Category: Travel Page 36 of 66

Globetrottin’

Glacier National Park

By Josh

On August 11, 2011

In Northwest Roadtrip

Mungy Moose in Coeur d’Alene

Rainbow Trout aquarium

Double Rainbow near Flathead Lake

Left the Cascades and drove across Washington and Idaho towards the Rockies. Stopped for lunch in Coeur d’Alene, where I had an excellent elk burger topped with brie and pear, and a blueberry-dressed salad. Very country-chic. We got off I-90 in Montana, and headed north through a dry thunderstorm. Saw an excellent double rainbow near Polson, and wondered what it all meant. At least the car got a natural shower. Arrived later than I had planned to Kendra and Dan’s, forgetting about the hour difference to mountain time, but they were good hosts and gave us beer for dinner anyways.

Flowers reclaiming the burned forest

Looking down on our campsite

Upper Kintla Lake

Woke early for our drive up to the park, with Kendra graciously accompanying us as a car shuttle between trailheads. It turned out that we couldn’t hike the route I had planned, because snow still blocked the pass, so we settled for an out and back to Upper Kintla Lake. It was still beautiful, and probably enough hiking for the moderate shape that we are in. I knew that California could make me soft, but I didn’t think it would happen so soon.

The friendly trail crew at our campsite saw a pair of bears splashing into the other side of the lake, but by the time I found my binoculars they had disappeared. Probably for the best, as I didn’t really want to have to use the bear spray Kendra insisted we take. We did hear barking twice on the trail, which was close enough for me. We did see lots of other friendly wildlife:

Zerene Fritillary

Big toad

Bunny

Quail

Fox

When we emerged from the woods dusty and sweaty, we returned to Kendra and Dan’s for showers and a bike excursion to their favorite bar in Kalispell. Moose’s Saloon had cheap pitchers of local beer, a sawdust floor, good “Montana-style” pizza. We got the jalapeno, sauerkraut and sausage special, which is as delicious as it sounds.

Washington Wedding

By Josh

On August 8, 2011

In Northwest Roadtrip

Conveniently viewable elk

Oregon’s Art Deco Capitol

Mt Hood from Portland

Drove across Oregon, by some Roosevelt Elk that were conveniently sitting in an elk viewing area. Then north on I-5, stopping at a hellish mall in Woodburn for last minute hiking acquisitions at the Columbia outlet. Then through Portland, where we didn’t stop to put a bird on it. We did enjoy an excellent burger at the Willamette Burger Company in Salem, and got a good look at the art deco capital building.

Space Needle and Experience Music

Pike Place and the SBX Radar

Fish

Spent the evening in Seattle, where we enjoyed four kinds of meats and five kinds of scotch at Quinn’s. In the morning we toured the Experience Music Project, where I learned more about Nirvana than I ever expected to, and was actually out-dorked by the Battlestar Galactica exhibit. Bought some excellent salmon jerky at Pike Place, which we resolved to eat before entering the woods, as its smell would surely attract a bear. Also spied the Sea-Based X-Band Radar in dry dock across the sound, which lead me into a lengthy discussion of the suitability of various missile defense system designs. Felt like 17.477 with Ted Postol all over again…

Kassie and Monica’s wedding was lovely, ranking up there in my top three most picturesque Jewish lesbian ceremonies.

Oregon Coast

By Josh

On August 5, 2011

In Northwest Roadtrip

Drive thru tree

Ruth swinging inside a redwood

Left Oakland after a short breakfast with James, and drove north on 101. Stopped in the Redwood National Park to view some living giants, and to drive through a tree. Saw a truck inching through the hole, with the wife of the driver looking on telling him not to be a pussy. The Fit had more clearance, so we looped around to do it again. Got our money’s worth out of those five bucks.

Petting a tiger

On a friend’s recommendation, we stopped at the West Coast Game Park to pet their menagerie of baby animals. The place doesn’t feel like a professional zoo, the bears look quite sad in their cages, and the goats are pretty aggressive in demanding treats from the children, but the opportunity to pet a 15 week old tiger is not to be missed. I didn’t pay them $10 for a posed photo, so got to play photographer while Ruth tried her best Rafiki impression.

Oregon Coast

Starfish!

Proceeding up the coast, we climbed sea mounts at the Whaleshead, and splashed into the frigid water to marvel at starfish. We gorged ourselves on oysters from Clausen farms in North Bend. We bought one hundred for $60 to take advantage of their volume pricing, but were saddened to only be able to comfortably eat fifteen each. The creamy silverpoint oysters filled us up faster than the bluepoints we were weaned on in Massachusetts, and we couldn’t help but feel like failures. We donated the rest to a friendly park ranger at the campground where we spend the night, and waddled to the beach to watch the sunset.

The Visit Home

By Josh

On June 26, 2011

In Travel

Went home this week for a myriad of reasons: Hannah’s 21st birthday, to help stack wood with Janet and Lou, the Knight Conference at the Media Lab, and just to smell Vermont’s sweet summer air. Ate dozens of oysters, buckets of steamers, at least three lobsters each, and the world’s best homemade key lime pie. Laid out under the stars gazing at the milky way, until we were frightened inside by the terrifying scream of what we can only imagine was a bobcat. Swam in a river, slid down a waterfall, and kayaked around an island.

I know you say that you can’t go home again, but I sure enjoy trying.

Pastoral Farm

Barcelona

By Josh

On December 29, 2010

In Travel

After the emotionally exhausting trip to Belchite, we continued to Barcelona for some traditional sightseeing. We stayed at a “Medium Hotel” but I felt the room was more of a small. Luckily we’re a close family, and we survived three nights in a single room together.

Barcelona Apartments

Dining at El Glop

We adjusted to the Spanish ritual of a late dinner, and ventured out on the street at 11pm on our second night. The closest restaurant recommended by the guidebook was El Glop, and it lived up to its name. The secret ingredient to their sangria was Fanta, which Hannah thought was delightful and Mom and I thought was gross. However, the calcots (spring onions) in an eponymous dipping sauce were excellent. We were provided with bibs and surgical gloves to eat them, which turned out to be necessary. At first I ate one without peeling it, which is the faux-pas equivalent of just biting into corn on the cob without husking. The bibs kept the glop from our shirts, and the fanta-sangria kept everyone in good spirits.

Antiques Dealing

Republican Coin

We were excited to find an antique market in front of the main cathedral, where we bought newspapers and currency from the war era. Mom befriended a seller there named Jackie, and she was kind enough to give us an original pin with the Republican colors.