Exploring Tacoma’s Point Defiance Park

Now that we live in the South Sound, we've been building lists of things to do in Tacoma and beyond that we simply didn't prioritize when we lived north of Seattle. I used to roll my eyes at Clevelanders who stuck to their east side or west side - as if it was such a …

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Washington Hikes: Rampart Ridge Loop

Last weekend the sun was out, Mt. Rainier was towering overhead, and we took advantage of the break in the weather to squeeze in a Saturday morning hike before I needed to be home, accessible, and on-call for work. We set out for the Rampart Ridge Loop trail from Longmire in Mt. Rainier National Park, …

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Washington Hikes: Little Mashel Falls

The last month has been a little crazy. We finally ripped the band-aid off and listed our house, which went into contract two weeks later, and in the midst of prepping it to sell we found a new place to rent in the South Sound and moved most of our things and ourselves in. After …

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Bioluminescence Kayaking in the San Juan Islands

Last year, one of my good friends at work recommended we check out the bioluminescence kayaking experience in the San Juan Islands. We've done a little kayaking on vacation and locally and enjoyed it, but what really sold me was learning more about the bioluminescent part of the experience! Bioluminescence is the emission of light …

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Washington Hikes: Index Town Wall

Among the many things our Washington state governor closed down in response to COVID-19 -- and the one that probably impacted us the most -- was access to local, state, and national parks and land. We love hiking and spending time in the great outdoors -- it actually seemed like one of the more responsible …

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Washington Hikes: Tubal Cain Mine

Our first hike of the new year was a memorable one, replete with snow, history, ferry rides, and a kitchy burger joint. When we took a bike trip around the lower Olympic Peninsula last fall, I pulled a number of possible hikes we could do along the way. We ultimately landed on hiking Mount Walker, …

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Washington Hikes: Mailbox Peak

It seems like Mailbox Peak has been on our list of must-do hikes forever. We've been putting it off in part because it's a long one-- taking the New Trail puts the overall hike at just over 11 miles round trip. It's also considered a fairly tough one since you experience 5,000 feet of elevation …

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