pnw & travel

  • Book: Wintergreen

    Book: Wintergreen

    Wintergreen: Rambles in a Ravaged Land, by Robert Michael Pyle Challenge: A book based in your current town or region (Willapa Hills is close enough to Seattle, right?) Rating: 5/5 stars Review: This is a lovely book. I have now purchased a fine hardback copy for myself, and I suggest you do likewise. I feel

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  • Approaching Home: Painted Hills & Craters

    Idaho came on fast! We bid the snowy bosoms farewell, going over an impressive mountain pass, then before we knew it we were in Idaho Falls. Bam. This time we learned, and called the Boise/Meridian KOA there first to make sure they were open. Then more of Idaho, until we reached Craters of the Moon

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  • Grand Tetons II: In Which I Might As Well Be Elsa

    We woke up fairly early this morning again – I gotta admit, I’m tired. I have not slept hardly at all on this trip, and I am really looking forward to our real bed again. But anyway, back to reality: it snowed!! The first real, real snow. I was very excited. It was a light,

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  • Le Grand Tetons: Day 1

    Le Grand Tetons: Day 1

    Well, this has got to be the prettiest place we’ve been so far! The mountains are spectacular – stark white and crisp against the dark winter sky. The pass we were going to take over the Rockies was closed, so we took the scenic route – through Steamboat Springs and Rock Springs, where apparently my

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  • Rocky Mountain High

    Rocky Mountain High

    So this weekend, Jim and I stayed at a cabin in the YMCA of the Rockies, of all places. Jim’s old business partner and his family live in Denver, and arranged the whole thing. It was a bit of an odd experience, but fun! I’d never have thought to stay someplace like that, but the

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  • Gov’ner Dodge State Park

    Gov’ner Dodge State Park

    This is a pretty short one. We took a day trip with Jim’s mom, Sylvia, around Governor Dodge State Park, which is about 50 miles west of Madison. It was a brilliantly sunny day, which was good for (some of) us, but not great for photos. We hiked a bit around Cox Hollow Lake. I

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  • Bumping Around Madtown

    Bumping Around Madtown

    Welcome to Madison, WI! Where the cheese is squeaky, and the bitter fall weather is… wait a second. Why is it 65 degrees, here? Isn’t this November? Granted, we went to the farmer’s market on Saturday and it was miserably cold and raining. But the last few days have been crazy sunny, and way too

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  • Devil’s Lake

    Devil’s Lake

    Since we didn’t end up going to Door County, Jim and I decided to go to Devil’s Lake, instead. We were here last December when we came for Christmas, but we only did the east side of the lake. That one was pretty tough, with lots of granite boulders to clamber over. The west side

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  • Middle America: Flatlands, Badlands, and Faces in Rocks

    Leaving Yellowstone, we had to do some driving. And driving and driving and driving. I had driven all around the park that day, so once we got out of the park, we stopped in Cody, WY to switch. There was a whole lotta nothing, then the Bighorn National Forest, which isn’t so much a forest

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  • The Last of Yellowstone: Snow, Canyon, Mud, Bears!

    We have now left Yellowstone. The consensus (can there be a consensus between two people?) is that we shall have to return again someday. Off season was a neat time to come, because there were not very many people here, but it might be nice to come in better weather, to see the thermals in

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