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Death Valley National Park

by Kaylah Stroup July 29, 2015

I don’t know what I was expecting from a place called Death Valley but somehow I was still shocked by the conditions in the park. At the visitors center we stood beside a sign that read 119 degrees Fahrenheit, which is easily one of the hottest temperatures I’ve ever experienced. Why we had to visit at the hottest time of the year is beyond me but I’m definitely glad we went. It still blows my mind that just a day before we were on the coast where I was worried I hadn’t brought enough warm clothes.

We did a lot of driving in Death Valley National Park, and not too much else since we’re both absolute babies in the heat. One of the few spots we stopped was at Mesquite Sand Dunes. It was insanely hot. So hot that I could feel the heat through my shoes which I thought was crazy. After roaming around in the sand a bit shooting photos we scurried back to the car. We sat down, turned on the air, chugged some water, and realized there was a funny smell in the car.

“Do you smell burning rubber?”
“I think it might be my shoes…?”
Lifts foot as close to face as possible in the car. “Yep!”

That sand was so hot our shoes were actually melting. The park’s brochure actually said of the eighteen heat related deaths in the park sine 2000 three of them occurred in the sand dunes. My photos don’t really seem to capture the size of the dunes and just how expansive the area was. But to see this place in person and experience heat that oppressive that fact really isn’t all that shocking.

The goal was to not spend too much time in the park since we needed to get out of the area before we got too tired. Every other night that we had tried to sleep in the car this trip it was miserable. The last thing we wanted was to be sleeping in the car in this heat. After the dunes we cruised to the visitor center to get stamps in our National Parks passport. We sat inside looking over the other main parts of the park trying to figure out what else we wanted to see. Death Valley National Park is massive, it actually has more miles of roads than any other national park. Sadly everything else we were interested in visiting suggested having some sort of fancy pants all terrain tire that our rental most definitely didn’t have. Guess we’ll just have to go back another time to see The Racetrack…

We made one last stop in the park, at Zabriskie Point. You walk up this steep hill to the an overlook where no matter which way you turn there is a gorgeous view. It kind of seemed like all the other visitors in the park that day we’re following the same agenda as us – only get out of the car when absolutely necessary. This overlook, and the visitor center were the only place we really saw anyone else. Even with the crowd at Zabriskie Point it was a perfect last stop. It was so beautiful you could easily just tune everyone else out.

Right outside of the park there were tons of abandoned buildings. It was a busy-ish area and a great majority of them were fenced off so we passed. We did manage to find another outside the fenced area that we stopped at. Just a small shell of a building but I love the photos of it nonetheless. I actually have a whole post of abandoned things we visited in the desert that I’ll share another day. The desert is a wonderful place!

You can find more posts from our road trip under the “travel” tag.

23 miles, 5 bikes + Cleveland

by Kaylah Stroup July 28, 2015

Mural by the fantastic Erin Guido.

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who thinks summer can sometimes be kind of stressful. There’s so much pressure to have fun, which sounds strange but maybe you get what I mean…? Aside from the big road trip we haven’t really done too much. Jeff has been busy shooting weddings and editing photos, and I’ve been hibernating (because humidity is my worst enemy) so bike rides, days spent exploring, and everything else have been few and far between.

Jeff’s long time friend, also named Jeff, was in town for the week from Maine so we spent last Wednesday biking! I cannot even begin to tell you how good it felt to get out, ride, and enjoy the city again.

Jeff from Maine has the same bike as me!

After lunch we met up with Jason who took us over to one of his secret spots along the lake. We lounged around on the edge of the water, throwing rocks, and just relaxing. Tiny escapes hidden around the city are so awesome but the highlight of this stop for me was actually leaving. Instead of heading back through the weeds which were lousy with ticks we decided to follow the rocks along the shore. They got bigger, and bigger until we were just hopping around on massive boulders. Jason had been this way before, knew there was a fence/wall we’d eventually have to hop over but I think he may have underestimated how difficult it was going to be. Jeff got over pretty easily after some careful planning, Jason slowly maneuvered his way over, and my Jeff said “eh, let’s go around.” The rocks were slippery and it quite a fall if you did slip. I was kind of determined to get over so I grabbed on to a tree limb with each hand, walked my legs up the wall, and shimmied my way up until I was sitting on it. Basically it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. I’m always super pumped when I underestimate my body and it’s ability to do something. I bragged about it the whole rest of the day (and yes, I am totally bragging right now.) It was way rad, I’m very sad there isn’t video or at least a photo of my skills.

After that, we headed to Koko Bakery to meet up with Brandon and grab some bubble tea. I know I’ve mentioned Koko Bakery a few times before, I just love that place. The bubble tea is amazing, and they’re super sweet there. The woman working even gave us a free loaf of some sort of fancy bread!

The evening included more photos, more miles, and even a neighborhood block party (complete with food trucks!) Nearly six hours later with 23 miles down I arrived back at home to shower and crash in bed. Days like this do not happen often enough!
xoxo

Blue Apron review

by Kaylah Stroup July 27, 2015

You guys, I made food! Like really really tasty food!

Due to the fact that I formerly held the title of world’s pickiest eater I never learned to love cooking. I can probably count the actual full meals I’ve made on one hand. While I was drafting up this post about how I’ve been a lot more open to trying new foods and am realizing that I’m not actually a picky eater at all I was contacted by Blue Apron. The timing could not have been more perfect!

Blue Apron is a company that delivers farm-fresh ingredients to you along with a super easy to follow recipe card (that has pictures!) so you can create delicious meals at home without ever even having to go to the grocery store. You get exactly the right proportions so there’s no waste or question of what to do with the rest of your ingredients. They offer two types of plans, the 2-person plan ($9.99 per person per meal) and the Family Plan (feeds four + costs $8.74 per person per meal). They can accommodate a variety of dietary preferences and personalize your meals each week based on your preferences. There’s no commitment, you can skip or cancel at anytime, and shipping is always free.

Basically it’s the coolest idea ever, and more than perfect for where I’m at right now in my relationship with food. I love eating but my creativity does not expand into the kitchen and I really do hate buying too much of an ingredient I’m only going to need a little bit of.

So last week while Jeff was editing wedding photos I went over to his house to make us lunch – by myself. Ahhh! He has much better lighting in his kitchen, and unlike me, he actually has kitchen supplies. With the two person plan you receive three meals. All three of our meals sounded delicious but I chose to make the seared pork chops with roasted sweet potato salad.

I was a little bit nervous to be cooking to be honest. Can I tell you guys a secret? Outside of bacon, I’ve never actually cooked meat before. Well… nuggets – but I’m going to say that definitely doesn’t count.
I was a vegetarian for around six years, and after that it just wasn’t
something I made for myself. Jeff is definitely the cook in this
relationship. As soon as I plopped the pork chops down on the pan I shouted to Jeff “I’m cooking meat!!” Haha.

I can say without a doubt this was the tastiest meal I have ever made. Seriously. That was a dang good pork chop, and hey, guess what! I like sweet potatoes! Blue Apron meals are not only incredibly convenient, and delicious but gave me an opportunity to try things I probably wouldn’t chose on my own. I knew I liked pork chops, but I’ve actually never had them with this. The sauce on them was seriously just amazing.

All of the recipes Blue Apron has can be prepared in 40 minutes or less. This meal was surprisingly easy and quick make. Like I said, I don’t make meals by myself but Blue Apron makes it so simple. This is making me feel like cooking might actually be fun! (Who am I?!) They actually have an online cookbook with all of their current recipes available. Their rice and beef-stuffed poblano peppers look amaaaaazing.

Best of all? Blue Apron is offering the first 20 Dainty Squid readers their first two meals free! I am truly impressed with them, and I think you will be too!
xoxo

This is a sponsored post but you
best believe I am alllll about Blue Apron! Thanks for supporting the
companies who support The Dainty Squid.

Ballarat, CA

by Kaylah Stroup July 23, 2015

Fish Rocks, Salt Wells Canyon, CA

Cell phone service in the desert is hit or miss. I either had all my bars or nothing but while I did have service I was browsing Roadside America for spots to hit. That’s how we found Ballarat. Formerly a supply point for the mines nearby, Ballarat is now a ghost town. In it’s heyday it was home to nearly 500 people. It had 7 saloons, a jail, a school, a handful of hotels and more. There isn’t much left anymore, just a few rusted out all cars, shells of buildings, and a cemetery.

I was a bit nervous to visit since it’s a little ways off the main road. I was worried it would be home to someone who might be offended by our visit. A sign near the entrance of the town read as follows…

“this is a free zone take any kind of photos you want. camp party make movies etc no harm. nobody cares feel free. learn nothen setting in your car the friendly zone welcome to ballarat ghost town…”

After seeing that I felt free to roam…

The thing I was most excited about in Ballarat was the cemetery. I’d been on the lookout for an old desert cemetery since the last trip and we had yet to stumble across one. I saw photos of this one on Roadside America and that was actually one of the biggest reasons I wanted to visit. This one was smaller than I had been hoping for but still so awesome. It had such a gorgeous view and it was just a world of difference from the cemeteries we have here. And this headstone?! Get out! Easily one of the most interesting I’ve ever seen in person.

We didn’t stay too long in Ballarat, it was hot and we were both anxious to get into the national park but it was definitely a great stop.
xoxo

You can find more posts from our road trip under the “travel” tag.

road trip photo album // chatbooks review

by Kaylah Stroup July 22, 2015

One of my goals for this last road trip, and really any future trips, was to get my photos printed. Apart from film, which I always get prints made from, I never get photos printed. Everything is stored on external hard drives. For a person who collects so much that almost seems funny. I treasure the few photo albums I do have and definitely want to have more tangible photos.

As soon as I got through editing all my photos I got started making this book. I didn’t want it to be something I kept pushing back and would eventually forget to do. Chatbooks was my first choice for a book since they had sent me one a while back featuring my instagram photos. I liked that it was fairly small, and looked super nice for the price. Their books are only $6 and they have free shipping PLUS you can use the
code “theda146” to get your first book when you subscribe to your Instagram Series.

I initially had a bit of an issue uploading my photos so I tried out a few other sites that make photo books. The thing was they get expensive quick, and they can take a lot of work. I loved that with Chatbooks you just upload your photos, and that’s it! They’re printed in order. (You are able to rearrange them if you’d like but in the instance you want them printed in the order you took them that’s the default, which perfectly for vacation!) You can add captions if you’d like but it’s not necessary. I reached out via twitter with my uploading issue, they responded quickly that I should try another browser. I downloaded Safari and wouldn’t you know it, that solved the issue. I added a few captions, chose my cover, ordered, and a few days later it showed up!

I LOVE it so much. It’s seriously so nice to be able to flip through my photos instead of just having them on the computer. I’ve actually been considering going back through 2014’s road trip photos and having those printed as well. A little Jeff + Kaylah road trip photo album series! How cute!

Other than the little bit of trouble uploading that was easily remedied by using a different browser this was seriously so painless to make. I basically have no excuse whatsoever to not get photos printed. Chatbooks, you rule!
xoxo

PS. Don’t forget if you use
code “theda146” you can get your first book free when you subscribe to your Instagram Series.

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San Francisco to Yosemite

by Kaylah Stroup July 20, 2015

After the tide pools Jeff and I made our way up to San Francisco. We hadn’t scheduled much time in our agenda for the city, it was basically just meant to be a stopping point for our journey along the coast. I wanted to see two things in San Francisco – Camera Obscura and the Golden Gate Bridge. So, first stop – Camera Obscura! It sadly wasn’t open but I was happy to see it nonetheless. This has been on my to-find list for so long. I’ve been seeing photos of it pop up from time to time for years but never really knew anything about it, let alone where in the world it was. I realized right before the trip it was in San Francisco so I super giddy about finally seeing it.

From the Camera Obscura you can see the Sutro Bath ruins. It had popped up on Roadside America when I was browsing the area but it didn’t seem that interesting considering we only had a few hours at most in the city. Being right beside it, and in the fog was another story though. We had to go check it out.

The Sutro Baths opened in 1896 and at the time it was the largest indoor swimming facility. There were slides, springboards and even a high dive. There were six saltwater pools and one fresh water pool. It eventually closed due to not being profitable. Shortly that in 1966, a fire destroyed the building while it was in the process of being demolished. (Arson for insurance money!) Now the land surrounding it is part of the Golden Gate Recreational Area which is way cool because you’re able to explore the ruins. This website sums it up perfectly “It’s allowed to be harrowing and wild in a time and place where shampoos carry warnings and most interesting things are cordoned off for your protection. Here’s the playground for those who love crumbling stone clubhouses, jutting pipe monkeybars, stairways that lead you off cliffs and shifting sandboxes that get swallowed by surf.” It’s really surprising to me that you’re allowed to explore the ruins but you best believe, I’m all about it. I wish there were more places like this.

Beside the ruins is a cliff-side tunnel which I thought was terrifying. I’m sure some local is reading this and laughing but that water was rough, it was dark, and I thought the ground felt smushy. I was afraid somehow I was going to end up in the water. I don’t know, it was just really strange experience. I’m pretty fearless when it comes to most things but that tunnel freaked me out. It’s fun to be afraid sometimes, if that makes sense. I was happy to get out of the tunnel but I enjoyed the rush of being in there.

Next we headed to the Golden Gate Bridge which I didn’t actually get to see because of the fog. Whomp whomp whomp. We drove over it, I shot this picture, and we called it day. I have never in my life seen fog SO thick. We had assumed the sun set but after getting outside of the city we got to watch it actually set. It was really strange to watch it get dark, then an hour or so later watch it get dark all over again.

We drove into the night toward our next stop, Yosemite National Park. We got there in the middle of the night. I had a really bad stomach ache. Jeff said he had some tums or something in his suitcase so we pulled over on the top of a mountain to get it. I’m all bundled up in my seat when Jeff calls from outside “You have to come see this!” The stars, you guys, THE STARS. It was just the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my entire life. I’m literally teary eyed right now thinking about it. We got out our cameras and hung out on the side of the road trying to capture the view. I didn’t get anything close to representing how amazing it was but Jeff shot this gorgeous photo. I could have stayed there and watched the stars forever. That actually might be one of my favorite memories of the trip. Just being barefoot on the side of a mountain looking up at the stars with Jeff. They were something else!

We finally headed back down the mountain to find a spot to sleep for a few hours before making our way into the park. It was another rough night of not being able to find somewhere suitable to sleep. I remember groggily searching “how to sleep in your car” for tips because we just couldn’t find somewhere that felt safe enough to snooze at. Rough night or not all was well because the next morning I sat on the rock wall below and put on my make-up, and got gussied up for the day ahead. Talk about a great view!

Yosemite was gorgeous but a bit crowded for my tastes. I was also crabby I didn’t have my bike because everyone there was on a bike. But I ate a killer sandwich, got some pressed pennies, and took photos that I love with the man I love.
xoxo

You can find more posts from our road trip under the “travel” tag.

Birthday Wishlist

by Kaylah Stroup July 19, 2015

My birthday is sneaking up. Well, not really sneaking… I’ve been saying “my birthday is soon” since probably the first of the year but we’ve finally reached the time where it’s actually soon. On August 2nd I will have been alive for a quarter of a century. I’m always excited about my birthday but I feel like this is kind of a big one.

1 // I’ve been wanting to upgrade my camera for a while now. I’ve just been saving money without having a camera in mind because I knew as soon as I figured out which one I wanted it would drive me crazy not to purchase it right away. I finally decided that the Canon 70D would best suit my needs…and now it’s basically all I think about.
2 // Y’all know how much I love macarons… so you’re most likely not surprised at all a macaron subscription is on this list, right?
3 // A while back I borrowed Jeff’s 35mm 1.4 lens. It was love at first photo. I borrow it every chance I get. That lens made me realize how important good glass was. I want my own L series lens. I always loved my 50mm lens so I feel like the 50mm 1.2 is the obvious choice for me. I will own this lens someday!
4 // Of course there is a on this list.
5 // Love love looooove these new boots from Palladium Boots. Actually, any pair of Palladium Boots would make me a happy gal!
6 // I need all of The Shins albums on vinyl.
7 // An anatomy model of a human skull is the one thing I just cannot seem to get my paws on. I actually attended an estate sale a while back specifically because I saw that they had one only to watch the man in front of me grab it. It hurt so bad. Although I’ve been slowing down on collecting things as I try to declutter this is one thing I am still pinning over.

Another short, albeit very expensive, list this year. There are lots of non-tangible things that I really way for my birthday as well. Bike rides with friends, time spent with family, and of course, a roadtrip with my favorite dude.
xoxo

on the deck

by Kaylah Stroup July 16, 2015

One of my favorite things about my apartment is the deck. It’s not massive, by any means. It’s the width of my house and maybe five and a half feet deep but it’s the perfect size for a small table with chairs, and of course, lots of plants. The last time I had a deck I was flower crazy. …Okay, I’m still flower crazy but for some reason I just never got around to getting too many of them this year. I think the whole not having a hose and having to carry pitchers full of water from the opposite side of the house kind of put a damper on my plant dreams. That sounds pretty lazy but I’m just being real here, I couldn’t see myself doing that everyday for a ton of plants. For that reason my deck was pretty empty until my office started getting a little too full of plants. I began moving some bigger things that weren’t really doing so well outside. I thought they’d die since none of them looked so hot but in my mind it was better alternative than just giving up on them completely.

A month or two later and all the plants I put outside to die are doing AMAZING. They’ve all grown leaps and bounds. It’s kind of funny all the plants I put out there because I wasn’t in love with them anymore are now my favorites. They’re so vibrant, and healthy. It’s kind of blowing my mind. I always thought that my office got such great light but clearly it’s not enough to help my plants thrive.

Last week we got a ton of rain which only made everything look even more beautiful. I snuck out between storms to photograph my babies. Here’s a peek at some of the things I’m growing on my deck…

Both of the two photos above show plants that had been broken and are now growing new things. The photo directly above is one that was damaged in the great plant disaster of 2015. I was so disappointed. That was one of my favorite pots I had put together and it was just annihilated. I put it outside, once again basically just to die, and it’s growing three new babies! It hasn’t really been that long either so I think this growth is pretty incredible.

The photo above that one is my absolute favorite of the bunch, actually probably of all my plants. That was the first pot I put outside. I loved the cactus that are in there simply because they were my largest but when I moved they took a beating, so much broke off. I was really disappointed. It looked so ugly but it wasn’t dead so I refused to get rid of it. After being outside the cactus still isn’t the prettiest but it’s become a mother to so many lil babies that I’ve been able to remove and replant. I wasn’t too confident since it was my first time propagating a cactus. Instead of just laying it on top of the soil like I do with leaves I planted it. Few weeks later I had roots! It’s really satisfying to be growing things that I didn’t buy at the store. That are actually mine, I grew them.

They’re all so gorgeous, aren’t they?!
xoxo

Asilomar State Beach – tide pools

by Kaylah Stroup July 14, 2015

The one thing I was REALLY excited about along the coast was visiting tide pools. I feel like I know quite a bit about mammals, I can identify the vast majority of things that live on land but the ocean is another story. It’s a mystery to me, and for that reason I am beyond intrigued by it. I’m not landlocked in Ohio. I’m less than a mile from Lake Erie, but like I’ve mentioned more than a few times we don’t have cool things living in the lake. We have some fish, I guess, but in all the time I spend wandering the beaches I really just find trash. So tide pools were my priority on this trip!

I did a bit of research on tides and the best places to go along the coast; one name I kept seeing listed was Asilomar State Beach. As luck would have it the timing worked out so that we’d be pretty close to there around low tide.

I couldn’t get out of the car, and down to the water to rip my shoes off fast enough. We were in what I thought was the perfect spot to find things. It was rocky, and the tide was low but it was actually too low. Everything that I was finding wasn’t covered by water and really just looked kind of gross. It was exciting but a little bit of a let down since I had hyped tide pooling up so much in my mind. I thought it would be this activity I would just go crazy for and instead I was just like “Oh, that’s cool but it looks disgusting…” I poked around trying to find these vibrant, lively looking anemones that I thought the area would be full of but eventually gave up deciding maybe tide pooling isn’t as easy as photos make it look and it wouldn’t be something I’d get to experience on this trip.

We eventually got back in the car, and moved on down the road a bit hoping for better luck. Jeff could tell I was bumming and was insisting we keep on looking despite the fact I was just ready to get to our next destination. I was disappointed (read – crabby) that everything I was finding was either dead, wouldn’t let me near it, or like at the last spot, gross looking because it wasn’t under water. I was shooting the little dude above when Jeff shouted “Kaylah! Get over here!” I was all “Don’t yell me! Gosh!” I walked over to where he was to spot this insanely beautiful starfish. I let out my squeal of approval to which Jeff gloated “Is it okay I yelled at you about that?!”

This was my very fist time seeing a starfish in the wild, not in an aquarium, and excuse me if I sound dramatic but it was magical. It’s so crazy that that’s a real living thing. Nature is wild, y’all! From there things picked up. The starfish was definitely the highlight but I also finally found some anemones who were actually under water and they were every bit as beautiful as I had imagined.

The tide came in a lot quicker than I had hoped and it was time for us to move on so I didn’t get to spend as much time as I wanted checking out the tide pools. Moral of the story here I guess is that tide pooling is all about timing but when you get it right the reward is so great!

This really, truly sparked a love! I’m already researching hot spots to check out along the Washington and Oregon coast (hopefully we’ll get there sometime in the next year or so). I am dying to get back and immerse myself in this world of critters I know so very little about. I feel like I just got this tiny taste of what’s like and I want to learn so much more.
xoxo

You can find more posts from our road trip under the “travel” tag.

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