a look at the inspiration behind the foliage pieces from exploring beautiful Vermont

It was an incredible sight, over 6 million plants made up 60 different life size animals. We spent the day slowly walking through all of the displays, soaking in the colors and details of each. I hope you enjoy these photos from the day and one day you can catch this exhibit- it travels all over the world!

A week in July exploring Aruba… filled with bright blue warm waters, cool white sand beaches (the beaches are made of ground up coral so the sand doesn’t get hot!) and lots of cactus’s.

A studio space with my own sink to dye in. A showroom to welcome customers into. A cutting table so I wouldn’t have to be on the floor... All pieces of a dream I have had since starting Explore in 2015.

We stayed at Robert H Treman state park for three nights in the car and felt super lucky that this park was still open so late in the season. The campground was very quiet midweek in the midst of peak foliage. There is an incredible gorge trail that is right in the park that we did the first day.

The trail was really cool right from the beginning, with arches overhead. We started climbing through the Peekaboo passages in amazement. It got very narrow and I thought how could Spooky be even more narrow?! Well it was soon shown. After getting out of Peekaboo a short trail brings you to Spooky where almost immediately you have to go down 10 feet using ropes. After a few turns the canyon walls just keep closing in tighter and tighter.

Today was amazing exploring Bryce Canyon. It’s like walking through nature’s castle with massive towers that look like drip castles of all different shapes and sizes, which are actually called hoodoos. It’s amazing terrain and we were in awe the whole time. We spent the entire day hiking throughout the park joining trails along the way.

“We are now in Barcelona!  I am so tired from a full day exploring.  I’m really happy to have a full week here to see everything and not feel too rushed.  The beach is 15 minute walk from our Airbnb, which makes me very happy. Even though it’s chilly there are a lot of people out, playing volleyball, windsurfing, sailing, running, biking and laying out.  The water is turquoise blue, with a big paved path that runs along the beach and city.”

We’re in Mallorca! This is our third night here. It has been beautiful weather, unseasonably warm in the low 70’s and sunny! Feels so good. It’s really fun having a car to drive around wherever and explore the island. The first day we drove to Alcudia’s old town for the farmers/flea market.

We first hiked the Bridge trail to the Bridge Arch.  All of the colors and details along the way were so beautiful.  The rocks are a lighter pink then what we had been seeing, with lots of sandy beiges and light yellows in the landscape sprinkled with bright yellow trees.

10/23/18

Today was the best!  We are in Rocky Mountain National Park, our second night staying here.  The campground is really beautiful, although no running water. We got here last night as the sun was setting

The last two days in New Mexico we’ve gotten to explore places that feel like you’re on another planet; White Sands National Monument and Carlsbad Caverns National Park.  We drove into White Sands National Monument on Friday right as the sun was setting and everything was glowing.  We couldn’t believe our eyes or timing. The pure white sand hills go as far as the eye can see with rocky mountains on the horizon.

This morning we said goodbye to our amazing dispersed campsite in the middle of the desert, that we ended up spending 3 nights at, and headed back to Canyonlands. First we hiked to Upheavel Dome, an impact crater that they’re not 100% sure how it got there. Then we decided we wanted to do the scary switchback road into the canyon called Shafer trail. I was so tense as we went down switchback after switchback on the narrow dirt road, feeling sick when my side was overlooking the edge.

We’re sleeping in the middle of nowhere Utah tonight. Not really, we’re in between Moab and Dead Horse State Park off 2 dirt roads. You’re allowed to camp here but there are no facilities or set spots. Just open rocky land with views of red rocks in all directions. Coming down the dirt road to get here was super bumpy and sketchy because our car is so low.

Yesterday we visited Niagara Falls but on our way we saw bright turquoise waters of the Niagara River and a pull off so we stopped and ended up doing the 3 mile Devils Bowl hike that went right along the river.  It was so stunning. The water was insanely bright blue, rushing by so fast and the leaves were so colorful. It was gorgeous.

The first morning I woke up with the sun.  I crawled out of the tent and spent a lot of time taking pictures of everything.  I couldn’t believe where we were, it had been dark when we arrived. The changing light made everything so exciting.

We went off the trail, down a steep little hill and onto the cliffs. It wasn’t hazy at all here and everything was so beautiful; the colors of the rocks, the trees lining the ocean side, the crashing blue water just feet away from us and the massive size of the cliffs we were climbing on.

Driving around the park is so wild because you’re either driving next to these massive cliffs looking up like wow or driving on winding roads on them looking down like woah.  I decided one day I want to hike Half Dome, 4,500 feet high and takes 10-12 hours.

What was supposed to be a quick one mile hike turned into a couple of hours wandering around and taking our time finding new routes. I took the first shift driving out of the park and it was so crazy beautiful. Bright yellow Aspen trees lined the road with red rock cliffs behind them.  The colors were so stunning and vibrant I couldn’t believe my eyes. Even driving on the highway was gorgeous too with clear blue skies and beautiful mountains in in the distance.

It was amazing to wake up and have the ocean right there!  I made coffee and Dan made a modge podge sandwich of leftover rotisserie chicken, bacon and cheese for breakfast.  We brought chairs and towels out to the beach and hung out for a while then went for a walk along the water to cliffs at the end of the beach.  It was 50 degrees and sunny, there were lots of people out walking on the beach and surfing, even some crazies swimming.  I think everyone was so excited to see the sun.

All of a sudden I was in this tropical paradise in January.  It was so incredible.  Plants and flowers are some of my biggest inspirations, their wild patterns and lines, the crazy color combinations and hues.  Room after room provided new amazement.  If you have the chance to be in Seattle, definitely pay the Conservatory a visit.  If not, browse through here and let the bold colors warm you up! 

“We’ve finally made it to the ocean!  We slept in the car in Los Padres National Forest last night outside of Morro Bay and drove down to the water this morning to Nude Beach.  There were big rock cliffs that you could climb around on and look down at the ocean and a big hole/cave that you could walk through.  We scrambled down to the water and watched seals lounging on nearby rocks.