August 2016 - Apostle Islands, Lake Superior

August 2016 - Apostle Islands, Lake Superior

Yes, we drove north to visit the Apostle Island, north in Wisconsin on the south shore of Lake Superior with our six year olds. Knowing that the 12 + hour drive (including a ferry ride at the end) might be a bit much, we stopped in Duluth, MN for the night and drove the last two or three hours the next morning.

In Duluth, we rented a bike cart to see the lakeshore at sunset.

The next morning, we drove to Bayfield, a quaint town in northern WI from which we caught the ferry to La Pointe, WI on Madeline Island, one of the 20 Apostle Islands. Twenty Apostles? Apparently, the Frenchmen who first saw the islands thought there were only 12…

We rented a wonderful small cabin on the island for a few days with a hammock, fire pit and a view of Lake Superior. 

The island had a few restaurants and great beaches.

From there, we took a boat tour of the other islands. We saw sea caves.

The islands are mostly uninhabited except for volunteer rangers and lighthouses.

They are remote, remarkably unbuilt-up and wild. Beautiful. 

July 10 - 17, 2016 WA National Parks - Mount Rainier and Olympic Coast

July 10 - 17, 2016 WA National Parks - Mount Rainier and Olympic Coast
 (photos to come!)

I met up with Ricardo and the boys at the Seattle airport and from there we went to Vashon Island for 24 hours with Shirley and the Vashon gang. David was visiting also, so we got to share a few meals with him for the first time in about 10 years. Typical Seattle area weather; it poured with rain for our meal outside. 

From there, we drove up to Mount Rainier. It was also like seeing an old friend after many years. It was so calming to see and feel that it hadn’t changed after all these years. Paradise Lodge had a new coat of paint, but was the same as the last time Alle and I had stayed there a few years ago and from when we used to stay there every summer.



We checked into one of the painfully simple rooms and went for a short hike to Myrtle Falls.

The next day, the boys and I and Ricardo on his hiking sticks hiked around Reflection Lake and up to a great look-out. There wasn’t much sunlight, but some great views.

Our favorite hike to Panorama Point was mostly closed due to snow still being on the trials, but the next day, we hiked up to Alta Vista, half way up anyway and had some great views in the sunshine. Mount Rainier came in and out of the clouds for us whenever it wanted to.

From Rainier, we drove most of a day out to the coast, the Olympic National Park. It is remote enough that there were not many people there and time moves more slowly. There was no wifi, no internet and not even much phone connectivity. We rented a small cabin at Kalaloch Lodge near one of the longest Pacific beaches on the west coast and stayed there for about four days.

While there, we explored the various beaches.

We went inland to the rainforests.

We ate at the beautiful old lodges.

While we were at Mt Rainier and Olympic, the boys completed their Junior Ranger programs and got badges at the various ranger stations.



We also have passports we got stamped at the various National Park Visitor Centers we found along the way. What a great way to celebrate this Centennial year! We drove out via Hurricane Ridge and the northern edge of the Mount Olympus. It is always in clouds when I am there and this visit was no exception.

The boys and I flew home after two weeks at the Washington national parks and Ricardo stayed for another two weeks. 

July 5 - 10, 2016 - West Coast College Visits

July 5 - 10, 2016 West Coast College and Friend Visits

My daughter and I flew into Spokane to start our road trip of some West Coast college visits. We started what I thought would be a two hour drive to Walla-Walla, which was a gross miscalculation or misreading of my printed Google Maps information. We ended up driving through the most desolate of landscapes for four to five hours in eastern Washington to Walla-Walla.

Walla-Walla was an interesting mix of winery town and college town for Whitman College.

Whitman had a surprisingly beautiful campus and wonderful artwork. 

From Walla-Walla, we drove along the Columbia River Gorge area to Hood River where I windsurfed in years past and is now also a kite surfing mecca

and into Portland. We stayed at the White House in a lovely area of NE Portland.

We visited Reed College in SE Portland.

From Reed, we visited Lewis and Clark College 

and then flew to Oakland, CA

It was strange to suddenly be in the whizzing traffic of the Bay area again. We drove north to the Berkeley area to stay with my old friend Larry and visit U Cal Berkeley.

It was eye opening to go from being one of a few students visiting Whitman to being one of over 200 anonymous students visiting Cal.

We cut the virtual tour short and drove to San Francisco instead to eat dim sum!

We drove through Fisherman’s Wharf and then to Lombard Street. Here's the view looking towards the East Bay.

We drove south to our old stomping grounds around Stanford. So amazing to run the Stanford Dish Hill again after about 10 years.  The dry grass of the hills, the views of the Bay; that is the most beloved place in the Bay Area for me. It is the peaceful center in a maddening rush of Silicon Valley.

From there, we drove south to Santa Clara to see Heather, an old work friend from WebTV.

The next morning, we met up with some more old friends from my years in Silicon Valley. So nice to see Steve and Nico at various old haunts.

After soaking up the lovely Palo Alto light, we drove through the mountains to the sea in Santa Cruz and toured the U Cal Santa Cruz campus. It is completely different. It looks like a National Park in the redwoods.

We stayed in a little cabin by the oceanside and played at the beach. We ate seafood by the beach and finally had to drive back to Palo Alto to say good bye for a month. 

June 24 - 29, 2016 - Visit to Michigan 2016

June 24 - 29, 2016 Visit to Ann Arbor and Rochester, Michigan

Another awesome visit to Michigan! This time Alle, the boys and I all traveled to visit Uncle Fred, Aunt Betsy, Laura and my Mum.

We went to Ann Arbor first to stay with Uncle Fred and Aunt Betsy in their fabulous house and lovely yard

and we went kayaking down the Huron River and through downtown!

We helped move mulch around the yard, well sort of!

We saw great music at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival.

We toured the U of M campus with experts.

We toured Albion campus with Laura, who is also an expert.

It was really nice to also see my brother's dog Maizey (Bodie's cousin) who was looking and walking well after some surgeries. Here she is catching bugs. 

We then drove to Rochester to see the homestead and my Mum/Omi and Gusti, the cat. 

Always good to see the park-like backyard where I grew up.