Over the summer of 2024 I decided to travel across the country back to my birthplace. This was a spiritual journey to both connect to nature and to eventually spread my parent’s ashes in the Utah mountains, where I was originally born. For six weeks I travelled through West Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and eventually to Utah. Each and every night I slept in a tent and each and every day I drove and hiked over thousands of miles of dirt and gravel backroads in 95 degree weather in order to photograph the wonders that exist in our Nation’s State and National Parks. This was an amazing journey that allowed me to better understand my parent’s love for the outdoors and to bring their spirits back home.