(9/8/12)

What would you do if you had an empty summer stretching out before you? Maybe make that an almost-empty summer with a little bit of schoolwork thrown in 'cause you fell behind during the regular school year (in other words, make it my summer). What would you use all those lovely, relaxed, (almost) empty days for? Maybe a little travel, and keeping up with general life, but mostly just enjoying the peace?

Once I learned that I would have three almost-empty months, I did what any insane person would do and immediately began slacking on school, making myself incredibly busy, traveling all over this fine country, working on business stuff, training to become a barista at a local coffee shop, having friends visit from out of town, visiting other friends, learning how to drive, and just generally spreading myself way too thin. Sigh. Trust me to do that!

So, in other words, it's been quite the summer of adventures! Traveling hither, thither, and all over makes for a busy, exhilarated, tired me. Let's just say I can't wait for more routine life to take over. 

My mum and I really got into hiking over the summer, scouting out a few lesser-known trails to explore. We found a trail to Codfish Falls that winds next to the American River up near Weimar. It was a long, steep, pothole-filled drive in a compact car to get to the trailhead, but the falls ended up being absolutely lovely:

When visiting my brother Justice at UC Berkeley, we went hiking in the hills behind campus:

Black and white or color? Sometimes so hard to choose...

Muir Woods, north of San Francisco:

This image isn't one of my best, but it's photographic proof that I braved my intense fear of bees to get this close with a 55mm lens:

Lovely San Francisco from across the bay:

Flying to Illinois to visit family:

The kid in the next row on the plane who seemed very interested in me and my family -- so, so cute:

Nighttime over Colorado:

Nighttime over St. Louis:

There are no photos from my family's trip to Illinois, since I decided to forego documenting the family get-togethers and start participating in them more. However, I still have tons of images from the rest of my summer, all of which I just finished editing and will be posting soon!

One more thing: I got the sweetest note on my blog the other day from a girl my age, who encouraged me so much. Even over a crazy and sometimes discouraging few months, it's encouragement from my friends and even people whom I've never met that keeps me going with photography. Thank you all so much!