It has been a busy couple weeks since I have returned to the states. I have been moving into a new house, concluding my internship with Food for the Hungry, and doing my best to touch base with people (which I am doing a miserable job of right now…if you are waiting to hear back from me I promise I’m slowly getting there)! As a nice break, which seems funny to say since I am just returning, I was able to spend a few days with my family (minus my brother who is visiting family in Utah). I spent the past few days with my parents, sister, and sisters friend in California with most of our time at Lake Tahoe. It was my first time visiting here, it is absolutely beautiful. I must admit, I wasn’t looking forward to leaving again so soon, but the beauty of this place is tough to beat, and it was great to really visit my family for the fist time since I returned.

Above you can see my sister and her best friend Kelsey, Lake Tahoe from the top of a near by mountain, and a ski lift overhead of the now dry sky slope.

The lake is gorgeous. Enough said.

At multiple points I regretted not bringing my tripod. This sunset was one of them.

This Tahoe Lakeside beach was just a few blocks away from our hotel. The water was crystal clear, and the mountains peaking in the distance complemented it creating a breathtaking vista.

On one of the days we took bikes for a four hour ride around town. We went through forest, beaches, and even poked around at a local estate. The Baldwin Estate, no connection to the mostly lacking acting family, was spotted with gardens, old buildings, and neat antiques.

On our way back to Phoenix we drove through Yosemite National Park. I had been a few years back on a backpacking trip, but had forgotten how beautiful this park is. Even on the short drive you see so much!

And of course we watched some great fireworks on Independence Day. The show displayed pirotechnics over the lake and thousands of people packed the beaches to look on. That said it has been a great few days with family. I’m greatful for the chance to spend time with them and see such a beautiful part of the country. Though now, I’m also looking forward to getting home and getting caught up  on life. I hope you all saw some great fireworks as well and had a

Happy 4th of July!

This entry was posted on Monday, July 6th, 2009 at 3:08 am and is filed under Photography, Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.