A Hike and a Waterfall in Snoqualmie, Washington

A natural site one can count on to attract a crowd is a waterfall. My daughter Andrea is particularly fond of searching out waterfalls which we did on our trip to Iceland. There are many waterfalls in the northwest, but if you are looking for one that is easy to get to from Seattle, then Snoqualmie Falls is the one to check out. On a clear, beautiful day in March we decided to drive up to see the falls. First,…

Descending into the Depths of Carlsbad Caverns

When I was a kid, my dad mentioned visiting Carlsbad Caverns and what a unique experience it was. Since then I have always wanted to visit it. While I said that visiting White Sands National Park was the reason for this trip, Carlsbad Caverns National Park was definitely a part of the reason as well. About 20 years ago my wife and I had visited Albuquerque. At that time I realized Carlsbad Caverns was quite far south so we didn’t…

A Spring Hike in Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Guadalupe Mountains National Park was never on my bucket list. In fact it wasn’t even on my radar. When I began to do planning for our trip to White Sands National Park, I saw a dot on the map indicating a National Park. I was surprised as I didn’t know of one there. That’s how I discovered Guadalupe Mountains National Park. It fit perfectly into our travel itinerary so I added it to our list of things to do. The…

Olympic Peninsula: Sequim Spit and Salmon Spawning

On a beautiful, sunny Monday, we were going to backtrack. Sequim is a town between Port Townsand and Port Angeles. It is probably best known for its fields of lavender. However, we had other places in mind to explore. We drove past it on Saturday evening, but today we would return and explore its wonders. The first thing we did, however, was have breakfast. I had read about a great breakfast place in Sequim. Since breakfast is my wife’s favorite…

Discovering Sunrise at Mt. Rainier in Washington

There were thin, high clouds in the sky as we left our home to visit Mt. Rainier. It looked to be a perfect day for a return visit to Mt. Rainier National Park. It had been two years since our last visit. This time we were going to a part of the park we had never visited before, Sunrise. The Sunrise area is on the northeast side of the park. There are three main parts to the Sunrise region. First…

Autumn in Pinnacles National Park

Pinnacles National Park is a newer national park. It only became a national park in 2013. Perhaps because it is newer explains the reason why many people aren’t even aware of it. While it is located just 80 miles south of San Jose, it is the 13th least visited national park in the United States. Only a little over 233 thousand people visit in a year. Compare that to the 4 million who visit the popular Yosemite National Park just…