julia trotti | youtube photography tutorials
Viewing entries tagged
washington
Follow me on my instagram accounts:
Â
main account @julia trotti
personal account @juls.trotti
Â
I also have some exciting news because I've started sharing more fashion shoot behind the scenes videos + Lightroom & Photoshop Tutorials on my YouTube Channel! Be sure to subscribe as I upload 2 new videos every week x
Our last day in Washington started in Forks. We had made our way from the gloomy town to the top of Olympic National Park, back down to a drive-through farm and soon enough we were making our way to Seattle. Seattle is our last stop of the trip and after spending a whole week in Washington, we calculated we had driven more than 20 hours in just 6 days!
Eventually we made it to the city at the very last light of the day - which in the middle of summer was a wonderful 10pm. We checked in to a cute cabin we rented from Airbnb right near the heart of the city in a suburb full of flowers. I remember seeing the city for the first time lit up by the setting sun, a marvel of beautiful purple, orange and warm colours reflecting over all the buildings - it was amazing.
We had just one day to see Seattle and waking up on our last morning, we headed off to the main destination we wanted to see: Public Market. It was here that we saw hundreds of flower vendors, ate delicious food and taste tested some amazing ice cream flavours. It was coming to the end of a very long and very exhausting trip, so halfway through the extremely hot day, my sister started feeling unwell. We decided to go on the Seattle Eye (the ferris wheel) to see some sights of the city and Mt Rainier in the distance and then head home.
My sister napped with the fan on high trying to cool down in the room on this heat wave day. I ended up taking the time to talk to Dan on the phone, go through our photo and vlog footage and start packing.
The next morning we woke up super early and dragged all our suitcases to the car. We were driving towards the airport and stopped at a pancake breakfast house for an amazing and much needed breakfast after a night of organic popcorn for dinner. Before we knew it, we were at the airport boarding our flight back to Los Angeles. From Los Angeles we dreadedly got on our 15 hour flight back to Sydney, Australia.
I had the most amazing time on this trip with my sister and I'm already dreaming of the day we decide to do it all over again with a new destination. We managed to do SO many things, from terrifying rollercoasters in Los Angeles, to massive roadtrips and beautiful hikes. We vlogged our entire trip which you can now see on my YouTube channel, so we have the memories of all the little things that happened in between forever. For now, we will continue going on mini adventures around home like we always have until we plan our next big adventure.
all photos edited with my NEW Washington Lightroom Preset
My sister and I’s trip was too quickly coming to an end when we woke up in Forks one morning ready to make the long drive back to Seattle. Before we made our way back to the city, we had a few stops along the road trip back first!
We made it to Olympic National Park and queued up in the long line of cars waiting to drive to the top. Once we made it to the ticket booth, the road ahead was miraculously empty and we started making our way up. At first the road was gloomy - we were driving through thick fog which looked beautiful surrounding the trees at all the viewpoints we jumped out at.
Suddenly as we were driving, we break through the thickest part of the fog and find ourselves on the other side of the clouds where it was a beautifully sunny and warm day. We made it to Hurricane Ridge Visitor Centre where there were yellow wildflowers growing in the fields and a pair of deer grazing in the grass - mamma and baby.
We spent a couple of hours here looking out to the landscape of snowcapped mountains and doing a little souvenir shopping at our last National Park stop of the trip. Soon it was time to make our way back down through the clouds and into town.
Our next stop was the Olympic Game Farm where you can drive around and the gorgeous animals poke their heads into your car window asking for food. Here are the famous bears who wave back at you when you wave your hand! I think the day was too hot for them, so they were all lazily lounging around instead.
After being in the car for so many hours, my sister and I made one last stop for dinner on the highway before heading into Seattle where I will have one last blog post from our entire trip coming next week!
all photos edited with my NEW Washington Lightroom Preset
How do I describe the feeling where you’ve wanted to experience or see something for years and you finally get the chance to do it?
Well, this was me when we arrived at La Push for the first time. But first, I need to start at the beginning.
Our day starts in Mt Rainier National Park. My sister and I wake up in our wooden cabin to the sound of rain trickling in the forest surrounding us. By the time we were on the road, it was pouring and we couldn’t believe our luck that during our week in notoriously rainy Washington it only rained once during our transit day and not on any day that we headed off to explore a National Park.
On our 5 hour drive, we zoomed down highways lined with beautiful pine trees, stopped off at cute country towns, visited the tallest Spruce tree in the world, took photos by placid blue lakes surrounded by fog and made it to our accommodation in Forks where we had to run from the car in the pouring rain to get out all of our things.
I was prepared to visit La Push in the rain - it doesn’t phase me too much - but the one thing I really wanted to see was a sunset over the water behind the mini mountains in the ocean. That afternoon we headed off to the beach (where my sister felt very weird testing out what it felt like driving on the opposite side of the road for the first time!) and with our luck during the rest of our trip in Washington, the clouds parted just as we arrived.
We spent the rest of our day walking up and down the beach, taking photos with the mountains in the background, exploring the giant driftwood washed up on the shore and we even managed to spot a seal swimming and having fun in the waves.
The day comes to an end and we get to experience that magical, red, glowing sunset I’ve always wanted to see in La Push. We took hundreds of photos and made our way back to Forks.
The adventure continues.
all photos edited with my NEW Washington Lightroom Preset
I loved every part of North Cascades National Park. It is one of those rare places where reality is better than any of the photos you’ve ever seen of the place online. My sister and I had spent the whole day hiking in this amazing landscape, driving down the main road of the National Park, stopping for an hour or two hike, getting back in the car, stopping at viewpoints and just taking it all in. Before we knew it, we were at the furthest point in the park we could reach. Back at our starting point of my bucket list location Diablo Dam.
We got out at Diablo Dam and I breathed in deeply through the harsh wind whipping my hair around knowing that I won’t be back here again for a very, very long time. We turned the car around and headed back to our wonderful accommodation in the middle of the mountains with the deer.
Luckily for us, the days in Washington are extremely long throughout the summer and when we got home we were welcomed by my favourite sunset of the whole trip. We quickly got changed out of our hiking clothes and went running in the long grass to take pictures and film our last day in North Cascades. It was a magical afternoon spent giggling and tripping over grass, running and just marvelling at the sights surrounding us.
As usual, we had an early wake up call the next morning. We packed the car, said goodbye to the snow capped mountains and made our way to the town of Winthrop to fill up petrol and buy some snacks. We ended up going for a little walk around Winthrop - I absolutely LOVED this town - it’s everything you’d expect to see in a movie. Cute wooden shop fronts with lovely hand painted signs, it was gorgeous. We had some ice cream and headed off on our way.
Next stop: Mt Rainier National Park.
all photos edited with my NEW Washington Lightroom Preset
After a gloomy and cold welcome to Washington, we awoke to a sunny first day in North Cascades National Park. Since George and I were staying in Winthrop, we had made up a plan on what to see in the park where we start from the end which was closest to us and made our way back to the entrance.
We set off and quickly arrived at the first carpark where we could hear the sounds of a woodpecker working away in the forest somewhere. We took a quick hike to Washington Pass Overlook and hung around to film and take photos. Our next stop was to hike to Rainy Lake. We stopped where we thought the hike path begun but after walking for a while we started to think we weren’t in the right place. We hadn’t seen a single other person around but luckily a German couple appeared in the distance walking towards us on the hiking path. We asked them if this was the Rainy Lake trail and somehow in-between both our language barriers we figured out we were definitely in the wrong place!
We checked the map again and figured out the right place where we were meant to be and headed towards it. At the carpark we got distracted by a couple of chipmunks - we don’t have them in Australia so they are cute to watch as they scurry around! The hike to Rainy Lake was beautiful. I couldn’t help myself and would point out and exclaim about all the moss hanging from the trees every few minutes - it was amazing! We passed some look out points and waterfalls before we made it to our destination. Rainy Lake was stunning, the water was a vibrant blue which reflected the mountains and waterfalls surrounding it. Even though it was the middle of summer, there was still a pile of unmelted snow at the bank of the lake.
Since we weren’t going to get the chance to drive back through North Cascades National Park tomorrow, we decided to visit Diablo Lake one last time. Unlike yesterday, today the sun was shining brightly and the water was such a brilliant shade of turquoise. It was ever so slightly less windy so we made sure to spend a little extra time here soaking in the landscape.
It was only our second day in Washington but I already feel like we’ve seen so much!
all photos edited with my NEW Washington Lightroom Preset
The day started the same way it ended; with the moon. We woke up in our LA home at an ungodly 3am and fumbled sleepily with our things getting ready and packing up the last of what was laying around into our suitcases. We rolled our baggage to our car and sadly said goodbye to the perfect place that homed us for a week. After a drive through the empty L.A. streets so early in the morning, we were soon saying goodbye to Los Angeles too as our plane took off.
The sky turned from black to orange to white as we flew through the clouds. Minutes before landing, I remember excitedly peering out the window and seeing all the green down below. Seattle, Washington was already looking promising. Water and trees? My idea of heaven.
We set off in our car, music blaring and us energetically cheering to the vlog. We were beyond tired after our week visiting theme parks and our early flight, but I think our excitement was enough to keep us awake. We drove straight past Seattle and headed for the first highway. At first sights, Washington was reminding me of Poland in Europe. The grass was overgrown on the edges of the road and trees planted in any nook and cranny that was available around the structures. We had a 5 hour drive ahead of us to our first accommodation in Winthrop.
As we left the city behind, the country fields started rolling out in the distance and we passed so many beautiful country homes and barns. The barns were painted bright red with white windows and doors - it looked like it was right out of a movie. The rain would pour and then stop, it was a perfect welcoming to Washington, I thought. We were headed to North Cascades National Park to a place that has been on my bucket list for years. As soon as we caught the first glimpses of the mountains in the distance that we were driving towards I couldn’t help but get emotional.
The road continued as we passed bridges, lakes, pine forests, fields and more country houses. The fog was getting thicker and I couldn’t be happier. We made a pitstop for some coffee and eventually made it to the North Cascades information centre. I don’t think I’ll ever forget reaching the National Park entrance after driving for hours, we were surrounded by forest and there wasn’t another soul around. It was magical.
Our first stop once we were in the park was Diablo Dam - a place that’s been on my bucket list for the longest time. I remember always seeing photos of it online and knowing that I had to see this beautiful place for myself. We drove down a winding road that really looked like it could only fit one car, but somehow it was a two lane road. We drove across the dam and I had goosebumps on my arms - it felt unreal being here in person. As we parked and got out of the car the huge gusts of winds immediately pushed us around, but we went for a little wander around anyway, running around and taking photos.
Onwards with our road trip, we continued on the single road through North Cascades and seriously couldn’t believe our eyes - how can something so beautiful really exist?! Around the bend of one of the roads I squealed with excitement as I saw yet another sight I’ve wanted to see my entire life - the top of a forest immersed in fog. We made it to the town of Winthrop and made our way up the gravel road to our accommodation. A beautiful house perched on top of a hill with 360 degree views of the still snow capped mountains all around. We had spent hours driving around that day, so we made dinner and headed off to bed ready to wake early the next morning to do some exploring. The windows of our accommodation reached from the floor to the ceiling, so I fell asleep watching the moon rise from the mountains.
Am I really here? I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.
all photos edited with my NEW Washington Lightroom Preset
