is all fine and dandy, but the importance of stepping away and being able to regroup is a blessing.  My mom made that possible for all of us. 

In preparation for this trip I bought my first Nikon camera.  I couldn’t pass up their new water-proof interchangeable lens, point and shoot!  SO, all these images are taken with my new toy.    Enjoy!  

The house we stayed in had a private pool, rooms for everyone, steps from the beach, and best of all -a Butler for the week!  We were truly pampered. Beach DAY!

After a long first day … we were all tuckered out!  We relaxed, ate some amazing food, and started planning for the next day of sunshine.  We all knew we had an incredible week ahead of us.

We started the 2nd day by the pool side.  It was such fun having the kids in the pool, the swim up bar, a special spot reserved for us, snacks delivered, and baby naps in a cabana. 

The best part about this trip was that the only thing we had to think about was which restaurant we were gonna try next, beach or pool day, and what kind of daiquiri to order!  

Who doesn’t enjoy a lazy river?! The next morning my Mom and I went kayaking (her first time) as well as sailing.  I was so proud of my Mom because she doesn’t know how to swim, and she didn’t let her fear get her in the way.  It was nice to have some of that one on one time on this trip with her. …back to the beach! Beaches Resort did such a wonderful job being kid friendly, but not in an over the top kind of way.  And these lovely characters were spotted here in their throughout our stay.  It was so cute seeing how excited the kids got when they saw them! For Valentine’s Day, Joel planned a candlelight dinner for us by the ocean and I had planned a massage during sunset (on the balcony)  It was so relaxing!  Afterwards we grabbed Hibachi and ended our evening walking along the beach during a full moon.  During our night walk we saw two huge manta rays.  Was so exciting, and a great Vday if you ask me! 

Our last night & morning!

Started with a ferry ride, then a few hour drive to the camp grounds.  We got in past dark, which leaves some mystery to where exactly we found ourselves.  All we had was the sound of waves crashing and the fire crackling as we went to bed.  Those sounds are perfect to fall asleep to!

As the morning approached we made breakfast on the fire and then got to exploring.  Of course with a pit-stop for coffee first!   Neah Bay, WA

Cape Flattery

Then it was back to the campsite …  The next morning we ended up speeding up the process of packing-up and heading out due to weather.  But, that did not stop us from stopping as we pleased to site see.  We even spotted some whales!

 {more images on my instagram feed -capturing images from our weekend away from home}Then before we knew it we were on the ferry again, headed back to the city.

I hope you can enjoy the below images as much as I did while capturing some of these wonderful places  The Northwest is beyond stunning and I can’t get over how lucky I am to have the opportunity to explore it in these ways.

 {my first double spread image}

After grabbing some food and walking on foot, hitching rides from locals, we rented one of these sweet little rides to get around. Buck Bay Shellfish Farm

Tanaka San

Anchors Down

Lick

Kickin Boot

Il Corvo

Madison Kitchen

seattlemag.com

So, after grabbing brunch we headed back to our house and loaded up the car with camping gear, some food, our pup, and Joel’s guitar.

And the adventure began with a ferry ride.

Due to the fact that we did not plan ahead of time, once we arrived in the Olympic Mountains the sun was setting. So, we drove up for a sneak peak and then headed to set up camp.  We figured we had the whole next day to enjoy the scenery.

Good Morning Sunshine

Thereafter

After saying goodbye to the mountains we headed to Port Angeles to see the sunset over the water.  Absolutely beautiful and beyond peaceful!

It was a weekend jammed packed with great food, long walks, and sight seeing.  Here are some images from our weekend adventures.

 I love you, Joelly!  Happy Anniversary.

Suspended Bridge