CategoryPhotography

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

Windy City LIVE

The historic Chicago theater across the street from the studio.

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the set for Windy City LIVE and also be in the audience for the show. Whether you are a resident of the City of Chicago or a tourist visiting YOU can also do the same thing! I have been in the audience for shows in the past but man has the game changed on how it all works! First of all is that its all done via an app that you download called 1iota. Weird name I know but my Aunt Linda told me about it when she was here in Chicago visiting family. She has used it to be in the audience for various shows in the Los Angeles area. To download the app just type the name 1iota in the app store and it should come up. Once you register you can see all the different cities and shows.

After you get a notification that you have a reserved ticket for the show you will arrive and wait in line until 11:30am when they start the process to get people checked in and through security. You are allowed to bring your camera and take as many photos as you would like. They actually encourage it for their social media. At 12:30 you are then led into the studio and seated by the shows staff. I ended up sitting in the front row but I will say that studio is pretty small and the audience can’t be more than 75 people.

The shows director I’m assuming then comes out and talks to you for a bit, he is trying to make the audience feel more comfortable and looking happy to be there. The hosts come out and read a short 15 second monologue to talk about whats coming up on the show. We were there for about an hour and a half total but they also asked at the end about us staying to film another segment for a show at a later date. They ask more in the hey … your sitting here and we are going to film this and your not really going to leave until we are done. I say that because I want you to know that you are on the show and production staff’s time. If you would like to know more about the process you can also check out their website here for more audience info. 1iota.com/show/388/Windy-City-LIVE

 

2018 Clients – A look back ….

Here are a few of MY favorite client photos from 2018!

Happy New Year

These 6 photos were taken on 6 different days in 2018. The first photo is very special to me because it is of me but it was taken with my camera during a photo shoot by a very dear friend of mine. The second was somewhere in the Olympic National Forest. I say somewhere because we were camping for 3 days and didn’t have cell service for at least 2 of them. The third was taken while I was working for a client in Arizona last month. The fourth was taken during our adventure for Kingston’s 4th birthday. The fifth photo was taken at Illahee State Park in Bremerton, WA. The sixth photo was taken at the Hubert Christmas tree farm in Seabeck, WA.