TPThursday: Go North “Young” Woman

We’d decided to do something different for my birthday: stay home.

And we stuck to that plan until 1 p.m. when we did something so spontaneous that we both were still shaking our heads as we stepped ashore in Victoria, British Columbia a few hours later.


We often describe our travels as going ‘where the winds blow us’ but this one struck with gale force. I’d been working on a blog post and mentioned Victoria . . . an hour later we were packed and in line on the Seattle waterfront ready to board the day's last sailing of the Victoria Clipper, a high speed catamaran that would whisk us off to what has been a three night stay in the “City of Gardens.”



Victoria, B.C. is at the southern tip of Canada’s Vancouver Island. Cradled between Haro Strait and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, it is 71 miles from Seattle, just under three hours away on The Clipper (which blasts along at 30 knots, or 35 miles an hour).



Incorporated in 1862 and also celebrating a birthday – its 150th – this year, the city is decked out in its usual summer finery. . .including its trademark hanging baskets. The flower baskets have been a tradition since 1937. There are 1,500 baskets adorning the old-fashioned light posts. (And if you want to replicate those baskets at home, the city’s web site, www.victoria.ca offers a brochure with instructions.)



Every street corner is decked out with a garden. This Orca whale topiary sits across the street from the visitor’s center at the Inner Harbor.


While its Butchart Gardens is the most famous of its gardens there are so many parks (78 in Greater Victoria) that we usually don’t have time to visit Butchart, as was the case again this trip. Our first day was spent strolling through Victoria’s many gardens and parks that are within an easy walk of the Inner Harbor where we were staying.
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One such place is  the beautiful lawn of  the iconic  Empress Hotel, pictured above.  We  had a special treat: watching a bride and groom starting a new life together at the lawn’s rose trellis.



Only a couple blocks from the Inner Harbor, we strolled through the grounds of St. Ann’s Academy National Historic Site (835 Humboldt St., www.stannsacademy.com ). Just beyond it is the 25 hectare, or 62-acre Beacon Hill Park which led us to the seafront promenade that stretches for miles along Dallas Road. 






We walked nine miles as we explored but a corner of this magnificent city of some 80,000 people but in full disclosure, our long walk was in part to ease the guilt of  the amount of food we had consumed the night before at our favorite restaurant, The Tapa Bar, (620 Trounce Alley, 250-383-0013, www.tapabar.ca)  and although we turned down the offer for dessert, the waitress decided my big day shouldn’t go past without. . . .



That’s it for this week’s Travel Photo Thursday, so head over to Budget Travelers Sandbox for more photos.  I’ll tell you more about the gem of a place - often overlooked by travelers - that we stayed at here in my next post.

For more information on Victoria, B.C.: www.tourismvictoria.ca or the city’s blog  www.goinglocal.tourismvictoria.ca  For information on the Victoria Clipper, www.clippervacations.com .

Travel Tip Tuesday: The Big, Fat Check’s in the Mail

We are skeptical of things ‘too good to be true’. So with skepticism at an all-time high, we tried out an on-line shopping site that had been recommended by a trusted friend, although it really did sound too good to be true. 

But you know what? 

In this case it was true! 

We’ve since received nearly $200 in rebates from that site simply by logging into it and then heading to our favorite on-line retailers, especially travel sites.

We don’t book any travel related item – airlines, cars, or hotels – without first checking to see if they are listed on Ebates.  And most are found there – the site has some 1,500 participating on-line stores now. 

Just a few examples: 
Hotels: Expedia, Hotwire, Hotels.com, Courtyard, Days Inn, Fairmont, Intercontinental;
Cars: Budget and Enterprise
Air:  CheapoAir, Air France, American, Alaska Air.

We’ve also purchased travel clothes like my Chico’s Zenergy, (that’s what I am wearing in the photo) and Land’s End outdoor clothing, our Clark’s walking shoes and my Baggallini purses and totes (pictured above) through Ebates.

While checking the site this morning I see that Amazon is now among its vast inventory of stores, so our travel books and novels will be ordered via Ebates as well.

With a nod to our Canadian readers, the site offers many of your stores as well.


Ebates  does as it claims: “Big Fat Checks” as they call them arrive quarterly.  We’ve recommended the program to so many family and friends that we decided to let you in on this ‘deal finder’ as well.  We’ve added it as a recommendation on  Joel’s Deal Finder page as well.

Ebates was founded in 1998 by two Deputy District Attorneys in the Silicon Valley, California. They used to prosecute on-line fraud and identity theft before starting this venture.

Click on any of the highlighted Ebates words in this post to go directly to that site and check it out!

Note: As with all our tips, this is intended to show you how we save travel dollars.  We’ve not been paid to promote Ebates.  (In full disclosure, if you click a link on this post and then buy from a business listed there, we will get credit for the referral and you get a bonus as well. All  Ebates customers can  participate in the referral program  - and you’ll probably want to do so after you see how it works!)

TravelnWrite: What a Trip!

I took a European hike then a bike ride through a scenic part of Canada and wrapped up my travels sipping a chilled rose during a shopping tour in Provence.

What a trip! 

And the best part was I completed it before I finished my morning coffee in Kirkland. I’d armchair-traveled through the “blogosphere”.

We had no idea of the travel adventures to be found in that techno-world until we began publishing TravelnWrite three years ago this month.

We began TravelnWrite to keep a handful of family and friends updated on our travels. . .well, that was the idea anyway.  Back then we didn’t really understand what a blog was – some sort of a bulk email thing or such. (I just learned that one in six people in the world write blogs of some sort. Statistics show most fall by the wayside in the first couple of years . . . but here we are: still traveling ‘n’ writing.)


What a trip! 
And now, three years and 450 posts later, our blog readership has far surpassed our wildest expectations.  Okay, so in truth, we didn’t have ‘blog growth projections’ when we started it. 


ClustrMaps (that map on the right column of our home page) shows that we’ve had more than 13,700 visits from more than 120 countries. And our page views have topped 63,000 meaning someone out there – other than that original handful of family and friends - is reading TravelnWrite. 

So a toast of thanks to you all! We are glad you’ve stopped by and hope our tips and tales will keep you coming back often.

What a trip!  
As we’ve learned the last few years, ‘the blog’ -- once considered a hobbyist activity -- has evolved to be a valid on line tool not just an electronic diary; the source of sound advice and information on an infinite number of topics, including our favorite, travel.

We’ve discovered other travel enthusiasts in the blogosphere, people who are specialists in particular travel techniques and/or destinations. That trip I described above was taken by reading the blogs listed below. These are some of our favorites and I’ve included links to them.

Go ahead. Click a link. Expand your blogosphere armchair travels. . . there’s a whole new world out there waiting to be explored! 

* Hike Bike Travel  for outdoor and adventure travel inspiration written by avid traveler, Leigh McAdams, in Canada.

* Inside Journeys for an insiders guide to Jamaica (and other places as well) written by Marcia Mayne , who lives there.

* Paris Movie Walks and Easy Hiker Michael Schuermann He and his wife, Marlys, discovered hiking in their 40’s and are sharing some of their favorite European finds with readers in the Easy Hiker blog and Paris Movie Walks, as the name implies points out sites in Paris that you've seen in movies filmed there (he has a guide book of the same title which you can find on our Amazon carousel.)

* Lost in Arles by Heather Robinson an American who lives in Arles, France will take you on magical journeys through Provence.

* Budget Travelers Sandbox  is the creator of Travel Photo Thursday – a blogosphere event we wouldn’t miss each week. It’s written by Nancie McKinnon, a Canadian who teaches in Daejon, Korea and travels the world five months a year.

How about you?  Have any travel blogs you'd like to recommend? If so, please send an email or leave a comment below.


Hope you’ll come back later this week when we’ll have some money-saving travel tips on Travel Tip Tuesday, a new Washington State destination on Wednesday and a photo essay on Travel Photo Thursday.

TPThursday: Jewels of the “Emerald Empire"

Our recent road trip took us through an area of Washington State that guide books call “The Palouse” (pah-loose) or sometimes, the Inland Empire.



A more appropriate title – at least this time of the year – is The Emerald Empire because for as far as one can see, its gently rolling hillsides are carpeted in emerald green.

The Palouse, my Emerald Empire, is one of America’s largest agricultural areas growing wheat, barley, dry peas and lentil crops.



We followed a road less travel through the Emerald Empire; an almost empty-now winding two-lane road - the old State Route 195 – that led us to and past some of the state’s best, but little known, travel jewels.



Jewels like Steptoe Butte and its surrounding 150-acre State Park. Once called Pyramid Peak this 3,612-foot butte was named after Lt. Col. Edward Steptoe, who along with 156 men of the Regular Army suffered a major defeat against a contingent of Nez Perce, Cour d’ Alene and Spokane Indians here.



In Uniontown, population 345, the church spires tower over the town. This church, St. Boniface, was founded by Father Anton Joehren – it is the first consecrated Roman Catholic Church in the state.



And that building to the right of the church is The Churchyard Inn Bed and Breakfast and Social House. (click the link to see interior shots).



On State Route 195 just north of Uniontown we passed the Wagon Wheel Fence. My photo shows just a section of the fence that is made out of more than 1,000 antique wagon and tractor wheels.



The fence borders the 1935 Dahmen Barn which has undergone an extensive renovation and now houses artist studios and galleries.  (click the link for more information on hours/artists).



Our favorite jewels were the small towns themselves. One of the last we were to visit before entering Oregon was the unincorporated township of Anatone, where the welcome sign said it all.

Note:  We traveled but a portion of what is called the Palouse Scenic Byway, a 208-mile route over roads that follow long ago Indian and wagon trails and railroads. It is an area with a number of recreational sites and the place to go for biking, hiking, camping and fishing. For more information visit the website, Palouse Scenic Byway, or give them a call at the Chamber of Commerce, 415 N. Grand Ave., Pullman, 509-334-3565, 800-365-6948 (U.S. country code is 001).

If you missed last week's look at some of the other small towns we visited, click here. Next week I’ll show you some of our Oregon favorites, but now, it is Travel Photo Thursday so head over to Budget Travelers Sandbox for more photos.

WAWednesday: Where you told us to go

Taking a road trip through Washington State is like putting one of those 1,000- piece puzzles together. Little bits of scenery joining together to create a big picture.

Our car-journey took us east from Puget Sound across barren, scrub-covered hills, through lush agricultural acreage, along small and mighty waterways to Spokane, the state’s second largest city. We then headed to northeastern Oregon and back through Walla Walla, hub of Washington’s original wine country.

Our routing sparked memories among many of you.  We heard from several and your recommendations were so good that we wanted to share them with others. 

Where you told us to go. . .
 
Mark in Florida: suggested driving Scenic Route, SR 30 a major east-west route that runs from Astoria to the Idaho border along the southern shore of the Columbia River. Although large portions of it have been replaced with Interstate 84, it diverges along the way. Mark says they particularly enjoyed the views from its scenic overlooks.

Speaking of the Columbia River, Sue in Kirkland reminded us of  the 15 life-sized horse sculptures galloping along the hillside after crossing the river at Vantage. (Click the blue link above to read a Seattle Times article about them.)


Sue also recommended a stop in Heppner, Oregon, (Irish country with a 20-foot shamrock in the heart of town) and a slogan, ‘Where Rural is for Real”.  This place, right out of a Norman Rockwell painting, was settled in 1887. It’s the county seat of Morrow County and “the gateway to the Blue Mountains”.

Karen in Yakima and Mark mentioned Palouse Falls, a striking waterfall with a drop of 198-feet in the midst of a 105-acre campground, about 23 miles from the town of Washtucna in Franklin County. (The link takes you to the Falls website).


Mary in Pasco sent a couple of suggestions for us to explore while in Spokane:


 Mary Lou’s Milk Bottle Diner (802 W. Garland Ave., 509-325-1772) a funky eatery with a distinctive milk bottle façade.  It had just reopened in May following completion of repairs to repair damages sustained in a fall fire.

We took Mary’s suggestion so seriously about Happy Hour in the Peacock Room of Spokane’s stately Davenport Hotel (10 South Post, 509-455-8888) that we went there both evenings we were in town.

Our Washington road trip tales continue tomorrow on TPThursday when we’ll show you some of the “Emerald Empire’s” Jewels. 

Travel tip:  I make notes about each of our journeys in my own custom travel journal (the bound, paper kind) and I record each suggestion there, who made it and when.  Not only is it a good source of information for future trips, but we also then know who to contact for more tips about a certain place.

Note: If you have more road trip suggestions, please add them to the comments below or shoot us an email and we will add them.


Photos, in order:  Wind machines between Ellensburg and Vantage; the bridge over the Columbia River at Vantage, the freeway in the pouring rain during our Spokane stop, wall paper and sconce in the stately Peacock Room.

TSA ‘Trusted Travelers’ . . . maybe yes, . . .maybe no

It seemed appropriate to board a plane displaying Disney’s Goofy and Mickey Mouse after our first experience with TSA’s PreCheck ‘Trusted Travelers’ program at SeaTac Airport.

Weeks ago I told you about our application, fee payment and screening (both on paper and in person) and our ultimate acceptance into the United State’s international travelers’ Global Entry program. Global Entry participants automatically qualify for TSA’s Precheck, and its ‘trusted travelers’ faster security lanes (which had just opened at SeaTac when I wrote about the programs).

In fact, our recent introduction to ‘fast track’ on our Alaska Airlines flight to Arizona was so “Goofy"  that I wasn’t even going to tell you about it.  I figured somehow we – or Alaska – had goofed up.
  
Welcome to “Trusted Traveler”


I was the only passenger using the  fast track lane being manned by three TSA agents (who watched me closely) as I sailed through – wearing jacket and shoes, with computer and the quart-sized plastic bag of liquids tucked in the carryon. It went through the x-ray machine, I walked through the metal detector.  One minute max.

Joel, on the other hand, was sent to the slow – take-off-shoes-coats-belt-empty-pockets line – because the TSA agent said his ‘trusted traveler’ number didn’t appear in the boarding pass bar code.  He couldn’t ‘fast track’.  Twenty minutes later after his lane snaked its way through the screening we were off to the gate.

"We must have done something wrong. . ."


Agreeing that we’d done something wrong, Joel talked with Alaska mileage plan representatives who offered some possible reasons that the number which shows clearly on his computer profile didn’t print. Seemed odd, since mine did.

 Mystery solved


It was recent media articles that cleared up the mystery for us.  It wasn’t us.  Others in the program are having the same experiences and what’s more. . .

It is supposed to work that way!


You see a  ‘trusted traveler’ really isn’t trusted – not all the time, anyway.

We’d been told there’s always a chance of ‘random and unpredictable security measures’.  And what that means is that a certain number of ‘trusted’ travelers don’t know until their boarding pass is scanned whether they will be allowed to use the ‘fast track’ line or not. 

Good for security but bad for streamlining that process when one of a traveling duo is ‘trusted’ and the other one is not.

Now we read in  the Seattle Times that the TSA is expanding its ‘trusted traveler’ program at SeaTac to allow participation by passengers of other airlines (those who’ve passed the additional background and security screens, that is).

We’ll keep you posted on our future ‘trusted traveler’experiences, but for now taking a road trip in our car, riding an Amtrak train or sailing across Puget Sound on a ferry sounds mighty inviting!

Note:  The TSA PreCheck is a pilot program being tested among a small number of airports and travelers.  By the end of the year it is scheduled to be operating at 35 U.S. airports and involve passengers of six airlines. If you want more information about eligibility and participation visit: www.tsa.gov and for Global Entry www.globalentry.gov.

TPThursday: Wallowa Lake Magic–The End of the Road

The place, quite simply, is magical. 




Wallowa Lake is a magical place somewhat off the beaten path.  Oregon’s Highway 82 literally dead ends here in the midst of the Eagle Cap Wilderness in the northeastern tip of the state.  It took us about five hours on our meandering-the-back-roads journey south to get there from Spokane, Washington.

Our destination was the near century-old wood-frame lodge nestled in the Wallowa Mountains at the head of the five-mile long, 283-foot deep lake.

The charms of the lodge, its lakeside setting, and the nearby tiny town of Joseph conspired to cast a spell over us three years ago when we celebrated our anniversary there and drew us back to celebrate again this year. 

At the time it was built in 1923 to serve as an exclusive hunting lodge, the present-day hotel  was accessible only by boat.  Today a two-lane paved road follows one side of the lake shore. It leads to the lodge and other vacation rentals, a state park  and campground.




The lodge has undergone extensive restoration (bathrooms are quite modern in each of the rooms) but the old-world charm remains in the décor and furnishings. Floors creak when walked on and windows squeak when opened.



We’d didn’t pull the roller blind at night so that the morning sun would act as Mother Nature’s gentle alarm clock as it climbed over the mountain and peeked through our lace and floral chintz curtains.



Old frames displayed similarly aged art; the furnishings were mid-century antiques. There were no telephones or televisions in the rooms. A large stone fireplace, not a Wii Room, was the attraction in the lobby. (Okay, so it was Wi-Fi equipped).

Guests and deer co-mingled on the expansive eight-acre grounds on which the lodge and its more recently constructed eight freestanding cabins stand.  Deer were so tame they’d let you photograph them as they rested. A fellow guest hand fed carrots to the deer.



At the edge of the grounds the Wallowa River flows into the lake. It is the place of afternoon strolls.



Or perhaps simply relaxing tucked among the trees at river’s edge.



Had there been more hours in the day I might have been tempted to sit at the desk in the corner of the lobby and write inspired prose in my journal. . .



Even with a leisurely pace, our days went quickly.  Before we knew it the day had slipped away. The sun was easing itself down over the lake, turning the trees to silhouettes; the only sounds the cicadas, an occasional bird and the rustle of the pine needles in the breeze.



Yes, Wallowa Lake is a magical place. The kind of place where anniversaries are best celebrated.

It’s Travel Photo Thursday so be sure to visit Budget Travelers Sandbox.

Click the link for additional information on Wallowa Lake Lodge.  For information on Joseph, Oregon  and the recreational activities nearby:  http://www.josephoregon.com


Walking distance from the lodge: The Wallowa Lake Tramway, with gondolas that whisk you 3,700 feet up the side of   Mount Howard; (the highest ascent in North America).  At the top there’s a restaurant, hiking trails .

WAWednesday: An American Soul Trip

Sometimes even the shortest of trips can replenish the soul and renew the spirit. Our road trip last week through America’s Pacific Northwestern states,Washington and Oregon, did just that.
  
Because we live in the fast-paced, high-rise, high-tech corridor of Washington’s Puget Sound area (3.5+ million people; more than half the state’s population) it is easy to forget there really are places where life’s focus isn’t the newest computer application or transit route.
 
Today, in honor of the Fourth of July, America’s Independence Day, I want to share some scenes from our journey:

Grain elevators in the background and the gazebo at

Rosalia, Washington. Population 627. Founded 1872.

The county courthouse and gazebo at

Enterprise, Oregon. Population 1,895.

Incorporated 1887.

Wallowa, Oregon. Population 869. Incorporated 1899.

A private home in Walla Walla, Washington. Population 31,731. Incorporated 1862.

Flag on Main Street in front of the town’s century-old, (still operating) meat store in Cle Elum, Washington. Population 1,872.  Incorporated 1902.

 

To those of you celebrating the Fourth of July, where ever you may be, we send our wishes for a day filled with family, friends, and patriotism.  Please join us  tomorrow on Travel Photo Thursday when we’ll take you to Wallowa Lake and its historic Lodge.