Seattle was blanketed with a very unusual week+ of snow. So we went cross-country skiing right from our front porch, and visited Lakewood Park.

Lakewood Park in southwest Seattle, covered by snow for cross-country […]

Over a basic continental breakfast at Waimea’s Kamuela Inn, we had a very pleasant conversation with a nice native Hawaiian golf couple from Honolulu.  Then it was off to the valleys and waterfalls of the northeast coast.

On the radio, the Civil Defense Authority warned of flash floods, and the north […]

The weather improved and we headed out of Waimea to the island’s northernmost communities.  Karen gravitated to Kawi’s small farmer’s market, where we bought delicious Filipino sweets and taro sweet buns under a sprawling banyan tree, and I took special note of the shaved ice store further along in Kapa’au […]

The pounding waves of The Big Island’s gently sloping barren western shores greeted us from the air.  If you fly in on the left side of the plane, and fly out on the right, you get great views that serve as a quick orientation for the visit ahead.

We could tell […]

Michael visited from Singapore for a counterclockwise extended weekend spin around the Olympic Peninsula. After heading across Puget Sound from Seattle, we checked out the historic logging town of Port Gamble, the expansive beaches and bluff-side trails of Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the […]

The 2008 Whidbey Island Solar Tour spanned the entire island, with many representations of active , passive design, hot water systems, air space heaters, thermal insulating concepts, and alternative building practices. It was part of the larger Solar Washingtonstatewide tour, and appeared to be both well organized and […]

Three days out in the woods of Oakville, learning about tree felling, bucking, and yarding with a great teacher and a fun group… Northwest Natural Resource Group organized the onsite, hands-on course for folks in the Northwest who wanted to learn how to properly wield a chainsaw to […]