Category: Trip Report
-
2014 Northwest Flower and Garden Show
The first weekend in February is usually the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. This extravaganza takes place right when we are getting tired of our gloomy, grey, damp winter. It helps us turn the corner to spring, or at least to have hope that spring is not far away. When I first started going to…
-
Cedar Butte Hike – 1/24/14
We’ve had a stretch of lovely, mild weather lately. In fact, it’s been a very dry winter. As we were planning our hike for hike last Friday, I pulled out my new Winter Hikes card deck by Craig Romano, and gave the kids a few options to choose from. I’m feeling motivated to try some…
-
Exploring Close to Home
We’ve hit a lull in our adventuring. It seems The Holidays and the tasks we’ve had for school have taken most of our energies, and we want to sit at home and veg. But we’ve made it out to two local parks recently, and I wanted to share our experiences. Lord Hill Regional Park is…
-
Skagit Eagle Excursion – 1/3/14
Our first trip of the New Year found us driving up the Skagit with friends to see the eagles. Every winter, bald eagles flock down from The North, following the abundant salmon runs. Local communities celebrate the return of the eagles and the salmon, and bird watchers venture down to the winding roads to see…
-
Narbeck Wetland Sanctuary Fall Nature Walk – 10/25/13
We’ve been stuck home with colds this week. We are getting better, and needed some fresh air and exercise without getting too exhausted. I thought it was time to visit a local park again, and picked Narbeck Wetland Sanctuary in Everett. We drive by there every week to take Annika to gymnastics, so it’s been…
-
Longs Pass (Almost!) Trip Report – 10/11/13
Last year I had an amazing trip to go see the larches turning colors, but I didn’t take my children along. They were disappointed and have been seeing photos of lovely landscapes glowing with golden larch trees. They really wanted to go somewhere this year. Some folks had been saying the trees were prime up…
-
Heather Lake Hike, 10/4/13
Fall has definitely arrived in the Pacific Northwest, almost turning to winter overnight in the mountains. We have been working hard on our school work and needed a break last week – we were happy to see the forecast for a few days of October sunshine. None of our friends were available to come for…
-
Crater Lake and Rogue River Camping – August, 2013
In the middle of August we spent a week camping with my parents on the Rogue River in southern Oregon. We stayed at a campground that was my favorite as a child; many fond memories live there. I hadn’t been down that way since before we had kids – I took my husband there in…
-
Thunder Creek Trail Hike and Camping at Newhalem
Summer has officially arrived here in Washington. It’s time to get out there and soak up as much of the mountains as we can before the gloom descends in the autumn and we have to wait 9 more months. We had some time to make a longer drive the Friday after the Fourth of July…
-
Hoh Valley Hike – 6/11/13
I had an interview to do last week over on the Olympic Peninsula for an article I’m writing. I also had childcare arranged for a few days, so I took the time to camp overnight at the National Park Service campground near the Hoh Visitor Center. It was a long drive for a quick trip,…