It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Rebecca and Panos took a quick trip up to Hurricane Ridge for the first time since the 70-year-old day lodge burnt down. Gorgeous on the way up, smoky on the way down.

We jumped at the chance to take our fourth out-of-town weekend in a row when a friend planned a trip to their family cabin near Rainier last-minute.  I had to drive Chinook Pass (in Mt Rainier National Park) at night trying to ignore the fact we were alongside a very dark and deep void/cliff.  Saturday, we drove along a couple beautiful rivers (Tieton River and Bumping River) and stopped at some very dry lakes (Rimrock Lake and Bumping Lake).  With four dogs and two three-year olds at the cabin, we were ready to go, so we packed up early on Sunday and...

I've never been to the Blackberry Festival in Bremerton before. As it turns out, they'd planned a "Popup" ferry service between Silverdale and Bremerton on a 100+ year old Mosquito Fleet ferry. (And yes, they literally called it a popup ferry... probably about the most PNW thing I've ever heard) There's no ferry service between these two towns, which are about a 15-minute drive away. The ride took about 45-minutes each way. I knew the route would follow Tracyton Beach road, which is a very nice drive in the area with views of the Olympics, and it didn't disappoint!  Unsurprisingly, the...

We hit the road this weekend to visit the dog-friendly parts of Olympic National Park.  Leaving Friday night after work, we car camped on a tiny stretch of the Elwha River within National Forest land. This was the sunrise view a few hundred feet from our campsite for the night. We drove a couple minutes into Olympic National Park and hiked the old paved road as far as we could. The road washed out in 2015 or so, and the overland trail doesn't allow dogs.    We drove out about 20 minutes to the Spruce Railroad Trailhead on Lake Crescent....