Saving the Best for Last – West Coast Wrapup

My trip to the West Coast was pretty epic, it really was. Here I am, still writing about it and posting photos in March, and I’ve been home since mid-January. I drove over two thousand miles through three states. I visited some of the most interesting and beautiful cities on the West Coast. I drove the Olympic peninsula, I experienced the stereotypical fog and rain of the Pacific Northwest, I ate dungeness crab and drank some of the best craft brews I’ve had anywhere on my travels.

I love traveling, I love experiencing new places, I love the thrill of the unfamiliar. From a photographic point of view, it gives you fresh things to look at and explore. It expands your perspective and helps you see things in different ways. Whether it’s light or weather or geography or customs, traveling exposes you to new and different scenes.

And while all that scenery and food, that good wine and beer, were all wonderful things, they were ultimately NOT what made this trip memorable. As you may have started to suspect from the photos in this blog, it was the people I encountered that really made this trip so special.

There was family, there were friends, there were friends of friends, there were casual acquaintances. Some people I stayed with, others I visited, while still others opened up their doors to me while they explored another state by train. Everywhere I went, everyone I met, was so genuine, and generous, and wonderful. It was inspiring. Really inspiring.

This blog is, in part, to thank everyone along the way for their kindness and help. It is also to share that the common thread of all my great travels, all my grand journeys, has been the people I’ve encountered and with whom I’ve shared the experience. From the Kiwi that tagged along with my friends and me while we toured around London in college, to my drives through wine country with my mom and stepfather, to the countless walks along the beach with my wife, and later my wife and son, it is the shared experience with people that make traveling special. These are the things that make life special.

So thank you, Sam and Megan, for sharing your home, your creativity, your vinyl and your coffee with me.

And thank you, Sam and Jeff, for taking me to such a lovely spot to watch the sunset and photograph the Oakland Bay Bridge.

And thank you, Amanda, Andrew, Leo, and Jacob, for sharing your house with me and more importantly, keeping Isaac entertained while I caught up from jet lag or went out to take photos.

Thank you, Nana and Pops–really, really THANK YOU–for keeping your grandson for a whole week, and keeping him entertained and happy even though it was rainy, foggy, and cold almost the whole time. He really loved his time with you, much more than he would have loved being in a car as much as I was.

Thank you, halmoni and harabogi, for not being too disappointed by our short visit–we will be back out as soon as we can and we’ll be sure to visit much longer. Even though we only had a quick stopover, Isaac loved seeing and playing with you two.

Thank you Damon, for driving me around the Olympic Peninsula all day and telling me your stories. Without your humor, without your narrative and opinions, the scenery around me would have been somehow less rich, less interesting, less special.

Thank you Craig and Michelle, for your accommodations and your company. The crab was the best, the Pinot top notch, the morning scenery over Puget sound delightful. But it was your company and your generosity–with your time and home–that I will always remember.

Thank you Patrick, for meeting up with Craig and me and helping to show me around Seattle on a cold, rainy day, especially with two cameras and a bum arm. I enjoy spending time with other photographers and seeing the results of our efforts.

Thank you, Josh, for fighting traffic at rush hour all the way to El Cerrito from San Jose, to meet Jeff and me for dinner. Even though I had a small, restless child distracting me most of the time, I was grateful for the opportunity to meet you in person and have the chance to talk.

Many thanks to Eli, Amanda, Leon, and Ceri, for hosting me for both an unplanned visit and a planned one. For introducing me to Eugene and your new life as a family. For some excellent meals at Cafe Yumm! and for allowing me to cook you dinner one night. For yummy local hipster beer.

Thank you Sarah, Athan, EJ, Jess, Craig, and Abi for letting a strange east coast photographer come to your homes and document your beautiful families. Thank you for sharing your time with me, and your experiences.

Thank you to everyone for such a memorable trip. Thank you, thank you, thank you! There is no way to express my gratitude. I know this may not be the most exciting blog post, but just the list of folks to thank is impressive!

We are all on this journey through life together. As you travel, make the time to see the great sights, to see the many wonders of this world we live in. Also make sure, though, to interact with people–to experience their food, their stories, their lives–because it is the people that make it all worthwhile. It is the experiences, more than the things you see or the photographs and mementos that you bring home, that you will cherish and keep with you for life. It is the tang of tomato sauce in your nose, while watching the mesmerizing choreography of pizza making at Delancey, that stays with you. The howling wind blowing over the ferry crossing Puget Sound in the inky pre-dawn, the lights of Seattle fading from view. It is delicious pastries and coffee with new friends in their kitchen.

It is creating and renewing all those bonds between friends and families, old and new.

Thank you.