This morning we got up and drove up to Hurricane Ridge. Oddly, Dave had never been there despite having hiked all over the Olympic Mountains as a kid. It was a spectacular day for the drive up.
Then we headed to the Camaraderie Winery for a picnic and some wine tasting.
It was the perfec…
We spent the week in Seattle visiting friends and family and getting ready to leave the USA for points south.
As we were packing up at the hanger today, Dave was emptying the trunk of his car, and low and behold.... there was his FAA logbook! We had believed the logbook lost in the hanger break in…
This week in Seattle we have a ton of errands to run, friends and family to visit, and a few doctor's appointments to attend to. Today we saw our travel doctor. He specializes in travel medicine - so things like what vaccinations should you get for travel to XYZ country and so forth. Important wh…
Today we drove home to Seattle - wrapping our summer road trip. A few trip stats:
When we first packed the car, Marla burst out laughing - not belie…
Today we left Klamath Falls on a gorgeous fall day and toured Crater Lake. None of us had ever been there. Dad and Marla had tried in vein twice to go see it - but in the spring and fall often the park is closed due to early or late snowfall. But there was no danger of snow today!
We we…
We left Point Richmond this morning, picked Dad and Marla up in Sacremento and headed for Klamath Falls. Long day on the road, but when we reached the hotel we were lucky enough that Christina had packed our dinner - leftovers from Zachary's Pizza - Chicago Deep Dish. Mmmmm. Zachary's is the best!…
This morning we left with Mike and Christina to head for Sonoma. First stop was Gloria Ferrer for some champagne. The poor gal serving the wine started to put a big tray with glasses on the table, and it was one of those slow motion things where the tray, not quite onto the table, started to tip …
Yesterday we drove up to San Francisco, stopping along the way for lunch with Dave's Uncle Andy and Aunt Marie. Then dinner with friends in San Francisco. We arrived late at the home of Mike and Christina in Point Richmond. Some might remember it was here on their dock that we stayed - precisely …
Today we left Melissa's Dad in Bakersfield to hang out with the grandkids and headed for San Jose to see Dave's cousin Judy and her hubby Robert. By sheer coincidence, Judy's brother Gerry was in town for training for a new job, so we got to see a "bonus cousin" tonight that we've not seen in years.…
Yesterday we drove to Bakersfield CA where Melissa's brother and his family live. We hung out and had dinner. Then today we got to go to the kids' baseball games. There is nothing cuter than kids playing baseball.
This is Logan. Note the intense look of concentration as he swings, and unfort…
Today we drove around Sedona before departing for California. The scenery was (yet again) breathtaking.
We then headed off westbound. We went through a small town called Jerome, AZ. It was a super cool little town with wineries and galleries. If we weren't trying to get further west tod…
We headed out of Moab this morning across Monument Valley. More amazing scenery all along the way.
We had planned to go to Sedona and then onto the Grand Canyon tomorrow. But looking at the map we realized if we just detoured 30 minutes off our path we could hit the Grand Canyon today. Movin…
Late last night we pulled into our "Glamping" spot at Moab Under Canvas. In the morning we awoke to a bit of fog. The place is gorgeous. Big king beds inside the tents. The problem is that the place is located right next to a busy highway. So that sort of spoiled the feeling of being out in the…
We left Colorado Springs in the rain today. Coming over the pass from Denver it rained and there was a ton of traffic due to road construction. Oh fun. But it was all worth it when we got to the cut off from HWY 70 onto HWY 128. From there to Moab the scenery is spectacular. The pictures don't …
After breakfast we headed off to the "Garden of the Gods" park. This is what we came to Colorado Springs to see. The pictures tell the story. The rock formations here are stunning. Red stones thrust up through the earth into other worldly like spires.
This is known as "balancing rock" for…
Today we stopped at a couple of wineries along the way to Colorado Springs. Nothing to write home about, but anything to get us out of the car along the way!
We stayed at a seriously funky place called the Stagecoach Motel - its an old drive-in hotel from the 1950's that has never been updated. …
This morning we went to see the house where Melissa's Mom grew up. It was a challenge finding it because the car's GPS didn't realize a major freeway has been run directly in front of the house. But we did find it and snap some pictures. It was sort of sad that the yard didn't look more cared for…
This morning we said goodbye to Chicago and headed out for Des Moines - the birthplace of both Melissa's Mom and Dad. The goal was to make dinner with Melissa's Dad's cousins that night - none of whom Melissa had ever met. They had arranged a reunion of sorts with whatever family could be assemble…
We went today to see Daniel’s company. That meant dressing like business people. Dave put on (gasp!) a long sleeved shirt with a collar. And Melissa actually put on makeup. She’s not worn any since she left Microsoft. That was 475 days ago. The discussion went well and there is the possibility…
This morning we headed out to take an architecture tour by river boat. The views were stunning given the great weather today. Melissa took a ton of pictures – and here are some of our favorites. This is the Trump Tower which is a 5 star hotel and condo building.
This is Kingsbury Plaza.