Orcas Island is slow-paced perfection, like much of life in the rural Pacific Northwest. Where the locals wave to you as you walk down the street. You can forget about the conveniences of city life: McDonald’s? Some people that live in the San Juans haven’t been to one in decades, if ever. It’s 10 pm…
Every summer, Oregon fully embraces the spirit of the wild west by celebrating the art of the rodeo. The Pendleton Round Up Sure, just about every state has their version of a rodeo, but in Oregon, the Pendleton Round Up rodeo is kind of a big deal. Attracting over 50,000 spectators from all over the…
At a coffee shop in Lopez Village, the friendly barista was very patient with an elderly Australian man who was having trouble paying with his credit card. Internet service is spotty on the very best of days on Lopez Island. When it was my turn to place my order, in comes a local who was…
There is something very gratifying about having the privilege of traveling easily over the water for long distances. Even though we as a species have been traveling over water for thousands of years, being able to safely and easily (and quickly) get from one island to another is still a marvelous thing. Magical Encounter I…
Would you believe, I’ve lived in Oregon for over 20 years, and I’ve never put on a pair of skis….until now. Growing up in the Midwest I was not exposed to the sport of skiing AT ALL. My only foray to anything resembling gliding on the snow was a neighborhood hill, where my friends and…
Most of us know that the Pacific Northwest rests on one of the Earth’s major fault lines, the Cascadia subduction zone. This fault line runs offshore the length of the west coast, from west of Vancouver, B.C down through northern California. And most of us also know that we here in Oregon and Washington have…