It was mid-October 2015 and my four-month camping trip was coming to an end. I was in the mountains of southern California rounding north to head home to Washington State. With a quickly closing window on my summer gear camping, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks were in my sights. I pulled into a sweet…
The Monument Valley Perfect Night of Camping Story
After spending the month of July 2015 getting soaked, snowed on and blown around Alberta, I went south to the Rocky Mountain States. I hiked the Highline Trail in Glacier National Park. I skipped over Yellowstone in favor of Great Teton National Park, and did a 19 mile hike through Cascade Canyon, over the Paintbrush…
The Alberta Story
So, in February 2015 the company that I was working for was bought by a bigger company, and by May, I was laid off. Don’t fret! I has been looking forward to that day for quite some time and immediately set into motion plans I had made for the road trip to end all roads…
The New Zealand Story
https://www.newzealand.com/us/article/wilkin-valley-tracks/ Nov 2014, late spring, New Zealand. The plane ride was hellish. Not because we were in the air for so long, but because Air Canada sent us to Vancouver, B.C. knowing full well we’d miss our connection to Auckland. Our itinerary was then systematically jacked up on every leg. Every. Single. Leg. It was…
The Ireland Stories
Any visit to Ireland comes with stories, as is right and proper. This batch of stories has their origins in Edmonds, WA with me, Karen, Tracy and Rick Steves. We booked a two week Rick Steves clockwise journey around the Irish coast on a tour bus with 21 other people. “No grumps allowed.” Perfect, because…
The Palm Springs Story
It all started with a girl’s weekend in Palm Springs. The regular crew (Karen, Melinda, Danell, Therese and me) were looking forward to a long weekend in the desert. The thought of sunshine, heat and pool time is very seductive to Seattleites any time between October and May. It’s a thing. We stayed at this…
Denali Nat’l Park and the Moose That Live There
This is how I remember it. Picture this: It’s 1982 or so. I was about 4 feet tall, skinny, had bangs and the sweet, innocent baby face that would years later get me out of trouble after drunkenly oinking at a Park Ranger. Freckles and all. I’m also in Alaska. Denali National Park, to be…
New Orleans, LA is where ghosts live
A couple years ago at an HRC Gala auction, I bid on and won a trip to New Orleans. It was a package deal complete with airfare and a private house for a week. Due to timing and other stuff, I made the trip on my own. The house was northwest of the French Quarter…
Wales East to West
One of the last times I traveled for work, I was lucky enough to be in Bristol, UK. I’d never been to Wales before so….and I was so close so…and there was no good reason for me not to go so… You guessed it. I packed up some stuff and took the train to Cardiff. I…
London & Paris & My Elbow
Years and years ago I went to London & Paris on a weeklong vacation. I had no excuse for not going except for those irritating thoughts that pop into your head when traveling out of the country the first couple times: I’ll be alone in a foreign county or I’ll be a woman traveling alone…
Goosenecks State Park and Valley of the Gods, UT
I spent a single gusty, dusty night in Goosnecks State Park. My tent shook all night long like it was Tina Turner’s fringed skirt. I woke up through the night with dust in my eyes, sand crunching between my teeth, a gritty sheen of Utah shellacked on my skin. But, man, was it pretty! Goosenecks is surrounded…
Monument Valley National Park
I had my heart set on Monument Valley from the beginning. It was July when I set out on my “road trip to end all road trips” (until the next road trip, that is.) July in the Southwest kind of sounded like insta-sunburn while sitting in an oven. I had to wait. I kept myself…
Where to? Why not? 