lon·gi·tude: a geographic coordinate that specifies the east–west position of a point on the Earth's surface, or the surface of a celestial body.
Boise, Idaho - 43.6150° N, 116.2023° W - Elevation: 2,730′
This is my second time visiting Boise and we really like the city. It feels very similar to Madison being the state capital and college town, but also very much like MOAB Utah with it's dessert climate, outdoor greenspace and recreation activities. The Boise River is well kept (meaning it's clean, clear and does not look like the Milwaukee River....), it's something I would actually float in which is saying something. But the Boise River in Boise is well known for it's daily use in the summer, we witnessed a ton of groups wading in the water, rafting, tubing, jumping off of bridges to go swimming and fishing all in Boise.
Boise has a great downtown area near the capital building and is full of fun social spaces, green spaces with live music and a high walkability score (at least in our opinion) to the Boise River greenway, the University and more. We’ve experienced beautiful weather both times and it is no wonder why people are moving here in droves. Other than it’s geographically not close to anything…. And the hiking is more dessert like than alpine, we could get onboard and persuaded to consider Boise.
el·e·va·tion: is an objects height above sea level
Joseph, Oregon - 45.3543° N, 117.2296° W - Elevation: 4,190′
Breathtaking... I wasn't sure what to expect for our first official PNW camping experience, but it could not have gone any better and Wallowa Lake camp ground was perfect! Great weather, no bugs, Cedarburg type town near our campsite and cool nights for campfires and s'mores. This part of Oregon is so off of the beaten trail I feel like it's a hidden gem just waiting to be discovered. Nestled between the south end of a scenic glacial lake and the towering peaks of the Wallowa Mountains, Joseph, Oregon is the small town next to the state park which reminded me a lot of Whitefish, Montana when we would visit as kids. The mountain valleys also reminded me so much of Glacier National Park, just on a smaller scale.
We car camped at Wallowa Lake State Recreation Area. Car camped you ask? Yep... Air mattress in the back of the car! The tent is to house our stuff! We purchased screens for the windows allowing us to sleep with the windows down and it worked great.
Dug Peak Trail
We decided to tackle Dug Peak, a 6 mile out and back with approximately 4,300 in elevation gain on a hot sunny day, and completely agree with the reviews that it is a difficult and steep trail. We stopped often in the shady spots, but both of us ran out of water from our camelbacks on the way down.
We crossed several mountain snow run off streams (which are always fun to maneuver across), and a good bit of loose rock scramble near the top. Due to the heat we made it a few more yards passed the cave embedded in the side of the hill before we called it, took in the views, had a snack and headed back down. It's always a disappointment not to complete the trail. I guess it's our competitive nature, but when I see my shadow looking like a toddler dragging behind with floppy arms and feet it's probably a good sign to take a break. Plus the cave was a bit concerning to us and we certainly didn't want to have a run in with a bear or cougar.
The trail was a little dusty...photo taken after hiking boots were removed!
Thankfully we were close to Hurricane Creek and decided to cool off and ice our joints!
Wallowa Tramway Summit Trails
Recovering from the day prior, we decided to take it easy and take the tram up to the 3700′ vertical ascent to the summit of Mt. Howard. The trip to the top of the mountain allows you to enjoy the 4000′ view as the gondola rises above Wallowa Lake Village and Wallowa Lake. They say they have Mountain Goats in the area, but we didn't come a crossed them and with the number of flip floppers that take the tram to the top - I would stay a way too! But it was a fun experience and something we've never done before.
Seattle, Washington - 47.6062° N, 122.3321° W - Elevation: 175′
This week we had a mid week visitor, Angela! Who was able to soak up the 70-80 degree temperatures before the 90-110 degree weather moved in! With two days I think we crammed in as much as we could with a day hike at Barclay Lake, two winery visits and a distillery tasting in Woodinville, a rushed market tour, and dinners in the Ballard neighborhood, I know and hope we left more to be desired for a second visit next year!
al·ti·tude: the vertical distance between an object and the earth's surface.
Port Ludlow, Washington - 47.9254° N, 122.6835° W - Elevation: 62'
Ted let me know that we would be celebrating my birthday early, but it was a surprise. Thinking we were heading to a new restaurant, I had no idea that we would be jumping on a chartered seaplane to the peninsula for dinner! Husband of the year nomination and winner in my book!
If you are familiar with the TV show Friends, I felt like Monica when she was dating Pete who flew her to Paris for dinner. In addition to one of the best gifts ever, the weather was great and we were able to see the Cascades, Mount Rainier, Puget Sound, peninsula islands, Seattle and surrounding neighborhoods, and my most recent favorite mountain range to look at, the Olympics. So enough text, let's see the videos and photos!
Richland, Washington - 46.2804° N, 119.2752° W - Elevation: 384′
When we were looking at our summer calendar we had two weekends were we could sneak in a visit to a buddy of Ted's in eastern Washington. Thankfully we picked one of the hottest weekends in Seattle's history to escape the un-airconditioned apartment and head east to an air conditioned home and boat outing on the Columbia River (granted it was a 110+ degrees there).
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region which begins in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada before twisting and turning in Washington and Oregon before it reaches the Pacific Ocean. If you've been to the Columbia River gorge area in Oregon you drove along the Columbia river to and from Portland and it serves as a natural border between Oregon and Washington for a good portion.
Granted the Tri-cities area of eastern Washington is more of a dry and brown dessert climate, the river scene reminded me a lot of a recent family Airbnb lake house weekend on Lake Winnebago and cruising the Fox River in Oshkosh. We had a great time with Joel and friends and look forward to cruising the river again next summer!
As I write this at 10:00pm, Scout and I are sitting on the much more comfortable patio where the weather channel tells me it's 87 degrees but feels like 90, while our thermostat inside says 90 degrees. Given we've never really trusted it's accuracy, it will be a warm night and a hot Monday as temperatures climb towards 110 degrees and it looks like Scout and I will be going on the road with Ted to stay in an air conditioned hotel for a few days.
No AC you ask?
Our apartment complex was built in the 1980's and unless it's newer construction, Seattleites haven't had a need for AC until recent years. Upon moving here our Seattle friends told us that no one has AC and that everyone just does windows and box fans when it gets warm.
Unfortunately these hot temperatures are unpresented for the area and probably going to become more prevalent. With eastern Washington experiencing 90 degree temperatures more often, we thought we might get lucky and find a window AC unit at a home good store in the tri-city area. No such luck. Every place we went was sold out of fans and air conditioners. When we called one Home Depot on our drive, the first thing the employee said was, "Thank you for calling Home Depot, we care completely sold out of fans and air conditioners, how can I help you?" But... I guess that's to be expected when they are anticipating 110-125 degrees this week.
Here's hoping July temperatures resume to some sort of normalcy!
Such wonderful and beautiful pictures, I enjoyed the visit!
what a fantastic entry!!!