Recently, an opportunity presented itself to head to Reno for a few days. It had been a while, too long, truthfully, since the last time I got to travel. Reno had never been somewhere that was particularly on my radar, but I am forever excited by the chance to see new places.

To be honest, I had a few misconceptions about Reno before visiting. The first would probably be that Reno is a mini-version of Vegas. I thought that I would walk into a gambling town that was stuck in a time warp. Depending on where you stay in Reno, that might not feel too far off, but in our relatively short time there, I learned that Reno has a lot more to offer.

City of Reno

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I will come back to this wonderful place someday, and I hope it is as magical as the first time I laid eyes on it all. Until that day is here when I arrive back on that quiet, sacred land, I will remember how it felt under my feet. How the wind howled in the middle of a night darker than I’d ever seen. So dark and yet with more stars ablaze if you just turn your gaze upward. We stared until our necks stiffened, and even then we stared just a little while longer. This place holds a special corner of my heart.

Have you fallen in love with any places lately?

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We forget all too soon the things we thought we could never forget – Joan Didion

We woke up before the sun to get up and out to the airport first thing Easter morning. With California calling and Santa Monica sunshine on our minds, we waited for our boarding call. Thinking back to when I was little, we used to make at least a few trips out to the Golden State every year. As the years go by, family moves and begins to thin out and we haven’t returned for a few years.

 

Upon landing we were greeted with the smog I used to ignore as a kid, but I couldn’t hide my disappointment at the Hollywood Hills being hidden from sight behind the thick veil of atmospheric haze hovering low above the valley. Younger years would have found me mad dashing to the car to get to the ocean or to my aunt’s house without so much as a second look at them. Now that they weren’t waiting for me like I always remembered, I missed them.

As soon as we got to the rental car, it was time to plot the quickest route to the beach. We hear them being made fun of all the time, but it was my first time driving the 405, the 101, Sunset Boulevard, Ocean Avenue…you name it, we got lost and found ourselves on it.

Most of those times ended up being a blessing in disguise, as once the frustration subsided I quite enjoyed our trek up and down Mulholland Drive, we got close to the view we’d been looking for.

Finally, we rounded a corner and the salty ocean air swept through the open windows immediately. The Pacific took us both by surprise, as if we could have missed it entirely had it not been staring us in the face as we inched forward amidst traffic on top of the hill.

After having some time to breathe and begin to make headway through the intimidating backlog of pictures, I’m happy to start sharing some of these new favorite memories with you. I had hoped that the days may slow down now that an office job is no longer part of daily life, but it seems they just move quicker and quicker no matter what. Especially on a whirlwind trip to continue trying to capture what California means to me.

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                The town’s original chapel, built in 1864 is well-maintained and still used today.

The rich history here is alive and well, though the Pike’s Peak gold rush ended long ago. The courthouse, also built in 1864, is still standing beautifully in the center of town. Beside the Hand Hotel, you may see a building dedicated to Prunes with a burro in front of it. This is the grave of a burro who worked in the mines for over 60 years. His partner, a man named Rupert asked to be buried next to Prunes when he passed away.

Although the trip started as a way to see the leaves changing with the season, it became a wonderful adventure into a history hiding in Colorado that I didn’t really know much about.

Fairplay is definitely a place worth getting to know better. To live in this state my entire life and still be able to see it from a new perspective is a gift, if not sometimes a challenge. I want to explore more of this mysterious state of mine, and find more hidden treasures to share with you all.

Where do you want to discover?

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I’ve been trying to practice more gratitude lately. Being grateful for the things that take me away both literally and metaphorically. Planes, trains and automobiles. I used to think of them in a different light, because I didn’t use two of them very often. They all eventually get you to where you’d like to go, though. I’ve never written from England, but I always go home wishing I had. It’s like the more constant cloud cover somehow helps me clear my head.

Although it has been hotter than I expected for my first British summer, I’ve grown accustomed to humidity and enjoying the thought that the sea is never too far away. But I’m sure, as you all know, the main reason I keep coming back is the company.

Cultural norms, old ideals and beliefs tend to fade amidst new experiences when I am here. That’s ok with me. I hope to grow in many directions, and what better way to do so?

It’s healthy to see life lived in different ways than you’re used to.

I truly believe that if you give anything enough of a chance, it will surprise you with its depth and beauty.

Enjoy the longest day of the year and the rest of your summer.

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Just a couple weeks ago, I took a mini road trip through the mountains and over more dirt road than I care to remember. Steep grades and cliffs without guard rails can make for the worst leg cramps a girl has ever known. “Stop tensing up” was a much repeated mantra for the entire 3 hours. But I’ve got some amazingly beautiful pictures from an amazingly beautiful place to share with you, and I got to spend time with my friend. Worth it? I’d say so.

Steamboat Springs is a small town located in the valley just over Rabbit Ears pass in Colorado. The weather that day looked depressing, and it was snowing off and on during the entire drive. But when you turn that last corner through the pass and start heading down into the valley, everything seems greener, brighter, happier.

My friend’s roommate is a bit of a photography geek, and I was all too happy to look through her collection while I waited for my friend to get off of work.

Then it was time for dinner and an evening walk.

It always surprises me how different one town can be from the next. Steamboat is a town I always imagined as tiny and stuck in some kind of retro time warp. In some ways, I was right. But in many ways, I see city life trickling in to this mountain village, drop by drop.

The storefronts are mostly what you would expect of a town like this. The lighting, the antiques set outside, it’s all very cozy and warm. There is a gas station in the center of main street that I walked past countless times. There is a sense of comfort here, and although it feels odd to say it about a gas station, it felt like a friendly beacon at the center of an unfamiliar place.

The little streams surrounding Steamboat are nothing short of peaceful. It felt like no matter where I went, I could always hear the water. This is a town that looks and sounds wonderful from every angle.

There are unique shops and little restaurants everywhere here.

One thing I am so lucky to have is friends that are just as happy as I am to wander aimlessly. Also to lend me their sweater when I’m dumb enough not to bring one with me! I could walk forever in places like this, where every small detail stands out.

Certain places make you feel right at home from the second you enter them. Steamboat Springs definitely does this for me, and it does it very well.

We stayed up until 2 watching old Disney movies and reminiscing. The next morning we were back to reality, when we woke up with the sun to eat breakfast together before she went back to work. After she left, I took a walk down to the stream behind her house. As I watched the fog lifting off the water in the heat of early morning, I couldn’t help but think about how fleeting important moments can be. The more you want to hold on to them, the quicker they go.

So even though I’d planned to walk back to the car and go home, I found myself driving to the resort where my friend works. Wanting even another 10 minutes to enjoy with her before we both went back to our “normal” lives.

Then it was time for the trip back, back up the pass and through the clouds. Even though we were both exhausted, there was a clear sense of feeling refreshed all at the same time.

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I’m not really here. To say my mind is elsewhere is a gross understatement. Obviously, that isn’t the best time to write, but I do most of my writing when my thoughts are unclear. That is the weirdest part about all of this. My thoughts, or daydreams rather, have never been more clear. I am longing for the silver light-filled magical nights that lie ahead, in unimaginable depth. But they’re not here just yet, so I wanted to share some snapshots from the last couple of weeks with you.

We welcomed my sister home, we bathed in the sunlight and worked hard on projects around the house. When everyone was asleep I found myself too energized to rest, even amid supreme exhaustion. The lights and sounds of the city were too enticing to ignore, so while others slept, I wandered, never feeling more at ease.

The moon stayed out to kiss the tops of the buildings as I walked below, blanketing everything in beautiful silver, giving everything a shadow even in the darkness away from the city lights.

This city is a vibrant one, filled with secrets I’ve yet to discover.

It is in these times I feel all of myself coming together again. No longer pieces of myself strewn through seasons, fragments floating around the world with the people I care about. For the first time in a long time, I feel like all of the pieces are coming together at the same time. Revisiting old spaces of this city, finding myself in new ones, I feel complete.

Enjoy your spring, I’ll see you soon

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Every person should search out their own sanctuary in life. To escape, not only vacate is a rarity in this world.

On the way out of the city, I take in the last few sights before my cellphone becomes a useless block of glass inside my backpack. The thought is both terrifying and exciting, which reminds me of why I need to get away. The thought of being disconnected from the digital age shouldn’t be intimidating.

We may call home a sanctuary, or a hidden corner in an old part of town that is stained with memories. Atop the hill, as the mountains sprawl open in front of you like a pop-up book from childhood, you feel like you could take flight at any moment.

My escape has always led me through these foothills, off a little known exit, past the creek and down through town. Onward and outward to nowhere.

When I want to escape even my memories, knowledge of life as I know it, this is where I go. My nowhere is where I become an unapologetic version of myself. With no fear of running into a single soul, I kneel to pick the meadow flowers shamelessly and rather greedily. This sacred place, my own personal shrine of nature is where I find solace.

In being here, I am reminded of the sanctuary that exists in myself. Left without these views for too long, it becomes stale and dormant, eventually dimming.

The minute I come to the lamp post, the moment the final curve in the road unveils the gorgeous valley below, I am reignited instantaneously.

Simply by disconnecting, even if only for a short time, I am able to reconnect with life so much more. There is no church here, no monastery, no religion. But this is my place of worship, my spiritually intimate place in the world.

Effortlessly at my fingertips, my escape is all around me.

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Anticipation rises when you start to feel the elevation kicking in. Also an important time to stay hydrated, or you can (most likely will) get the worst headache of your life! But the views, sounds and crisp air are all worth it. I promise.

A little wandering and you will find that hidden valleys open themselves up to you just around the corner. The red of the rocks creates such a stark contrast against the green below, creating a scene that only beckons you in further.

However, this is Colorado; we are known for our climbs. So of course instead of going down, I opted to scale as many of these formations as I could without breaking my camera (or a bone, but photographers usually think of that only after the camera…or is that just me?). Some of the slopes are incredibly steep, and the rocks are so smooth in places, it takes a lot of patience and a slow, steady climb to get to where you want to go.

At this point I felt like I was high enough…I would have liked to have spent more time in places like this over the summer, but it is so refreshing just being able to look back at these pictures.

On the way back from our little excursion, I couldn’t help but stop for a moment by a beautiful stone wall created from the rocks themselves. It was a peaceful little corner of this area that had just enough shade for a minute’s rest.

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