What's Your Dream?

My friends came to town so we decided to go hiking, they had never hate to the mountains before. So I decided to take them to Snow Lake near Mount Baker. We started off pretty early in the morning and on the way he stopped and saw the Snoqualmie Falls on the way. Which for some reason I never seen before even though they were great falls and it was truly beautiful. Then we stopped for breakfast at Tweetie Café. Which was a quaint little café  with an old style feel. Eventually we made it to the trailhead for Snow Lake. After a misadventure in a washed out parking lot and off roading just to get back on the road to get to the right parking lot. As soon as we arrived we were immediately greeted by beautiful views of the mountains covered in snow and waterfalls from the snowmelt running off the side of the mountains. We started our hike and not even a quarter-mile into it we hit snow and not just a little snow several feet of snow that we had to hike over. It was snowy for t...

A couple of weeks ago I made the tedious trek across the country once again. This time the goal : Return my mom's car to her. Good goal. Unfortunately is took four days of solid driving. However, there are so many up sides to driving across the country and that would be all the Amazing and wonderful things that you get to see when you are driving into places less traveled. This time I took a route that I usually don't take. I went the northern route driving through Spokane, WA where I stopped and visited a local car show and saw the musical Wicked for the first time which was fantastic! Then on through northern Idaho and into Butte, MT for the evening. There I stayed the night. The second day I drove south and went through Grand Tetons National Park and Yellowstone National Park which I have driven through twice before but it never gets old. Saw many hot springs, Old Faithful and even my first grizzly and her cub! Went on to Billings, MT for the evening and went on t...

The last week has been one huge adventure in my life, yet at the same time quite dull. I have managed to move half way across the continent and fulfill one of my dreams of living in the Pacific Northwest, however, not without a few bumps in the road. After a three day long excruciating drive from Springfield, MO to the Seattle area, Washington, I arrived at my new apartment to find my kitchen stove and refrigerator in my living room... After an hour or so the maintenance men did get that sorted out. Then there was the refilling toilet, and yet to be fixed dryer without an on knob. Despite the continuing hiccups in my new apartment I have however been able to explore about half a dozen parks in the area. All on the small side but all have their own unique perks to them. Yesterday I found a "road side" park so to speak that had a tiny playground and a small swing set. The park in all was about 1/4 the size of a football field but...

It finally did it! I have finally made one of my dreams come true! At this point it still seems after if it is just a dream. I look down the street and I see the Rocky Mountains and I drive less than five miles and I am at the Puget Sound! I can go hiking or biking any time I want and the side walk systems here are nothing like back in Missouri I can literally walk anywhere in town that I want! There are also incredible amounts of bike ways and routes, which makes getting across town a breeze on a bike. I plan on making many many weekend hiking, biking, kayaking, etc trips all over the Pacific Northwest! I am so happy to be here and the weather currently couldn't be better! It hasn't rained once in the four days that I have been here! The Pacific Northwest Trail, www.pnt.org is on the top of my must do list and hopefully will be able to hike a bit of it before the summer ends. These pictures are from Meadowdale Beach Park. Very Very beautiful! The trail is 1 1/4 miles down to t...

The last couple of weeks I have been planning a Road Trip to Seattle. Now this isn't just a "fun" trip there is a purpose behind it. So I cannot simply jump in the car and drive. Not to mention driving from Springfield, MO to Seattle, WA is a 33 hour trip, one way! In my attempts to find good routes/cheap lodging/interesting stops/gas stops/etc I have come across road trip planning websites. They might be helpful to some but from the few that I browsed or attempted to use they are not very thorough. The most "detailed" site I have found thus far allows you to put in a trip and gives you hotel locations along the way in your budget. But that is it. I have found a couple of neat sites that pinpoint road side attractions along major highways but they won't allow you to plug in a route and then give suggestions if places to see along the way. You have to sift through the attractions by hwy or by state. If these sites improve dramatically their functionality they...

In a previous post I mentioned how to travel in many European cities using bike rental services. When reading National Geographic Traveler May 2012 edition I came across an article written by Becca Hensley. At first glance I thought she crazy, biking in Switzerland, there are way too many mountains! It turns out she isn't crazy. There are over 400 rental stations in Switzerland for specialized Swiss Electric Bikes. They are specifically made to help the cyclist get up those steep inclines. To me the idea of being able to bike through Switzerland sounds amazing, you get to go slow enough to really enjoy and take in the beautiful scenery. With this post I have included a photo of the original article.

Yesterday I took a mini break away from work and school and traveled to Branson, MO a full 45 minutes south of Springfield. It isn't far but I rarely make the trip. Branson is full of the typical touristy attractions, shopping and restaurants. There are lots of shows, theme parks, mini attractions and simple distractions. Branson is also located along Table Rock lake so there is plenty of fishing, camping, hiking, boating, and any other outdoor activity that you can imagine. Yesterday on my mini break I was able to take a walk in two different parks, go shopping, partake in mini golf, and eat at an amazing restaurant on the Branson Landing. It was a typical tourist day and I loved every second of it.