ON THE ROAD: Starting off the Journey, May – June 2016:
After this introduction, our travel posts are arranged chronologically and by distinct parts (Part One; Puerto Vallarta Mexico, Part Two; Western States Road Trip, etc.). We’ll update this page throughout 2016 with new Parts as we travel through different regions. But first, our introduction followed by a table of contents so you can scroll down to the posts you’re interested in: Continue reading
When Christmas time comes we usually think of Mexico. With Sonia’s family in Chihuahua Mexico we usually go there and this year was no exception. So we packed our flannel shirts, long pants and wool caps and a couple days before Christmas Eve flew Seattle to Houston, then Houston to Chihuahua. Continue reading
Whether an aviation fanatic or not, anyone visiting Seattle should make time for the Boeing Museum of Flight. The museum is a Smithsonian quality place with new exhibits arriving constantly and the collection is impressive covering aviation from the days of handmade wood and fabric airplanes through the space shuttle and everything in between. Continue reading
Its mid-November and the first snows have dusted Washington State’s Cascade Mountains, but it isn’t deep yet. Still time for some day hikes into the high country. So, referring to my ancient copy of Ira Spring’s hiking guidebook, “100 Hikes in Washington’s Glacier Peak Region” I picked out an obscure hike to Greider Lakes, a pair of small alpine lakes high up in a lonely basin surrounded by cliffs outside of the tiny town of Sultan, Washington.
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Seattle; home to the Space Needle, Puget Sound, Mount Rainier , the Seahawks Super Bowl champions and, . . . airplanes. Continue reading
It’s early October, the rains have started in the Pacific Northwest, but my partner John wants to bag one last backpacking trip into the wilderness before winter sets in. This one would be into the wilderness surrounding Glacier Peak, the most remote of Washington State’s major glacier-clad volcanoes. Continue reading
Today we will sail into the Salish Sea; the intricate network of deep salt water passages through the islands between Canada and Washington State’s Puget Sound north of Seattle. We’ll travel aboard the wooden sailing ship, Spike Africa, named for the legendary sailing ship captain of the same name. She’s a classic 62-foot schooner, double-masted, sleek, bright and beautiful. We’ll be sailing near San Juan Island, the largest island in the archipelago spread between Canada and Washington State with the snow-capped Cascade Mountains forming the background to the forested islands. Continue reading
Sonia was borne in Mexico and I spent much of my childhood there. So, our connections to Mexico are strong and no matter where we are, every September 15th we do something to celebrate Mexico’s independence from Spain. Continue reading
Our friends Brice and Aline stayed with us in August and September with wilderness backpacking and sea kayaking high on the priority list of things to do. So, we prepared for three backbacking trips and a day of sea kayaking starting with a strenuous trek into the glaciated peaks of the North Cascades (see A Tough Trip Through Paradise in What’s New). After that we backpacked into Mt Baker, at almost 11,000 feet elevation it’s the most heavily glaciated mountain in the United States outside of Alaska. We kayaked into the deep water of Possession Sound off of Whidbey Island north of Seattle seeing sea lions, porpoise and eagles, and finished with a short, but strenuous overnight trip to Rampart Lakes high in the mountains overlooking Snoqualmie Pass, the main highway from the east into Seattle. Continue reading
Tucked into the remote northeast corner of Oregon along the Idaho border is a special place; Hell’s Canyon National Recreation Area. There are over 650,000 acres of canyons, forests and wild rivers and more; to the east the Wallowa Mountains rise abruptly over the Wallowa Valley to almost 10,000 feet, to the east the Seven Devils Mountains tower 9,000 feet above the wild Snake River to form the deepest gorge in the United States. Combined with the Wallowa Mountains and those in Idaho, and the adjacent forest lands of the Wallowa-Whitman and Nez Perce National Forests, there’s millions of acres of public lands to explore. Continue reading
