Author: Annie

I scribble words onto the screen, I capture the images I see, I look for beauty in everyday life. I’ve been a sailor, a project manager, a tech writer, a programmer, and since May 2016, I have been a vagabond traveling in a 17-foot travel trailer.

A Day in the Life

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Yesterday was definitely NOT one of those oh, wow, being a vagabond is so cool days. For those of you who think my life is charmed, like being in an endless soft-focus instagram story of nomading around the country surrounded by good vibes and rainbow-hued unicorns, here’s the reality some days. 9:30AM – I’m packing up the site and setting up the rig for towing. One of the items on the setup list is to plug in the monitor for the rearview camera and the wireless brake controller, then check that both of them are working when the truck starts…

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52 Frames: Tripod Time

Posted on by Annie

I’ve had a tripod for a few years, but I rarely pull it out of the bag, figuring it’s a lot of work to use. Last week’s challenge, though, showed me one distinct advantage of using a tripod when working with a macro lens. If you set up the shot with camera and tripod, you can then shoot a bunch of images where the focus moves around in the frame. Why do I care about that? Let’s start with this image: The middle (big) fungus is in focus but the ones above and below it are not. The macro lens…

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Longwood Park, VA

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After a one-day delay waiting out the rain deluge that swamped Virginia, I headed out on Route 58 to Longwood Park, an Army Corps of Engineers campground on the western edge of Kerr Lake/Buggs Island. I do love driving Route 58. It is mostly two lanes each direction and not much traffic between towns so it’s pretty relaxing as far as towing goes. Longwood is a smaller park than my previous Kerr Lake fave, North Bend. It’s closer to a road, but I didn’t notice that much traffic noise. I did notice much less campground noise 🙂 And my site…

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Towing with the Ridgeline

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Given I do this vagabond thing full-time, two things are true: (1) I put a lot of towing miles on my vehicle and trailer and (2) people ask about my tow vehicle a lot. I finally made an FAQ page last year about my experiences towing with the Subaru Outback 3.6R to answer the inevitable questions. Now I have a 2019 Honda Ridgeline RTL AWD, and it’s a different experience. It tows the Alto so much easier, as if it’s not working very hard on flat ground or small hills. With the Outback, I was always aware of the load…

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Snapshots from the Blue Ridge

Posted on by Annie

When I was growing up, the phrase “Blue Ridge Mountains” somehow sounded magical to me. Now that I’ve wandered up and down the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Blue Ridge Mountains, it still makes me smile to see that phrase on a sign. Maybe it’s my personal version of the Magic Kingdom. Today’s post, then, features images I’ve taken this summer that didn’t make it into any earlier post. This type of fence is all over the mountains and I haven’t met one yet that I didn’t want to take a picture of. The more weathered the wood, the better….

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