The Wave

YOU GUYS!!

Holy shit.

Some rocks look like wood. They just do.

In no way could I have been expected to help myself.

Look at the dashing men!

Me, meta.

 

Sam is sporting his NPS hat. It inspired an inordinate amount of confidence (in him, from Jake and me). As Jake noted, we didn't pack a compass, we brought a ranger!

We are a lucky underemployed and uncommitted bunch.

Jake cruised in on the train from Denver.

I joined some friends on their southern Utah spring break roadtrip.

And Sam was just unassumingly studying for the GRE in a Moab coffee shop.
Next thing we know, bam! cruisin' through Goblin Valley SP, Capitol Reef NP, and Grand Staircase-Escalante NM. Jake got laid up with a nasty bug at the Escalante house for a couple days, but naturally he rallied. Meanwhile Sam and I snagged a permit for the Wave by way of the wildest lottery adventure in Kanab. Hiking madness, hoodoo camping, Wave wandering, dirt road exploring, and we had us a hell of a stateline adventure. Sometimes luck is indeed dumb.

Train "Station" in Green River, UT

Some days more than others you feel like vagabonding in the desert with one of your best buds.

 

 

And those are very good days.

A Bit of Bath Time

In August I spent a few days in the lovely Bath.

By the way, this blog has lost all semblance of sequence. 

It is now simply a place to put the treasures from my daily photo file digs. Cheers!

Quite the quaintest of English cities, it's a common UK tourist destination for three reasons (as far as I can tell).
(1) Coordinating architecture made of local limestone from the hills (a miracle it wasn't destroyed in WWII).

(2) Jane Austen, a once upon a time resident (there is now a museum and tea room). 

(3) Some Roman baths (from hence the city draws its name) and the fabled healing mineral waters therein.

Let's go to Kotor, shall we?

I knew nothing about Montenegro. Frankly, wasn't all that stoked on it; probably wouldn't have gone had it not been right smackdab in my freaking way from Albania to Bosnia. But I was set on sticking to the Mediterranean coast during my Balkan Backpacking Odyssey, (because, duh, that's pretty much the lazy planner's ticket to sweet stuff) and boy oh boy, did I stumble upon a gem.

Turns out the reason I hadn't heard much about Montenegro is probably because it hasn't been around all that long. Seriously, I was finishing my junior year of high school when it separated from Serbia in 2006. Coastal, historical Venetian influence (Montenegro= monte negro='black mountain' in archaic Italian), a hot spot for Slavic tourists. Needless to say, I stayed a few days, in a few places. Enjoy these babies taken in Kotor--a stunning stone city on the fjord-like Bay of Kotor.

   

I like this. I think I'll call it 'Self.'

There are those who have come before me.

Freaking cool art installations.
(Hanging laundry is sort of a theme in Kotor. I saw this at the end of my day. Many of my photographs felt instantly contrived. Meh, whatevs.)

Stylish smoke break outside a salon

 

I seek out scenic sandwich spots almost as deliberately as I seek out good sandwiches.

Sorry Dubrovnik, you may be hot shit right now, but Kotor holds a mighty candle. Plus the mountains?! Waayyy more badass. (naaner-naaner-naaner)