Boston Blitz

After flubbing the schedule of my last post (written in Boston, about San Francisco) and taking a break for travel and holidays, I'm finally sitting down to look at pictures from this last month of adventures. Rather than the usual Quebec City post, I'll skip straight to my weekend in Boston. A friend from college picked me up at the airport, and we headed directly for the Freedom Trail... 

Faneuil Hall, market hub and venue for discussions from the beginning of US history. 

a Preview of San Francisco

My current sunny coffee shop seat is sun warmed and the familiar sounds of steam foaming milk, mugs clinking into their saucers, humming conversation between the silent page turners and highlighters bent over texts. Since this will also be at least a 3-part trip, I had better get caught up... I'm only a month behind! So, today, here's my walk through San Francisco.

Minnesota Nice

I’ve been putting off writing this post, because I hardly know where to start. There’s a meme on the internet that describes Minnesota as “Nice.” What they mean is that there’s a tendency of Minnesotans to be agreeable, to not rock the boat, to step just a little out of their way to be friendly towards their neighbors. Normally, I’m not a fan of being “nice.” I much prefer “kind directness.” If I say I need to go, I need to go; don’t walk me through an hour of goodbyes that slowly move towards the door (also known as a “Minnesota goodbye”). As a kindness to each other, we can say one goodbye and simply leave! But it was a rough week on which I found myself in Minnesota, and a little niceness from old and new friends went a long way towards soothing my soul.

Park Butte hike (Tea at the Top)

I'm standing at my desk, looking out at newly re-greened grass and wet asphalt. I love this change in weather and the cozy, tea-sipping, book-reading mood it creates. But before the clouds blew in, we got out onto the mountain for one last clear, dry, early fall day. The mountains were out, and Dock Butte was in fine form! 

Mt Hood, with Timberline Lodge

I'm a big fan of the old lodges in national parks (if multiple stops in Glacier and other places haven't clued you into that already). A couple of weekends ago Sister and J suggested we go hiking at Mt Hood, which of course I agreed to! Unfortunately, weather and a sea-level acclimated fur nephew conspired to cut our hike short. That didn't keep us from taking a pleasant stroll above the treeline and checking out the beautiful lodge.

Canadian, Oregonian, American, Washintonian, Swiss, German... and Swedish? 

IMTS Chicago

After 3 years of not going to Chicago for work, I've had two trips in the past two months! This time, instead of being out at the very end of the orange "L" line, I was staying in downtown Chicago on the Magnificent Mile. We were just a block of Michigan Avenue, which is lined with department stores, gourmet food, and high-class boutiques. We were also a 15 minute walk from the famous Navy Pier, which juts into Lake Michigan and gives an amazing view back over the city skyline. 

Mountain Berry Buffet

Late summer/fall hiking is my favorite. The trails are dry and no longer covered by snow. The weather is reliably better, requiring sunscreen instead of rain jackets. And even if there are more people on the trails, it doesn't matter - there are enough mountain blueberries for everyone! 

Lancaster and York counties

Last week York sent me out to Pennsylvania for a a week of training. I looked up the area on Google Maps, and a couple of things kept popping up. First, it's the factory tour capitol of America. Harley Davidson and Snyder of Hanover pretzels, to name a few. The other thing that popped up was nearby Lancaster, seat of Lancaster County and a hub of Amish country. So, despite the tours all being over by the time I was off work, I decided to visit both. 

Amish country, sunset, hot air balloon

Wichita

After a couple hang-ups, work sent me out to Wichita to visit customers. The area has a surprising amount of aerospace companies, including Cessna, Spirit, their suppliers, McConnel Air Force Base... I visited one or two of those and explored Wichita for a day or two.

the Keeper of the Plains

"Y" Adventure (?)

I wrote this post a couple weekds ago while sitting on the Blue Line somewhere south of downtown in Salt Lake City. I was in Utah solo, while M was out of town for a few days. The trip was a chance to see a friend who left recently for school down here, see some family (Happy Birthday, M2!), go to a symposium where I nerded out for a couple days, and take a hike on one of the famously rugged trails in the Wasatch range. 

Rock Canyon trail

I took the "L" downtown...

Training last week was in one of the suburbs of Chicago. I was staying next to the end of the Orange Line, so after work one day I jumped on the "L" and headed downtown. The familiar rustle of public transportation made the new city seem comfortable. Passing train yards, warehouses, up-and-coming lofts, and finally the towering downtown blocks... It was a cross-section of the city. 

Mt Baker Sunshine

It doesn't always rain on Baker! We went back for another round, just hiking this time, on the shoulders of the local volcano. We were surprised to encounter several snowfields, but the mountain was out and there was hardly anyone on the Scott Paul section of the trail, so we couldn't complain!

the view from Park Butte

Baker Summit Rainout

We were invited a few months ago to join an attempt to summit Mt Baker. After weeks of sunshine, we gathered on a damp, overcast Friday morning to pile into suburbans and head up to the mountain... and the forecast wasn't looking good. But we had raincoats and rain pants, so away we went!

Flatlands Road Trip

Work sent me to Kansas... I arrived early enough to do a little sight seeing in the history-rich area around Kansas City, largely based on 1838 Missouri Mormon War sites. Then the road trip to central Kansas started... with stopovers in Topeka and Salina. 

Spring Wanders at Washington Park

I was browsing my photos from the past few months, and was reminded that we've been on an adventure or two since the rain stopped and the clouds cleared... From different days, here are a few snapshots of our spring wanders about Washington Park. 

The sunset tree finally died... now just a gnarled silhouette.

Bend to Boise

We skipped breakfast in Bend and hit the road early, pointed towards Boise. It turns out that there isn't much along SR 26... and Brothers, OR is nothing like Sisters, OR. We made our Camp Oats at a pull out which asked us to not camp on their lawn. I couldn't find the lawn, so I don't think they have much trouble with people camping on it.

Brothers, OR

Black Butte Hike

From the Willamette valley, we drove up and over the Cascades towards Bend. Detroit, Oregon looks a little difference than Detroit, Michigan! There was still a little snow on the pass, but we dropped down towards Sisters in the sun. After a stop for roadside grilled cheese sandwiches on a nearly-empty logging road, we wound up the side of Black Butte and parked at the trailhead.

Highway 101: Oregon Coast

We drove over the towering ribbon of a bridge that links Washington and Oregon at the mouth of the Columbia river. After a brief stop to refuel at one of the old cannaries on the Astoria waterfront, we continued along 101 down the coast. 

Highway 101: WA coast

A few weeks ago, we went on a springtime road trip. You would think that I would know better than planning a road trip through several rain forests in April, but that's exactly what I did. Sunday morning, we loaded up the Toyota Adventuremobile and headed south to the Pt Townsend ferry.

First stop: LaPush. And really big driftwood logs!

Joshua Tree

One of my Swedish friend’s wishes while in LA was to visit one of our national parks. Aside from the Channel Islands, the nearest national park to LA is Joshua Tree. After sitting in traffic on Thursday, we thought that Friday would be a great day to ditch the city and head to the desert. Luckily our mustang agreed, so we hit the road.

Route planning (Thanks, Ruth, for the photo!)

Off to Los Angeles...

Some friends I hadn't seen in a few years were heading to LA for an extended weekend, so I flew south to join them. We didn't have much of a plan besides "rent a car, hike a bunch, and see at least one national park, and have fun!" I think we hit it on every count! The first day started with a leisurely breakfast near our VRBO in Pasadena, and then we headed towards Santa Monica for a hike...

Amtrak Cascades

I think it has been 15+ years since I was last on a train in the USA. A few weeks ago I took the train from Portland to Mt Vernon as an alternative to driving home. It is a little slower thanks to frequent stops, but flies at 80 mph through the segments that are slow on I-5. The route is also different, winding along the water in the South Sound and through the farms in the Green River valley. The sun set by the time the Amtrak Cascades actually neared the Cascades, but the view through the South Sound was beautiful.

Change at the Year's End

There has been so much going on in the past few weeks and months, and not many pictures to show for it. Here's the bullet list, in no particular order:

• Loki didn't work out. He had an aggressive streak that an expert rainer could have handled, but expert trainers we are not. 
• We bought a house
• Flew to Quebec and back
• Started a business
• Quit a job
• Got lasik eye surgery
• Had Thanksgiving in Canada
• Flew to Quebec and back
• Started a half-marathon training program
• ...

After the disappointment of Loki, it has been hard to pick this up again and want to post... but since so much has happened and there is another trip coming up, here are some Quebec photos to start out the new year. 

 

 And a few photos from the beginning-of-January trip...