Washington Hikes: Heybrook Lookout

We set out Saturday morning to tackle a new hike near Steven's Pass on the western side of the Cascade Mountains called Heybrook Lookout. This short but steep hike to the lookout ended up being about 2.5 miles roundtrip with 992 feet of elevation gain. You better believe our hearts were pumping after that mile …

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Weekend in Yosemite National Park

Shortly after we moved to Seattle my mom sent me a link to a YouTube video about visiting Yosemite National Park in the off-season in order to experience a phenomenon called frazil ice. Frazil ice occurs when mist freezes--streams end up looking like they are flowing with slush rather than water. Obviously there are other …

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Where to Stay in Yosemite National Park

There are countless ways to slice and dice a travel budget. Thanks to Brian’s work travel we are usually able to use his reward points for airfare, hotels and rental cars, which can account for a significant portion of a trip’s expenses. With those items out of the way, the bulk of our expenses tend …

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Motorcycling on Whidbey Island

Our first motorcycle trip of the new year took us to nearby Whidbey Island via the Mukilteo-Clinton ferry. The beauty of taking the bikes on the ferry is that you get to skip the line—both the line to purchase tickets as well as the line to board the ferry. Bikes are typically lined up in …

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Washington Hikes: Big Four Ice Caves

We started our new year with a hike to the Big Four Ice Caves near Granite Falls, Washington. We learned about the ice caves shortly after we moved to the Pacific Northwest, but unfortunately because a woman died there when tons of snow and ice collapsed at the mouth of the cave. My public service …

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Washington Hikes: Meadowdale

Our final hike of 2018 was to Meadowdale Beach Park, which is a little more than 1.5 miles from our home. We’ve hiked at the park several times but decided we would make this trek a little more challenging by hiking there from our house rather than driving to the trailhead, giving us an extra …

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2018 Travel Recap

This year was full of adventures-- both happy and sad. We had some incredible times traveling with and to see family and friends, we explored more areas by motorcycle than in any year prior, we visited nine states, Brian got to experience his first overnight train ride, and I went on two solo adventures. We …

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