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Ilwaco Lighthouses & Etc., WA
The small town of Ilwaco, home to Cape Disappointment State Park, lies just south of Long Beach, WA. This area is also known as the Graveyard of the Pacific because about 2,000 ships sank in this area since 1792. The Coast Guard base trains mariners for dealing with rough seas. Other attractions around Ilwaco include the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, North Head Lighthouse, Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, Waikiki Beach, and Dead Man’s Cove. Cape Disappointment is an extremely dangerous place for ships but exceedingly beautiful place for scenery. This high cliffs and turbulent waters make for fine viewing and photos. The two lighthouses sit atop cliffs that offer stellar views…
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Long Beach, WA
One of my favorite places is the town of Long Beach located close to the southern border of the Washington state. It is a small tourist destination that features LOTS of beaches, quaint shops and restaurants, and a variety of nearby places to visit. It is easy to spend an entire week in Long Beach because you can take a variety of day trips or just hang around the beach and relax. The Beach The beach is about 28 miles long and much of it is drivable depending on conditions and time of year. The sand is extremely fine and the coastal waters are very shallow. There are times when…
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Company Review: Vistaprint
I used Vistaprint for almost 10 years to create Christmas calendars for family and friends. I spend a tremendous amount of time creating these calendars between selecting photos, editing those photos, putting them into collage formats, and then entering funny holidays and trivia on each day of the year. Working with the Vistaprint is always a challenge because I normally enter 2-3 events for each day of the year and each must be copied and pasted individually. They do not have an import function so this process normally takes about 6-8 hours. I then review each month to check for spelling and formatting errors. This is always a very labor…
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Yosemite, CA
Yosemite is one of those truly magical places that must be experienced in person. My family went there regularly when I was growing up but I had not been back for many years. My son and I went there in 2015 and even though I went there many times in the past it seemed new again. We went right before the main summer rush so there were lots of tourists but we avoided the main tourist onslaught. I forgot how the granite walls tower above you when viewed from the valley. The sights in Yosemite simply cannot be adequately captured with a camera. You lose the scale and grandeur of…
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Kananaskis
When we visit the Banff area we always stay a timeshare in Canmore. Canmore is a very nice town. It is most definitely a tourist town but it is a very nice one. The downtown has lots of nice shops, eating places, galleries, etc. Banff is way too large and crowded for me but Canmore is just the right size. On the west side of Canmore is a long loop road that goes by Spray Lakes and on to Kananaskis. To get there take Three Sisters Drive and turn on Spray Lakes Road. Take Hwy-742 (Smth-Darrien Highway) to Kananaskis. This is a gravel road but it is wide, well traveled,…
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Johnston Canyon
Johnston Canyon is a very cool trail that should not be missed. It is less than 2 miles to the upper waterfall with not much elevation gain. This hike is extremely popular and the large parking easily overflows during tourist season. I like getting photos without people in them so we started the hike a little later in the day to avoid the majority of the crowds. There are lots of things to see on this hike including several waterfalls. I recommend bringing a good camera, tripod, and hiking daypack with emergency supplies. This hike has lots to see. The well groomed and well traveled trail includes catwalks that hug sheer rock…
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Spiral Tunnels, Alberta Canada
If you’re a train nut and in the Banff area then you might want to make a stop at the Kicking Horse Pass near the town of Field on Hwy-1 (Trans Canada Hwy). The viewpoint contains a large parking lot, informational signs, restrooms, and a few train artifacts. You can see the lower tunnel from the viewing area. The original tracks were much shorter and had a dangerous amount of slope. The tunnels lengthened that stretch of track allowing for a much more gentle grade. For more technical information see this Wikipedia article. We stopped at the tunnels three times and on the last stop we waited about 45 minutes for a…
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Banff Area
The Banff area is one of the most scenic and spectacular places in North American. I visited the area twice but have only seen the scenery once. On my first trip severe forest fires to the south obscured most of the scenic views. When visiting the Banff area be prepared to be amazed but also expect to do LOTS of driving. We stayed in Canmore, just north of Banff, and it seems as though everywhere is at least an hour away. Click on a photo for a more detailed blog article on the specific places. We live in the Seattle, Washington area and it takes at least two long days…
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Stanwood, WA
Bonhoeffer Botanical Gardens Exit 215 on I-5 2420 300th Street, NW Stanwood Open daily during daylight hours
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Astoria, OR
Astoria is a seaside port city at the northern tip of Oregon. It features lots of small business, a quaint downtown area, a variety of architectural styles, and several unique attractions. From Washington you cross the mighty Columbia River on the 4+ mile Astoria Astoria–Megler Bridge. This bridge seems to hover above the water for most of its length but reaches aloft nearly 200′ near Astoria. When visiting Astoria I like to stop at the Bowpicker for some fish and chips. This tiny takeout venue is a small boat located at the corner of 17th & Duane Street. They have only one item available, namely, albacore tuna fish and chips.…