Northwest Bucket List: December

Northwest Bucket List: December

  Last Christmas, many lowland areas of the Pacific Northwest woke up to a very rare sight–snow was falling gently from the sky, enough to stick around for a few hours and build some elf-sized snowmen in our Seattle backyard. It was our first White Christmas in a nearly a decade, but alas it was […]

NORTHWEST GIFT GUIDE: The Locavore

NORTHWEST GIFT GUIDE: The Locavore

Salmon, oysters, cranberries, hazelnuts, apples, cider, wine, chanterelles and huckleberries… Pacific Northwest locavores like myself are spoiled rotten with yummy locally-sourced things to eat. And here are some ideas for how you can spoil your favorite locavore even more this holiday season. But first, what the heck is a “locavore,” you ask? Here’s a hint: […]

Wine for Thanksgiving in the Willamette Valley

Wine Tasting for Thanksgiving

Before we were parents, before the mornings of waking up at 3am to our son singing Band on the Run in his underwear after turning on every light in the house, my husband and I took leisurely romantic getaways. Ah, the memories. Our favorite, perfect Northwest weekend getaway was wine tasting in Oregon’s lush Willamette Valley. […]

November in the Northwest

Northwest Bucket List: November

  What are you thankful for? It’s a question we all ponder together his time of year. And while my family, friends and good health top my list, I have loads of gratitude for all of my favorite Northwesty things, too. Like the fresh-plucked chanterelles at my farmers’ market last weekend on which dirty fir […]

Northwest Bucket List: October

Northwest Bucket List: October

October. And the trees are stripped bare, of all they wear, what do I care…  Autumn’s crisp days and cool nights have me wrapped up in fleece and I’m definitely not complaining.  Fall is my favorite season for exploring the Pacific Northwest, from visits to vineyards and orchards filled with ripe apples, to squeezing in […]

Ask TripFinder: How to Stay Organized for Spontaneous Camping Trips?

How to Stay Organized for Spontaneous Camping Trips

  Dear TripFinder, Q: Hello!  I want to get into camping more but my work schedule makes it difficult to plan trips in advance. I have your car camping checklist and guide to finding last-minute campgrounds, but I think I need tips for getting out the door in a hurry. A few weeks back we took […]

Northwest Bucket List: August

Northwest Bucket List: August

When you’re a hiker and it’s August, the days are just packed. Blooming wildflowers carpet alpine meadows of nearly every peak in the Cascades and Olympics, and their window of peak beauty is only open for a few weeks. But it’s not just trails of the high country competing for attention on your days off. […]