The things you'll promise someone on their birthday, especially when plied with a glass of wine or two... When the alarm sounded this morning at 6 AM, I thought it was the middle of the night. Then I remembered--we were going to paddle a kayak up the Rogue at dawn and enjoy the sunrise from the river. Groaning, but fortified by the coffee and juice tray brought to our room, we collected paddles and life vests from the main lodge, then headed down to where the kayaks were stored along the river's edge. Soon we were moving slowly along (against the [View Full Entry]

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Happy Birthday to Dave! This morning we headed south again, and entered the stretch of Oregon coast known for its dunes. We found the best area after stopping at the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area visitors center in Reedsport. The ranger directed us to the John Dellenback Trail near the Eel Creek Campground, where we found the huge gorgeous dunes in the photos, stretching to the ocean. It's hard to get a sense of scale as to how vast this area is... After playing around in the dunes a bit, we continued on, visiting more lighthouses along the way. We took [View Full Entry]

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The day began pleasantly, as we had breakfast in our room by the window with the ocean view. We finished up the last of the Orcas Island blackberries that we had been schlepping with us in our ice chest, and enjoyed the memories they evoked. Then onwards through Washington into Oregon. We drove through Aberdeen, where we had intended to stay last night, and it actually made Ocean Shores look like a good choice! Once we crossed the Astoria-Megler Bridge (the longest continuous truss bridge in North America!), we stopped at Fort Stevens State Park near Astoria. We checked out the [View Full Entry]

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Happy 28th Anniversary to us! After breakfast and packing up, we headed out for another rain forest hike on the trails adjacent to Lake Quinault. We covered similar terrain as yesterday, but since many of the old growth trees were downed in a wind storm a few years ago, the feel was different. Fewer trees means more light, which changes everything considerably--from the plant life to the ambiance. The hiking areas were also closer to the road and seasonal cabins. It was enjoyable, but not as awe-inspiring as yesterday's hike on the Hoh River trail. We made sure to stop at [View Full Entry]

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Today we back-tracked a bit up the coast to Ecola State Park, just north of Cannon Beach, at the suggestion of our waiter from last night. We enjoyed the sweeping vistas he promised, then back in the car for our drive down the "north coast" of Oregon. I can't come up with enough superlatives to describe the beauty of the scenery, so I'll let the photos do the work for me. We made several stops along the way, with dramatic overlooks or natural formations. And we discovered Oregon's lighthouses! Along the way, we passed through many tiny coastal towns, whose economies [View Full Entry]

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We woke to clear skies, and before breakfast (but after coffee) we took the mile long trail from the lodge to nearby Marymere Falls, which was a lovely way to start the day. After breakfast, I insisted we take a few minutes to enjoy a post-breakfast cup of coffee in the charming sun room of the main lodge building before we repacked the car and headed to the Hoh Rain Forest, about a two hour drive away. An unexpected tourist experience was driving through the town of Forks. We, being oblivious to the whole Twilight phenomenon, had no idea it was [View Full Entry]

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We woke to another rainy day, but this was not too distressing since we were going to be in transit all day. Bob made us breakfast, then we packed up the car, made our farewells and rushed to make the Orcas Island to Anacortes ferry. Our timing had to be perfect in order to make all our connections and arrive at the Lake Crescent Lodge with a bit of daylight left to enjoy our accommodations and the setting. Unfortunately, due to long stops at some of the other San Juan Islands, we were late arriving to Anacortes. Our drive down Bainbridge [View Full Entry]

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After an uneventful drive from Seattle to Anacortes, we took the ferry to Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands. The skies got increasingly gloomy during the hour and a half ride. After docking in Orcas Village, we drove up the left “lobe” of the island to the larger town of East Sound. We were surprised by the variety of micro-environments we passed through during the less than 30 minute drive: rocky coast, rainforests, fishing villages, agricultural valleys, tree studded mountains. It’s as though Orcas Island is a complete world packed into a very small area. After [View Full Entry]

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...all 3 of you! ;-) So sorry I haven't been able to keep up with my blogging. I am just too busy to blog--which I guess is a good thing... Today I had to decide whether to spend 2 hours on Cannon Beach looking at the incredible tidepools and watching the sunset by Haystack Rock, or sit in our room blogging. You get the picture. Actually I have a few days worth written, but haven't always had good internet to upload text and photos. (Right now we're connected using Dave's Blackberry as a modem.) Maybe I'll get those entries on the [View Full Entry]

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Today we left the wilderness behind for now, and with the help of our intrepid guide, Helen, we negotiated the Seattle area freeways and traffic and arrived at the Silver Cloud Inn on Lake Union. We were impressed this small hotel chain’s amenities (free shuttle, breakfast, laundry, internet, 24 hour coffee, etc.) and with our large room with its picture window view of Lake Union. Also impressive was the picture window-sized flat screen TV—just in time for all those weekend football games—not! Dave did enjoy getting to tune into ESPN to catch up on all the action once we r [View Full Entry]

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