Posts In The “Destinations” Category
More than a century before the smoke-spewing copper smelter at Point Ruston influenced Tacoma-born Frank Herbert’s penning of his epic novel Dune, the area supported the first European trading post in the Puget Sound. About 15 miles to the south, the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1832 established Fort Nisqually, which became an important fur-trading post…
We often fly close to Mt. Rainier when travelling in and out of Sea Tac airport, and love getting a close-up look of the iconic volcano. For an even better view, Jennifer took James on a surprise helicopter tour of the three major mountains in the area: Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens….
We began the winter of 2024 in sunny Las Vegas at the annual AWS re:Invent conference, and ended it on a weekend trip to muddy Langley, Washington. In between we covered a lot of miles, including a cruise to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Antarctica; trips to Israel, Toronto, and Santa Barbara; and local…
Milan is a wonderful city full of striking architecture, public art, historical depth and countless excellent restaurants. The influence of Leonardo ca Vinci, the city’s most notable resident, is visible throughout. We got a small taste of the city’s offerings on a one-day exploration before returning home to Seattle. We arrived in Milan after driving…
In addition to the hiking and dramatic scenery, another draw of the Dolomites for us was the chance to do a via ferrata course where the sport originated. Via ferrata means “iron road” in Italian, and refers to a system of cables, ladders, bridges, handholds, and footholds used to aid ascension. The first recreational course…
One of the reasons that we’ve long been wanting to visit Northern Italy is to hike the Dolomites in the Italian Alps. The pictures we’d seen, of dramatic formations rearing above diminutive hikers, really drew us in. The Dolomites are considered a world-class hiking destination and we finally were going to experience them. We left…
Northern Italy has long been high on our list of places to visit. For the summer of 2020, we had booked moorage for Dirona in Genoa and planned to tour the area extensively. The COVID pandemic changed those plans, and we finally filled that gap on a last-minute trip to attend the Italian Grand Prix…
For us, fall in Seattle means the start of the NFL season. The Seattle Seahawks did not have a stellar home game showing this year, losing 3-6 at home. But they won 7-1 on the road, and just missed making the playoffs. We always have a great time at the home games no matter the…
Enumclaw, about an hour’s drive south of Seattle, is a small town of population 12,500 with plenty of history and character. After passing through on several road trips, we eventually stopped for lunch at the Historic Mint Alehouse and have returned several times. We enjoy taking in the activity on Enumclaw’s pedestrian-only main street, full…
Washington’s Mountain Loop Scenic Byway traverses Barlow Pass in the North Cascade Mountains to connect the towns of Granite Falls and Darrington. Despite its name, the 55-mile (88km) roadway is not actually a loop at all, but a U-shaped route that wraps around several major Cascade Mountain peaks. Ranging in elevation from 5,723 ft (1,744 m) to…
Our cruise along Greenland’s still-frozen east coast would have been a memorable adventure on its own. But it turned into an exceptional one with the rare and amazing opportunity to spend a day at a whale carcass, beached on the ice, that had attracted an astonishing 68 polar bears. The cruise was lightly booked, with…
Last summer was a busy one for traveling. We made two trips to Europe: one in early June to spectacular Iceland before a fabulous cruise along Greenland’s frozen east coast, and the second at the end of the summer to attend the action-packed Italian Grand Prix. In addition, we took weekend trips within Washington state…
Our trip to the North Pole aboard Le Commandant Charcot included a brief visit to Greenland. The country was as striking as we expected, and we wanted to see more. We also learned that sea ice is mesmerizing. Le Commandant Charcot is the world’s most powerful non-nuclear ice-breaker, capable of breaking ice 15ft (4.6 m) thick,…
This year we visited several new countries, continuing the adventure that began on our around-the world trip on Dirona. We also picked up two activities, one old and one new: scuba diving and rucking; made many local trips in and around the Pacific Northwest; and attended numerous live music concerts and sporting events. James continues…
Vatnajokull National Park in southeastern Iceland is the largest of the country’s three national parks and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2019. The park is named after Vatnajokull glacier, the largest in Europe outside the Arctic, and contains many volcanoes, several beneath the glacier. At 5,778 sq miles (14,967 sq km) the massive park…
Iceland, “The Land of Fire and Ice”, is a geological wonder. The island nation lies atop the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates and, as the plates move apart, magma from the earth’s core reaches the surface through thirty volcanic systems across the island. The magma also heats vast underground water…
A couple of months after our first land-based weekend on Bainbridge Island, we made another trip, this time by car with our new rucking gear. In a busy overnight trip, we visited one of our longtime favorite pubs, tested our new gear with a ruck through Grand Forest park, enjoyed the views from the deck…
This spring was a busy one, even by our standards. Together we made weekend trips to Los Angeles and in Washington State to Point Ruston, Alderbrook Lodge on Hood Canal, Bainbridge Island, Tacoma, Everett, Langley and Port Townsend. We also took a fabulous week-long cruise along the Danube River between Budapest and Bucharest. And James…