Washington Hikes: Sunrise Rim, Burroughs Mountain and Sourdough Ridge Trails

We celebrated our anniversary weekend at Mt. Rainier National Park, hiking around Sunrise and Paradise and spending the night at the historic Paradise Inn. We stopped at the Black Diamond Bakery for an amazing breakfast on our way down to the park and arrived at Sunrise around 9:30 a.m. to begin our hiking adventures. Although …

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Washington Hikes: Barclay Lake

We wanted to take my brother-in-law and his girlfriend on an incredible hike in the Cascade Mountains last weekend but the weather wasn't cooperating. Although things can sometimes change while you're on the trail, the radar strongly suggested our window of hiking opportunity would be Saturday morning--by Saturday afternoon, the rain would be saturating the …

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Shucking Oysters at Taylor Shellfish Farms

When we first moved to Washington, my work colleagues helped me construct a list of must see/must do places and experiences to help introduce us to the Pacific Northwest. Several of them recommended Chuckanut Drive, a beautiful road that winds along the coast where the Cascade Mountains meet the sea. We’ve completed that drive multiple …

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Southern Olympic Peninsula by Motorcycle

We’ve explored the northern part of the Olympic Peninsula and Olympic National Park on a handful of occasions, including a long weekend motorcycle trip to Forks, Ruby Beach and the Hoh Rainforest with a loop to Cape Flattery and a scenic ride along the Strait of Juan de Fuca a couple of years back. Since …

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Washington Hikes: Mount Pilchuck

This weekend we FINALLY got around to hiking Mount Pilchuck! This hike has been on our list since we moved to Washington, but for some reason we managed to hike multiple other hikes around it while avoiding this big one. It’s actually not a ‘big one’ compared to most—it’s a little under six miles roundtrip …

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Motorcycling from Winthrop to Penticton

After a relaxing evening at Sun Mountain Lodge, we set off on the shortest mileage day of our Okanogan Valley motorcycle trip, riding from Winthrop, Washington to Penticton, British Columbia. Because it was a lower mileage day, we were able to stop in several towns along the way to grab something to eat, learn more …

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Places to Stay: Sun Mountain Lodge

When we first moved to Washington, I investigated some of the resorts along the coast and in the Cascade Mountains that my work colleagues kept recommending. They all looked amazing, but I couldn’t imagine spending that kind of money on accommodations. When we travel, we just don’t spend that much time indoors—our hotels are merely …

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