Destinations

Alaska Sojourn: The Snow Clad Mountains to Seward

Saturday was a transition day. We would be leaving the interior of Alaska and traveling south to Seward on the Kenai Peninsula. This would be another long day of driving for us. After packing up our stuff and getting it all in the car, we left for the first stop on our journey south, the tourist town of Talkeetna. The town is actual quite close to where we were staying as the crow flies. Unfortunately the Susitna River separates the…

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Alaska Sojourn: It’s Denali Day

Denali is a well known national park in Alaska. Because of its more remote location, it is not visited as much as some parks in the lower 48. When people do visit, they most likely visit for one of two reasons. First they want to see Denali, the mountain. As the highest mountain in the United States, it is obviously worthy of a visit. The second reason is visitors want to see animals, big animals like moose, bear, or caribou.…

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Alaska Sojourn: Unique Ice Sculpting to Grand Landscapes

Thursday dawned early in Fairbanks, but we were not awake to take note. When we were finally up and ready to go, we needed to pack our car as today we would be traveling south. It turns out I made an unfortunate error when I booked our hotel for our Denali visit. The place is actually two hours south of the Denali entrance. My daughter discovered this the day before we left so not much we could do about it.…

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Alaska Sojourn: Hiking Success Near the Chena River

I have wanted to go to Alaska for some time, but it never happened. This spring my daughter suggested we go there for a summer vacation. When airline prices came up that were a great deal, we made the call. We would finally visit the huge state of Alaska. Our sojourn would begin in Fairbanks and end in Anchorage. Our flight arrived in Fairbanks about 9:00 PM the day after the summer solstice. The sun would set at about 12:45am…

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St. Edward State Park: A Lodge Opens in its Middle

When one thinks state parks, usually what comes to mind are parks in the mountains or at the ocean beaches. Their distance away from urban centers can make them seem difficult to get to for a day trip. However, nestled in the suburbs on the east side of Lake Washington is St. Edward State Park. One can easily take a day trip to this park, and it recently got a unique upgrade. So grab your Discover Pass and find out…

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The Celebration of Seattle’s Nordic Cultural Heritage

There are a number of great museums in the Seattle area. From the Seattle Art Museum to the Museum of History and Industry, the area is blessed with a wealth of interesting places to visit. One museum that is a little off the beaten trail is the Nordic Museum in the Ballard area. This museum celebrates the history and culture of the Nordic countries. The Nordic countries, or as some would say the Scandinavian countries, are located in northern Europe.…

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Exploring the Rhododendron Garden in Federal Way, Washington

Spring flowers brighten our day after the gloomy days of winter. In the Pacific Northwest one of the star garden plants is the rhododendron. Gardeners have planted these bushes with their bright and colorful flowers throughout the gardens of the Northwest. However, there is one place specifically one can go to get a look at these plants, the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden in Federal Way. This garden was created specifically to focus on rhododendrons. The founders brought plants from various…

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Saying Good-bye to the Garden Island, Kauai

Friday dawned, and our week on Kauai was coming to an end. Friday was one of those difficult vacation days. We had to be out of our condo by 11:00 am, but our flight was not leaving until 10:00 pm, a red eye back to Seattle. We would have our luggage with us and not really be able to change clothes easily to prepare for our flight. How could we make the best of this final day? Of course the…

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Enjoying a Garden, a Lighthouse, and Hanalei Beach

Thursday we were ready to travel north again to Hanalei. After being thwarted on Tuesday, we now knew when the highway would be open. We had everything timed out, and we were ready to go. Our first stop of the day was the Na ‘Aina Kai Botanical Gardens (Lands by the Sea). Like many gardens, this one began as a private garden. Joyce and Ed Doty moved to Kauai in the late 1970’s and began to create a garden. As…

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Kauai: The Best Laid Plans…

Tuesday we were ready for a new adventure. This was the first time we were going in the opposite direction around the island. The plan was to head over to a popular surfing town and stop and see some sights along the way. Everything seemed great until we encountered a literal roadblock. Just a few mile before we were to reach Hanalei, our destination, the road was closed. Apparently part of the road had collapsed in previous months’ storms, and…

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