I’ve been looking for the perfect moment to show off some pics from our awesome road trip with family and friends! We had a blast with fun adventures that really brought us closer. And what a coincidence—May 18 is National Visit Your Relatives Day! It’s the perfect time to jump on this week’s photo challenge!
Here’s what the website had to say to make the most of visiting your relatives: Take a Road Trip
“Though it will take a bit more planning, you can incorporate a trip to see relatives with your own road trip or family holiday. Not only will you get to see your family, but you’ll be exploring the world too, making new memories along the way.”
And that’s exactly what we did (and do).
If you are a regular reader here, you know most of our family and many friends live in Arizona and California. You also know that we take annual road trips to visit as many folks as possible. While visiting these places: Arizona—Scottsdale, Gilbert, and Green Valley; California—San Diego, Visalia, Sacramento, San Francisco Bay Area, we spent time with cherished relatives and friends.
“Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.” ― George Burns 🤣
But First…
This week’s photo challenge is about people. Share images of people on the street, family, friends, whomever!
Disclaimer: Every photo published is from my lens. I discovered Google AI (in Google photos) which processes the images into a remix of choices. I used the watercolor mix and the oil paint versions in some of the images you see today.
For the photo challenge, please note, you are not required to post-edit creatively or do anything special to your photos of family and friends as I did in many of mine.
Street Photography
Many of you enjoy Street Photography, so please consider that style of photography for this challenge if you are so inclined. You might like this article: What is Street Photography?
Street photography is not high on my list of subjects to photograph. Here are a few of mine.
Let’s Kick Things Off the Road Trip with BLOGGERS!
In early March, I contacted my blogging buddies who live in the Phoenix area of Arizona. We met for lunch in Scottdale and enjoyed a wonderful time!
Pictured with me and Hans in the back are Jodie and Rob Filogomo (Jodie’s Touch of Style), Janet from This, That, and the Other Thing, and Ingrid from Live, Laugh, RV.
I also made sure to let Janis from Retirementally Challenged know I would be in San Diego for a few days. We’ve been meeting for lunch almost every year since 2016!
This was taken in 2016, ten years ago. I forgot to get a pic of us in 2026!
After a week’s visit in the San Diego area, where we spent time with our kids, we drove north to Visalia, California, to spend a few days visiting Marsha and her family.
“Life is an awful, ugly place to not have a best friend.”
― Sarah Dessen
We drove our car on our excursions, so we could include our dog and his crate. Marsha and Vince treated us to a wonderful lunch at a restaurant on the Kaweah River, just 10 minutes from the South Entrance to Sequoia National Park.
Heading Back to Sacramento After Five Years!
When we planned this long road trip, we decided to spend more time in California, especially Northern California where I had lived almost 40 years. Our next stop was to visit my friend and her fiancé in the small town of Wilton, a few miles south of Sacramento. We stayed with them for several days and enjoyed his 10 acre property. Look at that sunrise!
My friend had a lot of fun excursions planned. We drove 30 miles to the Sierra Nevada foothills, to spend the day in Sutter Creek.
We also planned this part of the trip to attend our old church on Palm Sunday. We left Sacramento in December 2020 when we moved north and said our tearful goodbyes to our Pastor and his wife. They have been blessing the congregation with wonderful messages and worship since 1998.
Pastor Kevin officiated our wedding in August 2013, a beautiful summer day filled with joy and love as family and friends gathered to celebrate our union.
“It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
Of course, we got some photo ops together and I played around with some fun Google AI edits.
It’s interesting how Google AI chose our fashion statements. Hans NEVER wears sweaters!
We enjoyed Palm Sunday morning with our friends. Pastor Kevin concludes every single one of his messages with this lovely scripture:
“May the Lord bless you and keep you; may the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the Lord lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace.” ~ Numbers 6:24-26
It was the perfect send off for the rest of our road trip.
Sharing this week for Kym’s Writer’s Quotes (WQ): Family Ties and Johnbo’s CellPic Sunday.
Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders
The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post. Please use your own original images, whether new or from your archives.
- Remember to title your blog post a little differently from mine.
- Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
- Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
- Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
- I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.
If you are participating in the photo challenge, I look forward to seeing how you interpret this week’s theme! Creativity is encouraged, so please share your own photographs (old or new), poems, original short stories, and music inspired by the theme. Join me again on May 24th as we explore BABIES!
If you haven’t discovered my weekly Flower Hour feature, which is published on Tuesdays, please join me!
My daughters sent me the original of this photo of us from Christmas 1990 as we gathered to watch birds at a sanctuary in Sacramento. Pictured in back are my former MIL on right, her mother, me and my youngest dot, my mother and my former SIL. Bottom row are my daughter and former SIL. The back row is mostly empty now that three of them have passed.
“The memories we make with our family are everything.” – Candace Cameron Bure
Have a great week!
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