Visiting Crater Lake can be a great adventure. Be prepared for possible drastic weather changes.
Cascade Lakes National Scenic Byway – Oregon
Quick overnight stop at Lava Lake Campground right off this Scenic Byway. The road itself is 66 miles long, runs East of the Cascade range and offers some beautiful views of mountains, lava rock formations, lakes, rivers, snow parks with fishing and camping opportunities along the way. This was my route between Mt. Rainier National…
Whitney Portal and Lone Pine, CA
I had to get out of Yosemite. The temperatures were forecasted to decline below freezing for few nights in a row with a chance of snow. The road I was going to take to get to Las Vegas – Tioga Pass, was going to be closed for a few days. So last minute decision I…
Mt. Rainier National Park
Mount Rainier is one of my favorite places. The first time I visited was in October of 2016. That was only a day-trip from Seattle (59 miles southeast), but a wonderful experience even though we did NOT get to see Mt. Rainier. Like not at all. Not even a peek! Here are some of the pictures…
Japanese Internment Camp – in color
Same pictures, just original color. Original Post in Black and White
Japanese Internment Camp
Today I stumbled upon Manzanar – National Historic Site in California while traveling from Yosemite to Death Valley NP. Located in Independence, CA this military style camp held 10,000 of the 120,000 incarcerated Japanese American Citizens during World War II. Pictures in black and white to reflect my mood after the visit. I will make…
Olympic National Park
Ah, so much to see and to do, so little time. I wish I had the opportunity to come to the Pacific Northwest in July, so I could explore a bit longer. I jumped around various areas of the park in order to see as much as I could. This park is HUGE. It literary…
Solo Stove
I wanted to share my experience with this little gadget. I purchased it for backpacking. I figured it was lighter than carrying fuel for a mini stove and didn’t cost anything to fuel it since all I needed were a few sticks to boil water or heat up a meal. I put it next to…
Mt. Baker – Snoqualmie National Forest
It’s right next door to North Cascades; the area I camped in was next to Mt. Baker directly on Baker Lake. I chose this area because of the access to lake – I was hoping to get out my kayak. The drive wasn’t too bad, from Concrete, WA turn North on 11 (Baker Lake Road)…
North Cascades National Park
North Cascades National Park Complex connects 3 park units: North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National Recreation Area and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. Finally, I made it to more reasonable temperatures. Yes!!! After being stuck in traffic for HOURS around Seattle, stopping for dinner and gas I arrived at my first Campground in the…
Summer Trek Across the US
It took me almost 2 weeks to get to my first destination. Technically I could have done it in 4 – 5 days, but that would mean all day driving with no rest. I decided to drive to Ute Lake State Park in New Mexico as my first stop. The goal was to leave Dallas no…
Seattle Area
I had a booked trip for my favorite Caribbean spot – Jamaica. Due to hurricane Matthew I had to cancel 3 days prior to my departure. Since I had a flight voucher from Southwest and approved time off work I booked another last minute trip to Seattle. Well, technically the trip was to L.A. for…
Yellowstone National Park
Whew! What a park! The only reason we went is because we were traveling through Wyoming coming back from Glacier, and considering its remote location I figured I would never be here again. So we stopped for a few days. My expectations were low. I assumed over-hyped park with crowds and just overall… meh. Boy…
Corpus Christi
I had absolutely no plans for Christmas. My family was 944 miles away in Chicago and I didn’t want to risk driving home and getting stuck in a snow storm like the year prior. FYI – I cant fly because my dog is too big. I packed up a few things and drove south to…
Austin & Surrounding Area
Austin is a pretty cool place to visit. I’ve been there a few times for work related training and always enjoyed the city, the food and the people. I decided to take a couple trips just to hang around Zilker Park . I tried to take a hike, but between the heat and humidity it…