April 2009

Sunset’s Top Campgrounds

When my subscription issue of Sunset magazine arrives in our mailbox each month, my husband knows just what to do. He leaves me alone! It takes a good couple of hours sprawled out on the couch for me to make my way through a new issue. I pore over the home decor ideas, daydream about […]

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Barrel Tasting

There’s nothing quite like a glass of good rosé on a warm spring day. Especially if it’s been kept nice and cool by the thick walls of an oak barrel. Blackwood Canyon is a unique winery on Red Mountain, near Washington’s Tri-Cities. (This winery has now closed.) By the way, a visit there is like […]

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Flock to See Shorebirds in Grays Harbor

It’s hardly a secret that I’m a bird nerd. In fact, I hold a locally-esteemed title, “Master Birder,” obtained after a year of study and classes with Seattle Audubon where I learned such things as the paritization habits of the female Redhead duck and how to definitively tell a Lesser Yellowlegs from a Greater Yellowlegs. […]

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Wine, Hops, and a Baby in Yakima

When I had a baby last year, there were a few revelations that went through my head about how our life as a carefree traveling couple had suddenly changed. For example, those lazy days of tasting our way through wine country were probably over. Not so! Meet Jodie and James, an Australian couple living in […]

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Gig Harbor’s Snug Harbor Hideaway

I dig “The Gig.” As in, Gig Harbor, Washington. It’s a quaint seaside village on the Kitsap Peninsula that hugs a tiny harbor on three sides, and faces Mount Rainier which looms as a beautiful backdrop to this picturesque town. First off, I was married there, in my parents’ backyard. And because my parents live […]

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The Cheapest Sleep of All

Waterfront property for $17 a night! Behold, an MSR Hubba Hubba backpacking tent along the Bumping River at Cougar Flat Campground, just east of Mount Rainier National Park. (update 2013: this campground is sadly closed because of storm damage). Reserve your summer campsites soon. According to the Outdoor Industry Association, camping reservations for campsites on federal […]

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