There is another world at my fingertips
So solid and real yet non-existent
No matter how far you dig
The opposing hands seem
Just beyond reach
A drowning sibling
Too far for contact
With this other world
At times you see each other
In the glimpse of a shadow
Out of the corner o your eye
In the slight reflection
Of a dirty decaying mirror
Hiding in the corner
Of an old attic room
Immersed in a dark pool of water
With the shimmering image
Of this world
There one moment
But lost in the disturbances
Of the world we find ourselves in now
You wait for these fleeting meetings
Between you and your other self
Whom you never knew
Except for those evanescent glances
Into a ghostly world
Were two were almost one

We took our large bounty of fresh market goods over to the Washington State Ferries on pier 52 to catch our ferry to Bainbridge across the way. So we sat in our car waiting to load eating all of our food. I was really excited because I had never been on a ferry before let alone one where you take your car on with you. It was strange driving onto a ship but very cool. Can you spot our car?

We got out and went up on top to look around and it was so beautiful. I wonder if that is what it felt like to be on the titanic. Before it crashed of course. Just getting to see the Seattle skyline and the market place from out in the water was incredible. It was an experience I was very glad to have.

Once we were in Bainbridge we had to make a long trek around the Olympic Peninsula to get to the Hoh National Rain forest. The entire peninsula felt like a rain forest to me and let me tell you, it wasn’t lacking on the forest or the rain part. The one road going around the park took us along the way through Port Angeles and Forks which are better known through the Twilight books and movies.

No I am not going to totally bash Twilight but I do have something to say. The books were not bad. I read them when they first came out as a gift in like sixth grade and I enjoyed them because they are a simply written romance book and it is a nice reprieve to read an easy book like that after reading so much classical literature that is my natural choice. The movies however I despise, a reasonable nice book has just become so gimmicky and obsessed over that it is enough to make you puke. So it made me a little sad to see such a beautiful place as the Olympic Peninsula only sought after because of these movies. There is so much beauty and extraordinary wonders there but all people think of when they here about it is this movie franchise. So my request; don’t think of the Olympic Peninsula as home to Twilight, it is home to forests and mountains that will blow your mind. Respect it for its beauty not the gimmicks surrounding it.

Well, now that that is said let me move on to the best part; Hoh National rainforest. My pictures can’t really do it justice to how haunting and dazzling this place was. It felt as if the trees where reaching out and were frozen in time letting the moss accumulate and grow dripping and stretching out towards you. In there it feels like time has reverse and you went back to the time of the dinosaurs.

We hiked along the Hall of the Mosses which took us to some mind-blowing maple trees that were just so incredible it is hard to explain. Seeing this for the first time is really extraordinary. It feels otherworldly.

After leaving the rain forest we headed down to Kalaloch beach and lodge for some dinner and a trip down to the driftwood covered beach. It was so foggy and rainy but it was still really cool to see these massive tree trunks and branches coating the beach. It too felt otherworldly like giants had dropped their Lincoln logs on the shore and left them behind to grow, shift, and drift away.

Side Note: Everything in Washington grows. EVERYTHING. Houses, streets, chimneys, logs, rocks, sand, even telephone booths. It is kind of ridiculous but really funny. I wish I could list all of the strange things that I saw that had moss or something growing on it.

We spent the night in Aberdeen and where very happy to finally be out of the car. We are so close to home

I was watching you at the beach doing somersaults. You seemed so serious about it though. It wasn’t a game I could tell. To most people a kid doing somersaults is a whimsical thing, but with you it was different. There was nothing really childish about it. I wonder why it seemed so serious a thing, maybe you aspire to be a professional gymnast one day. It made me a little sad to se you though. Have fun sometimes, it isn’t all serious business. You were at the beach, be a kid and have some fun playing in the sand. Good luck in the future and don’t forget the present on your way.

Meet my creepy yet lovable “family”. We spent a night running around West Cliff in Santa Cruz having fun, being teenagers, and taking pictures. I just wanted to shout out to my best friends, LOVE YOU GUYS.

I have so much fun when I am with you and you make me forget the things that make life hard. Thats what friends are for right? I am lucky to have friends like you guys. Even if Golnoosh gives me killer tackle hugs and Hailey has creeped me for nearly two years now xD you guys make my life.  I hope you don’t need this post to know that though.

You guys hold up the sun for me, I hope I do the same. So there it is, I love our little family and think you are both beautiful and wonderful people. Thanks for being there.

The best thing about my trip to Yellowstone is that it taught me how to understand animal body movement so I can predict what an animal is going to do and henceforth get an awesome shot of exactly what I want. Right place and the right time.

I saw you on the beach  dancing around with a hula hoop playing catch with your dog. You seemed so happy and care free, you didn’t care who saw you or what they thought. You were just there to have fun. I was a little worried you would steal my dog, you seemed to like her a lot and wanted to play with her. Sorry I couldn’t stick around keep up the good attitude. I hope to see you again some time hula hooping on the beach.

I know Hawaii is a place of relaxation and time to let all your worries go, but somethings do need to be held onto. Your bathing suit top for starters and your decency. This really cracks me up because I don’t know what it is about vacations but for some reason the second people go on vacation there is a little switch in their heads that says

Hey I am on vacation all that normally applies no longer does as long as I am vacationing.

I am not saying I don’t do this because I definitely do, not to the extreme this woman took it to with her bikini top hanging as low as it can go, but I am much more lax about things I wouldn’t normally be. Letting it all hang out doesn’t even begin to cover this woman’s idea of vacationing I am sure.

Maybe it is because we feel we have no credibility due to the fact that we know we will never see these people again. Maybe it is just pent-up stress being expelled through this small form of rebellion, aka breaking from the norm of our daily schedules. Who knows, I just wonder what goes through people’s minds when they leave their hotel room looking like this woman. Seriously, the poor children of the beach and their virgin eyes. Well for me I had a good laugh but really? Have some decency or at least retain some common sense from normal life.

The storm down here in Santa Cruz sure does stir up some gnarly waves. At the lighthouse the waves were bouncing off the rocks and making huge waves that crashed into each other. It was pretty epic. This photo doesn’t do it justice.

You were so cute, I saw you on the beach playing with your dog. I wonder why you were wearing a bee suit. It doesn’t really matter though you looked amazingly cute in it. You are actually the main reason I came down to the beach. I saw you from up above and knew I had to see you up close. Thank you for being so cute, never loose it