As the eternal optimist, I’ve often been accused of viewing the world through rose-colored lenses. Why not take my optimism to the next level? Artistic Earth Photography showcases the world as I see it. My hope is to inspire others to view the world as I do – in all of its wild artistic beauty. Enjoy!
Latest from the Blog
Home Again
Day 23: 6/24/24From: Chatham, Ontario, CanadaTo: Reading, PADistance: 514 miles This post isn’t worth much. Our final day is a long drive, and we’re on the road by 7:15 a.m. Border crossing at Buffalo, NY this time and the border guard is unimpressed with us, which is, of course, always a good thing. We smuggled…
Family is Family
Day 22: 6/23/24From: Chatham, Ontario, CanadaTo: Wallaceburg, Ontario, CanadaDistance: 21 miles We sleep in. Husband and I wake one kid at 9 for breakfast. The other refuses to wake and says they’ll eat later. So it’s a breakfast at the hotel for 3 of us, but we’re shocked to find the dining room packed. Apparently…
Cross-Country (International Version)
Day 21: 6/22/24From: Fort Atkinson, WITo: Chatham, Ontario, CanadaDistance: 472 miles Another long drive today, but one that crosses an international border. Our passports have been waiting patiently for this day in the trip. (Too bad they don’t get a stamp…) We wake shortly after 7 and are on the road by 8:30. The skies…
Out of the Rain and into…More Rain
Day 20: 6/21/24From: Garretson, SD (Palisades State Park)To: Fort Atkinson, WIDistance: 469 miles I wake after 4 hours of sleep and see a message that came through on my phone an hour or so after we left the campground. (I should still be sleeping right now, I’m exhausted, but my body says no, apparently. Adrenaline…
Palisades State Monsoon
Day 19: 6/20/24From: Badlands National Park, SD (Cedar Pass Campground)To: Garretson, SD (Palisades State Park)Distance: 290 miles We “sleep in” today. Though we wake often in the tent, we manage to ignore the daylight until 8:30. It’s been raining on and off all night, too, but the tent has held up well. Fog covers the…
Wind, Clouds, and Highway Marketing
Day 18: 6/19/24From: Sheridan, WYTo: Badlands National Park, SD (Cedar Pass Campground)Distance: 322 miles Up at 8:30, showers again whoo! 2 in 12 hours and I relish every drop of hot water. We mosey out of the hotel and head to Perkins for breakfast. Bad news. They don’t have gluten-free pancakes so Older Child goes…
Change of Plans
Day 17: 6/18/24From: Yellowstone National Park, WY (Grant Village Campground)To: We’ll know when we get there (Sheridan, WY by way of the Bighorn Scenic Byway, by way of Cody, WY by way of Cooke City, MTDistance: 316 miles There’s an inch of snow on the ground when we wake up. The sleeping bags were warm…
In Spite of the Weather
Day 16: 6/17/24From: Grand Teton National Park, WY (Colter Bay Campground)To: Yellowstone National Park, WY (Grant Village Campground)Distance: 33 miles (+ many miles of mindless park driving) It’s cold. But nowhere near as cold as it will be tonight. At least we were toasty warm in our sleeping bags and blankets last night. And our…
Potatoes, Rocks, and Knuckleheads
Day 15: 6/16/24From: Boise, IDTo: Grand Teton National Park, WY (Colter Bay Campground) by way of Craters of the Moon National Monument, IDDistance: 403 miles Up at 7. Maybe the first time an alarm has actually woken us up. Showers, breakfast, and off we go, leaving exciting Boise behind us. Did breakfast include Idaho potatoes?…
Oregon – the Land of Many Climates
Day 14: 6/15/24From: Crater Lake, ORTo: Boise, IDDistance: 418 miles (+ some) Um, it’s snowing. In mid-June. We’re out the door by 8 am and the cloud cover above us is thick. But snow? I guess it *is* 32 degrees, so it’s not unprecedented. But also not exactly expected either. We’re east-coasters. June means warmth.…
Three Deer, a Raccoon, and a Big, Fat Skunk
Day 13: 6/14/24From: San Francisco, CATo: Crater Lake, ORDistance: 417 miles I’m up at 6:45 and grab a quick shower before waking the rest of the family. We enjoy a hot breakfast and are on the road a little after 8, in time to catch rush hour traffic in the area. Congested, yes, but at…
Pivot
Day 12: 6/13/24From: Sequoia National Park (Potwisha Campground)To: Golden Gate National Recreation Area (Bicentennial Campground Holiday Inn Express)Distance: 294 miles I am up at 5. Again. The variety of birds in the California wilderness is astounding and I have the Merlin bird app open to pass an hour before I even think about waking the…
Gold in the Dirt, Gold in the Hills
Day 11: 6/12/24From: Las Vegas, NVTo: Sequoia National Park (Potwisha Campground) Distance: 391 miles We leave Las Vegas by 8:30 and head to Goodsprings, NV to see The Pioneer Saloon. Last time Nate and I were here, we captured a video we weren’t expecting. That video is what made the kids want to come. We reach…
The Most Expensive Day
Day 10: 6/11/24From: Grand Canyon National Park, AZTo: Las Vegas, NVDistance: 272 miles It worked! Husband sleeping in car and rest of family sleeping in tent resulted in sleep for everyone. Husband has some DayQuil and has been feeling significantly better even before taking it, but now even more so. We spend a lazy morning…
Small Miracles
Day 9: 6/10/24From: Bryce Canyon, UTTo: Grand Canyon National Park, AZDistance: 158 miles I wake at 5:30, very glad I took my sky photos last night because this morning is all cloud cover. The clouds that have rolled in end up preventing us from seeing sunrise over the hoodoos as we had hoped. We still…
Canyons (x2)
Day 8: 6/9/24From: Mesa Verde National Park, COTo: Bryce Canyon, UT by way of Four Corners National Monument and Antelope Canyon, AZDistance: 382 miles 7 a.m. seems to be our regular wake up time. We break down camp and head to The Knife’s Edge Cafe down by the camp office to order breakfast we don’t…
Family Time Across the Centuries
Day 7: 6/8/24Mesa Verde National Park, CODistance: 30-ish miles? We wake at 7 am and head to the cliff dwelling viewing areas before the heat and the crowds. It makes for a perfect morning. Our first stop is Cliff Palace. When we get to the viewing platform, our eyes are immediately drawn to a carved…
Into the Fire
Day 6: 6/7/24From: Santa Fe, NMTo: Mesa Verde National Park, CO by way of Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness Area, NMDistance: 318 miles Up at 7, but Husband was up half the night with a migraine brought on by the IPA he had with his shrimp tacos last night. Maybe there’s some obscure rule that says we can’t…
Bound for Santa Fe
Day 5: 6/6/24From: Aspen, Colorado (Difficult Campground)To: Santa Fe, NMDistance: 300 miles I’m up at 4 am. Why am I up at 4 am? Because my body is not used to camping. I made the executive decision somewhere in the blackness of night that I would flip my sleeping position so I could try to…
Moving Up in the World
Day 4: 6/5/24From: Cedar Bluff State Park, KSTo: Aspen, CO (Difficult Campground)Distance: 528 miles Up at 6 and out the door by 7:30 with a quick stop for groceries at Malay’s Market in WaKeeney, KS, Christmas City of the High Plains. There are three checkout lanes; This One, That One, and The Middle One. I…
Magic Meadows
Day 3: 6/4/24From: St. Louis, MOTo: Cedar Bluff State Park, KSDistance: 561 miles New rule: Don’t book an interior room that overlooks the gym. You *will* be woken up by weightlifters with every rep they finish…at 5 am. thunk * thunk * thunk Anyway, guess I’m up early. I’m ready to hit the road by…
Kentucky, Illinois, and Manmade Wonders
Day 2: 6/3/24From: Pigeon Forge, TNTo: St. Louis, MODistance: 517 miles A later start today, leaving at 10 am, but the best pancakes for breakfast. Yum! Flapjack’s Pancake Cabin comes highly recommended (by us). Bonus? Everything can be made gluten-free. (Which is a major plus when you spent an hour the night before trying to…
The Storms Take America Part 2
Day 1: 6/2/24From: Reading, PATo: Pigeon Forge, TNDistance: 610 miles After nine long years, we’re doing it again! We’re going cross-country. This time with four of us in the car. Did I mention it’s a smaller car than last time? Never mind that. We’re going anyway! Up bright and early. Out of the house by…
Coming Soon…
The Storms Take America Part 2. Stay tuned.
All the Things that Did Not Kill Me
(Reasons to Travel) Original Post: April 23, 2016 Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a “bit” of a worrywart. Okay, it’s true. I’m a flat-out crazy person sometimes. In my own mind, I’ve already encountered every possible awful scenario that has ever existed. My imagination is my own worst enemy. I’ve been through floods, fires,…
Chicago on a Saturday
Original Post: April 23, 2016 Remember the feeling when you were a kid and Christmas day finally arrived? It’s simultaneously amazing and disappointing. The day is here, but all of the weeks of anticipation are gone… There are tons of amazing new things to play with, loud family gathered around the dinner table, dozens of…
You Can’t Have it All
Original Post: February 15, 2016 They say all good things must come to an end, and perhaps that’s why I’ve put off posting this last blog entry! On day 21, we were up at 5:30 due to a crying baby in the camp site across from us (seriously – what is with these parents???) and…
The Race
Original Post: November 30, 2015 Surely you must think that I’ve died since I have sorely neglected this blog for the past month and a half. At least part of that is due to NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month, a frantic November scurry to get 50,000 words written by each participating aspiring novelist. As…
Brake Lights
Original Post: October 11, 2015 We got up at 5:30 am to try our hand at spotting wildlife. We’d been told by Kirk that wolves and bears are frequently spotted in the Lamar Valley, and Nate had wanted to fish Pebble Creek, so off we went. Unlike Yosemite, Yellowstone is wonderfully laid out, with roads…
Big Horn Sheep, Hot Springs, and (No) Bears – Oh My!
Original Post: September 22, 2015 We were in for another long trip, but really, was there any other kind on this vacation? We left our little cabin in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho by 7 am and drove through the western edge of Montana, thinking all the while that we’d definitely be retiring there in the future.…
More than Just Potatoes
Original Post: September 8, 2015 There came a point in our trip when we knew it would be time to turn around and head back home. Crater Lake didn’t really count (even though we’d changed directions), as it was still an amazing destination that I’d planned as part of the itinerary. Idaho, however, was…well… Idaho.…
It’s Only an Ankle
Original Post: September 1, 2015 Day 16 – Crater Lake! It was “only” a 3 1/2 hour drive from the Redwood National Forest, but it’s funny how on this trip, the shorter drives felt longer. We arrived at the campground at 12:30, set up camp, ate some lunch, and realized it was already time to get…
Fog City, The City by the Bay, San Fran
Original Post: August 26, 2015 Call it what you will, but I think San Francisco gives Chicago a run for its money as The Windy City. Geez! But I’m ahead of myself. Last I wrote, we were still stuck in Yosemite. Dismal, stormy, not-what-it-was-supposed-to-be Yosemite. We were poured on again the night before, ensuring that…
No Moonbows for You!
Original Post: August 17, 2015 Day 2 at Yosemite. At least we were prepared for Tioga Pass Road today. We woke early, figuring we’d start the day off right. That meant fishing in the stream in the meadow directly across from the campground, of course. Nate caught several cutthroat trout, hooting and hollering each time…
Yosemite (Pronounced Yo-Seh-Mighty in my book)
Original Post: August 16, 2015 Leaving Sequoia National Park, I was excited to head to Yosemite. Yosemite. That amazing park where Ansel Adams produced so many phenomenal photographs. Images that influenced my love for photography, perhaps even images that fueled my insatiable love for nature. (Though I admit, early childhood hikes with family had already…
To See a Giant
Original Post: August 11, 2015 Though we could have enjoyed the coast forever (And really, who couldn’t?), we packed up early and hit the road for Sequoia National Park to meet with The General. (Sherman, that is.) We were on our way early and fully prepared for hitting LA traffic in full-on rush hour. Yeah.…
This Concludes the Desert Portion of Your Tour
Original Post: August 8, 2015 We headed out on Day 10, eager to be leaving Las Vegas. (Hey, isn’t that a movie?) A “quick” stop at McDonald’s for breakfast, but oh, that’s right. That’s where we discovered, yet again, that nothing in Vegas is as quick as the reputation. We got to the drive-through lane…
Viva Las Vegas
Original Post: August 6, 2015 Bring on the crazy! Day 9 meant Vegas time. Life in Las Vegas is supposed to be pretty fast, right? Everything on television and in the books, at least, seems to imply that’s the case. Oh, but didn’t your mother ever tell you that not everything you see on TV…
Even the Best Laid Plans Go Awry
Original Post: August 2, 2015 Hooray, we were finally blessed with a day when we could wake up slowly and take the day easily. I had booked two nights at the Grand Canyon and we were grateful for the down time. Showers and shopping for souvenirs before a short drive to Cape Royal where we’d…
No Encore, Please
Original Post: July 31, 2015 We had packed up and gotten on the road by 7 am, determined not to be in the the canyons of Zion when the temperature rose above 90. We’ve certainly had enough of that to last a lifetime. Plus, we needed to reach Antelope Canyon Tours in Arizona by 9 am to make…
Hot Stuff
Original Post: July 29, 2015 As if driving through the Utah landscape wasn’t torture enough, we faced another scorching day. Leaving Bryce, we found the first place to shower since we’d left Missouri and I swore I heard a heavenly choir when I stepped into that shower stall. Or perhaps that was me. The bathroom…
The Longest Drive
Original Post: July 27, 2015 The title of this post might be slightly misleading. The drive from Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness to Arches National Park was hardly the longest drive. Not even close, in fact, but there’s something about the Utah scenery (or lack thereof) that makes the drive exceptionally monotonous. The desert is initially amazing…
Onward and Upward. Very, Very Upward.
Original Post: July 24, 2015 We’re up at 5:30 and on the road by 6, but not without first appreciating the views that early morning Kansas plains have to offer. Deer in the tall grasses, pheasants calling unseen, and the golden sun rising over the horizon. We decide to stop for gas early in the…
Here We Go…To Kansas
Original Post: July 21, 2015 It should come as no surprise to anyone that Kansas was not on my hotspot list. I mean, other than Dorothy, who have you ever known to actually WANT to go to Kansas? (I think even Toto would have opted out if he’d been given the chance, but dammit…Dorothy just…
Let the Real Vacation Begin
Original Post: July 19, 2015 It wasn’t as though we weren’t already on vacation, but somehow it just didn’t feel like it when we were visiting someplace we’d seen before. Day two was the start of the real excitement for me, and the beginning of the “real” vacation. I couldn’t wait to see the miles…
19 States in 22 Days
Original Post: July 17, 2015 The original plan was 22 states in 22 days, but who’s counting? I have wanted to travel cross-country for almost as long as I can remember. I began formulating an actual “road plan” when I was 18 and had I done it the summer I turned 19 as I’d…
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