Our family has traveled quite a bit this past summer, unfortunately, we haven’t always been together. I guess that’s what happens when the little ones grow up. Thank goodness, my boys are great photographers so I get to see details of their adventures. First up . . . my son Harrison’s trip to Yosemite National Park.
Free spirited and young, five friends set off to drive from Birmingham to Yosemite National Park. Some are still in college, a few have graduated and have jobs. They hiked with 50 pounds of gear for five miles (therefore having to remove their shirts whenever possible for the camera) and cooked over campfires. My little Harrison is on the left.
Emily is drinking coffee with her skateboard. She’s visited me at my house, so she knows to play it safe. Becca on the right hasn’t met me yet or would have thought twice about sitting so close to the edge of this cliff. I’ll need to have a talk with this wild young lady someday.
Oh . . . my . . . stars!
Harrison excels at astro-photography and has captured the most beautiful nighttime images. The bright lights on the side of the mountain are nighttime climbers. Their mothers need to have a talk with them. “WHAT are you thinking???”
Gearbox Adventure Rentals sponsored the transportation for the trip since Harrison is a cool social-media dude in the travel and nature field. He absolutely loves their vans and this particular model slept all 5 friends and had a small kitchenette, It’s decked out for comfortable travel but is the size of a regular van. Taking shifts to drive all night, the group safely made it out west in no time at all.
Balancing rocks. A creative, fun activity, not requiring anyone to be on the edge of a mountain. (must be Emily).
This was a crazy nighttime phenomena and we aren’t sure what it was. Harrison captured a great video of it as well, and it was beyond anything in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Very eerie, moving around and glowing. (update: my husband said they think now it was the SpaceX launch).
I love these colors.
Harrison said in this photo it was freezing cold, but the water was “boiling hot” and came from a natural geothermal spring. The dog was friendly and just wandered up. They had no idea where it came from.
Taylor and Ben made up the rest of the crew. If you work in the creative arts industry these days, your schedule is usually flexible because you can work remotely from just about anywhere. Harrison is blessed to have the opportunity to travel and see the world while he’s young.
If you want to follow Harrison on Instagram and see his video of the strange light in the sky, just search for harrisontarabella. (the video will only play from your phone, not computer).
Stay tuned for his next adventure to — Uganda.
And check out Gearbox Adventure Rentals HERE.
Very nice astro shots at that. Especially the second one!
I never realized how the sky really looks until I saw some of my son’s photos. Our eyes don’t see but a fraction of what is out there. – Thanks Kenneth.
Beautiful photos. Such a sweet group of friends enjoying their youth…………
I’m sure it’s a trip they’ll always remember. Especially since they had their own photographer following them around.