On day three of our Alaskan cruise, after our day at sea and day in Juneau, we had already made up our minds that we much preferred the days in port to the days cruising through the water. Originally I thought seeing Alaska from the water would be an interesting perspective, but we weren't close enough …
Continue reading Wildlife and Glaciers in Glacier Bay, Alaska
The first stop on our Alaskan cruise was Juneau. Some of our friends who had cruised Alaska before warned us that the city is always gray and rainy—in fact, the one couple said they never left their ship during their time in port because it rained the entire time they were there. Having lived in …
Continue reading Mendenhall Glacier and Tram Views in Juneau, Alaska
When we moved to Seattle, we decided to prioritize traveling along the west coast or places more accessible from the west coast, including Alaska. While I had hoped to give a great deal of thought to planning a major trip to Brian’s 50th state, complete with boat, rail and air travel so we could discover …
The last time my parents visited I spent some time on the Washington Trails Association website looking up nearby hikes. If you have any interest at all in spending time on the trail anywhere in the state, you HAVE to reference this website during your planning. It’s so well-organized, has so much great information, and …
My brother-in-law came out to visit us from Ohio and the three of us spent a long weekend in the North Cascades. Among the highlights of his visit were summiting our second mountain—Dirtyface—and traveling the North Cascades loop to show him a few of our favorite stops along the way. We crashed at our friends’ …
Continue reading Places to Stay in the Cascades: Glacier Peak Resort and Winery
We have always enjoyed spending time outdoors and have really enjoyed tackling progressively more challenging hikes since moving to the Pacific Northwest. When we moved here from Ohio, we were excited to spend more time in the mountains, which we simply didn't have the opportunity to explore back at home. What I didn't anticipate is …
We met my parents in Long Beach, Washington for a weekend of hikes, history, sandcastles, and occasional sun, and concluded our visit with a half-day adventure across the Columbia River in Astoria, Oregon. I had never been to Astoria and didn’t know what to expect. My parents picked up some tourism brochures and on one …
Finding direction and purpose on the road, in the outdoors, and on the page
Finding direction and purpose on the road, in the outdoors, and on the page
Finding direction and purpose on the road, in the outdoors, and on the page
Heather's Compass 