El Yunque National Forest and Luquillo Beach

Typical rain forest scene

After the hike

El Yunque National Forest in eastern Puerto Rico is the only tropical national forest in the United States. It only took us an hour to drive there, but the worst part was driving up a steep, narrow, and windy road to the visitors center in the rain. It was so crowded that we had to park by a picnic area, and some cars were just parking on the side of the road. While the grandparents hung around the area, we hiked down to see an impressive waterfall called La Mina Falls, where people were swimming in the pool below it. When we hiked back up, the sun came out for just enough time for us to finish the hike and eat our picnic lunch. We then drove all the way down the mountains to Luquillo Beach, which is supposedly the nicest beach in mainland Puerto Rico. The day was topped off by a chicken and ribs dinner near the airport. 

La Mina Falls

Luquillo Beach

On the hike

Walking in Old San Juan

A typical street
scene in Old
San Juan

San Juan skyline and the rest of the
larger fort

 Today we took the ferry across San Juan Bay to Old San Juan, where we walked around and saw some of the old sites of the city. The main attractions were the two forts, both built by the Spanish, and situated on either side of the peninsula. The first one we saw was right at the entrance to the bay. Together with another smaller fort across the bay, it protected the San Juan from foreign attack. The Americans later used the forts to spot Nazi ships during WW2. We walked through the six-level fort, saw a re-enactment of how the soldiers used muskets and cannons, and enjoyed the views of the Caribbean Sea. Afterwards, we walked through one of the oldest houses in the Americas, saw a cathedral, and grabbed lunch. We then saw the other fort in Old San Juan, which had less levels but was larger. It was a fun day, and we hope to see the rain forest tomorrow.

San Juan Harbor and the mountains

Rooftops of Old
San Juan

Passageway through
fort #1- looks to
me like an ancient
metro station!

A pile of
cannonballs

Inside the
cathedral

The first fort

Levittown, Puerto Rico

Ocean view from our hotel
room

After landing in San Juan very early the morning after Christmas, we drove west to our Comfort Inn in a town called Levittown. Our grandparents had arrived there Christmas Day. After a few hours of sleep, we woke up to rain showers outside. However, it was sunny during the day. This let us swim in the hotel's pool, and at a nearby public beach. The beach included warm waters and incredible tropical scenery. At the hotel, we got a chance to exchange gifts with our grandparents for a belated Christmas celebration. We all walked to an authentic restaurant and had dinner there. Tomorrow we plan on visiting Old San Juan.

San Juan from our
room

The beach

Getting a Christmas Tree

The Triadelphia Christmas
Tree Farm

With nice weather still around, we drove all the way up to the Triadelphia Christmas Tree Farm to chop down a tree and bring it home, which is a tradition we enjoy every year. We chose a healthy douglas fir tree to chop down. Though, once you chop it down, you have to get it shaken off and then squeezed and tied tightly so that it will fit in or on top of your car. The people there do it for you, so it is hard to keep track of your tree, especially on such a crowded day. We lost track of ours for a while, and got it confused with another family's. But, in the end, we found it, bought it, and took it home. It looks beautiful in our living room!

Final product: Success!

Us with our tree

Cleaning and
tying proccess

To Downtown D.C.!

Washington Monument- with some
cherry blossoms in bloom (?)

MLK Memorial

We ran into a certain former
senator- can you guess who it
is?

With Thanksgiving weekend still going on, and 65-degree weather, we decided to get out of the house and take the Metro down to the national mall. We saw most of the memorials, the tidal basin (though none of the cherry trees there were blooming), and got ourselves a nice, long walk. It was fun to see the nation's capital again!

Korean War Veterans
Memorial

Tidal Basin

Thanksgiving in D.C.

The feast is prepared!

With my dad in Oregon, it was just us and Abahagoy for Thanksgiving this year. We had dinner with him on Wednesday night, and had another dinner on Thursday night at Amoy's. There was much to be eaten, and there was much to be taken home afterwards! 

Fall Sugarloaf Climb

Countryside Below

Fall foliage was
at peak

At the summit

Today, on a lovely fall evening, we decided to make our annual trip to Sugarloaf Mountain, MD, while the colors were at their peak. There were beautiful views of countryside and mountains to see. What we also saw was more people than we did on our entire backpacking trip in the North Cascades last summer. After the climb, we bought pumpkins and other goodies from the nearby Comus Market. 

Mountains in the
distance

Marta Woodward Debuts!!!

Ready to impress

The season is here! Marta Woodward of the National Philharmonic Choir is finally singing at Strathmore Concert Hall! Today's performance was an opera written by Wagner, about a Roman man named Rienzi, who led the peasants to rebel against the nobles and the aristocracy. But, when his followers realized that he had caused other nations to now reject them, they turned against him and killed him. Accompanying them was a large orchestra and another men's chorus. Next performance is Bach on October 31st, followed by Messiah on December 20th.

A fancy dinner

The orchestra and men's
chorus

Ready to perform! Marta is in the box
up and to the left of the stage

Footgolf at McNary

After the round

We had always wanted to play "footgolf" at McNary Estates, so we decided to go today. The objective is to kick a soccer ball into a hole, just like one would do in golf. We played on an eighteen-hole course. We did well for first-timers, finishing in 1.5 hours. We were required to wear polo shirts, and there were a few lakes and sand traps to dodge, but we had great fun at the course. It was also nice to visit McNary again.

A Trip to Lincoln City Beach

On the beach it was very
windy

Today we drove an hour and a half from Newberg to Lincoln City to spend a day at the Oregon Coast. When we first got there, we took a short hike up the beach to Lands End, which is visible in the picture to the left (it is the mountain on the right). Once there, we were able to see starfish, sea anemones, and even a large jellyfish! We then walked back to our car and drove south to Mo's seafood restaurant. There, we ate their delicious clam chowder and other seafood.  Afterwards was our drive back to Newberg. Though the water was too cold for swimming, we still had a wonderful time!

At Mo's

On the beach

The rocky
coastline

Day in Seattle, WA

Space Needle on a sunny day

On our way back from the North Cascades, we decided to spend the day in Seattle. We started by walking through Seattle Center, which is the area where Seattle's most iconic tourist destinations are. We ended up taking a "duck tour" of the city, on a vehicle that can drive and turn into a boat while in the water. As our very comedic guide drove us through the city, we learned it's history. It was built in the 1850s as a cowboy town, but in 1889, it was destroyed by a fire. Decades later, the 1962 World's Fair was hosted there. It was there that they built the space needle and the city's monorail. After the land tour was the water tour, where our guide drove us through Union Lake. We passed by several house boats and kayaks, and saw the grand skyline of Seattle from the water. After the tour, we ate burgers and then walked down the waterfront to Pike Place Market. There, we saw the famous seafood shop and the original Starbucks. According to our guide, there are over 130 Starbucks in Seattle. The day would not have been completed without our climb up the space needle. From the top, we could see the skyline, the Olympic Mountains, Mt. Rainier and the Cascades, and the Pudget Sound. We closed up by a three-hour drive south to Newberg. 

View southeast from the top
of the needle

Pudget Sound

Original Starbucks

In the Pike Market

Backpacking in the North Cascades

About to begin

On Sunday, August 16th, our family drove way up from Newberg to the Wenatchee National Forest, Washington, to go backpacking for five nights. We camped at the trailhead that night, and headed out the next morning and into the Glacier Peak Wilderness. That day, we walked through woodland until we arrived at a beautiful meadow where we could see rugged peaks in almost every direction. We hiked up the face of one of them, until we reached a dusty campsite which looked down on the valley. The next day, we hiked up and over a glacier! Though we tripped and fell a little on the way down, it was worth the experience. We hiked down to a crystal-clear lake, and from there, it was up to a pass where we spent our second night. Deer was our problem. They circled our campsite all night long, looking for our clothes to chew on, but they were packed away. We awoke the next morning to beautiful sunshine, perfect weather for hiking over two passes! From there, we caught our first view of Glacier Peak (10541 ft.). We hiked down into a valley, only to slog up about 2000 feet to Buck Creek Pass, where we camped. Perhaps the most impressive scenery of the trip was caught there. We saw the sunset over Glacier Peak, which definitely lives up to its name. After a peaceful night, we hiked a long ways down into the Buck Creek Valley and the trailhead, where we spent our last night. Weather was sunny the whole trip with little smoke or haze, though we could easily spot the positions of nearby wildfires. We averaged about eight miles a day, and ate freeze-dried food all almost the whole time. The trip ended with a long drive west to Seattle. 

We made it!

Day 3: With Glacier Peak

Day 3: Miners Ridge

Day 1: View from camp

Day 3: Sunrise from camp

Day 2: Camp at Cloudy
Pass

Day 2: Lyman Lake

Day 1: Spider Meadow

Day 2: Spider Glacier

Day 2: Lunch