Some days on tour are completely lousy with an early start, a 10-hr drive and a late show (or even worse there’s no show, just a day of driving to get you closer to the next destination). Most days have the normal ups and downs; moderately long drives, cool cities but no real opportunity to enjoy them, fun shows, crappy or great hotels, friends and family visits for an hour, wonderful or terrible food, etc. Then there are truly magical days, like days off in Colorado cabins, days that allow a visit to the grand canyon or a new magical town like Marfa TX with time to spare or, as was the case most recently and was perhaps the most magical day, a trip on a boat to see whales off the coast of Redondo Beach, CA.

Our friends and awesome HH supporters the Galloways took us out on their lovely boat to see whales for the second year in a row, and the trip was incredibly refreshing after a few grueling days of driving for hours through the blazing hot southwest. The weather was beyond perfect and we came across a pod of dolphins at least 200-strong (probably more). I had NEVER seen anything like this, and it was one of only a handful of experiences in my life that rendered me completely speechless, breathless, spellbound. The dolphins played with us for awhile, circling around the boat, jumping out of the water, and swimming directly in front of the boat as we moved forward. I had a heyday with my camera – I couldn’t even stop snapping long enough to notice that my light and white balance settings were incredibly skewed from a previous nighttime shoot. Regardless, I left with hundreds of photos of these incredible animals swimming just feet away. There’s nothing in the world like riding along next to hundreds of beautiful, graceful creatures to remind you that the world is a truly amazing place! And it’s nice to have that reminder every once in awhile in the midst of so much ugliness thrown at us from the news and internet. Many, MANY thanks to the Galloways for such a special afternoon!