She is calm, cool and collected. She loves swimming in frigid mountain lakes and putting her ears underwater to drown all other noise out. She connects with the quiet in nature and teaches her kids to do the same. She is an observer and prefers small groups or even one on one as opposed to a crowd. She loves to read and is the most natural, pure beauty there is, inside and out. She could sit at a frigid lake front or watch the gentle snow fall for hours and hours if she was able.
Taken at Bryce Canyon National Park
The Nurse Log - Healer of the forest. She may have had to endure a lot in her lifetime, but the power of her love and her heart is that she fuels the lives of so many around her. Her spirit inspires others and gives them the nutrients they need to live their best lives. She is a teacher, a lover, and a grand inspiration to all around her.. She sings, cooks and exposes her children to the wonders of nature and the stillness and rhythm it provides. She is the ultimate creator and a mother to so many beyond her own children. She moved herself to the forest where she will continue to heal all around her simply with her gigantic smile and even bigger heart. Mother of the forest.
Taken in Quinault Rain Forest in Olympic National State Park, WA
Always there to lift everyone up around her. She’s constantly looking up towards the sky and receiving the light. She spreads that hope and love to everyone around her. The birds are always calling to her and she to them. They lift their wings and leave the world behind. She shows her children that it’s ok to endure tragedy and grief, that there is still beauty in life and so much to continue to be inspired by. Morgan is always calling for others to spread their wings and fly and showing them the way by doing it herself!
Taken in Venice Beach
Soft hues, so gentle and calm, always holding you with eyes filled with love and warmth. She seems like she could float away in grace, yet her foundation is strong and ancient like prehistoric rocks, surviving and transforming through the hardships of time while simultaneously holding space for everyone around her. Kelly is as soft as the billowing clouds and as strong as ancient stone. She shows her children how to completely fall apart, but the important part is also demonstrating how to put the pieces back together. Kelly is the woman who you can see the moon in her eyes.
Taken in Joshua Tree National Park - Big Rocks
Runs as often as she can to nature, away from the rules, the plans, the have -to’s, her phone. She lets her kids be kids and roam free (and probably naked) in the forests and mountains, lakes and rivers where they create adventures in their mind with all the toys that nature has to offer. She’s stuck in a city now, but she longs to be reunited with wild nature where she can take a full breath again and let nature pour into her spirit, a place where a river runs through the center of town and you can go skiing in the winter. A place where access to nature is embedded in the city and where she’ll finally feel free.
Taken at Lone Pine Mountains
She has ancient roots, her soul is so old and so wise. Her roots are firmly planted in the earth, which allow for her branches to reach into all different fields ranging from fashion to social justice to spirituality without ever being swept over by any one of them. She is a born seeker and shows her kids how to follow a spiritual path simply by modeling it herself. She stays steady in her wording and always has a new perspective to offer. She is rooted and calm yet curious and inquisitive.
Taken in Humboldt Redwoods State Park
Loves the west coast through and through. She is a crazy hard worker and has run her own successful business since she was in her 20’s. Her staff is like family and in fact, her family also works for her. But when she needs a release to decompress, she comes to the ocean to let it all go. The sand in her toes, the ocean breeze in her hair, the chill of the water giving her goosebumps all over her body, all of these combined allows her to fully release all the chaos of the days, weeks, years. This is where all the dust gets washed off and her creativity comes alive. The ocean fills her cup and makes her feel like she’s young and free again! Now, back to work!
Taken at Big Sur, California
Vast and mighty beauty, spreading her arms wide to all that walk beside her. She is filled with deep wisdom and faithful as can be. But can be delicate, pieces of her breaking off as the years go on. All the while, she is the ultimate transformer, a woman of many lives, shifting and changing like the coming rains and winds that continue to create new shapes and forms on mother earth. Her exterior may change, but her core remains mighty, which is what the children all look to her for. To show them that no matter what is on the outside, your core can be strong to temper the winds of change.
Taken at Bryce Canyon National Park
Her foundation needs to be strong to allow for so much movement to flow through her. She creates great healing as she opens her body to allow all the pain and trauma to flow right through her. She is a pillar of strength and a vessel of healing stemming from deep ancient knowledge from so long ago. She’s taken her kids all over the world on her work trips showing them the need for hard work, but she also shows them the power of slowing down, of tuning into their insides and meditating, that playing in the forest is just as exciting as traveling the world. That for anywhere they go, they can find their center and let it all flow
Taken in Cascade Falls, Marin
Endless energy from this one. She is the consummate energizer bunny, moving through life with numerous groups of friends and never skipping a beat on remembering all of their birthdays, when they need a little extra love, or just when they want to party down plain and simple. She is a ray of golden light and sunshine, bringing happiness and radiant beauty into every space she enters. She is the epitome of FUN and always down for a good time. Constant dance parties, so much frolicking at the beach, and always showing her kids that no matter how much life can get you down, there’s still so much to laugh about and so much joy to be had. The ocean is always her reminder that anything can be washed away, that laughter is always the best medicine and that the ocean can swallow your pain into it’s vastness.
When nicki walks into a room, the whole space immediately brightens. Nicki brings joy everywhere she goes, the first person to lend a helping hand and also to crack a lewd joke. Always thinking of others and a perfectionist at her craft and seems to carry it all so easily. But there are cracks, as we all have them. Nicki has been running from them her whole life. But now she’s forced to confront them by becoming absolutely still. Surrendering to the unthinkable and worst case scenario and still putting one foot in front of the other. Like a marathon runner as a metaphor (but also in real life), she keeps going on even when life continues to bat her down. The sunrise colors of the sky are a reminder to let it all go, there’s nothing to control, nothing to fix, nothing to do, but to BE. She loves her children to the moon and back, they are her greatest inspiration. Going through major life changes creates a wake up call to show you what truly matters, her family and friends and the small, yet powerful things in life, like watching the sun rise up from the dark of the night, bringing the softest hues so beautiful it can make you cry.
Taken in Venice Beach
The healer to all. Carly always has an open ear to listen to anyone’s ailments and immediately knows who to connect them to. She’s been through so much in her life, so many things to throw her off base. But now she is honing in on listening to her own intuition and knowing what is truly right for her. She knows exactly what’s right for everyone else, but sometimes Carly just needs to stop and be. Carly knows that water can be healing, that water can turn your tides in an instant, that water can ebb and flow and sometimes be destructive and sometimes be still. Carly is learning to be more like water and learn how to fluid in the midst of so much change. She is learning this skill right alongside her children because age does not matter when it comes to healing. Watching her children ride their bike for the first time and climb trees without their parents help is what is setting her free.
Taken in Maui, Hawaii
Loves the fog where she’s able to wear big sweaters, embroider to her hearts desire, pour a cup of tea, light a candle, let her dog nap in her lap and just relax into the creative unknown that fog calls for. Simone is able to slip seemingly seamlessly between her entrepreneurial self, leading her own business and a team of staff to her spiritual self, entering into realms not many can tap into. Thus, the fog allows for both of those pieces of her to coexist as she passes back and forth. She is the mother that teaches the children to listen inside, to tune out the noise and go within.
Taken at Big Sur, California
Is Footloose and fancy free! She can make friends with anyone as long as there are cocktails and music. She can make any place feel like home and has to do it often as she finds herself having to constantly move from country to country, neighborhood to neighborhood. She’s always down for everything and usually up in the middle of the night with insomnia, so many ideas swirling around in her mind. She loves to cook and open her children’s minds by traveling the world. She demands that they stand up for what they believe in and fight injustices in the world. She can make any place her home, but her real dream would be to settle in Greece where the sun shines on her skin daily, the water is just steps away from her abode and she cooks for big lunches hosted in her garden.
Taken off the island of Milos in Greece
Wildly talented and seems to exert no effort in this matter. Like she was just born one day and knew exactly what she wanted to do and how to do it. She creates things that do not conform, she does things her own way and they seem to just jump out of her. No one project is like another, she has endless creativity and knows when to put up boundaries. She escapes to the desert when she needs to take a break, but does she ever take a break? Not really, because of course she has projects in the desert too. She can create no matter where she is, which is so incredible for her children to see. They are free to create however and whatever they want. Natalie shows them to follow their desires and see where it takes them.
Taken at Joshua Tree
The ultimate adventurer, she's already planning her next outing while on vacation. Except it’s never vacation, she somehow is able to weave her work life and family life and travel life seamlessly so that she’s literally doing all three at the same time. Always down for a good time, a dance and a marg and make it on wheels cause she loves to road trip. Endless love for her children and will do anything to support their passions and dreams, but a lot of it is rooted in the belief to just get outside!
Taken at Glacier National Park
Knows everybody in town. If you need to be in touch with someone, Betsy knows. If you just met someone, Betsy already knows them. She is a connector and a shining ray of sunshine, dancing around with her long dark hair and tiny body, flashing her radiant smile with those piercing blue eyes that magnetizes absolutely everyone she meets. She’s socially connected, yet thrives in the quiet of nature to recharge. She likes to look at the views from above, to get away from it all and reconnect to nature. She’s hilarious, always down to party, but also always ready to lend a helping hand. She’s always on the go, and yes, she also obvi has stomach issues.
Taken in the LA Mountains
Always positive, making everyone laugh with her amazing comedy. She should really have her own podcast or miniseries where she is simply herself as she brings so much joy to the world. Always lifting her friends up and reaching for the sky, you cannot stop this girl! She sees a dream and makes it happen. She shows her kids that you can achieve whatever is in your mind, work hard, love hard and definitely have a sense of humor while doing it all.
taken in Venice Beach, CA
As strong as a mother! This lady has been through so much in her short life. So many transitions and breaks and meldings, shatterings and rejoinings. Yet somehow she seems to hold it all so effortlessly and continues to step forward in love. No matter what rains, winds or hail storms come her way, she remains stable, deeply embedded in a solid foundation that cannot be budged. She is a radiant beauty without any effort. She brings in children as if they were her own, loves them with the same fierce heart she does her own. Outrageously talented in her craft, she shines her spirit all over the world with her heart through her art with her hands.
Taken in Glacier National Park
When you close your eyes and picture someone smiling, it is this girl. Always has a smile and a chuckle for everyone she sees. Except for anyone that crosses her or any of her friends or family, then she gets stern. She is seriously loyal and can’t not point out the obvious when people are just being lame. Sentimental and strong at the same time. She loves to laugh at herself and knows that what the kids really need is just to run wild in nature with each other and come home when you need to eat or need a hug. She knows that our lives are so much more than what’s inside our walls at home, the world is our playground.
Taken in Marin, CA
Louise straddles two worlds. As a writer, she is often on another plane seeped in imagination and soliloquies. As a meditator since childhood, she can exit this realm for hours at a time. But her imaginative and meditative worlds are also deeply rooted in her real life experience, often mirroring each other. And what is solidly found in the middle is her deep love of her family. Every step she takes is taken in what is best for her family. She yearns for a place where she can take long runs in nature, live in an old house with her family where she can cook big meals at night and write during the day, while the kids play freely outside. She’s waiting for the years to shed, like the skin of a snake, when she can emerge from the container she’s been kept in and fully come into her true self.
Taken at Mittry Lake Wildlife Area
An often missed National Park when those are visiting Zion or Grand Canyon is Bryce Canyon National Park, a place that will blow your socks off!
On the way from The Grand Canyon to Zion, there is plenty to see from Flagstaff, Sedona, Walnut Canyon National Monument and Horsehoe Bend
When you need some extra entertainment on the road, these are some of our favorite audiobooks
Road Trip Part 1, from Los Angeles to Grand Canyon with stops in Oatman (donkey, mining town) and Willams, AZ
A winter wonderland adventure in the Sierras, far away from people and perfect during Covid
The sunrise spectators are special breeds of people that know the power of getting up early and greeting the day with all the colors that come with morning