winter drives

It's really far too late to be sharing photos from Christmas, but I thought that if I at least blogged these before the first day of spring (next week), they could still count. We (somewhat foolishly) decided to drive to snowy Idaho and back so we could see both of our families for the holidays, which amounted to several hours of tense, somewhat terrifying long stretches of driving icy freeways in the dark. But it was so worth it to see so many family members and spend the week in glorious, beautiful snow. The magic of snow is just never quite lost, and it was soothing to our LA-based souls. Our next return to the pacific northwest is in a few months, and I'm already finding myself lost in daydreams of Seattle in the spring! 

on film

film photography is not my strongest point. in fact I'll just say it--I'm not very good at it. But I kind of love it, so I mess around with my parents' old Minolta every once in  a while anyway...how boring would life be if we only ever did the things we were exceptional at?

so, here are a few grainy, sometimes blurry, mostly dark photos from the last month of camping and being at my parents' house. I kinda love 'em anyway. I have another roll that I accidentally took on slide film, so if anyone has a a lead on where I can get it developed, do tell!

adventuregrams

A few days of rest after camping on the coast & we were off for another adventure through the northwest, camping on a big pretty lake & swimming in the Spokane River before making our way to Idaho to see both of our families for the last time before leaving for California. The amount of time I've spent in water in the last week makes my soul calm; from ocean to lake to river to pond to yes, even pool & hot tub. The best part was, the drives between all of these places were so beautiful--hills and farms and creeks and horses and tiny, tiny towns. We listened to new music, saw new places, learned new things about each other and our hometowns. What a lucky life. 

ps: if you haven't read My Berlin Kitchen, written by Luisa Weiss aka the Wednesday Chef, put it on your list. a lovely tale of food, love, heartbreak, family, and food and food and food. 

instagram @charityvictoria 

coasting: kalaloch beach

Yes, sweaters and gloves and even pumpkin spice lattes (anyone else sick of seeing instagrams of those yet?) are imminent, but we're not letting them in just yet. Instead we're choosing to continue on summer adventures until the very last minute--choosing to sleep in tents and play on the Washington coast and drink cider around the fire and make hot coffee and greasy breakfast on the camping stove, to the sound of the ocean over the bluff. It may be a bit grey, but alas, that is Washington. And then, when Fall really rolls in, we'll scoot on down to southern California and keep on adventuring in the sun. 

p.s.: This is the first feature in a series called "Coasting", where I will be documenting my adventures down the west coast, from here to Cali and everything in between! Much more to come.