Trip Ideas

Five Great County Fairs in Washington State

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It’s almost August, otherwise known throughout the USA as Fair Season! My childhood memories from the fair where I grew up in rural Illinois are coated in sugar. Puffs of blue cotton candy, popsicles colored like the American flag, a plate of funnel cakes dusted with a heavy coat of sweet powder. Go to any […]

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Great County Fairs in Oregon

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  I grew up in a small town in southern Illinois that had been settled by German Catholic farmers a few centuries ago. Instead of a county fair, we had a festival every August called Kirchenfest on the sprawling church parking lot, and my Dad was in charge of making the funnel cakes–platefuls of sweet […]

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Six Summer Day Trips from Seattle

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Summer is nearly half over. Does the approach of August give you a mid-summer crisis, too? Six weeks of summer left until school starts again, and I feel it’s passing way too quickly. It always does here. So I pull out my calendar, and I start scribbling quick trips in. Here are six sunny day […]

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Quick Escape: Sequim on the Olympic Peninsula

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Most people think the Olympic Peninsula town of Sequim (pronounced Skwim) is a retirees’ enclave with year-round sunshine set in a rural landscape dotted with fragrant fields of purple lavender. And indeed, it is. But Sequim is slowly changing, and offers more to its visitors than sunshine and lavender (not that there’s a single thing wrong […]

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Quick Escape: See the Skagit Tulips

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Why go: There’s something about rows upon rows of brightly-colored tulips that screams: Goodbye winter, hello spring! The time is now to catch the flower fireworks show that blankets Skagit Valley farmland each April. Festival of flowers: The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival runs April 1-30, 2018. Sprawling fields of technicolor bulbs dot the landscape from Mt. Vernon west to […]

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Weekend Escape: Depoe Bay on the Oregon Coast

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  Forget sandy beaches. This wild stretch of the Oregon coast is all about frothy waves crashing into basalt headlands, and passing grey whales. The small town of Depoe Bay sits between two Oregon Coast hotspots–Lincoln City to the north and Newport to the south, which may be why it’s often overlooked by travelers to […]

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City Guide: Bellingham

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We city folks have it all. An instagram-worthy latte is a block away, there’s a farmers’ market in every neighborhood, and each weekend brings new museum exhibits or gallery openings. So why are so many of us urbanites keen to spend a weekend exploring the restaurants, museums, parks and galleries of another city? It’s fun […]

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Ask TripFinder: Where to Stay in Vancouver with Kids?

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Dear TripFinder, We have a 8 year old daughter and a 4 year old son. Where are good places to stay in Vancouver BC? We would like to not have to drive much–if not at all.  Thanks! Kris Dear Kris, My favorite spot to stay with kids in Vancouver is on the vibrant and lively West End […]

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Nine Romantic Northwest Getaways

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Valentines Day. Three-day weekends. Anniversaries. The year is full of opportunities to woo your sweetheart with the romance of the Pacific Northwest! A romantic getaway doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Make any weekend special and romantic on one of these dreamy, affordable getaways in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. How to Make a Cheap Getaway […]

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Explore Outdoors: Mount Baker

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There are two kinds of Northwesterners – those who know about the awesomeness of Mount Baker, and those who don’t (yet). I’m about to put you in the first camp, and once you visit Baker for the first time you will go back, again and again. The Mount Baker Highway (Hwy 542) is a spur route that […]

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