CategoryPhotography

Red Oxx

I don’t normally write posts for a company but Red Oxx is doing all of the right things! Reasons include hand making all their products right here in the United States.  They make sure that their community is majorly involved by throwing awesome community events like Oxx Fest. And they treat their employees well and are family friendly.  I was attending TBEX or Travel Blog Exchange for those of you not in my travel blogger circle. This was a local company that decided to join a global conference that just happened to be stopping in their home town. I went to the factory the first day I was in town and they were really busy getting ready for the big conference!  Then I went back later in the week and started talking to some of the employees.

The smallest employee is my favorite …. but I think she steals everyone’s heart. Being a photographer I tend to find other photographers and Karen’s assistant was the best! Karen is the in house photographer for Red Oxx and she gets to bring her baby girl with her to work everyday!

Here she is helping photograph their newest bag “The Hound” which I picked up while I was there and I will be carrying all around London and Paris. I also picked up “The CPA”  for all my carry on    needs and It holds my 15 inch Macbook Pro, iPad, 2 camera bodies and 3 lenses – all with a drink on the side. Then, depending on if it is a day where I’m giving a tour at the prison or taking a 4 day quick trip to Seattle I also picked up “The Roadster Mini”. I stuffed everything I needed for a 4 day trip and carried both on the plane without an issue. Depending on the airline sometimes its better to know that your bags will fit into that small little space above the seat on a regional jet.

4th of July Fireworks – Joliet Park District

Happy Birthday Day America! And what better way to say that than with FIREWORKS! Here in Joliet we are spoiled with not 1 but 2 fireworks shows. One of the shows is on the 3rd of July and this show has always been on the 4th. As a photographer I feel like I was actually able to capture a fireworks show in a photo. What do you think? These were taken at the Joliet Park District’s Memorial Stadium fireworks show. All the photos we shot in manual and had varying settings from 30 seconds to 6 seconds for the shutter speed. I personally shoot with my ISO on auto and then my F-stop was at F-8.I also HATE using a tripod but this is what they were made for right? I got a pretty good one that doesn’t break the bank either. You can check it out on Amazon here. It’s the Manfrotto brand and I have had it for about 4 or 5 years.

If you want to check out my shots from the other night you can see them here.

 

Coho Campground at Wynoochee Lake

Last month I got to spend some time in the peace and quiet of the Coho Campground at Wynoochee Lake. This is the same place that I stayed last year during my marathon camping trip of the Olympic National Forest.

They offer small walk up sites as well as larger sites for a camper. We were lucky enough to stay in the same site both times! The first time we drove up and got the last spot open. This time we went online and reserved the same site in advance because we loved the site. #55 was ours! The website only lets you reserve the sites a certain number of days in advance so start planning early. But you can also get lucky if someone cancels. So keep checking and have alternate dates is my best advice. Getting there is a challenge. I learned that if you take a road that is labeled private but really is public you will save 3 hours. When your directions and or GPS leads you to this same spot – road and there isn’t a nice lady mowing the lawn to tell you that it really is a road you can take. The GPS really isn’t leading you off the deep end. It’s trying to show you a MUCH shorter route. The road is called Cougar Smith Road and its about 30 to 45 mins from the campground. Use the address given in your reservation to navigate with your phone, GPS or I recommend both!

The is also a boat launch, picnic areas and 3 yurts over looking the water. Those are the rental prize! That’s what I want to reserve if I ever go back to this place again. To rent a yurt is very difficult unless you are 100% flexible with your dates. We rented a boat and did about 3 days of fishing without catching much. From what we can tell they don’t stock the lake so the small trout we did catch was a VERY tasty one! I wouldn’t recommend this lake for a small boat. It seems like the winds can pick up quick and a small boat can get blown around.

Camping alone and then camping with 3 kids are 2 completely different things … I am very lucky to have a best friend that has 3 kids I adore and love spending time with. They make camping more fun for me since I know these are the memories they are going to have when they grow up. I have those same memories but I was with my Mom, Dad and brother Wes. I think I get the best of both worlds. There are 3 adults and 6 little hands to help get dinner ready and that really matters when you first need a fire to make said food to eat. This year the campsite next to us had 3 kids too and it was awesome how they all bonded and played together. We even invited them over to our campsite for smores! YUM! The middle son of my friends told me before we went camping that he was excited to meet new friends. That came true for him. I hope that comes true for everyone.

For more information about the campground or for rates and rental info here is the official site for the Olympic National Forest.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/olympic/recarea/?recid=47807

***All photos were taken by me Victoria and are the sole property of TORsAdventures Media LLC. If you would like to use any of my images for any purpose the watermark MUST stay on the image. For more information please email me at TOR{at}TORsAdventures.com