Category: 2015

2015, Travels

Thanksgiving at AuSable View Lodge

easprang

My family adjusted the timing of our annual trip to AuSable View Lodge this year so that we could spend Thanksgiving weekend at “the cabin”. On the agenda for the weekend was eating lots of homemade food, watching endless sports and movies, and playing tons of games.

After spending an entire day eating, Justin and I were eager to get outside and burn some calories. Though the skies threatened to open up a deluge at any moment, we wandered through the woods of the Huron-Manistee National Forests.

Later that night, we taught Kaden how to play Boggle. Between rounds, he grabbed a piece of chocolate walnut fudge, gobbled it down, and then announced that his tongue felt itchy.

“Are you having an allergic reaction?” I kidded him.

It turned out, he was.

His tongue swelled up and he broke out in hives. When he said it hurt to breathe, my sister decided it was time to call 911. The nearest hospital was nearly an hour away, so she arranged a place to meet up with local paramedics in the small town of Mio.

Justin and I tagged along to provide moral support, and text updates to the rest of the family waiting for news back at the cabin.

The effects of the reaction were already wearing off by the time the EMS techs took over. After a thorough inspection, they declared him out of immediate danger, and suggested that he get some allergy testing at his pediatrician’s office back home.

So we went back to the cabin, thinking the excitement was over for the night. Just when everyone had relaxed, Kaden projectile vomited, twice.

He seemed to have gotten everything out, but my sister wasn’t going to take any chances. When he passed out on the couch, she placed a huge barf bucket right in front of him.

By morning, Kaden was back to his wild little self, just in time for our family pajama portrait session.

Remember, as far as anyone knows, we’re a nice, normal family…

Ah yes, this is a little more like what “normal” looks like…

Sarah had a simple request – one nice shot with her two children – but Kaden wasn’t willing to play along.

Nothing says Thanksgiving quite like a mother shouting, “Be normal! BE NORMAL!!!”

“Normal” just isn’t in Kaden’s playbook… Justin’s either.

No, there’s not a lot of “normal” in my family, but there is a lot of fun, and I’m very thankful for that!

2015, Travels

I Left My Heart in San Francisco

easprang

Usually, we travel outside the U.S. for Justin’s birthday, but this year, we broke tradition and remained stateside. Just a few days before his birthday, Justin attended a conference for work in San Francisco. On the final day of the conference, I flew out to join him so we could spend his birthday weekend exploring Northern California.

The only catch? I was sick. I’m not sure why the TSA let me get on the plane. But since they did, I would like to offer my sincerest apologies to the people I sat next to on said plane. I’m sure five hours of sneezing, coughing, and nose blowing was exactly what you hoped to be seated next to when you booked your flights.

Yes friends, I was that person on the plane.

Several hours after landing, after catching a shuttle into the city and meeting up with Justin, after a quick trip to Walgreen’s to purchase ingredients for a cocktail of OTC meds, and well after dinner, my ears finally unpopped. This trip was off to a great start!

Instead of seeing a doctor at a local urgent care clinic the next day, I self medicated with Tylenol cold pills and guaifenesin and set off to see San Francisco with delirious determination.

I’m sure Alcatraz is really cool to visit, but since we didn’t buy tickets a week in advance, we didn’t get to find out for sure. Moral of the story: if you want to go to Alcatraz, buy your tickets early. Otherwise, you aren’t going to Alcatraz. At least we got a nice view of it from Fishermans Wharf.

While we were near Fishermans Wharf, we stopped by Pier 39 to see these guys. You can click here to see what they’re up to right now.

Then we were off to do some walking, and walking, and walking. Did I mention the walking? Because when dealing with the hills (read: mountains) of San Francisco, the walking cannot be emphasized enough.

We ended the day back down by the bay. I was exhausted, but somehow, conscious and coherent.

I was feeling a little better the next day, so we decided to rent bikes and ride across the Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped several times along the way so I could rest and catch my breath, and I’m happy to report, I didn’t collapse a single time!

And the day after that was Justin’s birthday, so we rented a car and drove up into wine country.

Gorgeous scenery, delicious wine, good company… not a bad way to celebrate.

I won’t post photos from all the vineyards we visited, but I will represent each region.

First up, it’s Ram’s Gate Winery in Sonoma.

And then there’s Mumm Napa, in Napa Valley (obviously).

Wandering the streets of downtown Napa, I was inspired to throw my hands in the air like I just didn’t care.

And this concludes “Justin and Beth Tour California Wine Country”. Cheers!

2015, Travels

Golden Hour in the Goldenrod

easprang

“If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own backyard. Because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with.” – Dorothy Gale, The Wizard of Oz

I decided that the goldenrod field in our backyard was the perfect spot to take some photos for our Christmas card, so I took my heart’s desires out there during the glorious glow of golden hour. A certain four-legged gentleman was much more interested in trying to get down to explore and sniffing all the new smells his housecat nose didn’t recognize than in participating in my photo shoot, but we managed to get a few decent shots of our little tuxedo cat in his polka dot tie.

2015, Travels

My Sun and Stars

easprang

Our trip Up North for my birthday this year was all about sunsets and stars, starting with an overcast sunset over Lake Superior in Marquette.

The next day, we hiked some muddy trails in the Porcupine Mountains. Afterwards, we were filthy and sore everywhere, but a refreshing dip in Lake Superior (which, I’m pretty sure, was still thawing from the winter’s freeze) made everything all better.

Milky Way photography has gotten really trendy lately. I’m usually indifferent to trends of any kind, but this one caught my attention. I had been wanting to give it a try for a while, but the thing about Milky Way photography is you need a really dark place to do it. Your backyard isn’t dark enough (but if it’s any consolation, I live on 17 acres and my backyard isn’t dark enough either).

With small towns, low populations and minimal light pollution, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is pretty much an ideal location to attempt Milky Way. So I set up my tripod at the Lake of the Clouds overlook in the Porcupine Mountains and had one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had as a photographer.

The following shots are my first series in what I know will be a lifelong love with Milky Way photography. Armed only with the knowledge of which F stop, ISO, and shutter speed to shoot at, I pointed my lens at the sky and hoped for the best.

With every flip of the mirror, I held my breath for the entire 30 seconds that my DSLR’s sensor was exposed, terrified that if I breathed, the tripod would move and blur my image. When I heard the mirror flip back down, I exhaled and gazed in absolute wonder at the back of my camera.

Maybe it was just because my brain was deprived of oxygen from holding my breath for so long, but I got positively giddy after every shot. Instead of a person or a landscape as my subject, I had an entire galaxy. I was interacting with a galaxy! It just blew my mind.

Behold: the Milky Way!