Things You Should Do in Washington: Hike To Lake Serene

One of the reasons I was so keen on the move to Washington State was living in close proximity to the mountains and especially the snow. So it's a little sad that over the course of this past winter my first visit to the snow came just a little over a week ago in May. Our mountains were all quite snowy still, so I spent a while looking at trip reports on Washington Trails Association for hikes that would at least be considered passable without any special equipment. Last time this year we attempted a hike up Kachess Ridge and ended up turning around due to loosing the trail in all the snow. It sounded like the Lake Serene and Bridal Veil Falls hike would be an okay choice, although it was noted that there was some snow on the trail - we figured we'd just enjoy as much of the hike as we could.

Overall, I put this hike in my totally worth it basket - in spite of the amount of stairs (those are my hiking kryptonite). If you include the out and back to the falls, the hike clocks in at around 9 miles round trip with about 2,000 feet of elevation gain. However since there are two gorgeous water features to see along the way, the climb is totally worth it.

Click to read more ...

Walking Northwest Seattle

Have you noticed that Monday's travel posts have become a bit scarce around here lately? Well, about a month ago I took a step towards crossing off an item on my life list and signed up for Matador U's travel writing course. This means I'm edging the throttle back on my travel posts here so I can focus on learning more about travel writing. I'll still be sharing wanderlust inspiring photos on Fridays, other travel related posts will just become a bit more infrequent but hopefully the writing will be of a higher quality. 

I'd like to share my first assignment with you - a short piece about walking in my adopted hometown of Seattle.

Of all the places I’ve lived, I’ve never explored any of them by foot the way I have in my adopted hometown of Seattle, Washington. Perhaps it’s something about the unique personality of the Ballard and Phinney Ridge neighborhoods or perhaps it has more to due with the lack of West-East/East-West public transit. Over the course of a typical weekend, I find myself taking a number of walks to explore the neighborhood along with my husband and our pup. 

The weekend starts on Friday night, with a walk up the cherry blossom lined hill to Phinney Ridge. Along the way we pass mini neighborhoods that house small businesses ranging from the Barking Dog, often open late into the night for local customers to walk in to Makeda Coffee, where the laid back baristas makes a killer hemp milk latte. Other local curiosities include a giving tree, Little Free Libraries, and friendly folks saying hi to our dog. On the ridge, with a bit of light still in the sky, we see the outline of the Cascade Mountain Range – including one mountain that always reminds me of a brain.

Click to read more ...

Scenes from Washington: Kalaloch

After living within walking or short driving distance of the Pacific for most of life - I crave time by the ocean. Kalaloch is quiet beach filled with beautiful piles of (dangerous) driftwood and it's probably my favorite getaway from the city. There's just something special about this place we visited on our first trip to Washington State, two years before we moved to Seattle, and where we went away together to work in on writing our wedding ceremony.

 

Click to read more ...

Scenes from Washington: Westport

Last weekend we took a long overdue trip to the coast. We ended up in Westport, about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Seattle and it was a perfect place to soak up some beach time and take in the views of the pacific. Oh, and our pup loved it too.

Click to read more ...

Gluten Free On Vashon Island, Washington

 

For our 2nd wedding and 3rd engagement anniversary's we took a day trip to Vashon Island - we didn't think much about where we would eat at the time, but I did recall that I had previously taken note of a few places. Having still been in the process of recovering from a rather indulgent foodie trip to Portland, I was looking for something super healthy. So we decided on Pure Cafe which serves organic vegan and gluten free cuisine.

Click to read more ...