Life has been all over the place lately and it’s going to stay that way for some time now. I’m okay with that. What I’m also okay with is all the time spent with family. 🙂
Tag: Animals
Maryland Zoo
Where do I even start this story? I guess at the beginning…
I met Steve the fall of 2005 at Delaware Valley College in Pennsylvania. Despite the fact that we were in the same (very specialized) degree program and have lots (and lots) in common, we were more mutual acquaintances than friends at the time. We had many mutual friends and of course, like most people our age, were Facebook friends by association.
Fast forward to several years later when, through the lovely channel of social media, we reconnected through our love of photography.
You see, Steve is not only a keeper at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, MD, but he is an astounding wildlife photographer who has been taking leaps and bounds in his practice. When he invited me to a behind the scenes tour of his home zoo, I not only jumped at the chance to get up close and personal with some amazing animals, I jumped at the chance to see such a gifted photographer in action.
Below are some of my photos from the trip, but if you’d like to see more of Steve’s work (and I highly recommend you see his work) you can give him a follow on Instagram @Steve_Dombroskie or here @ www.flickr.com/sdombroskiephotography
National Zoo: Take Two!
I had the chance to head back to DC for a weekend with Brian, which also coincided with another trip to the National Zoo to spend some time with the pandas and other creatures there, which didn’t disappoint this time either. Hopefully I’ll be able to carve out some time for one or two more trips down here while I’m on the east coast.
Even the drive down doesn’t disappoint. I don’t know that I’ll ever tire of a good road trip.
Brian is a huge fan of scary movies (while I have cried during a sitting of the Blair Witch Project: 2) so we made a point to seek out the stairs from the classic scary picture The Exorcist.
Ferncliff Trail
Ferncliff Trail presides in Ohiopyle State Park near where I grew up in southwestern PA. My dad shocked me one morning by letting me in on the secret that he had never hiked the short two-mile loop so we set off for a quick morning hike along it’s dirt path. Kratos and I got to stretch our legs before another long car ride and Dad got to put another check mark on his bucket list.
National Zoo
Spending so much time in DC has its advantages:
I get to hang out with my super awesome husband whom I wasn’t expecting to see much of during this time.
I get to photograph lots of historic and beautiful places that I otherwise wouldn’t have had the chance to. AND I talked said super awesome husband into a quick walkthrough of the National Zoo just so I could a Panda Bear in real life for the first time. Thanks for that super awesome husband.
Sashimi, Soy Sauce, & Tigers… Oh My!
Needing an excuse to go to Pittsburgh I called a friend up and asked her to try out a new (to me) sushi restaurant in the ‘Burgh. I’ve been dying to finally try out the sushi burritos I’ve been seeing trending all over social media. Sushi Fuku in Oakland was every bit as delicious as I had dreamed and after eating my body weight in salmon, avocado, and soy sauce I hugged my friend goodbye and headed to the Pittsburgh Zoo with camera in hand. My FitBit and I agreed that a few hours trekking around the zoo before sitting in the car for the three hour drive back to Columbus was much needed. 
