Washington Hikes: Alta Vista Loop

On our recent trip to Mt. Rainier National Park, we opted to stay at the Paradise Inn for an evening and dedicate our weekend to hiking around Paradise. After an incredible morning hiking at nearby Sunrise, we finally arrived at Paradise to find that the clouds had rolled in, blocking much of the summit and …

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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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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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Things to Do Near Whitefish, Montana

We had an amazing long weekend in Montana, taking the overnight train to Whitefish from Everett, Washington. There are tons of things to do near Whitefish, including: Exploring Glacier National Park via Going to the Sun road Taking in the scenery along route 2 Hiking and admiring wildlife in Many Glacier Driving to Waterton, Alberta …

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Hikes, Waterfalls and Bears—Oh, My! in Many Glacier

During our recent long weekend in Glacier National Park, we spent time driving to the various areas within the park, covering to some degree the north, east and southeast sections of the park. Unfortunately the western side of the park was fairly inaccessible due to active wildfires, but we were thrilled they had opened Going …

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A Day at Crater Lake National Park

We spent Labor Day weekend completing an awesome roadtrip down the Oregon coast to Crater Lake National Park and north through Bend and Mt. Hood before returning to Seattle. I already detailed a few of the stops we made the first-leg of our journey and wanted to dedicate a little more time and attention to …

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