All of the places I saw, the things I felt, the pictures will never do any of it justice. To sit in the presence of the setting sun in an unfamiliar region. Feeling the heat of the day be drawn from the environment as the sun slips below the horizon. To bathe in moonlight, while perched on a wall like a gargoyle.

COLORADO

Was expansive. An alien landscape for someone who has lived in a forest filled marshland their entire life.

Yeah there were trees… but not like in Michigan.

WYOMING

Was just as alien, if not more. The mountain range looked like it was at our fingertips, even when the peaks were covered in clouds.

The sunsets were spectacularly orange, the air quality was probably shit.

The sunrises were almost always obscured by clouds.

There was a full moon while we were there, but the only picture that came out okay was from the day before. Somehow, one day made the moon too bright for me to photograph.

Every night, I sat outside in the warmth of the day, soaking up the last 2 hours of sunlight and taking photos.

COLORADO

Had more trees than in Wyoming, but it was still wildly different than home.

The descent into Steamboat Springs was stunning.

GRANDPARENT’S PROPERTY

When we were initially planning this trip we had planned to do rustic camping on the property. When we arrived at the property, there was so little space between the side of the mountain and the edge of the road, I could barely pull off the road to park… much less even think about putting up a tent.

The brush was coarse and dense, and the slant of the mountain extreme enough that sleeping on the ground would have been perilous.

the property was practically on top of the mountain!

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS - CO

Our hotel was on a river and our rooms hand balconies that overlooked it. On the last day that we were there, I wandered down to the river and found a rock jutting out into the water that was baking in the sun. I climbed out onto the warm rock, soaking up its warmth and reveling in the sound of the river surrounding me. It was so peaceful in spite of being in the middle of a busy city. It was very grounding in the face of the pre-travel anxiety.

AIRPORT BOUND

The drive back to the airport was kind of long, but the view was amazing. And then our flight was delayed like 8 times and we didn’t get home until like 2am the next day… that was a REALLY long day.

FLYING HOME

I’ve only seen city lights from the air at night one other time and that was a LATE night flight with a 5 year old. I didn’t get to see much after we took off, so this was a treat.