the big adventure . . .

this has been a dream of mine . .  . to travel the great rocky mountains and camp along the way . . .

a dream that i have had since my first trip to colorado when i was 12.

i love the mountains and everything out west . . .  cowboy hats, boots, rodeos . . .

hiking, skiing, just to name a few.

but this dream never happened in my 20's because i went to school

never happened in my 30's because i was raising a family

never happened in my 40's because i was busy working . . . 

fast forward . . .  in my 50's it's finally going to happen.

my nephew is getting married today in silverthrone, colorado overlooking the mountains. WOW is all i can say . . . 

so i purposed this idea to my husband . . . why don't we go to the wedding and then afterwards go camping to see the west . . . he jumped at the opportunity.

you see for him, he has never seen the beauty of the rocky mountains . . . 

we then put forth our best ideas . . . he being the engineer . . . had a plan . . . to create a space where we could live out of our pick-up truck for the next ten days . . . yep . . . that's what i said . . . 

so here is what he built . . . 

platform over the wheel wells

bed from camper to sleep (noticed the small touches of the comforts of "home")

trip begins . . .

day one of the trip

this horse provided much laughter along the way . . . as each time a car would pass he had to look out of his trailer to check out the car . . . (this photo was taken going 70 mph)

first stop for dinner was in Iowa City . . . college town . . . ate at the atlas (found by using the iphone and the urban spoon application)

the food was fantastic!

appetizer

husbands meal

my meal

that evening we stopped and "boone-docked" at the local Cracker Barrel Restaurant 

learned a few things doing this:

don't park by the flag pole

make sure you are not close to any sprinklers

close to a bathroom facility

don't park at a restaurant that opens early in the morning . . . 

learned that the state of nebraska is very long . . .  did i mention long . . .

we have always stopped off the beaten path for vacations so why stop now . . . 

took a look at the first pony express . . . 

then drove to wild bill cody's museum, 

and then to his house that was built for only 3600.00 in the early 1900's

sorry photography was not allowed inside the house . . . but i so enjoyed seeing many of the treasures that were inside . . .

i was allowed to take photos of the hours stable and grounds . .  . including the buffalo.

for lunch stopped in paxton, nebraska to eat at the famous "ole"s restaurant. not as good as our first dinner from the atlas. however, the place was established in 1936. a rich businessman went on various "hunts". with his kills he then had them stuffed and put in the restaurant . . . very interesting.

more later . . . 

senior session :: nathan

remember that excitement that you have the first day of kindergarten . . . there's an excitement in the air, new friends to be made, and teachers to impress . . . 

well, i was impressed with nathan . . . he goes to east grand rapids high school where the whole school community is just plain dedicated to high achievement. and this achievement can be found on the football field all the way to the standards of academics that it has for learning. 

nathan is thinking about pursuing something in the engineering field . . . something like bio-engineering.

now that's a pretty high standard to achieve, but for some reason after our photo shoot the other day, i can honestly say that he will probably achieve that goal.

nathan thanks for such a great night . . .  good luck wherever you decide to get that engineering degree from . . . you have success written all over you!

it's my party and i'll cry if i want . . .

my little grandson turned one . . .  

usually when it's your birthday you are fill with excitement, but not when you're turning one . . . 

at one you really don't know what is really going on . . .

 . . . you only know of the food that your mommy has has given to you . . . 

his mommy has made sure that he was given only the best food for him . . . 

 . . . and then . . .

was introduced for the first time a piece of cake . . . ?

the first bite . .  .

the second bite . . . 

doesn't seem to be a fan . . . 

it's my party and i'll cry if i want . . .

thanks for sharing your special day with "amma" and papa. we love you.  may you learn to celebrate your birthday with anticipation, fun, and excitement! i'm sure when you turn two you will feel different about your birthday . . .

senior session :: angie

do you remember those days in fifth grade when you were so excited to finally learn how to play a musical instrument. i certainly do . . .  i first had to start out playing the piano (11 years of practicing), then learned the recorder in fourth grade, and then in fifth grade decided that i wanted to play the viola . . . and how many of you stuck with that fifth grade instrument? yeah i know me too . . .  gave up!

not angie . . . she went into that band room with gusto, just knowing that she was going to play the flute . . .

later, only to learn that she was unable to even get a note out of that flute. the teacher picked a trombone for her, well that did not last either. by the time she got to eighth grade the band teacher handed her the tuba! 

"tuba" i said.

"yep" she said.

"but that must have been as large as you?"

"yep" she said.

music to me is an art of perfection. practice, practice, and more practice . . . 

playing the right notes . . .  getting the right sound . . . not to mention good technique . . . lips buzzing all the time . . . oiling your instrument . . . a huge lung capacity . . . playing with a metronome . . . wowza  that's so much dedication!

angie is a senior at manistee high school. thanks to her dad for driving her down to grand rapids for our session. i learned so much about "her" tuba. 

close-up of her well oiled machine . . .

angie thanks for spending the evening with me and hauling your instrument down, and not to mention in and out of the car so we could capture it!

(so glad that the ducks didn't bite too.)