Gadget’s Airstream Chronicles

As most readers know, I’m a “Full-Time RVer”. Sure, the Airstream isn’t rolling all over the country, but that doesn’t define a full-timer at all. Folks in this category live in an RV full time. That’s it. The travel is a bonus.

Right now the travel would be painful given gas prices. So I’m happy to be a stationary Airstreamer at the moment. I sure would like to go to a few places to take photos, but I’ll wait a while. I wonder when my Titan can be solar powered……?

If you’re not familiar with Airstreams, or more specifically my Airstream, you don’t have the largest amount of space to work in. My Airstream is 25 feet long and 8 feet wide. For those who are mathematically challenged or are unsure about devices known as “calculators”, 25×8 yields 200 square feet of space. My first apartment by myself was an “efficiency”, and it was 450 sq ft. You can’t fit a ton of stuff in that amount of space, but that’s what I’ve got to work with.

With my spacial constraints I still manage to have every amenity I need. My kitchen sink, a cute stove, microwave, a claustrophobic shower, etc. And with all of my small tech devices I cover everything you can imagine for an office, entertainment center, etc. Part of my gadget hoard includes a full set up for photo development while on the road or at rest.

Probably not too shocking. You’ve seen many photos out of the Airstream Chronicles site, you know I post regularly, and I talk about watching DVDs and other fun stuff.

Given all the recent HDR photography I thought it would be useful to talk about what goes into my portable photo lab. What does it really take to produce cool travel images, how much space does it take, and how does it fit in to a full-timing lifestyle?

So, what’s in my little bag of tricks? Here’s the list:

• Macbook Pro: This is the computer I use every day. I’ve been using it since the Spring of 2006. It’s my entertainment center, productivity center, e-mail box, web device, blogging tool, etc. It’s also the hub of my photography setup.
• Photoshop CS3: Photoshop has to be one of my most used programs lately. Photo editing, resizing, & retouching all take place in Photoshop.
• Photoshop Lightroom: Probably the coolest photo management program I’ve ever seen. When I off load photos, Lightroom is the program I choose.
• Photomatix Pro: This is my newest program. If you like the recent HDRs I’d suggest checking out Photomatix.
• Canon 40D: The newest addition to my camera bodies. I picked up the 40D because it has a built in image sensor cleaner. If you’ve ever lived in AZ you’ll understand why the sensor cleaner is necessary…..dust is everywhere, all the time.
• Canon 30D: Ah yes, I’ve got a 30D as well. I’ve been extremely happy with this camera. My only complaint is the fact I keep having to clean the image sensor thanks to all the dust here. It’s now my “indoor” camera (you know, macro photos….).
• Canon SD550: The SD550 is no longer in production. I bought this “Digital Elph” years ago. It’s a wonderful little camera. It’s also super small. Many of my shots during my travels in 2006 were taken with the 550. Simple little point and shoot camera for those moments when you don’t feel like breaking out a big camera. If you want something similar check out the SD1100.
• Canon Selphy: This is my tiny portable printer. I make cute little postcard prints with it. The color quality and speed of this printer are amazing!
• Canon IP100: I just purchased this super small photo printer within the past 2 weeks. With some of my latest photos I wanted to print 8×10 and 8.5×11 photos. The IP 100 is ultra slim, and the color quality is fantastic. I’ll write a longer review on the printer after I’ve passed the 1 month ownership marker with it.
• Crumpler Bag: My newest camera bag is a Crumpler. A compact and stylish carrying case.
• Lowepro Camera Backpack: If I need to carry “everything” the Lowepro is the bag I use.
• Canon Lenses: I have too many lenses….. My primary lens is a 28-135mm Image Stabilized lens. I also have a 17-85mm IS lens that came with my 30D (it’s my second favorite lens). The bulk of the photos you see here have been shot with the 28-135 or the 17-85. My other lenses are “specialized” for only certain shots.
• 2 500GB MyBooks: Currently I’m running 2 Mybook external hard drives. My Lacies have been filled, and they’re now stored away. The MyBook drives store all of my photography, ITunes library, system backups, etc. 1 drive is the primary drive, 1 drive backs up the primary drive. These drives take very little space, and they store so much.

There’s the list in a nutshell. Amazingly enough, this stuff takes very little space. My cameras and lenses fit into my Lowepro & Crumpler bags. Between the two bags everything is put away all the time. The bags fit under my credenza in the Airstream, and there’s plenty of room for more stuff to fit under there as well. The printers can both be stored in an overhead compartment and plenty of room is leftover for other items. Finally, the Macbook sits out on my dinette.

If you rounded up all these items you could stack them on my couch and leave room for 2 people to still sit on the couch. Pretty small amount of space for all the equipment does, don’t you think?

Do I have other little odds and ends? Sure I do. I got almost everything listed, and really for most folks it might be over kill. 1 camera pack, 1 camera, 1 printer, 1 computer…..you’d have your own portable lab too. I’d strongly suggest using Photoshop, Lightroom, and Photomatix (if you’re interested in HDR photography). With all that in hand you too could have a compact photo lab that you’ll be extremely happy with.

I’ve played with Scott Kelby’s 7 point system for a while now. Still, I’m only in the “Photoshop Experimentation” mode. It’s hard choosing photos to edit. Looking through my favorites I find myself saying, “I don’t think I need to edit that…..do I?”

Well, today I decided to apply some of the techniques.

The original photo I picked was one of Bert Gildart. You remember him, don’t you? Well, on our hike into the Promised Land I got a few interesting shots of Bert & Janie as we hiked around.

One favorite was Bert at the edge of a small cave we explored. I liked the photo right off and never adjusted it, just posted it onto the blog. You’re looking at the photo right now.

Unfortunately the lighting wasn’t the best. The sun was above us and slightly behind the rock formation. The plus was we weren’t staring into the sun, the minus was a lack of good light shooting into the cave.

Looking at the shot I thought a little more and found everything to be slightly bland. Except Bert of course, he’s just not a bland guy. The rock edges didn’t have the greatest contrast, Bert’s blue jeans looked even more faded than they truly were……I think you get the gist.

So, this morning I set about trying my hand at being “artistic” with one of my photos. I wanted the rocks to have more contrast, and I wanted Bert to stand out from the scene. I’m not sure if I achieved it or not. Then again, I spent about 6 minutes on the edits.

As you’ll see immediately, the colors have changed dramatically. That happened almost immediately. I shot this picture in RAW. That left me a lot of room to work with the photo after the fact. The first step I took was resetting the white balance. The original seemed a little too far into the blue range. And it was. I simply sampled an area that should be white to set my custom white balance. The white I sampled from was the piece of paper sticking up from Bert’s pocket.

After resetting the white balance I revealed some more detail from the shadows behind Bert. At first I revealed too much and it looked far too artificial, so I toned it down a bit. All of those changes were in the RAW editor in Photoshop (it always pops up when you bring a RAW image in).

I opened the image and created a new layer with adjustments. At the tone curve I set it to Strong Contrast. That really brought all the edges of the rocks out. It also over did it on Bert, so I created a mask and got Bert out of the strong contrast.

Finally, when resetting the white balance in the beginning I thought Bert’s jeans faded way too much. So I created one more layer, jumped into Hue & Saturation, and pumped up the blues a touch. Bert’s jeans became “new jeans”, and I touched up the blue pattern around his hat. Basically, I got the blues back to where they were in the original shot, while keeping a warmer yellow to everything else.

So, there’s the first real official edit attempt. I understand all the concepts from Kelby’s amazing book. The thing that he can’t do for you in the book is teach you what the correct lighting and colors should be. Sure, in his book he walks you through getting that great image, and he’s made all the decisions. Doing this one I kept asking myself, “Is that closer to the real color?” I guess in time I’ll get better with that as well.

I can say, I love the 7 Point System. It’s been a lot of fun. Now it’s time to really play with applying the techniques and get creative!

This morning Sadira and I took a ride up to Sedona. The trip had several goals……

• Hike around Sedona and take a few more fun photos.
• Stop by Rollies Camera.
• New neck strap for me.
• New neck strap and camera bag for Sadira.
• Pop by Dead Horse and meet T.B. Rich.

Sorry to say, but the goals and objectives for the day didn’t quite work out. Sure, we made it to Sedona. And yes, we made it to Rollies Camera. We each picked up our items…..and that was about it. Oh, and a side trip to New Frontiers for a few goodies.  Included in the goodies…..1 lb of the baked / seared tofu I’d written about the other day.  That explains the photo of the tofu brick on the web site!

So, what went wrong? In a word….. Cottonwoods.

Apparently the cottonwoods are in full force over in Sedona now. I’ve suspected I have a problem with them based on prior experience, but I’ve never fully settled on, “Yeah, they’re a real problem.” I made the decision today, they are a problem!

In a matter of minutes walking the streets of Sedona I felt the need for my inhaler (in the truck of course). I kept track of how I was doing, and figured I could “go on” for a bit. By the time we returned to the truck I had pressure behind my eyes, I was coughing / choking a good bit, a whopping headache had set in, and I was pretty dizzy.

Ok, no hugging cottonwoods this week. Oh, soon they’ll be doing their thing here.

Fortunately the truck’s super duty air filter helped out pretty quick. Driving along we made the decision to skip Jerome and head right back to Prescott. Just being in the truck with the filter helped within 15 minutes. Hoorah! I am however slightly concerned about the cottonwoods popping up here soon.

It’s at this time I must say somebody only had 1 Zyrtec today instead of 2, no Flonaze, etc. If I had thought ahead I could have made the experience more tolerable. That’ll be addressed going forward for the next few weeks here. I’m happy to say, the major pollen season here is pretty quick. Also, I experienced the same thing here last year, but with an Airstream and Hepa, staying indoors for a bit, etc., things worked out well. Hey, if you find a place where you can tolerate the outdoor conditions 80% of the time you’ve done good.

By the time we returned to Prescott we both felt a lot better. Very telling for sure. Interesting how quickly I react when in the wrong environment.

I made the decision to keep it close to the Airstream for the rest of the day.  We took a short walk into the Dells, and then Sadira headed back home to play with her Dyson vacuum cleaner.  I stuck around the trailer, cranked up the Hepa, and decided to take a few more photos with my portable studio setup.  When you think you should stay in, find something fun to do.  Oh, and I cleaned the trailer prior to shooting of course.

One thing I wanted to photograph was my new “Life Is Good” hat.  If you look at it you might say, “Hey, that looks like Sedona on the hat!”  You would be correct, it is Sedona.  You want to know the really interesting thing?  You can only buy the Life Is Good Sedona hat at the Sedona store.  Pop in anywhere else in the world, you won’t find it.  Neat, right? 

And no, I didn’t set up my portable studio for shots of the hat alone.  I wanted to share photos of my tofu find (up above), and create some new product shots for an upcoming article, and use in another book I’m working on.  Ah, the busy life of a guy hiding from Cottonwoods……

I also thought I’d share a shot of today’s studio setup.  Bert got a kick out of my portable Airstream photo studio, and I get a kick out of it too.  No real space is lost to the equipment, and when I need to setup product shots or macros I sure have something slick to work with.

For all of today’s shots I used my 580 Speedlight, went to a fully manual setup, and actually under-exposed everything.  The strobe made up the difference, and in all honestly I could have under-exposed further in order to darken the background more.  The tofu shot shows too much reflection from my background, and I should have narrowed the aperture, lowered the flash power, and set the shutter speed higher.  Ah well, a learning process for sure.

Well, off to take Zyrtec # 2 for the day.  Still not at 100%, but much better here.  It’s a shame, the cottonwoods make it look like snow in the Spring, and I sure wouldn’t mind hiking in Sedona right now.  Ah well, they’ll finish up soon!

Often I’ll get questions from readers regarding photos that appear here at the Chronicles.  “Those photos are edited, aren’t they?”

The answer on 95% of the shots is a simple, “No.”

Really, no?  The bulk of the photos showing up here aren’t edited? They look like they are.

Often those blue blues are achieved with a circular polarizing filter.  That’s it.  Pretty simple photo technique, no fancy programs.

Currently my edits are simple.  Shrink the photo for the web.  Ah, that is an edit, isn’t it?

The photo to the left has been edited.  It was resized for this page.  It was also enhanced.  I popped the clarity up (making the edges more noticeable) and I increased the vibrancy of the photo (more blue than the original shot).  I didn’t have a filter on the lens that was used shooting this photo.

So, editing is bad?

Absolutely not.  And more might be done on shots here at the Airstream Chronicles.  It’s not that I refuse to edit for some goofy purist reason.  I don’t edit because Photoshop is so complex and kooky that I wouldn’t know where to begin.

Really, Photoshop is that hard?  Well then, why do so many people buy it?

Photoshop isn’t hard.  It’s something I haven’t personally worked with a lot.  Sure, I’ve owned it for years.  I crop photos, occasionally punch up a good photo to make it even cooler.  But I don’t know all of the ins and outs of the program.  Most people who own it don’t, and they don’t realize what a powerful program they have.  But I’m starting to learn more.  I want to, as I know I’ve had some great shots that can go well beyond great with a few minutes of work.

So, how do you take good photos to great?  Pick up a book.

Aren’t books the reason this guy is running out of space in his Airstream?  Where will he sleep?  His bed is probably piled with books……. (close, but not there quite yet).

Not too long ago I stumbled across “The Digital Photography Book” by Scott Kelby.  This guy is a prolific writer who does how to guides that will blow your mind.  No, he doesn’t write any of the “For Dummies,” books (thank god).

Just as an aside.  I can’t stand the For Dummies label.  Because you don’t know how to run a program or computer doesn’t make you a dummy.  It means you haven’t learned yet.  You’re not dumb.  Personally I know how to run giant wireless switches.  You might not know how, but that doesn’t make you a dummy.  It makes you a person who does something else.

Scott’s books don’t start out calling you names.  Instead his books start out joking, being a little goofy, and then telling you he’s going to help you get more out of what you have.  How nice of him.

After finding the book, reading it, and reading it again something happened.  Friends and family alike asked me what changed with my pictures.  People noted that my really good photos were becoming great.  New camera?  New lens?  New shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer?  Honestly, I do use a new shampoo, but it’s totally unrelated. The answer was simple.  I read a book, understood more about lighting (huge) and realized how much more I could get out of my camera.  Simple.  Maybe the shampoo helped too.

After my exposure to Kelby’s book I went out and grabbed his book on Lightroom (a photo management program), and learned how to organize my photos in a better way.  I’m still re-reading the book as there’s so much in it.  Over flowing with information.  A friend had sent a copy of Lightroom for me to try, and like Photoshop, it had so many features it was overwhelming.  Enter the Lightroom book.

So, things have improved, and I want them to improve more.  I own Photoshop because it came with a package of other software that I needed and use more often.   The Adobe Creative suite (what I laid my book out with).  Now I’m ready to get even more out of that purchase, and use the one program in the suite that I’ve avoided like the plague.

I’ve talked with many folks who take pictures around here.  Most say, “I don’t edit, I want the shot I took.”  I understand that, but there’s a fun undertone.  The honest answer is, “I’ve got no idea how to edit, so I’ll say something along the sour grapes line.”  Hey, I’ve done it too….but no more excuses.

Earlier in the week I picked up Scott Kelby’s 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop.  I’ve done a few of the exercises in the book.  In total there are 21 lesson using the 7 point system.  I’ll probably finish the book next week, and then do it all again.  I can already see how improvements in my shots can be made.  And I’m thinking about a few of my “great” photos becoming spectacular.  It’s nice.  I’ll let you know when I start putting edits up, and I’ll probably provide before and afters to clue you in.

So, keep watching over the next few weeks.  I’ll show you what I’m up to in the creative zone.  And if you’d like to start improving your shots I’d suggest checking out Kebly’s books.  I’ve got links throughout this post, so start clicking.  Or just check out his blog.  I’d suggest the Digital Photography Book, Volumes One & Two.  They’re cheap, and you’ll see changes immediately in how you shoot.  From there, you’ll have to see what else you need to learn.

And no, I don’t work for Mr. Kelby.  Just passing along information on books that have really helped me improve on something I enjoy.  Hey, I even put a link to my book in the post, so you can go buy it too if you’d like……:)

I’ve been talking to several friends about taking pictures lately.  Questions on a few shots I’ve taken, and on how to shoot.  And I’ve finally learned one lesson that has taken me years to feel comfortable with.

It’s ok to fire away.  It’s digital you know, and it’s not like you’re spending tons of money on developing.  So, experimentation is ok, and through it you’ll hit some great shots just right.

Does that mean I take 300 shots of the same scene?  No, not at all.  I set up, set my favorite mode (often aperture priority) and get several photos of what I’m interested in.  I’ll play with points of focus and then when I return home I’ll see what I like.  It works out well, except for the hours of sorting pictures.  But that’s ok.  When looking through shots the evaluation process normally goes like this…..

Well, that’s ok, but check the next one….Ooooh, that’s better than the last.  Arrow back to the last and delete it, keep the next…… Uh, not sure about that one.  Flag it for later.  Wow, the next one is a keeper, forget those other two!

So, is that an ok way to get the right shot?  Or should I only take one photo of each thing, hope I set it up just perfect, and await the results when I offload my “digital film”?  For me, multiple shots is fine.  And according to everything I’ve read, it’s normal.

My next adjustment is using Photo Shop more often.  I’ve never been big on editing shots, but after reading so many books on the subject it sounds like it is in fact a positive.  And many folks out there edit the tar out of their photos.  Something I usually avoid, but I’m starting to experiment with.  If you have the tools, why not get a little more creative?

Why am I talking about this today?  Simple, I’ve been sorting through photos from the past few weeks, finding the keepers, and considering some edits of shots just to see how they turn out.  And I’ll share them here as I find just the right thing!

Oh, and the macros continue…..Why?  It’s snowing outside now, and really cold.  You know the Super Bowl is being played today here in sunny, warm…..uh, wait…..Arizona.  Well, I could take a photo of the gray skies, edit it, and we can pretend it’s sunny here today!

Ok, the second post of today……  This one is for Tom (links are included). 

Recently I placed a very small order to BHPhotovideo.com.  If you’re not familiar with the site you probably don’t own a digital camera.  I’d gotten a cool gift certificate to BH (from points unknown), and I didn’t know what to do with it.

Fortunately BH included their latest catalog with the gift card.  I always get their catalogs as I’ve spent way too much with them, but I hadn’t seen the newest in months.  So, I went through page by page to see what I’d like.

In the end, when I totaled what I liked I’d reached well over $18,000.  Clearly the gift card wouldn’t cover it!

It’s at this point I’d like to send a plea to the universe and all the readers….. You now know the exact gift card amount I require….let’s get cracking! 

Anyhow, I started parsing it down.  What one item would “work” for the moment.  That’s when I took a second look at “portable studios”.  The first, which I really got into, was a little too much.  Beyond that, it was too big and bulky to be a portable table studio in an Airstream.   Ah, two strikes……didn’t even wait for the third.

So, I was left with one option.  I’d already purchased a white background from BH.  I used it for a few shots of computers and such for the new edition of my book (The Digital RV….there’s a link at the top of the site….I suggest you buy at least 5 copies….it’s rather informative…..wait til you see the next book….it’s in process for publishing).  Well, the same manufacturer offered a new package….and it caught my attention.

The new portable desktop studio came in at under $100.  Background board, two lights, and that’s about it.  But here’s the deal…..I already had the white board.  Now I have a black background too!  And it’s pretty slick for upclose shots.  It also packs away neatly in the space of less than one Airstream cabinet…..so slick!  And it works.  Take a look at today’s “photo of the day”, and you might think it works too….

Oh, and the shot of the setup was taken with my SD 550, not an SLR.  I did it at an angle to be cool….and to hide the messy couch area that’s going on today…Apologies for my messy couch!

And yes, both shots were taken by me.  The first, SD550.  The second with my 30D. 

So, I’m trying to avoid saying too much about work here.  But that’s what I’ve been doing a lot of lately….spending time at work.  Yesterday I had a fun interaction that I just have to write about, so sorry, a work post.

While helping a couple with some digital imagining equipment I had all the usual questions.  What cameras work best, how easy are they to use, what software works well with your photos, etc.  Nothing unusual.

Like many folks, they wanted the best imaging for the lowest cost.  Actually I’ve often heard, “What’s the best cheapest camera out there?  You know, for under $100.”  Gee, I’ve got no answer for that one.  Hasn’t anyone ever heard that you get what you pay for?  Often, that rule applies.

Yesterday’s big question really made me chuckle though.  After talking cameras for a while the husband decided on what he thought would work well.  I was pretty happy with his decision too.  Middle of the road, good camera, they’d enjoy using it.

Before a final decision was made the husband asked me to help figure something out……

“We’re from Ontario Canada.  Could you tell me what the price of this camera works out to with the current exchange rate in Canada.  I want to be sure that I couldn’t get it cheaper in Canada.”

I paused.  See, I read the financials every day.   The exchange rate is actually something I know.  Normally folks can’t find someone to make appropriate change, let along figure out a currency exchange.  But I did it in my head and told him the cost in Canadian dollars.

“Well, can we check a Canadian store online to see if that’s what they’re selling it for, and to look into the relevant taxes as well?”

Uh, are you kidding me?  You just found a guy that makes up 2% of Prescott’s population that can in fact convert between currencies.  Now you need to see if I can work out what Canadian stores list cameras for?  Wow, demanding.

Unfortunately I didn’t have web access to do the comparison.  The guy was more than disappointed, he seemed shocked that I wouldn’t do this.  Clearly he hasn’t had many people in the U.S. make change for him on his visit here.  If he had he should have already been impressed with the currency conversion.  Ah well, there are truly those moments when you just can’t please someone. 

Now, for all of my readers, where does the Loonie (Canada’s currency) currently trade versus the dollar.  No fair looking it up…… 

At 5 this morning I shot up and was wide awake. Might have something to do with going to bed a little after 8 last night. What can I tell you? I was tired.

I gave Sadira a call early on to see if she’d like to go out to Promised Land. I wanted to get further in this morning, take photos, and GPS the area. She said sure and popped over about 45 minutes after I got in touch.

While the ride there is less than 25 miles it sure takes a while to get in.  Deep washes, cut away chunks of road (especially close to the parking area).  The Titan fortunately handles it with ease.  By the time we reached the broken windmill I knew we’d only have 5 or 10 more minutes.

We parked the truck and started our walk into the canyon well before 8 a.m.  Yes, an early start indeed.  As we approached the dry river bed we both heard something.  Flowing water, and lots of it.  Last week the river was dry, and this week there was actually a flow strong enough to hear it a way off.  Wow!

Walking in wasn’t as easy as the trip that I took with Andy & Brooke.  There were many water filled areas.  And hopping across the rocks here isn’t as easy as other places.  The stones in the river bed are worn smooth, and even Vibram soles don’t stick easily.

We reached the first climbing area after sloshing through water and scrambling over the smooth stones only to find you couldn’t even stand under the cliff.  A heavy flow of water was rolling through.  Nobody could belay that climb today!

Finally, we found we really couldn’t “hike” further in.  If I’d worn my Chacos today we could have progressed on (through the water), but for once I was wearing real hiking shoes instead of my sandals.  Go figure!

With our path for forward progress blocked we made our way out of the canyon and back to the truck.  We took our time, as it’s an interesting walk along the river bed, and even more interesting with the water flow.

Along the way I came across a wonderful little lizard who allowed me to take many photos.  The lizard really blends in well with the rocks though.  Pretty hard to see at first.

After snapping away at the little reptile I decided to take a few flower photos.  That’s when I noticed a bee.  Or maybe not a bee.  Striped back end, but a green face.  Well, not sure what type of insect it really is, but it was fun trying a few more macro shots.

If you can’t tell, I have been working on my macro shots lately.  I think this little insect came out well.  You should see the original version at full resolution!  I never put up full photos here, as it would take forever to upload, and to download for readers.

There’s the wrap for this morning.  Our hiking adventure was over before 10 a.m., but keep in mind the wakeup time! 

Ah, and here’s one more of my recent practice macro shots.  Hope you enjoy it!

Don’t forget, I’m now posting more photos at my flickr site as well. 

The other night I caught a “hawkmoth” (thanks Granny J) with my digital camera. Today I figured I’d follow two around and see if I could do better. I’m not sure that I did better, but I thought I’d share the photos all the same.

Oh, and I think no near dusk photography tonight.  While the mosquitoes here in AZ aren’t as bad as those in New Hampshire, I haven’t been chewed up in quite some time.  I’m not accustomed to it, so I think I’ll take this evening off and let the mosquitoes find another dining hot spot!

I can’t sleep, and I’m exhausted. So, this is one of those posts. If you’re here for Airstreams and other fun stuff, skip this post. I’m in a thinking mood. Sorry, it happens!

Reality is setting in. Over the weekend I was so enthused. An opportunity that matches my skills to a T. Exciting.

The enthusiasm turned to a lower level of excitement, and many other things. Realization. What I want to do on the career level isn’t matching where I am. Enthusiasm and disappointment then competed with each other for dominance.

Afterward, remnants of excitement, coupled with a growing sense of loss once more. There’s a familiar feeling. Loss. I’ve had a ton of it over the past few years, and I didn’t need a revisit!

Still, I’ve kept a sliver of hope that something interesting and unique would turn up here. Work should be entertaining, fulfilling, and meaningful. All indicators point to my most recent opportunity. It’s just that opportunity doesn’t lie in the place I currently reside.

Today has been a day of coping with what feels like loss. And coupled with it, my desire to not be ungrateful for things that have been dropped in my path. I’ve started letting my new friends know I’m heading out soon. There’s an opportunity I can’t ignore, and I’ve got to go after it full on. It matches me. I’ll do well at the job, and I’ll bring a lot to the table in this roll. Bottom line, it provides me a purpose once again.

Have I not had a purpose? Sure, I’ve been driven to find solutions to the medical junk that started in 05′. I’ve had to make my way after losing so much that meant the world to me. Travel, seeing new places, meeting new people, and experiencing the kindness that our country has to offer. There’s purpose in all of that. I guess I just want more. I defy you to point out someone who doesn’t strive to be something beyond what they currently are.

So, with all of that…… I went out and took too many pictures today. Documenting. My home for four months needs it’s place in all of what’s occurred. Prescott has been the stop in my journeys where I’ve found the strength to heal so much. Walking out for miles alone again. While not a new experience, a new one in recent years. Confidence restored. Digging my nails into granite to hang on a few seconds more. Hanging on has become an art form in my life recently. Finding fast friends, and wonderful friends…… How good can it be?

And now packing. Organizing the Airstream for one more jaunt. This will be the last for a while I think. That hits home. I’m ready. And I’m sad with saying good bye once more. Especially to the place that has brought so much back into my life.

With all of that, I went out and took too many pictures today. I will again tomorrow, and Friday, and Saturday. This is a special place. It has so much to offer. If you’re ever looking for a place to line everything back up, I’d suggest stopping by. It’s done me a world of good. And it’s home. Glad to have found it!