Riding to Oly
Ninety miles is quite a distance for me to run errand on my bike, but then I really like Olympia.
STP: Seattle to Portland by Bike
When folks here find out you ride a bike, they usually ask, “Have you ridden the STP?”
Ramble to Port Gamble
An old mill town, Port Gamble makes a nice quick stop on a classic Kitsap Peninsula loop.
Hood Canal Circuit
Revisiting old failures, the 124-mile circuit around the Hood Canal becomes my longest ride.
Coulee and Plateau
Three days of bike touring in the Land of the Great Ice Age Floods!
For our first tour together since Yuma, my only disappointment was that we weren’t able to just keep going! Good friends, all the gear we needed, and that lovely zen feeling of rolling into camp tired and blissed-out: AHHHHHHHHHH! What a swell way to spend a weekend.
How to Lure Folks Away from New Jersey
Here’s ten easy tips on luring folks to the Northwest. It’s not hard.
Cycling an Apple Blossom Special
Seven years ago, I was somewhat lighter, definitely younger, and a touring neophyte. I’d never had my new touring bike out of the city. One Friday night, I packed it in the car and spent a long day riding along the Columbia River, from Wenatchee to Chelan and back. I spent that night, an easy [...]
Accomplished: Cycling to Tacoma
It’s been a while since I’ve had a week of cycling that exceeds one hundred miles. As a bike nerd, sure, I’m ashamed and what not, but well, that’s just how it’s been. Today’s ride got us doing something I’ve always thought would be cool: biking to Tacoma via the quiet roads of Vashon Island. [...]
I Eat Meat
This morning, I drove out to Ebey Island for a class on pig butchering. I’m going to post a graphic “How To” and what I learned soon from this valuable class, but I thought before I did I’d get the cute pictures out of the way. Most of us eat meat and never see what [...]
Spring in the Skagit Valley
Just before five am, I dropped some friends off at the airport. Caffeinated, I drove north on the nearly empty interstate, waiting for the sun to come up. The Skagit Valley lies about an hour and half out of Seattle, a broad flood plain, and the closest big chunk of agricultural land in the area. [...]
Grayland: Oysters, Clams and Rain
We got a text on the way to Grayland, “Hurry! I am in my tshirt on the beach”, but by the time we got their the sun was setting, the clouds gathering and it was time to put on a hat. We never took off the hats the rest of the weekend. I tell everyone [...]
Closing: Weyerhaeuser’s Bonsai Garden
Changes are if you’ve come to Seattle to visit me, I’ve suggested that we go visit the Weyerhaeuser Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection. It’s a regional treasure and I can’t think of any place like it in the country. The rationale part of my brain recognizes the irony that this collection of priceless, small manicured trees [...]
Point of View(s): Photo Safari
Gray and cold, this morning wasn’t the most intriguing weather to go on a photo safari, but that’s what I was doing with Pam of Nerdseyeview. I did not take enough photos, think hard enough about finding things to shoot, and in most ways failed at “photo safari”. However, we did manage to go to [...]
The Miracle of Flight
Just like that, we were beyond the inversion gripping Seattle and looking at the Cascades and the Sierras from the east. And we’re on our way to warm, sunny Mexico!
Tall Boys at the Market
One of Seattle’s best known old time string bands, the Tall Boys, are regularly at the Market. It’s often a mix of the band and I suppose their pals, and they sing sweetly about murder, broken hearts, and God. If you see them at the Market, tap your toes and give them a buck or [...]
Turkey Butchering at Ebey Farm
I was starting to get a bit nervous about the upcoming Turkey Slaughter. It’s not that as a band of newbies we couldn’t do it, but I did want it to be done efficiently and with as little distress to New Tiny and all the rest of the birds in Margot’s backyard. It was with [...]
Drive Across Washington
A friend of mine in Pittsburgh has nearly stopped communicating but for small slices of video. As one might expect when making short clips about daily life, some are rather prosaic. As often as not though, there is a large amount of emotion in the simplest activity. What has been inspiring me about them is [...]
Spray Park in HDR (Beginners Edition)
For all my seasonal talk about trying to switch up this blog into a more web-friendly experience, swapping in more bicycling again, or delving deeper into content, it’s the side projects of content management that I find more interesting. I recently started organizing and tagging my pictures in Aperture and am learning some tricks there [...]
Snow Lake in Summer
Our hiking book says that Snow Lake is likely the second most popular hike in the State. That seems about right. I’d never thought we’d end up there, but when we arrived yesterday at the cloudy, drizzling and very cool Snoqualmie Pass it suddenly took on some allure. It’s fairly short and it seemed that [...]
The Pass at Red Mountain
“Oh, watch out…he’s a Mountain Goat!” That’s what everyone says about our Northwest pal, J. His wife warned us the whole time, “You’re crazy if you try to keep up with him.”. As if we could. They both kicked my butt, and if I hadn’t started crying on the way down, would have likely been [...]
Our Canadian Mini-Moon
Harrison Hot Springs is an odd town. It’s hard to find anything about it other than the Spa, which sits at one end of the beach front. There are a however a few hotels, restaurants, plenty of camping spots, and most importantly a public hot spring that is reasonable priced and plenty warm. We visited [...]
