Every state I travel to is always different in some way. 
But Arizona, you have my heart... 

Do you know it can be 90+ degrees out - and to this hoosier, feel AMAZING? Why? No humidity. That dry heat is magic. I'm telling you. It's an illusion. It may be almost 100 degrees, but it doesn't feel like it. Not the 100 degrees we have here in the midwest. No sir.

And the light? Oh my gosh. Pack my bags already. 

I admit, I was semi-obsessed with the cactus. I mean, let's be real. The only place I see cactus here is in the home improvement store in the plant aisle, usually the 2" variety in a plastic pot. Maybe I am drawn to cacti. Because oddly I want to touch them. And well, we all know how that ends. Lol. 

So we went hiking this day. It was a bit of a drive there. Clearly we didn't know how to dress. Everyone was in hiking shoes and wear. I think our brains were still mush from climbing a 2700 foot mountain the day before because we? Vincy and I showed up in flip flops. I will say this. Try walking in dirty, muddy trail and you will experience a semi-freeing spa therapy foot session - one lacking heat but albeit - the muddy scrub on the foot? Oh you're getting that alright. You don't get a warm bath to soak your pretty toes in, but you DO get a creek full of slippery stones to walk across and wake you the hell up. Lol. But trust me when I tell you nothing about this excursion made you the least bit tired. It was fascinating and amazing. Towards the end a bit chilly. Those mountains will sneak up on you once the sun goes into hiding for the night. 

Me, I was finding light in quiet dark places and photographing that. Trailing behind as usual. Taking it all in. Remembering to just breathe. Laughing hysterically with my best friend about us not finding walking sticks until the end of our trail - oh they were there all along, and we felt so inadequate watching hiker after hiker pass us with a fine and dandy walking stick. When we noticed the HUGE pile to our left on the way out of the trail's start - we gasped. And reacted. And fell over laughing. And laughed some more. It was our giddy chance to pretend we were 20 years younger. And that day, we were 20 years younger. Fresh air will put new life into you. That's fact.

At the end of the night we found a spot outside of town to shoot our session. The family session is posted below this post! You can find it here. 

The light was ethereal. So golden. The hues of green from the cactus - so peaceful. Provided I wasn't trying to sit on one. 

This was a good day. Full of love. My people. 

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." Robert Frost