For my birthday weekend, I packed up the fam, a film camera, a phone camera, and a long playlist and set out to celebrate another year around the sun by being in the sun.

We went up the coast of Big Sur listening to this mix I made all along the way. I learned that if you start the mix right as f you get to Morro Bay, it will take you through out the drive along the Big Sur area and end when you exit the last bundle of redwood trees and enter the city of Carmel. I didn’t plan it that way but it ended up being a little bit of magic that made me feel good inside.

heres the mix that you can listen to or download from Spotify

The trip was full of things that bring me comfort with things outside of my usual comfort zone. I loved packing healthy snacks into the Yeti, parking the car at random lookouts, and having impromptu picnics. The trip forced our dogs to bond and the lack of reception allowed Alex and I to do the same.

One of the goals I had for the week was to not build up excited anxiety, like I get when I shoot a photo I love with my DSLR. I look at it through the screen and imagine the little tweaks I want to make to it when I get home. By the time a trip where I bring out the big camera is over, I’ve loaded up on a lot of additional work for myself to do.

So for this trip, I just used my iPhone and my very first 35mm camera from my childhood. I love the juxtapositions involved in shooting with these 2 cameras. Not only the stark visual difference but spending this trip celebrating my life through the lenses of both my oldest and newest camera. The one that inspired me to start shooting along with the one that keeps me able to this thing that I love at all times.

Moments that made me smile

☺

Moments that made me smile ☺

+ getting dangerously close to waves crashing onto my feet then narrowly escaping

+ finding the perfect spot to sketch at sunset

+ getting to see flowers bloom out of almost every thing! May is such a cool month to celebrate

+ seeing all the unlikely places that trees grow

+ seeing my very first beach loving deer! DO YOU SEE IT?! I was so excited when I discovered him

+ seeing purple sand for the first time at Pfeiffer Beach

+ imagining how comfy it must be for Charlie to get to view nature from the comfort of a french picnic basket

+ hopping along rocks to look at tide pools and getting to see so many cute live sea urchin up close

San Pedro is one of the rare peninsulas where one gets to see both sunrise and sunset over the horizon on the same day without traveling. I saw neither of these things because on the gloomy afternoon I ventured out there with my friend Derek, we were only there to climb around the crumbly area called Sunken City.

Sunken City got its name after a 1929 landslide caused a community of houses to slide into the ocean. Dereks been going there for long enough that he's able to point out that the concrete and rocks are still sliding ever so slightly throughout the years. However, when we were there it proved that it was still stable enough for people to go down there for some underage drinking and graffiti practice!

It's closed off to the public but..like..sorta. There IS a fence around the parameter of the area, but between pried bars and large gaps between the fence and floors, its pretty much the city of San Pedro saying "I mean, you probably shouldn't go there, but we get the appeal so hey..."

We had a lot of fun climbing rocks and dodging mud puddles from the active rain. We had less fun realizing that we may be getting too old to jump for photos with the gusto we used to. That being said, I hope you enjoy these solidly grounded photos of our trip.