Tag: travel

How to Get a Last-Minute Ticket for Going-to-the-Sun Road, Angel’s Landing, Rocky Mountain National Park, and More

February 6, 2022

You’re finally taking that epic national parks adventure this year. You’ve done all the planning, but there’s still one big problem: you’ve just learned that one of your favorite activities requires an advance ticket, you missed the on-sale date, and it’s already sold out. No worries. It’s usually possible to score a last-minute ticket if you know how to play the game. We’ve been in your shoes, and we’ll tell you exactly what you need to know to save your vacation. … More How to Get a Last-Minute Ticket for Going-to-the-Sun Road, Angel’s Landing, Rocky Mountain National Park, and More

What It’s Like to Take an 11,000-Mile Road Trip in a Teeny Electric Chevy Volt

January 25, 2022

We took an 11,000-mile, 11-week road trip across the western United States in our 2013 Chevy Volt. It was one of the least-expensive ways we could have covered that much ground – though our available cargo space was a wee bit tight. … More What It’s Like to Take an 11,000-Mile Road Trip in a Teeny Electric Chevy Volt

Olympic National Park: Camping on Third Beach

January 14, 2022

My efforts to plan a great four-day trip to Olympic National Park left a little to be desired. In hindsight, I totally give myself a pass because this park is complicated, and without ever having visited before, it’s hard not to be overwhelmed by the huge number of places to visit, trails to hike, and completely different experiences to try out. You can be in a rainforest one morning, on a glacier the next afternoon, and wading through tidepools the next day. Ridiculous! Awesome, but ridiculous. … More Olympic National Park: Camping on Third Beach

Olympic, Night 1: Sneaky Frontcountry Camping

January 12, 2022

“Where will we sleep?” Dustin asked.

“There are two front-country campgrounds, and if they’re both full we can disperse in the National Forest.” You know we’re getting desperate when front-country camping and dispersed camping (pitching your tent along the side of a road in an approved part of a National Forest) are the best options. Our general philosophy is that if we’re going to go through the discomfort of sleeping in a tent, we really ought to be getting something (a remote, lovely view and serious solitude, usually) out of it. Sleeping in a tent in close proximity to dozens of neighbors? Meh.

… More Olympic, Night 1: Sneaky Frontcountry Camping

That time I got jellyfished on my first snorkeling trip

November 16, 2021

“So, uh, I’ve never actually snorkeled before,” I said.

This was a lie. I had snorkeled before, though it had been decades. Literally. The last time I had snorkeled had been in my grandfather’s pool in California. I must have been about seven. I’d yanked on the flimsy yellow mask and tube and plunged right in, convinced this miraculous new apparatus was about to turn me into a mermaid who could breath underwater forever. Instead, I’d gotten a lung full of pool water.

… More That time I got jellyfished on my first snorkeling trip

For the Love of Glaciers

November 5, 2021

This, then, is what the love of glaciers means:

Yesterday, you hiked Mt. St. Helens. You climbed up 4,500 feet over the course of four miles, clambering over sharp boulders and loose scree. You then turned around and picked your way back down 4,500 feet of the same.

You woke up this morning with every muscle in your lower body wailing, suggesting maybe you should be a little kinder today.

You arrived at the Mt. Rainier National Park wilderness office, because backcountry camping was your only plan for finding a place to sleep tonight, and asked if there were any sites left that did not require a strenuous or lengthy hike.

You listened as the ranger ran through a list of unappealing options – seven miles is too many, 2,000 feet elevation gain is too many, 2,000 feet elevation lost is WAY too many, three miles might be okay except half of it parallels the highway?

And then you listen as the ranger kindly offers to check for available group sites, since those could be given away to a non-group at such short notice.

You listen as she says, “the Glacier Basin site is open, oh, but that’s four miles in and nearly 2,000 up-“

And you hardly let her finish the sentence before you say “WE’LL TAKE THAT ONE.”

… More For the Love of Glaciers

Crater Lake

October 28, 2021

“I’m afraid we’re going to have to splurge on a room at the Crater Lake Lodge,” I said.

“Are you proposing we buy a $300 hotel room so that you don’t miss the chance to buy a $100 dinner?” Dustin asked.

“NO,” I replied not-at-all too quickly. “No, but really, look: we’re coming from the north entrance of Redwoods. It’s a 4-hour drive, and if we manage to get a tour at Oregon Caves along the way, the earliest we can hope to arrive at Crater Lake is mid-afternoon. That means we’ll be in the park for less than 24 hours. If we camp, we’ll spend our entire visit hiking in and out of our campsite, and none of the campsites have views into the crater.” … More Crater Lake

A photo-journal of a visit to Redwood State & National Parks

September 20, 2021

I don’t have a particular narrative to go with our photos of our time in Redwood National & State Parks. My jaw dropped open the moment I saw my first redwood, and I really didn’t manage to get my mouth closed until we left. (Good thing banana slugs can’t fly.) I was just in a perpetual state of awe the whole time. That doesn’t make a very interesting story, though. … More A photo-journal of a visit to Redwood State & National Parks