Las Vegas Photographers, Red Rock Studios

Taking a solo road trip requires some planning. Taking a cross country road trip with kids requires more planning. Taking an extended “where ever the wind blows” road trip …..with kids…..requires an insane amount of planning.

Towards the end of the summer Mindy and I had nailed down all the basic details of what we needed to pull this “do what ever we wanted” road trip off.

One of the hardest steps, I thought, was going to be explaining our insanity to our seven year old. Trying to explain why she was being pulled out of a school she loved and how she would not be moving on to second grade with her friends was just too much for me…..so I let Mindy tell her.

Kelsey’s response actually surprised me. She told Mindy, “I’ll miss my friends but I want to go on an adventure with you!”. I had imagined tears but instead Kelsey was giggling with excitement.

So with Adventure Mom in the lead my two little Pigtail Explorers have traveled to Ft. Stevens State Park Oregon, Sauvie Island Oregon, Mt. Hood Oregon, Crooked River Oregon, Walker Lake Nevada, Rialto California, Disney Land California, Laguna Beach California, Mission Bay/Ocean Beach California, Palm Springs California, Joshua Tree California, Safford Arizona, Las Cruces New Mexico, Big Bend Texas, Austin Texas, New Orleans Louisiana, Pensacola Florida, and, as of this writing, Paynes Prairie State Park Florida.

Both Kelsey and Whitney have seen dozens of different fish, shell fish, star fish, bald eagles, cranes, ibis, heron, wild horses, otters, frogs, and so much more. The look on Kelsey’s face was priceless as she tried to figure out how the ocean was higher then the city of New Orleans. Its kind of visually freaky to stand on a New Orleans levy and look at the passing ships which are at a higher elevation then most of the roof tops of the buildings below. We both agreed New Orleans is one awesome city and the food is to die for.

Both Kelsey and Whitney have insisted on following Mindy on her landscape shoots, although, most of the time we usually end up watching from a distance. We all hold hands as Mindy disappear over a cliff and clap and shout when we see her climbing up the other side.

This road trip has been incredible but even more so when looking through the eyes of my girls. On more then one occasion my little Whitney has told me, “This is the greatest day of my life!” Usually she utters this cute little phrase as she is about to fall asleep from a full day of hiking and exploring.

Here are a few pictures of the girls exploring the thirteen states we’ve traveled through this year. Happy New Years from the on-the-road Miller family!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I grew up using Huffy bicycles. I would love to say riding Huffy bicycles, but the truth is I didn’t do much riding; most of my time was spent repairing flat tires, tightening loose spokes, reattaching broken peddles, replacing chains, and riding in the standing position because the seat fell off. It’s a little disturbing riding with just a seat post.

On one of my many “Huffy” occasions,  half of the handle bar fell off during a down hill ride. The broken handle bar had my one good brake attached, so I held onto it for dear life. At the bottom of the hill I finally caught up to my buddy and told him what had happened.

We were both laughing at how dumb my bike was when I suddenly hit a bump, lost control and the handle bar fell. It swung like a pendulum into my front wheel spokes, locking against the fork and sending me over the handle bars. More laughing.

I did realize that I could have easily let the broken handle bar go while flying down the hill earlier. However, even the thought of road rash didn’t deter me from riding the broken POS home. Besides, I was 16 and invincible.

It wasn’t until I was eighteen that I got the chance to ride a real bike. My boss at the time had a 1997  full suspension Specialized Stumpjumper. OMG, OMG, OMG, was my reaction when I took it for a spin. No chain rattle? No tire wobble? The seat was staying on! The bike glided over rocks, tree trunks, and the rutted out trail effortlessly. LOVE at first ride! I’ve been a Specialized junkie ever since; the days of having bikes vibrate apart as I ride are long gone.

I was riding  my mountain bike in the Dona Ana mountains in Las Cruces, New Mexico when I first met Mike Barrow on the trail. He and I spent the next two years road tripping and racing in the New Mexico Off Road racing series. As I maintained my “Charlie” group status, Mike moved up to the “Alpha” group and continued to improve.

I eventually moved away from Cruces but continue to follow Mike’s racing progress. Nowadays I only get to hang out with him at the annual spring Moab trip, but I’m still inspired every time I see his pictures from all the races he attends. It’s also a huge inspiration to see both Mike and his wife Liz race together. I was excited to find out Mindy had contacted Mike and Liz to ask them if she could shoot them in action.

It was a good time running around the Dona Ana mountains once again with my ol’ riding buddy. Mindy loves that Liz has excelled at mountain biking and wishes she could have spent time riding with her. Mindy loves biking but has not had as much experience on single track trails as she would like. She also likes riding with other women who share her love of the outdoors.

Here are some Hipstamatic shots I got of Mindy getting down and dirty in the Dona Ana Mountains on the mountain bike shoot. I hope you enjoy them.