My favorite WordPress Feature:

What is this feature?

I love photography just as much as I love hiking or exploring because it allows me to capture those experiences! And I also really love that WordPress permit’s us to create such an awesome array of photos on our website by simply creating a “gallery” for your images.

How to create a gallery:

Widgets are super fun, there like little decorations to help “spruce up” your website, at least in my opinion. They can really help visitors and followers easily navigate their way on your page. If you’re interested in placing a gallery on your web page, it’s really as easy as one, two, three!

1. Go to your webpage> Click customization> Add a widget > Select the “gallery” widget
2. Click edit gallery and now you may upload your images > Give your gallery a title > Title and/or date your images as well so web visitors know what they’re looking at
3. While in edit… Adjust size, style, and order of images > You can choose the size of the images: medium, large or full size > You also can choose the style or presentation of the image: thumbnail grid, tiled mosaic, square tiles, circles, tiled columns, or even a slideshow > Hit update gallery and publish> ¡Voila!

Still Confused?

• You should be on the customization page of your webpage.. I simply hit widgets and this is where it brought me, the widgets are displayed in alphabetical order so you will have to scroll to find “gallery”

• Now that you’ve added a “gallery” widget, you can start personalizing it however you please by adding a title and uploading your favorite images by clicking “add images”

• Woo! You’re almost there, by now you should have your images uploaded and ready to edit

• Click and image to individually edit it, as you can see you have many edit options… such as -random order, image size, type…etc. Don’t let that confuse you. Simply play with the features and choose what best suits your webpage and have fun with the widgets!
• ATTENTION: however, it is critical you do give your images an alt text because it is required by international law.

Check out my Example Galleries!:

I hope this helped you folks learn how to create and use a gallery, feel free to check out the two galleries I have on my webpage. You can find one located on my homepage located below my calendar, by clicking on the images it will pop up the full size, and in doing so you are able to scroll through the gallery. My second image gallery is located on on my “Essentials for Your Hike” page.

 

Hope you enjoy!

 

If you have a dog that loves to play fetch…

This is Scout Dog, he is about 8 years old, but he is very young at heart. Once you pick up that tennis ball, his eyes will not lose gaze with the wondrous lime green toy. I’m serious, that is not an exaggeration. Scout can play fetch for hours, and he won’t get pooped out. He also makes a wonderful hiking partner, but because he is so strong he pulls and makes the hike go by a little too fast! I guess my hips could benefit from some fast walking.

Oh, and I forgot to mention…

If you have a dog like Scout, one who doesn’t tire out easily and loves to play fetch, then you need to invest in a “chuck it” ball thrower. It’s simple to use and your hands don’t get covered in slobber, unless that doesn’t bother you.. (but I haven’t met anyone who enjoys dog slobber on their palms).

 

 

An Exhilarating Hike

What kind of weather do you prefer to explore in?

Or are you like me?

I don’t mind if it’s raining, snowing, or even hailing while i’m out exploring. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, where it’s nearly raining all year round. But let me tell you, that rain makes for luscious fields of grass and beautiful evergreen trees that stand tall. Some of my favorite hiking memories happen to be the most exhilarating hiking experiences I’ve ever had.

Once my friend and I were hiking near Carson, Washington, and we were close to one of the second viewpoints of the hike. When we reached the top, we heard a loud crash, my friend screamed! She thought it was an animal or a tree falling. But to our surprise, it was not. A storm was brewing. The crash that we had heard was the sound of thunder, rain came pouring out of the sky faster than I’ve ever seen. Mud was running beneath our feet as we made our way down the mountain, we tried to hurry, but didn’t want to run because the mud made things so slick.

I know what you’re thinking, “oh my gosh, that sound’s dangerous”, and you’re right it totally was. I enjoyed the thrill of it all. I will admit we had no idea the weather was going to be that bad, but that’s what makes exploring fun, sometimes your expectations don’t match reality. Sometimes exploring in the rain isn’t all that bad or dangerous, for example, I went to Round Lake in Camas, Washington and on my rainy walk, I saw a family of ducks.

At first I didn’t recognize them because the water was coming down so hard and they almost camouflaged with the log on the lake. It was so precious to see on my walk.

Even though winter has just begun, I do miss summer. Blue skies and singing birds, oh and the luxury of getting to wear a nice pair of sneakers without ruining them in the muck and water, but I love where I live and I love to explore, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

 

 

Where would you go?

Lets get things started:

Welcome to my blog!

Oh… where do I begin?

You’re probably wondering, what in the heck is this blog for? Well, initially my intentions for this blog were to share my hiking and camping experiences exploring my hometown around Washington and in the state of Oregon.

I would still like to do so, however I thought what if others could share their own experiences here, too? It’s like music to my ears, nothing excites me more than the thrill of a hiking or camping trip! The crisp fresh air, the sound of crunching leaves beneath my feet, or what about the sweet sound and scent of firewood crackling in the night?

It’s a picture perfect scene that repeats in my mind. That’s what I love and appreciate about photography, you can capture a moment in time by just the click of a button. Doing just that, sometimes it can feel as if you’re there for a split second when viewing old photographs. We can’t relive the past, but we can definitely re-create some fun memories exploring!

Explore with me.