Minnesota

Minnesota Trip 2022 / August 28, 2022 by Bebe Besch

This year, my mother and I traveled together to Minnesota, via road, as usual. I was to drive there with her and fly home, and my aunt flew out to make the return drive with her.

Anaconda, MT

The images above were all take at stop at Anaconda, MT. The last image is of the Anaconda Smoke Stack - I’ve somehow never seen this along our drive before, and with the sun setting and it being almost dark, I got chills with how much it looked like the Dark Tower (from my favorite Stephen King books of the same title) - just sans roses.

I will definitely be back to see this in the daytime up close sometime in the future.

Billings, MT

We stayed the first night in Billings, MT, and I woke up for sunrise so I could go for a mini hike at Zimmerman Trail. I was worried about Rattle Snakes as they are typically out in the morning, but didn’t see any. I saw plenty of other hikers and lots of dogs. The view of Billings from this location was unbeatable. I am so happy I got up early before starting the 2nd stretch of our drive.

Medora, ND

We made one quick pit stop in Medora, ND, even though we had no plans this time to attend a live show. It was fun to explore for a bit, get in some exercise, and try to avoid the many thousands of grasshoppers.

At the National Buffalo Museum in Jamestown, ND, you can actually see live Buffalo. I wasn’t exactly being the safest photographer getting this shot… do not recommend. But they are majestic. I really feel these should be wild and not kept here, but the spectacle of it still brought us there to see for ourselves.

East Grand Forks, MN

Got to Visit with my Aunt and Uncle, Steve and Linda, in Grand Forks!

The Family Farm

Seeing my other Uncle Brian on the family farm in St. Hilaire was such a great time. This place is probably the one location that is the most special to me in the world. So many photos have been taken in this special place. The memories are intense. I really hope the house survives the next winter (the basement has some severe cracking in the foundation and the harsh Minnesota winters do not help).

St. Hilaire, MN

I explored a bit more of St. Hilaire when I went for a walk - I had never seen most parts of the town. I walked to the local park, saw some fishermen, some softball players, some very cute homes. My father apparently used to make this walk several times a day with his dog Sky when he was most recently living here before he passed.

Thief River Falls, MN

Made a few stops to say hi to my father.

Got some tennis in finally with my mom! It was a beautiful evening in TRF. I remember playing on these courts with my father as child.

Got to see my Aunt Mavis and take her to lunch! It’s always so nice that she makes time to see us when we are in town.

Halstad, MN

My first cousins, once removed (my mother’s cousins - I just think of them as Aunts) were all in Halstad, MN to see us. Here Dana shows off her pretty jewelry.

Sisters! Teresa and Dana.

Finally, my mom wanted to recreate a few poses that they had done as children.

My mother and Lisa.

Lisa, my mother, and Teresa.

It Feels So Good to be Back! / September 19, 2021 by Bebe Besch

Summer 2021

It isn’t news that I haven’t been as actively posting on my website (or taking photos in general) since the pandemic started. I went from being out in the hustle of the big city of Seattle, to working my day job from home. I was very fortunate to do so, but that kept me inside my home walls, away from others, tucked in and doing almost no real photoshoots. I also decided to go carless when I realized I wasn’t going to need to drive anywhere for a bit, as the pandemic progressed on. Needless to say, this left me with few options to get together outdoors to shoot safe pandemic photoshoots.

This time did give me a chance to focus on other creative endeavors, and to focus on my health and fitness. I became quite the cook of healthy meals.

That all being said, I really have missed photography. So so much. I was so thrilled to be vaccinated once I was eligible because I of course wanted to keep others safe and myself safe, but I also knew that so many more things would be open to me again. I am not ready to go back to full on concerts just yet, but I hope that in the future I will feel safe enough to attend and photograph them. I miss live music more than photography.

At the beginning of Summer, I finally got together with my friends Chelsea and Colleen again, from my last job. It had been so long since we had caught up. I brought my camera and only took one photo - of Chelsea and her pooch, Lana, the poodle. My photography was finally staring back up with this photo. Besides photographing music, my favorite thing to do is take a portrait of someone, especially someone I care about!

Also early in Summer, I got together with my friend Rina, to celebrate her birthday. We both had been lacking any social interaction during the first year + of the pandemic and it was so good to reconnect with her and take some birthday photos after we grabbed coffee.

Also this Summer, I got to photograph some families that were expecting! Here, Shayna and Lee anticipate their little one, due this November.

I also got to photograph my friends Lillian and Andy, along with their son Ollie and in anticipation of welcoming their baby girl to the family.

Minnesota Road Trip

Here, there is an invitation to my father’s Celebration of Life on my cousin’s mantlepiece. We used one of my favorite photos that I took of him.

This Summer, we went back to Minnesota for a long overdue celebration of life for my father who passed last Fall. He passed away in Minnesota during the peak of the pandemic in the area there, where snow was plentiful and we didn’t think gathering the family indoors was safe. We postponed until Spring/Summer and felt fortunate there was also a vaccine available before we made the trip back to settle him.

Lee, my fiancé (who does NOT travel) came out to support me on this trip and I was briefly able to show him around the town my parents grew up, and the family farm that my parents had spent some of their lives living on.

Pit stop for laundry during our Minnesota trip.

We got to visit with Steve and Linda, and their dogs Cooper and Sky.

In Halstad we got to visit with my Aunts Lisa and Dana.

Some of my dad’s siblings made it out to his Celebration of Life.

Frances and Randy at Oaland Park. — Frances and Randy at Oakland Park.

My fiance and I at my father’s burial. — My fiancé and I at my father’s burial.

Secret Photoshoot

My friend Tim Billick has been cooking up some new solo music. We spent some time photographing a bold idea he had - more to come on that later. Check out his music here.

When Tim and I took a break at the end of our shoot, we grabbed a quick picture of him with his pup, Herbert.

Seattle Design Festival

I love attending the Seattle Design Festival every year- and I always have a blast if my best friend can attend with me. This year was one of those lucky years. The theme this year was “emerge”. We happily checked out the different exhibits and interpretations at South Lake Union park.

Wrapping Things Up

As the end of Summer came, my friend Maddie visited Seattle for the first time on her own solo trip. We’ve been online friends for years because we are both massive Foals fans, and it was SO EPIC to get to meet her while she was here. It was even cooling down that week, so she was able to wear some flannel! So Seattle.

As I come to a close on this post and this season, I am so happy. I have gotten to photograph and see so many people I care about over the Summer. I got to lay my father to rest. So many things I did had me feeling like myself, once again, after so much time spent alone. I really hope to be photographing more friends and events from here on, and focus on reconnecting.

Minnesota Trip 2018 / August 17, 2018 by Bebe Besch

It's hard to describe Minnesota and the romance it holds in my life. There is always a longing to revisit the feelings I've developed from my time spent there. Growing up, my parents drove my sister Shayna and I from Seattle to Minnesota every Summer. My parents grew up in Thief River Falls, MN, and moved to Seattle when they we adults. Most of our extended family still lives in the state or nearby states, and as children, my sister and I always looked forward to the yearly road trip to the East to visit relatives and friends. Times were so simple then, when my family was complete. People in my family were the way I'd like to remember them.

Things have changed as I've gotten older. My parents are no longer together, which probably adds to the sadness of my nostalgia surrounding these trips back to Minnesota. Also, once I finished high school and entered art school, I was attending classes throughout the summertime, so there were many years in my adulthood that I did not get to join on the trips back to Minnesota. Certain jobs I held during those years also did not allow me to take the 2 weeks needed to include the drive. I am fortunate to have a job now that is flexible enough that I can make the trip back with my mother and sister. I've been able to visit in 2012, 2016 & 2018, in the last decade.

The Start

Somewhere in Idaho or the beginning of Montana on our first day of the trip.

The entire trip we found ourselves surrounded by air with wildfire smoke. I thought it was going to be just a few days while we started our road trip, as pictured above when we were just going through Idaho or the beginning of Montana (this was taken at a rest stop), but it was smokey through Minnesota and all the way home to Seattle from a variety of forest fires.

This year, we decided to first drive to Minneapolis. We rarely ever go to the big city by the time we arrive to Minnesota, because it adds about a 5 hour drive onto our trip both ways, and usually we are too tired after the initial drive to add that onto our trip. By heading there first, we made ourselves visit our family and friends there. Because we were heading to Minneapolis, our normal route shifted once we reached Billings, MT. We took a dip down through Wyoming and through South Dakota - therefore we did a little sight seeing at Devil's Tower (from the movie Close Encouters of the Third Kind) and Mt. Rushmore.

My mom taking a smoke break at the first rest stop we saw once we reached MN.

Minneapolis

In Minneapolis, we got to visit with my mom's best friend Frances, and her children Kirk and Molly, who have been close friends with my sister and I since we were all children. Molly was able to go to Minnehaha Falls and the Mississippi River with us and took us out to Karaoke. Kirk and his girlfriend Amanda were able to grab dinner with us and do Karaoke with us the other night - I also had my first and only bites of Walleye (Minnesota's state fish) on the trip at their house.

Can Can Wonderland - not pictured: very fun Karaoke.

A very friendly child Shayna (my sister) and I met at the Mississippi River who was fishing with his family.  He was interested in my camera and took a lot of photos with my help. — A very friendly child Shayna (my sister) and I met at the Mississippi River who was fishing with his family. He was interested in my camera and took a lot of photos with my help.

Grand Forks

We stopped by Grand Forks a few times, visiting both my older sister Tonya and her children, including my niece Quetitita whom you've probably seen in previous photos I've posted. We also stopped by my aunt Linda and uncle Steve's house - I unfortunately didn't get any photos of them but took the above photo of my cousin Chans' hand print in their driveway.

Furry Friends

Of course, I got to see a bunch of pet friends while we were on vacation. I didn't even get photos of probably half of them, but here are a few:

Tucker, my uncle Brian's dog in St. Hilaire.

My older sister Tonya with a kitten at my uncle Gene's farm.

A beautiful and loving kitty that followed me around while we were visiting Berent's horses.

1 Kitty and 1 doggo that said hi while we were visiting Berent's horses.

St. Hilaire

The St. Hilaire farm is where my mom grew up (after they moved from nearby Thief River Falls) and where I got to know my grandma and grandpa. My uncle Brian lives there now with his puppy Tucker. This farm was always our "hub" on our trips, where we usually ended up for a few nights between visiting in other towns. We spent many summer nights finding our own fun as kids on this farm, and fished along the river in the backyard. We also spent a few nights worrying about a passing storm in the basement, and spent many hours in the basement playing ping pong.

The memories are countless on this farm. This is where I truly feel like I am "back" when we visit Minnesota.

Red Lake River in the back yard at the St. Hilaire farm.

The creepy light in the yard - everything else is pitch black once night arrives on the farm.

Halstad

After a few days in Thief River and St. Hilaire, it was time to pick up and head back to Halstad to hang with other family.

Shayna, both complaining and looking beautiful at the same time.

I saw many combines in Minnesota.  So fitting. — I saw many combines in Minnesota. So fitting.

One of the last nights we were in Halstad we visited the neighboring town of Shelly to go to their Shelly Days dance.  Seen here is my mom's cousin Mark, my mom, my cousin Chans, my mom's cousin Dana, and my mom's cousin Diane. — One of the last nights we were in Halstad we visited the neighboring town of Shelly to go to their Shelly Days dance. Seen here is my mom's cousin Mark, my mom, my cousin Chans, my mom's cousin Dana, and my mom's cousin Diane.

Here's a closing shot from the Shelly dance of my cousin Rachel and her boyfriend Mack.

The End

My mom taking a snooze in the back seat of our car while Shayna drove.

We made our way back to Seattle along the usual route this time, through North Dakota and all of Montana. After a long and exhausting trip, I felt a little more whole. I always do after I visit and get to see old friends and the people I love. I hope I get to visit again sooner than usual, this time.