So once again I haven’t written in a while, but I’ve just been so busy these past couple of weeks trying to tie up loose ends, work my butt off to make as much extra cash as I can, and maintain my car. I’m leaving Southern California for a while.

Intended destination: Bellingham, Washington. When will I get there? I have no idea. But I’ve got 3 weeks to do it. And there will be plenty of stops along the way.

First off, let me introduce my best friend and only companion during the whole trip:

Meet my car, a 2000 Nissan Altima, who I lovingly call…. “Car”. I’ll be driving in it, singing in it, eating in it, and sleeping in it for the next month. I’ll be meeting lots of old friends and meeting new people all along the way up, but she’ll be the only with me the whole way.

So what do I plan on doing? Well, everything really. I’ve always wanted to go to the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz, go whale watching in Santa Barbara, visit Alcatraz in San Francisco, explore the Mountains of Yosemite, and view the giant trees of Redwood. I’ll check out the Nike Factory in Oregon, photograph Glacier Mountain, learn the history of the Oregon Trail, sail down the Columbia River, and kayak the Oregon coast. I’ve already visited the Space Needle, but I want to really, really get to photograph it this time. I want to visit the very first Starbucks, and watch the flying fish at the Pike Place Fish market. Mt. St. Helen has always intrigued me as a volcano, and heck, I might even possibly(!), just maybe, go to Forks, Washington just to make all the Twilight fans jealous.

I want to do my best to meet the locals, and get to know how life is outside of the busyness of LA County. Hole in the wall restaurants will be my friend, and the local dishes are waiting to be eaten by myself. I can’t wait to just learn to relax, and enjoy the ride . And of course, I’ll be documenting it all for everyone, and for posterity.

This is almost all of my photographic equipment. I’ll be taking it all with me. For the gearheads, here’s a list of what’s in the bag:

• Nikon D200 (being used to photograph the bag)
• Nikon D70s
• Nikon 18-70mm 3.5-4.5 lens
• Nikon 50mm 1.8 lens
• Sigma 24-70mm 2.8 lens
• Tokina 11-16mm2.8 lens (used to photograph the bag
• Nikon SB-800 flash
• Nikon SB-24 flash
• 2 white shoot through and 1 silver umbrella, all 43″
• 2 Cybersync Receivers and 1 Transmitter
• 2 light stand adapters
• Manfrotto Monopod Head
• Manfrotto Monopod (strapped to side, shown at the top)
• Gary Fong Lightsphere (under 50mm lens)
• bungee cords, sync cords
• too much other stuff to list

So basically, I want to photograph everything. People, places, food, houses, trees, mountains, rivers, etc. You name it, I’ll probably end up shooting it.

And I’ll literally be living out of this suitcase:

If I lose it, I’ll be naked and not so fresh and so clean for the rest of my trip. That black book on the right is actually an album, given to me by Deejae. I’ll be using it as a scrapbook for the whole trip.

I can’t wait for Monday.

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Blogging to: The Juliana Theory – Leave Like a Ghost (Drive Away)