Category Beer, Wine and Alcohol

West Coast Spring 2018 – Grand Tetons, Part One

August 6 -7 After dawdling at breakfast at the Grant Village Dining Room, we gassed up at the station there, grabbed one more Huckleberry and Chocolate candy and then began the drive down to Grand Teton National Park, which would take us about an hour.  Our original plan for this portion of the trip was […]

West Coast Spring 2018 – Yellowstone, Part Three

August 1 – 5 We left the Mud Volcano area and drove to the very crowded parking lot at lookout spot for the Lower Falls.  We walked out to take in the view, where you can see the bulk of the 20-mile length of the canyon fed by the falls. At more than 1,000 feet […]

West Coast Spring 2018 – Yellowstone, Part Two

August 1 – 5 We decided on duplicating a hike that Irene had done during an earlier visit, starting out of the Lodge we passed by folks waiting for Old Faithful and headed up the Observation Point trail for a brisk ½ mile ascent to the summit and its commanding views of the valley below […]

West Coast Spring 2018 – Spokane/Missoula

July 30 – 31 Recalling the delays we’d encountered on the way into Vancouver at the tunnel and at customs, and with an eight hour drive in front of us, we left the apartment around 7am.  Although it was a Monday, traffic was light as we were going against the morning commute and we made […]

West Coast Spring 2018 – Vancouver, Part Three

July 26 – 29 As planned, we set out the next morning on the bikes ready to explore as much of this bike friendly city as we could.  Heading north on the bike path two blocks away from the house to just shy of Burrard Bridge, then left along the shoreline all the way out […]

West Coast Spring 2018 – Vancouver, Part One

July 26 – 29 The ferry for Anacortes was due to leave around 11am, which gave us time to break camp and get to the terminal a little early to make sure we were in line to board, thinking there’d be a place nearby where we could grab some coffee and food while killing time […]

West Coast Spring 2018 – Lopez Island

July 23 – 25 With the short ferry ride to Lopez Island completed, a five-mile drive took us to Spencer Spit State Park for the next three nights.  Featuring two sand spits that join to form a briny marsh lagoon, the park is a popular migratory stop for waterfowl, including Bonaparte’s gulls, great blue herons […]

West Coast Spring 2018 – Orcas Island

July 21 – 23 Given how close this group of islands are to each other, the ferry ride to Orcas wasn’t very long.  We were scheduled for just two nights there, our original intention to spend three on each island (San Juan, Orcas, and Lopez) got short circuited due to a festival on Orcas that […]

West Coast Spring 2018 – San Juan Island, Part Three

July 17 – 20 Leaving English Camp, we continued south onto West Side Road, stopping briefly at one of a number of Alpaca Farms, the animals having been recently shaved to harvest their wool and keep them cool in the summer heat. Not long after that we arrived at Lime Kiln Point State Park, a […]

West Coast Spring 2018 – San Juan Island, Part One

July 17 – 20 The drive up to Sidney didn’t take long and with about two hours before sailing we located the dock from which we’d depart and then drove a mile or so into downtown to look for a place to eat.  It’s a nice little spot on the island, a few blocks crowded […]