This trip to Florida was essentially un-planned, so we had no reservations other than one we made in Key West a year ago. We had made the reservation because we could cancel it without penalty, so why not? Now, although Key West isn’t actually our favorite destination on the planet, it’s not so bad in February so to-Key-West-we-will-go.
The Keys were hit hard by Hurricane Irma last fall and we were curious about how they had fared. Continue reading Florida Keys after Hurricane Irma
We weren’t going to do it. We had a big year last year, were away for roughly six months total, and figured we had a lot to accomplish at home. But then the Great Deep Freeze happened over the holidays and that was that. Let’s go find someplace warm. Continue reading On The Road Again with Bambi
We spent a great final four days in LaConner before hitching up the Airstream, saying goodby to Esmeralde, and heading home. We left the boat in the care of the folks at Tomco, who would go through our punch list, make a few tweaks we requested, and pack her up for her truck ride across the country. Final goodbyes — to the people, the town, and our favorite new hangouts — and off we rolled on a grey, drizzly, quintessential PNW day. Continue reading Homeward Bound
We arrived in LaConner, WA on March 13 to see our new boat for the first time. She is scheduled to be launched at the end of the month. This time frame gives us great opportunity to see the final build process on the boat, and also to explore the the Pacific Northwest, which we have never visited before. Continue reading The Waiting Game
We left our campground outside of Astoria in the rain (again) and drove to 3 Cups Coffee for a snack: more great coffee, and the best savory sausage tomato scone you could imagine! Debated a trip over the Astoria-Megler Bridge to see Ilwaco on the WA side of the Columbia River and to visit the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center at North Head, but the rain depressed our adventurous instincts so we pointed the bow towards our next destination, Portland OR, about a two hour drive along the Columbia River. This route also put us on I-5 for a short distance, which was a little bit disappointing since we had so far driven the entire length of the Pacific Coast from Santa Monica to Astoria without ever getting on I-5. At least we were using it only to backtrack to the south. We could have taken the mountain road (Route 26), but we were a little bit done with mountain roads in the pouring rain. Continue reading Astoria to Portland, Oregon
BruceBeard.com 