Ever since our first experiment with AirBnB (where we snagged a New York City...
Recent Updates
More than a Crater Lake
There’s a noticeable absence of beach houses ringing its shores. In fact, the only legal access to the lake is by climbing 700 feet down to Cleetwood Cove. In a way, that isolation is precisely why people go out of their way to get here. But if you want to see this cliff-ringed sapphire jewel of a lake, go out of your way you must.
Even by National Park standards, Crater Lake feels remote. There are only 111 rooms available in the entire park. That compares, for example, with the nine hotels located inside Yellowstone, including one 300-room giant so close to Old Faithful that it nearly casts a shadow on the geyser. The nearest large hotels serving Crater Lake, meanwhile, are forty miles away in Klamath Falls.
5 Things we learned researching our European trip
One week from today, we’re setting off on a six-month exploration of Europe. In truth, we don’t know exactly how long we’ll stay there. One thing we do know is that in six month’s time the weather will turn cold again. After enduring this past winter in the U.S. we promised ourselves we wouldn’t spend another one anywhere near a cold climate. So six months sounds like the right amount of time before we’ll want to start a southern migration.
The other thing we know is that we’re limited to 90 days in any and all Schengen area countries. After that we’ll need to exit the visa area, which encompasses most of continental Europe, for another 90 days before we can return again. We intend to spend all of our “Schengen days” this time around in Spain and France.
With our flight to Madrid fast approaching, we’ve spent these past few weeks trying to catch up on trip planning and have made some surprising, and some not so surprising, discoveries.
Two Views in the North Cascades
The promise of seeing Diablo Lake’s turquoise-colored waters was enough to lure us from Seattle into Washington State’s North Cascades National Park. The intense hue comes from minerals and rock ground down by the surrounding glaciers and carried into the lake. To have a look at Diablo Lake (actually a reservoir), we drove along Highway 20, pulled into a parking lot, and walked a few hundred feet to a viewing point. Instant gratification.
Not all vistas were as easily seen as Diablo Lake. When our Jeep could take us no further, we set out on foot along the Cascade Pass Trail. For nearly four miles we navigated forested switchbacks, rocky slopes, wildflower-laden meadows, and patches of summer snow, steadily trekking upward into alpine country until we finally reached our destination: Cascade Pass and its view of peaks and glaciers.
Everywhere Once 