Coffee Tour

I've made it my one quest as we recharge in Vashon to go on a coffee tour of the island.

So far, I've hit:

• Bob's Bakery (coffee + a whole wheat cinnamon bun)


• North End Coffee Stand/Wild Woman Espresso (just coffee)


• Vashon Island Coffee Roastery (coffee + a raspberry streusel muffin)

Possible other options to come...

• Monkey Tree Cafe (visited on 7/2/09; delicious STRONG coffee and savory and sweet croissants*) *for the uberbuddies, the blueberry rhubarb filling reminded me of a puffin muffin.


• Cafe Luna (visited on 7/4/09 for an iced mocha and again on 7/6/09 for straight up coffee and an apricot scone)


• Burton Coffee Stand


• Vashon Tea & Coffee Shop
  

Vashon Recharge

The view from Gib & Deb's

I have to give very high marks to spending time on Vashon Island. It doesn't hurt that Frank's aunt and uncle have an amazing view, but in addition the island has a wonderful laid back feel. Hightlights include a House Engine performance (Frank's uncle is the band's drummer); the Vashon Allied Arts garden walk and chamber music concert; and absolutely delicious meals using lots of ingredients from the farmers' market, but also Deb's garden.

This is a fantastic place to recharge!

Olympic Peninsula

Susan & Frank at Second Beach Frank in the Hoh Rain Forest

Squishy sea debris at Ozette Beach

On Wednesday, we took off for the Olympic Peninsula and Olympic National Park and managed to stay at two of the most remote campgrounds in the park: Ozette Lake and the Hoh Rain Forest.

Ozette Lake boasts the lake, of course, but also a 3.2 mile trail out to the beach. That's right - the beach is not accesible except by hiking 3 miles! Once out there we came across lots of sea debris. Squishy and smelly, it wasn't the most pleasant. We were awakened the next morning at the lake to the sounds of the camp host weed whacking his site. Fantastic!

On Thursday, we explored the Hoh Rain Forest, which is some of the last temperate rain forest around. Giant trees, mosses, ferns, and cloudy, moist weather abounded, and it got down to 36 overnight. Yikes!

Friday took us to La Push and Second Beach. The weather had turned sunny, and the hike to the beach was only about a mile. No sea debris here, just lots of sun and sand, which was a great way to close out the trip.

Mount St. Helen's National Volcanic Monument

Landscape view from Boundary Trail
Yesterday's drive up to Vashon, WA, from Portland, OR, included a detour to Mount St. Helen's National Volcanic Monument. It's about a two hour detour off of I-5.

What a cool place! We took two hikes: one along the boundary trail out from the Johnston Ridge Observatory and a second on the Hummocks Trail that highlighted the changed landscape post-1980 volcanic eruption. The hummock landscape is impressive, and we saw some extensive beaver dams in the wetland pools.

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Internet-less

We'd gotten so used to the internet everywhere, but now we've been without for over a week (except for Wednesday morning in Boise, ID). Horror!

I'm at a great cafe in Portland, OR, called Sweet Ambrosia, and let me just say: fresh strawberry muffins, chocolate hazelnuts scones, and strong coffee. It doesn't get much better!

Columbia River Gorge

We drove in to Oregon along the Columbia River Gorge, and I think this might be one of my absolute favorite spectacular places. I don't think it gets much more beautiful.

Portland area highlights include:

• Wilamette Valley wine (Lange, Erath, Sokol Blosser, and Elk Cove) and food (Hood River strawberries and Farm to Fork in Dundee).
• Portland Breweries tour (Widmer, Bridgeport, and McMenamins)
• Beaverton Farmers' Market (cherries, radishes, sugar snap peas, tomatoes, Rogue River Valley cheese)
• Pok Pok Thai Restaurant for some really unusual flavors.

The Wilds of Idaho

Idaho Nuclear Reactors (of particular interest to Emily), Frank at Craters of the Moon cinder cone, and Susan in Stanley, ID

Fank and I made it into Boise, ID, last night after a very long day driving from Yellowstone. We took the scenic route, which included:

• Craters of the Moon National Monument (a hike up a cinder cone & through a volcanic cave)
• Ketchum/Sun Valley, ID (we just happened on the farmers’ market – salad greens, chocolate brioches, and rhubarb pie)
• Stanley, ID (for my Dad!)
• Idaho Scenic Byways of the Sawtooth, Ponderosa Pine, Wildlife Canyon, and Payette River (lots of natural hot springs along several of these routes)

Yellowstone!

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone + rainbow

Bison on the trail at Slough Creek Thermal pool at Old Faithful
Susan at Yellowstone Lake

We were lucky to have more sun than in Grand Teton, but the clouds and rain stuck around bringing us rainbows 3 out of 4 nights.

Highlights included:
1. Hydrothermal features at Norris, Mammoth Springs, and West Thumb Geyser Basins, Mud Volcano, and Old Faithful, of course;
2. A Yellowstone Lake boat trip with a ranger of 39 summer seasons in Yellowstone;
3. Sightings of grizzly and black bear (from very far away) and bison (everywhere);
4. Amazing waterfalls – Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River, but also Osprey Falls, which required hiking down into, Sheepeater Canyon; and
5. Wonderful raging and beautiful rivers everywhere throughout the park.

Our lodging at Canyon Village was very basic, which ensured that we were out sightseeing every minute of the day. Major kudos to Roosevelt Lodge - our favorite place for a meal or drink by the fireplace.

Cloudy Grand Teton

The Tetons in sun, not a common site for us and Frank & Susan at Inspiration Pt.

On Tuesday, we finally saw the Tetons, and that may be our only sighting. We arrived on Sunday to cloudy, rainy weather, and it's stuck around all week with no signs of lifting before we leave the Teton area on Friday or Yellowstone next Tuesday!

It definitely feels like early spring in the Tetons. There's still quite a bit of snow and lots of mud. The nice thing is that it's still so cool, there aren't any mosquitos emerging from the melting snow! (Always a plus in my book.) We highly recommend Granite Canyon for hiking. It's off the beaten path, and we saw three moose. Cascade Canyon, our second hike, was much more crowded, but we did get out early enough and got far enough back in the canyon to watch an unsuspecting pika for a few minutes.

Local food has been hard to find because it's so early in the season and also by virtue of the stunning, stark, and exposed landscape. Therefore, we've enjoyed sampling local brews, mostly from Snake River Brewing, but the local Teton Village bar, the Mangy Moose, has quite a few other local brews on tap, so that's still part of our plan for the next two days.

High 53 & 3 More Moose

Yesterday's hike was through Granite Canyon in the southern portion of Grand Teton. The path follows Granite Canyon Creek, and it's anything but a creek at this time of year! (The left picture, you can just barely make out our friend, Moose #3.)

Frank and I thought we'd hike all day in the rain, but quickly learned that the weather shouldn't deter us in Grand Teton! The only significant rain was the first and last 15 minutes of the hike.

Wyomatoes

On Sunday morning, 6/7, Frank and I set off from Craig, CO, at 6:45am so that we would make it to Pinedale, WY between 11am – 2pm. Our quest: the Pinedale Farmers’ Market. Earlier in the week, I had emailed the market coordinator, Maggie Palmer, to confirm the date and hours of the market. You see, I’d come across Maggie’s name as the market coordinator both on the Eat Well Guide online and on the Wyoming Farmers’ Market website. Since the two sources had conflicting information, I emailed her, and she got back to me right away.

We arrived just after 11am, and due to the rainy and foggy weather, there were only 3 vendors, but lucky for us, we met Maggie and were able to purchase orange and red Wyomatoes and one Wyocucumber. I also picked up some of her Painted Sage Farm pancake mix and granola from another vendor.

We ate at a local restaurant, Rock Rabbit and had a spicy chicken jalapeno burrito and great coffee. More great locavore finds.

Moose

view from balcony

Yampa Valley view

6/6/09 hiking trail locale

Frank & Susan and a Trail Ridge Road view in Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park

We arrived in Teton Village, Grand Teton National Park on Sunday after leaving Rocky Mountain National Park via Trail Ridge Road. On the Bowen Gulch Trail on Saturday, we saw two other hikers, six elk, and one moose. The moose was quite a site to behold and a first for me. Honestly, all the wildlife freaks me out at bit!

We arrived late on Saturday in Steamboat Springs, CO, (Yampa Valley view picture is second from the top) and had dinner at Bill Miller’s son’s place, Sunpie’s Bistro. The day ended with a twilight drive to Craig, CO. We were up early at 6am and on the road with a stop in Pinedale, WY, for lunch and the farmers’ market. The drive up to Grand Teton was spectacular even though the mountains were mostly shrouded in low clouds. The top picture is the view from our balcony!

Rocky Mountains

On Tuesday, Frank and I left Denver and took the scenic drive through Central City and Nederland, CO, to Estes Park, CO, where his grandmother lives. As you can see from the first photo above, we encountered a lot of fog! The photo, by the way, is of the Blue Owl Bookstore and Coffeehouse that serves the best hot chocolate!

Since Tuesday, we've been enjoying family time and hiking. I've gotten local lettuce at the Safeway in town and a local sheep's milk cheese, Starburst, from the Wine and Cheese shop in Estes Park. (I found out about it's local offerings from an article in Sunset magazine.) I made it to the Estes Park Farmers' Market on Thursday morning and picked up asparagus, sugar snap peas, a cajun smoked salmon dip, jalapeno and cheese empanadas, and goat cheese from Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy. These will be tasty snack for the road as we leave Estes Park for Grand Teton on Saturday.

Our hikes: Cub Lake and Deer Mountain. There's still a lot of snow at the higher elevations in Rocky Mountain!