2017 Year End: Bucket List Items

Posted on by Annie

In my first full year of full-timing, I didn’t go after bucket list items with much focus, so I’m pleasantly surprised by how many of them I’ve been able to check off my list. First up, the National Parks and Monuments and Historic Places, all run by the National Park Service, which does an amazing job of preserving our open spaces, sharing our history, and giving us places to think as we face the future. This year, I checked off Joshua Tree in California, Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands in New Mexico, Big Bend in Texas, Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, and…

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My Favorite Things

Posted on by Annie

Most people won’t ever see the inside of my trailer, so today’s a fun post where I’m sharing five things I love inside my Alto. 5. I tripped over my shoes a lot till I figured out where to hang this cut-down shoe storage thingie (and, yes, I am sure that is the technical, official name for it). It hides in the back of the bathroom, easy to get to but out of sight so I don’t have to see the clutter all the time. As you might guess by this photo, I’ve seriously downsized my shoe collection in the…

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Weekly Update: Dec 20, 2017

Posted on by Annie

A day late, a dollar short (well, more than that thanks to holiday shopping!), but here’s the weekly update… From the coastal views in Santa Cruz to the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas to the confines of a very busy RV park in the heart of LA freeways is definitely a shift in perspective and scenery to fit into one week. The highlight of the drive across the state west to east was seeing both Coalinga and Visalia, two towns I’ve always wanted to see. Now I can cross them off my list 🙂 I spent two nights inside Sequoia…

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Tower Hill Gardens

Posted on by Annie

Seems that while parts of the US and Canada are going to be getting cooooold weather soon, I feel like I need help all those affected feel warmer with a throwback to a September outing with photos I haven’t published yet. Today’s feature, then, spotlights the Tower Hill Botanical Gardens, in Massachusetts. It was a lovely sunny day, and spending it with two old friends made it even better. We wandered around looking at exhibits and flowers, pointing out crazy colors and lovely peppers and wonderful arrangements. The fall crocuses were out (yes, some kinds of crocuses do bloom in…

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Sunday Serenity: Practice

Posted on by Annie

There are all kinds of focus in this world: today’s to-do list, plans far into the future, politics, family, work, and so on. Today, as I set out on a sunrise walk, my focus was on photography and, more specifically, on practicing with a new lens. It’s actually an old lens, though. It was one of my dad’s for his Minolta camera back in the 1970s, and I asked him for it a few years ago after I found it languishing in a drawer. I found an adapter to mount it with my Sony A7 and then I realized it…

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