Lucerne--October 12 The overcast skies that greeting us this morning in Zurich followed us to Lucerne, where overcast thickened into stubborn fog during our days here. Lucerne's vibrancy was muted by the dreary weather and the gray light, but not to be daunted, we wandered along the Reuss River and through the pedestrian-only old town and enjoyed her charms... ... read more

This is just a test to see how to tell you all to access my upcoming travel blog. We don't know how often we'll have internet access or how much time we'll feel like spending on the blog, but at least we can upload some photos now and then, if nothing else!... read more

Happy Birthday to Dave! This 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. 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 a bit of a detour from Coos Bay, along a tiny road winding through hilly wooded countryside on the way to the coast and back, as we attempted to find Cape Arago Lighthouse. We finally ... read more

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 1906 wreck of the "Peter Iredale" on the beach and climbed around on the Russell Battery, one of several gun emplacements in the Fort--a tribute to Dave's childhood family vacations where every fort and historic ... read more

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 the setting for the books/movies and considered a major photo opportunity. Then we began to see allusions to the vampire saga on the signage on nearly every business on the town’s main drag, which was ... read more