As far as the eye can see in Joshua Tree National Park. The amazing landscape looks like you are walking on what used to be the ocean floor. While it looks pretty barren, it is the Mojave desert after all, this place is actually teaming with life as there are many different species of plants and animals that call it home. In fact, we were lucky enough to see a group of six or seven bighorn sheep lounging on some giant rocks as we started our first hike out to Barker Dam. Amongst the most diverse rock formations you’ve...

I was afraid this would happen. I’ve been longing to visit the Monterey bay area for what seems like forever. You know how sometimes you read about a place and you just know that you are going to fall in love with it before you even get there. Well, that’s Monterey and Carmel for me. And yes…I did fall in love! Monterey offers the ultimately iconic California experience and it’s easy to see why the drive to Big Sur has been voted the top road trip in the United States. The coastline is just breathtaking. There are an endless...

And that’s how I truly feel, so this blog will be shorter than my typical posts for this trip as I feel it’s better expressed through photographs. The beauty of this place is unbelievable – it’s like being on another planet. So, I’m just going to highlight our hikes and of course the beautiful Tenaya Lodge where we stayed, and describe the rest of Yosemite through all of the great pictures we took. Tenaya Lodge sits on a cozy and secluded expanse of the Sierra National Forest just a few minutes from the south gate of Yosemite National Park....

Leaving Lake Tahoe, we traveled west to Napa on I-50 and happened to be driving near an area where they were having many uncontrolled wildfires. In fact, we were so close at one point that we could see the flames from the top of a ridge. We learned that they actually closed the road we were on the next day! Even when we arrived in Napa, there was still a haze on the horizon from all of the smoke blowing miles away. Our first stop was at The Meritage Resort & Spa. Just like the wine that inspired its...

Boating, paddleboarding, kayaking, skiing, biking, hiking, ice skating and bar hopping… whatever your passion, Tahoe South (as the locals call it) does it right. All on the shore of the largest alpine lake in North America – Lake Tahoe offers ridiculously blue-green, crystal clear water surrounded by the majestic Sierra Nevada, jaw-dropping vistas, stately groves of pines, and ludicrously gorgeous sunsets. Why would you ever want to go anywhere else? And that’s pretty much what every transplant here said – once they moved here, they’d never go back. Our first stop was check-in at the 968 Park Hotel and...

Once again I headed out on a wine tasting mission for a varietal that I’m not so crazy about. What is all the fuss about Pinot Noir? I’m sure a statement like that will make a few heads spin and send some people into an hour long dissertation on the subject of Pinot Noir. I’ll be the first to admit that I have probably not tried enough Pinot’s to make any judgement, however, like Merlot (you’re saying…did she really just compare Pinot to Merlot), it’s always been a little too light of a wine for me. I think the...

If you don’t get enough amazing food and drink in Seattle, then Portland, Oregon is just a short drive away. Our first stop was to check-in at the Kimpton RiverPlace Hotel which is right on the banks of the river. Having only been to Portland once and staying in the heart of the city, I wasn’t sure what to expect about this part of the city, but I wasn’t disappointed to find a mile long walkway by the river just out the door of the hotel that took you past restaurants, shops and beautiful views of boats, bridges and...

We started the day with a fantastic brunch at Café Flora in the Madison Park section of Seattle. Madison Park is a beautiful neighborhood packed with locally owned cafes, pubs, coffee and ice-cream shops, boutiques, and salons. In the spring of 1990, three old friends and long-time residents of this neighborhood met to discuss the possibility of buying the abandoned laundromat at 29th and East Madison and converting it to a vegetarian restaurant. Their motives were simple: to establish a friendly, community based vegetarian restaurant close to home, to develop a restaurant that could stand as a model business...

Sunny, breezy, 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Seriously… am I really in Seattle? This would be my 4th trip to this beautiful city and I kid you not, every time the weather has been absolutely stunning. I’m totally convinced that there is an urban legend going on about how terrible the weather is out here. In order to keep the population down, the locals all say it rains every day…but I think I’m on to them. Because really, between the amazing food and drink, nightlife scene, eclectic shops, Wild Alaskan King salmon for $11/lb, and...

You might think we were crazy to agree to the next leg of this trip – an almost 10 hour drive from Missoula to Anacortes, WA and then an hour ferry ride to Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands. Yes, we got up at 4am to do it in order to make a 2pm ferry and thank God there wasn’t any traffic. But if you fell in love with Nantucket the first time you stepped foot on that island, you will love Friday Harbor just as much and would understand why we just had to include this stop....

After a relaxing two days in Whitefish, we headed back to Missoula for a few days at the Blue Mountain Bed and Breakfast. You literally feel like you are heading into the woods as you travel up their mile long drive. Nestled on the mountainside among majestic ponderosa pines and meditative water gardens, Brady and Elaine Anderson-Wood have created a tranquil romantic getaway just minutes away from downtown Missoula. The Inn and gardens offer a breathtaking, birds-eye view of the Bitterroot River, surrounding mountains and valley below, including part of the historic Lewis and Clark Trail. We stayed in...

We couldn’t have found a more beautiful place to spend a few days after having to leave the luxurious and impressive Paws Up resort. Glacier National Park…could be the last best park! Virtually untouched, amazing country. Although we arrived on a cloudy day with intermittent rain showers and 40 degree temperatures, I think it made for even more stunning pictures. The clouds kept swirling in and amongst the mountain peaks and at some points on the trail you felt like you literally were “in the clouds.” Hiking the Highline Trail leads you through dense, forested paths, along lush, almost...

After a six and a half hour drive from Jackson, through Idaho and into western Montana, we were happy to arrive at The Resort at Paws Up in Greenough. Passing through the magnificent gates with the words, “Paws Up” etched on one side and “The Last Best Place” on the other, I couldn’t wait to experience what I had watched on videos for months before we got here. Sometimes there are no words for a place like Paws Up, but if I had put it into words it would be…inspiring, stunning, grand… special. There are few places that will...

The next day, after an amazing breakfast consisting of homemade quiche with asiago, spinach, kale, mushroom and onion all locally sourced, we headed out early to drive to a spot that Bob told us we might be able to see bison or antelope. Not sure if it was luck or the Universe conspiring to make this a perfect trip – but as soon as we turned onto Antelope Flats Rd – we saw a huge herd of bison in the distance. We drove a little further and spotted an antelope grazing in the field about 200 yards from the...