Made a trip out to Washington State for my second time in two years (my first time ever was when my buddy, Mike, flew me out to help photograph a wedding), with my cousin, Donmiguel, which was actually a pretty big deal considering the fact that he hasn't flown on an airplane - or ventured out of California, at that - in the last 13 or so years! Not only was it awesome seeing and catching up with familiar faces (huge thanks to our good friends Vinnie & Herod for housing us while we were there, you guys were lifesavers!), but it was also awesome being able to have a rental car at our disposal, this time around, so that we could see the beauty that Washington had to offer on our own time - especially considering that we came during the week and our friends were busy with work and whatnot.

We were able to explore the beautiful city of Seattle, head up to North Cascades National Park and see it's beauty with our own two eyes, and catch sunset on a trip out to Mount Rainier National Park... However the highlight of this trip, for me, was the last-minute helicopter flight my buddies Bryan (@bdorts) and Sam (@samuelelkins) were able to schedule & invite me to tag along on. Watching sunrise has always been a favorite of mine, but being able to witness it from above, on a helicopter, was absolutely surreal. The view you get seeing the light break through the clouds, the exhilaration (paired with a slight case of acrophobia) experienced as you're hovering over mountains you could only dream of climbing, and the smiles and feelings of relief had as we were frantically clicking away with our cameras, simply couldn't be beat.

All in all, this trip was definitely awesome, and I'm already looking forward to the next time I make a trip out to Washington -- there are still a ton of places I'm dying to explore!