Washington

After a fun few days at Internet Identity Workshop, it’s time to head home.

I’m in California to attend a conference in the Bay Area. I came down a few days early to (surprise, surprise) do a bit of exploring.

I’ve been in Utah for the last week, mostly for personal reasons, but got a few fun window-seat photos and driving-around photos that I’d like to share.

I’ve written here before that borders fascinate me. Today I explored a tiny exclave of the United States that – for those of us without private planes or boats – is reachable only by driving through the adjacent parts of Canada.

And now, it’s time to go home.

With most of my immediate family out of town on various travels of their own, I decided to treat myself to a few days in the desert of Southern California. I’m excited to check out Joshua Tree National Park this weekend. Stay tuned!

Lisa and I took a long weekend to explore central Washington a bit. Not a lot to share other than the new parks over at 146 Parks, but we did enjoy the views at Washington Pass on Highway 20.

I’m headed to Berlin this week for the 2024 European Identity Conference. I left a couple days early so I could go exploring a bit.

It was time to return home today. We took a little time to have lunch and walk around Alexandria, then headed to the airport for our flight home.

There are … more direct … ways to get from Poulsbo to Spokane, but I’m not one to let the shortest distance between two points get in the way of a good time.

Lisa and I drove out to Murdock Beach for a bit of beachcombing.

I’ve been to Victoria, British Columbia, many times, but I haven’t seen much of Vancouver Island beyond the capitol city. Over the next several days, I’ll be “fixing” that – by exploring the rest of the island.

I went to California this week for a major event for my team at work.

Lisa and I are back for a fall work-cation visiting friends in South Carolina. I scored a window seat and got treated to some wonderful skyscapes on the way today.

This afternoon, I was in Olympia and in search of a short, new hike for a bit of exercise. The trail guides pointed me to the Bob Bammert Grove trail and it was just perfect for the occasion.

Lisa and I bumped into some friends of ours in Olympia on Wednesday night. They happened to have their boat nearby and invited us aboard. We got a nice view of the Lady Washington as she sailed Budd Inlet near us.

I’m on my way to Salt Lake City for an important family occasion this weekend. Today’s travels took me to Boise by way of a part of Idaho I had not seen before.

One of my favorite things about working at Adobe is the periodic invitation to disconnect from the day-to-day for weeks at a time and recharge. When I first joined, that five-year mark seemed ages away. Tonight I began my fifth sabbatical.

After 43 days on the road, I am happy to be back home. Today’s travels took me from San Jose, California, over the Cascades, and to my partner’s home in the south Sound.

Here goes a great new adventure! I flew today to Atlanta, Georgia, as part of a grand exploration of the southeastern United States.

Once again, I was in for a real treat on my morning commute.

A short drive south of Olympia, Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve presents a most unusual landscape. Hundreds of small mounds of dirt, some as tall as a person make an oddly undulating grassland. Scientists have studied this landscape for nearly two centuries and have yet to agree on a convincing theory for how or why they were formed.

On a recent walk around Capitol Lake in Olympia, I spotted these ducks hanging out on a log.

Sometimes the commute is mundane. Sometimes it is spectacular.

A random photo grab while I was driving near Shelton recently …

Lisa and I went for a hike in Woodard Bay Conservation Area recently.

Had a night to myself last night so I looked on AirBNB for last-minute getaways and found a steampunk caboose! Couldn’t pass that up, so I booked it and drove up there straight away.

Lisa had a bit of a head start on me, having spent Thanksgiving visiting her friends in Edisto Island. Today I flew from Seattle to Charleston and then drove to meet them.

Today, Lisa and I took the ferry across to Orcas Island and explored for the day.

We mostly worked today, but did make time for an afternoon hike through Iceberg Point at the south end of the island.

Lisa showed me around some of her favorite places on Lopez Island today.

The plan was to spend the night in Seattle, have fun watching a friend’s band play, and then set out for a weekend of visiting more parks in the San Juans, ideally to use my kayak to visit a couple of the marine state parks.

All great things must come to an end. Today we parted company and I flew home to Seattle. I had a window seat and was able to capture a few nice landscape photos on the way home.

I flew down to Salt Lake City today. I’ll work for a couple of days from there and then my daughter and I will embark on a road trip together for a few days.

I arrived this evening a bit early for some meetings at Adobe’s New York offices. As is often the case with travel, there were some misadventures and delays, but it all worked out OK. The highlight of this evening was a stay at the TWA Hotel.

I hiked Green Mountain with a couple of friends this weekend.

Today we drove north across central Washington for a park visit and a stay in mountains at Sun Mountain Lodge near Winthrop.

We worked from Pullman Thursday and Friday and then headed out in the afternoon. Not much to share from this day, except that I got to introduce Lisa to a favorite place in Richland, The Lodge at Columbia Point.

Remember when I said I had to be back in Eastern Washington right away?

For something a little different, I drove across the state today before heading to Utah for a few days to visit family. (Why? I need to be in eastern Washington right away when I get back.)

The idea, again was to visit some more parks for the 146 Parks project. Weather intervened and my plans had to change a bit, but a good trip was had nonetheless.

My partner and I took an impromptu trip to Portland and Astoria this weekend. We discovered two great hotels and added three new parks to the 146 Parks project.

The plan was to head east and visit a bunch of new parks for the 146 Parks project. That only sort of happened, but a good time was had nonetheless.

It was going to be a long day in any case. But when our 2am flight from San Juan became a 4:30am flight, there was no longer a direct flight available for us from Newark to Seattle. So … we took the long(er) way home.

I am on a brief solo road-trip this weekend. I woke up, looked out the window, and got outside as quickly as I could to capture this morning’s sunrise.

I often hike Dungeness Spit when I need a moment to myself. On this morning, returning from one such hike, Mother Nature sent me this inspiring visual with the receding fog.

My partner and I visited the Grays Harbor Lighthouse in Westport recently.

I hiked the Talus Loop Trail near North Bend in May.

I had the opportunity for a long weekend away and decided to make some progress on my parks project.

I hiked the Lime Kiln Trail, east of Granite Falls, in mid-May.

This was a more quiet day. Few photos. I was ready to be home.

I woke up at 3:30 this morning to get to a sunrise shoot at Columbia Hills Historical State Park. As dusk rose over the Columbia Gorge, I had to stop for a moment and capture this view along the way.

The plan was to go out and see a bunch of parks for the 146 Parks project, but alas, many of the parks in Central Washington are not really in their prime this time of year.

Today I drove out to visit Bogachiel State Park as part of my 146 Parks project. I couldn’t resist stopping by Lake Crescent for a few photos along the way there and back.

I woke up early this morning for a walk in one of my favorite quiet places.

I did a solo hike through the Green Mountain State Forest near my home.

I know we don’t (and shouldn’t) get out much these days, but I needed to visit a family member in the Bay Area recently. Had a few days to get home, so that led to a coastal road trip and a park visit on the way back.

I had the opportunity to take a long weekend away and visit two of the San Juan Islands.

As I mentioned a couple months ago, I’ve been working on a project to drive every mile of every state highway in Washington.

It’s good to get out and about a bit. This afternoon, I hiked Lake Twenty-Two near Granite Falls with a couple of friends.

Things are starting to open up a little bit. My daughter and I took a long weekend road trip to eastern Washington.

Ah, spring break is here.

Give me ten hours to drive from Bainbridge Island to Seattle and creative routing will occur.

In the first few days or this trip, I’ve flown from Seattle to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, boarded the cruise ship, and sailed to a private island in the Bahamas.

Yesterday, I said goodbye to my home and the wonderful island on which I live. I’m blessed to live in a beautiful place with such a great circle of friends.

… and today brings me home. Mostly freeway miles, but the side trip through Harrington and Odessa on SR 28 was well worth it.

Today I explored the Columbia and Spokane River valleys on the way to Spokane. It was gray and snowy pretty much everywhere I went today, but that’s what I was looking for.

I had fun driving today, mostly looking for winter farm scenes in the high plains east of Wenatchee, before winding up in Omak for the night.

We hiked the Northrup Canyon Trail in eastern Washington today. Here are a few of the fun desert- and cliff-scapes we observed.

I decided to take this weekend and drive to winter (i.e. that part of Washington that actually gets snow in winter).