48 hours in NYC
The first weekend of May I flew up to NYC for a refreshing 48 hours of people watching, diner food, and exploring the city with one of my favorite people - my dad.
Vail
I spent the most amazing, cold, hectic weekend over MLK Holiday up in the Colorado mountains shooting a music video for my friend Gabriel Berenbaum. We flew into Denver Friday morning, then drove two hours west into the cozy town of Vail, nestled between the Rockies. Saturday and Sunday were long and frigid - we shot from shortly after sunrise to sunset both days, then spent Monday morning gathering drone footage before heading back to the airport. We were blessed with two perfect, overcast days of powdered flurries, and a crisp, clear morning Monday that warmed up enough to use the drone without freezing it. The trip feels like a blur now - the mountains were so grand in person and the cold was refreshing in such a small dose, I wish we had a couple more nights to enjoy Colorado but it was an incredible (and intensive) four day hustle.
Seattle
July 2 - 3 | Special Olympics / North Unified Relay Across America
Seattle was one of my favorite cities I got to see on this trip and I wish I had more time to explore on foot - it reminded me a lot of San Francisco with all the hills, cable cars, and vibe of the people on the street. We were given two perfect, cloudless mornings to traverse our route downtown before heading south into Oregon & California. Hoping I can make it back soon, Seattle is definitely worth a summertime visit.
Cowboy Country
June 23 - 28 | Special Olympics / North Unified Relay Across America
The few days we spent driving across Wyoming, Montana and Idaho were beautiful - Wyoming blew me away. The air was crisp and so clear you could see for miles until the horizon. Even in late June patches of snow clung to the peaks and shoulders of the mountains. We took the scenic route between towns and made a few stops along the side of the road to get out, taste the mountain air, and walk around. It felt like time stood still gazing down into the valley, I didn't want to leave.
The Midwest
June 10 - 23 | Special Olympics / North Unified Relay Across America
For almost two weeks we navigated through Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota and the Dakotas.
I got the day off in Chicago with my best friend (who happens to be a Chicago native) so we rode the L downtown and explored the city by foot, making time to hit all the Chi-town flavor essentials: deep dish, fried chicken, hot dogs, and authentic hole-in-the-wall Mexican.
I've always felt drawn to the energy of big cities, but on this trip I've enjoyed seeing how America lives in different regions, the majority of which are not urban. What do people's homes look like? Their yards? What kind of car do they drive? The neighborhoods here have character - they aren't comprised of cloned, cookie-cutter homes like the suburbia I grew up surrounded by.
Detroit
June 8 - 9 | Special Olympics / North Unified Relay Across America
Cruising through the surrounding streets of Detroit, MI, so much is overgrown, abandoned and dilapidated. You can tell the city really used to be something in it's prime - but now homes, businesses and storefronts are hollow shells of what they used to be. It's beautiful and sad.