Day 18: The Golden Horizon

I know I'm on a sunset high lately, but they're one of the things I love to photograph the most. I could just stare at them for hours. Dreaming, thinking, letting reality slip away and it's just me and this view. I've captured many sunsets through a lens, but this one makes my top 5.

The location is Lakewood Park on the Solstice Steps. It's a summer eve. I noticed the boats going in opposite directions and knew it was going to set up for a killer shot. I waited for the opportune time and took the shot. I like to look at this photo in the dead of winter, reminding me that days like these will so return. I hope when you look upon this shot, that it'll take you to your happy place.

Day 17: Alcatraz Sunset on Friday the 13th

Ever since I've had a big boy job, I make the most of opportunities to travel. So in September of 2019, I found myself in San Francisco, CA. It was the first time I had ever set foot on California soil outside of an airport. And my reasons for visiting SF were many. 1) My friend Josh Toly moved out there for a job. 2) I always wanted to see a baseball game at Oracle Park. 3) I've wanted to visit California for a long time. 4) SF has many places I really wanted to see, including Alcatraz.

Now here's the thing about visiting Alcatraz. You have to book those tickets nearly 5 months in advance because that's how often they were booked up. In May of 2019, I began looking up dates and had two in mind, but the weekend wasn't confirmed yet with Josh. By the time we squared everything up, the Saturday was all booked, but Friday was not. So I pulled the trigger. I'm glad it worked out that way because a warm summer evening on a Friday the 13th was one of the coolest times to visit a place once filled with desolation and despair.

The boat ride over was scenic. The audio tour was incredibly well done. The history that filled the place could be felt and seen everywhere. And Josh, who had not never been to Alcatraz himself, was quite impressed.

The real kicker, or the cherry on top if you will, were the views from the island. I can't describe to you the incredible feeling I felt, standing on that forsaken rock, feeling the warm evening air rush over me, while watching the sun dip below the ridge line. So if you ever visit San Francisco, make it a number one priority to get tickets to Alcatraz. You won't regret it.

Day 16: Welcoming 2016 in Style

    PC: Vasya Tai

New Years Eve is a holiday I truly love because it's always different the way I celebrate it each year. I have many, many memorable ones that come to mind, but that's all I have of them are memories. This one, however, was captured, frozen in time forever.

This was New Years Eve 2015. And this was the first year our sister church in Australia sent a group of their young people to visit us. To say I was excited was an understatement. Getting to know them and show them American culture was a blast. This group became more than just friends. They became family.

We had a church conference running during this week so a lot of other people from out of town were here in Cleveland. Well I help serve young people. Mark and Esther Miller, who do as well, wanted to open their home on New Years Eve. It was an open invite, and as you can see from all the happy faces, we drew quite a crowd.

There was nothing planned. We just showed up, sang songs, ate snacks, laughed and enjoyed each other's company. Then as the clock ticked down, we said goodbye to 2015 and welcomed in 2016. This moment had to be captured. So Vasya (the one in the lower left corner) climbed up the stairs and took the group selfie. It's a moment I'll always remember. A moment where different cultures came together, where strangers became friends, where joy and happiness filled the night. And it was an incredible way to welcome a new year.

Day 15: Bachelor No More, Welcome to the Wedding

Yesterday's photo was pre-wedding. Today's photo now finds us at the wedding. And this is a shot I took. In all my years of knowing Sam, one could say he's quite a character. So it's absolutely no surprise that he would pull a move like this at his own wedding. Also notice the angle that paper plate with the cake slice on it is at. Thankfully it didn't fall, but still would've been epic if it did.

Sure the photo reminds me of that momentous week I spent in New York City, but more so about what the trip was really all about...this wedding. And this photo to me encapsulates that very day. On one of the most important day's of my friend's life, it shows a side of him you may see if you really know him. The expressions on the crowd's faces are priceless and the moment is captured forever. I have many stories about NYC, but this wedding would take a chapter of it's own. And it's another reminder of why I love weddings so much.

Day 14: Speeding in Austin

                      PC: Sam Chen

The year was 2016. Sam Chen's final days as a bachelor were nearing an end. So why not celebrate them is style in Austin, TX? With this photo comes two tales.

The first is that I had not flown on a plane since I was 2 years old. So this was going to be a relatively new experience for me. Let's just say the way down didn't go so well as the connecting flight (40 min away from Austin) was nearly cancelled and I had to chill in the airport for 4 hours not knowing if I was getting to Austin that night. Thankfully I did. Also I was finishing up my last year of college and finals were less than 2 weeks away, so I did what many students in my position would not...which was not use that weekend to study and fly to another state.

The second story is that out of all the people you see in this photo, I only knew three of them. The rest were strangers. But by the end of this adventure I could call them friends. We explored Austin, ate some delicious food from the food truck court, ran into an old friend, and as raced some high speed go-karts. And this was also the first real moment where I knew I was destined to travel. Austin was short and sweet, but the memories are forever.

Day 13: Da Boyz

    PC: Tim Watkins

Don't my brothers an I take a nice picture? Hahahahahaha. This is me and my three other brothers. Left to right: Stephen, Tim, Me, Nathaniel. We were hanging out around a large bonfire we made and Tim was lie, lets take a picture, everyone be serious. The glow of the flames were enough to light our faces. And this one came out pretty well I think it's one of the coolest of us by far. Thus it makes my list of thirty.

Day 12: Milestones & Memories

    PC: Diane Rust

I was planning on including this photo in the last 10 days, but life happens and now seems like the most appropriate time.

Late 2018, a friend and prominent geocacher by the name of George Markusic, was nearing his 20,000 find. I've seen some of your eyes grow big when I tell you I've found slightly north of 3,000. So 20,000 is incredibly impressive. Now if you know George, he's all about those crazy geocaching trips. So for his 20,000 find, he came up with a trip to Central Park in NYC, for basically one day only, to do the Bridges and Arches of Central Park multi. Why this specific cache? Because it requires you to visit every single bridge and arch in Central Park to get information you need to find the actual container. And it's in the heart of NYC. George also made it an open invite to whomever wanted to go.

 I initially wasn't going to go because I thought I was going to be working when they were leaving, but George contacted me and said "we're leaving right after work on Friday and driving back Sunday morning. Well that avoided cutting into work so I was fully on board.

We drove 6.5 hours from Cleveland to New Jersey and got there just before midnight. The next morning we made our way to the heart of Manhattan and spent the entire day in Central Park. Sixteen of us total. There were sites, adventures, hilarious moments, memories, and the cherry on top was when we fired party poppers at George as he victoriously held the cache for Bridges and Arches in his hands. It was my third time in NYC, but it felt like the first.

This photo also has another very important reason as to why it made my 30 that I love. Why? Start from the person farthest right and to the fourth person. She's wearing a tan hat and black shirt. Her name is Michelle. I had known her for 3 years now, but she'd been with this group years before. If you ever saw photos of George's crazy trips, she was a constant staple in them. Two days ago, I received the sad news that she had lost her battle with cancer. It came as a shock because I had no idea she was that sick. When she came to NYC with us, you would've had no idea she was sick at all.

We have a saying about the people we know who participate in this amazing hobby. "You're family". Doesn't matter whether you've been in the game for a decade or if you just started. And that's a statement that I've known to ring true time and time again. I experienced it at the first geocaching event I walked into. When I entered the room with the large crowd in the restaurant, I didn't know who to approach or how to introduce myself. As I was pondering how to do this and standing there intimidated, someone was passing by me, stopped, and introduced himself as Bobbo12164 and said I must be Thrill.Seeker (my caching name). That was Bob Laco, who actually started a few months after me and currently has three times as many hides as I do. I was then introduced to George and was warmly welcomed.

Since then, I've meet a lot of amazing people, including Michelle. Now, in truth, I didn't know her as well as I do George and Bob, but I knew her enough to know what an incredible person she was. Michelle was family. She didn't let the world beat her down, she didn't let cancer rule her life. Like I said before, unless someone told you, you wouldn't know she was sick. I wish I would've had more time to get to know her better, but I'm grateful for the time I did. Rest easy Michelle, you will be missed.