looooooooone pine and other dinky towns

Do you know what makes for a good vacation if you happen to be a landscape photographer's wife?  

Most certainly, it will involve much driving.  Say 7 hours south and east to a dinky town in the middle of nowhere.  Or say 7 hours north to a dinky town in the middle of nowhere.  Dinky towns in the middle of nowhere are where it's at.  

And your driving schedule will be dictated by the possibility of being somewhere "awesome" for sunrise or sunset or the blue hour before or the blue hour after.  Or if sunrise looks like a bust {i.e. fogged out? clear blue skies?} you'll keep on driving while the photographer who should be on sunrise watch - just incase - falls quietly asleep in the passenger seat.  And when the skies turn unbelievably pink you'd better wake that photographer's butt up.  Because he would be pissed to miss such a color display although he couldn't seem to stay awake enough to wait for it to come.

After all that driving you'll make it to your destination.  And if it's cold enough you'll luck out and not have to sleep on the ground.  {p.s. I actually do really like camping, but sometimes an actual bed is nice too.}  Extra bonus score - the hotel you're staying at has an on demand pancake machine as part of the included breakfast.  Total score!  

And it will be a good vacation when with a little searching and some general directions you find an awesome {though often photographed} arch in the dark.  And the vacation will be even better when you find a less photographed, somewhat secret rock covered in historic pictograms.  You'll get a chance to show case your strength helping to push your photographer husband up to said rock.  And you'll only lose a little dignity when as he's helping you down from the rock and lets go of your hand you freak out just a little till you realize he was right.  The ground was just an inch away.  

And you'll traverse muddy trails and count it as a win that you don't end up flat on your backside.  You'll find craggily rocks that sit of coasts where fog plays hide and seek.  Light beams will stop you in your tracks and you'll talk about how even when you try to go with the flow of the weather you're both still learning in that regard.  It'll be a good vacation for a photographer's wife when you discover that "the best restaurant" really does have awesome french dips and pretty good burgers.  You'll find a lichen beard and take funny pictures with your bearded photographer husband.  Because you'll have learned that everything is more awesome with a beard.  

So you'll wake up early and might go to bed late.  You'll drive and drive and drive.  Watch stars come out in the cold cold evening.  And see some of the most amazing things.  All in the life of a photographer's wife.   

{pictures from our winter travels to Lone Pine and Brookings}