Every year I take at least one if not more trips usually abroad to gain new perspectives, see different things and experience new places. This year, I oddly decided to stay local for the first time in decades. I took a road trip to the northwest. I’d always wanted to do this but the likes of Turkey, Italy, Egypt, France always seemed to call louder. This was a first and won’t surely be the last road trip I take. I didn’t set out to make any images for National Geographic or the like. The travel photography in this blog were just simply to make me happy. Many were taken while I was driving down the road. I can’t even tell you how many it took to get a straight horizontal horizon! But I got to see the colors of fall that we just don’t get in San Francisco and that was goal #1 on the list. The rest were to drive from sun up to sun down, meet some locals and learn a thing or two.

The freedom of not having any plans or times set was wonderful. I drove when I felt like it and stopped when I was done for the day. Just the GPS on my phone and Priceline.com to get me through and a place to stay. Starting up through The Dalles, Oregon and along the Columbia River with stops in Crater Lake and whatever the next sign that seemed interesting began the trip and ended through the long straight roads of Idaho with 80mph speed limits! I saw beautiful things, met wonderfully nice people and got to meet some horses along the way at a working ranch in Wisdom, Montana. This is just a personal blog and I hope it inspires even just ONE person to do the same thing.So, hop in your car and just simply go!