http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Momster/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Momster en-us Sun, 20 Dec 2009 03:37:02 +0000 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 03:37:02 +0000 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 rememberedwe 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 http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/blog-449746.html Happy Birthday to DaveThis morning we headed south again and entered the stretch of Oregon coast known for its dunes. We found a great 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. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/blog-449551.html Today we backtracked 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 http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/blog-449525.html 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 l http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/Cannon-Beach/blog-449510.html 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 considerablyfrom the plant life to the ambian http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Washington/blog-449318.html 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 postbreakfast 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 driv http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Washington/Olympic-National-Park/blog-446194.html ...all 3 of you So sorry I haven't been able to keep up with my blogging. I am just too busy to blogwhich 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 goo http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/blog-442216.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Washington/Olympic-National-Park/blog-445832.html 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 ldquoloberdquo of the island to the larger town of East Sound. We were surprised by the variety of microenvironments we passed through during the less than 30 m http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Washington/San-Juan-Islands/Orcas-Island/blog-444784.html 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 chainrsquos amenities free shuttle breakfast laundry internet 24 hour coffee etc. and with our large room with its picture window view of Lake Union. Also imp http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Washington/Seattle/blog-442654.html Today we took the perfect hike suggested by one of the longtime employees at Alta Crystal through a variety of terrains forest meadow tundra barren rock in perfect weather with perfect views of Mt. Rainier and the incredible Emmons glacier on the east side of the mountain. So much gorgeousness itrsquos hard to describe The only downsides were a very narrow section of the trail with http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Washington/Mt-Rainier/blog-440624.html Word for the day is ldquofogrdquo. We woke to find the little valley we were staying in socked in where the day before there had been beautiful blue skyhellip Actuallymdashknock on woodmdashwersquove had great weather up on this trip so far. We hoped for an early burnoff so we could get good views of Mt. St. Helens later in the morning. But at that point we settled for a quick hi http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Washington/Mt-St-Helens/blog-440593.html We checked out of the Timberline Lodge and drove to nearby Trillium Lake which wersquod heard was a photo opportunity waiting to happen. It did not disappoint and we shot many a postcardlike photo of the lake with Mt. Hood rising above it in the distance. We took the 2 mile trail around it and enjoyed the relatively solo trek through forests and meadows surrounding the little lake.Then we http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/Columbia-River-Gorge/blog-440340.html Our fairly uncomfortable bed in our nonetheless charming room afforded us the opportunity to get up early enough to watch the sunrise over Crater Lake and take many photos. After breakfast we headed north through the middle of Oregon towards Mt. Hood. We were surprised to realize that central Oregon is considered high desert and with its sagebrush and mesas and canyons it reminded us of part http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/blog-439766.html Irsquom composing this first blog entry sitting on the window seat in our room at the Crater Lake Lodge watching dusk arrive. The sky above the rim of the lake is tinged with pink and the normally vivid blue water has turned a steely gray. We just came up to our room from enjoying a glass of Tolosa Pinot and watching the changing light from the rocking chairs which line the patio behind the L http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/Crater-Lake/blog-438983.html It's been two weeks since we returned from our trip long enough for discussions of highlights to take place and longterm memories to settle in while mentally deleting most of the special family moments. Each of us has put together a Top 10 list which I will include in this entry for your entertainment... I've also included some of our favorite photos from the trip although we have yet http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Luis-Obispo/blog-307299.html July 9 to 12 2008On Wednesday the 9th we packed up and were out of our London apartment by 10 then took a cab to the Waterloo Station for the train to Portsmouth. The hour and a half train ride was uneventful and we caught a another cab to the Portsmouth Marriott and arranged with the cabbie to pick us up at 7AM the next day for the ferry. The room at the Marriott was quite comfortable an http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Upper-Normandie/blog-303816.html With our new relaxed attitude we got an even later start today for our grand finaleThe Orsay Museumhome to a wonderful collection of Impressionist masterpieces and something I'd been anticipating the whole week. It did not disappointand what a fantastic building The museum is actually a former train station built in 1900 saved from the wrecking ball in the 1970's and turned into a mus http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-302505.html Last night we had a family meeting and concluded we needed to regroupchange our schedule and pace in an effort to preserve our sanity for our last two days. We decided to abandon our Friday's activities none of which were must sees for any of us and split Thursday's original plan into the next two days. That way we thought we'd get to pick up some things we'd skipped earlier and do it a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-302456.html The day started with a visit to another iconic Parisian landmarkthe Arc du Triomphe. After a trip up to the top for more views of the city we headed down the Champs Elysees towards the Place de la Concorde. Lots of interesting stores to window shop infrom Peugeot's race cars on display to Cartier and Louis Vuitton to the usual suspectsMcDonald's Addidas Disney Virgin Megastore etc. C http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-301201.html