Amazing Road Trip to Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks! The Beginning of the Adventure Starts Here!

I've been wanting to go to Yellowstone for the last few years and every year SOMETHING prevented it.  I was determined to make it happen this Spring and, with the help of my wonderful daughter, I was able to make it happen.

I wanted to go in Spring so I could see BABIES hopefully.  And I also didn't want to be there during the busy time of year (Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Weekend, primarily) because I'm not one for crowds in the first place plus we are still dealing with this pandemic.

I had my second Moderna vaccine shot 3 weeks prior to my trip, so I was happy because the timing for me to take a road trip was really working out.  

As you may know, I love to see churches and temples for their architecture and beauty and my route would be taking me through parts of Idaho where my mom and dad lived and married.  I was happy to drive though these places I hadn't seen since my childhood. 

I left California on Sunday afternoon/evening and headed up I-80 towards Wells, Nevada. 

I drove until just as the sun was coming up before I started to feel tired enough to take a nap.  I stopped at a Truck Stop/Casino in Wells Nevada and climbed into the back of my SUV for a short nap.  I woke up to quite a gorgeous view of the East Humboldt Range. 

After my nap, my road would take me through Twin Falls, Pocatello, and Idaho Falls.  I vaguely remember having family around Twin Falls (Burley) and Pocatello (not sure) and my parents got "sealed" in the LDS Idaho Falls Temple.  So, since I had to stop for gas and to stretch my legs and such, I decided I would take photos at each of the temples.

First on my route was Twin Falls:

And next, I saw the Pocatello temple from the freeway and was a little surprised because I didn't know there was one in Pocatello.  Turns out it is under construction but was still pretty photogenic from the right angle.  It is up on a hill which makes it look really cool from a distance. 

Pretty with a similar look to Twin Falls, but the layout is akin to the Idaho Falls Temple.  Speaking of which...

The Idaho Falls Temple is definitely the Queen of the three!  Gorgeous architecture on a gorgeous location.  I walked around a bit but would love to go back again to explore more fully.  

Next leg of the journey took me from Idaho Falls over the mountain pass into Wyoming.  And into the incredible beauty of Grand Tetons National Park.  

To be honest, nothing really prepared me for the beauty I was about to see.  Photos that I had seen didn't really do it justice and mine may not either, but let's get to it in the next post!

xoxo

Nikon D600 & D7200

San Francisco! Heart of a Beautiful City Walk

Welcome to my Kosmos!

My world revolves around my daughter, my job, my kitty, photography/nature/road trips.  My peaceful place is almost anywhere with my camera.  

This trip was to one of my favorite cities and came about because my lovely daughter had a week-long conference that she had to work for her firm. Since parking is so expensive in the City (where she actually works, but doesn't park on the daily), I dropped her off at her hotel near Union Square and then took a walk before driving her car home.  :)

As I exited her hotel, there was a VERY noisy protest going on across the street at a different hotel.  I cannot express how noisy they were!  Adie's hotel was actually about a block and a half away but I could hear the cacophony immediately when I came outside. 

One thing I love is the Hearts in San Francisco project which started in 2004.  Each year artists create beautiful heart sculptures which are auctioned off with the proceeds going to charities.

This is one of the most famous hearts.  Tony Bennett painted this heart titled "America's Greatest City by the Bay" which lives permanently in Union Square at the corner of Powell and Posts streets. 

The bokeh in the background of the heart inspired me to do a different edit on a similar but wider shot.  

And of course, there are still beautiful flowers growing in the city and we all know how I love some good closeup flower shots!  This day did not disapoint!

Another heart at Union Square.  

I continued my walk towards Chinatown.  

I love looking at everything!  Including architecture and how buildings come together to give the City it's identity. 

This is the Dragon Gate, Gate to Chinatown at Bush and Grant streets. 

As you continue walking down Grant street, there are art shops lining the street and it is a beautiful and fascinating display.  This "Hear No Evil, See no Evil, Speak No Evil" bench stands outside of one of the stores.  

I actually loved taking photos of all the art and really tried to capture bokeh as my focus.  I got special permission from one of the shop owners to shoot in their gallery and I will have a separate post next with those photos. 

This is St. Mary's Square which is a lovely park just off of Grant Street. 

Old Saint Mary's Cathedral and Holy Family Chinese Mission

  

Across the street from St. Mary's

One final note about the St. Mary's area and park.  There is a Comfort Women memorial in the Square that I didn't walk past that day.  I am going to go back and do a post about it, the controversy when it was erected, and the rich history of the area. 

This young man was busking on one of the streets and he wasn't bad!  I asked permission to take the shot and contibuted $10 to his world tour.  :)

I was waiting semi-patiently to take a photo of this stunning dragon graffiti, but the photo shoot didn't look to be ending any time soon.  So I went ahead and took my shots.  

I did a bit of window shopping too!  But obviously these were a little out of my price range!

Once I got back to Union Square, the noisy protesters had some competition with this group from a local church singing come to Jesus songs over a PA system.  They were pretty good too!  But didn't have any where for me to donate money, so I was content with clapping along with some other people who had paused to listen. 

xoxo

Nikon D600