We packed a whole lot of Arizona into one excursion during our visit to the state a couple of weeks ago.
A whole lot of typical Arizona was involved. You know…
- Saguaro cactus (among other varieties) towering over us, waving
Traveling the World in our own Backyard with Seattle’s 21 International Sister Cities: Beer Sheva, Israel
Did you know that Seattle currently has sister city relationships with 21 cities throughout the world? The establishment of sister cities fosters relationships between two locales thus creating greater understanding of their respective cultures. The exchange program began in 1956 thanks to President Dwight Eisenhower. His intention was essentially one of world peace and less conflict; or at least more peaceful relationships between the United States and other countries of the world.
I have an ongoing goal of honoring and highlighting each of the 21 sister cities of Seattle. The master list of cities appears in my “Travel the World in Your Own Backyard: Seattle’s 21 International Sister Cities” post and will be updated every couple of weeks.
Sister City: Beer Sheva, Israel
Year Established: 1977
Representation in Seattle:
Several education, social work, and business exchanges have occurred between the people of Beer Sheva and Seattle. In order to “travel” to the city, we visited Beer Sheva Park in Seattle’s Rainier Beach neighborhood (southeast Seattle).
The park was renamed in honor of the sister city in 1978, and includes a playground, waterfront area along Lake Washington with boat launch, picnic spots, and plenty of green space. A beautifully crafted set of table and benches to honor Dorothy Schroeter who was president of the Seattle-Beer Sheva Sister City Committee from 1989-1997, and Lucille Fuss who was the Vice President from 1989-1999 is also featured.
Cle Elum, WA’s Teanaway Valley: The Search for an Iceless Hike
Here in Washington State our skiers, snowboarders and all around winter enthusiasts are a little bummed with the lack of snow. Ski resorts are closed. Festivals are being cancelled.
As we drove past Snoqualmie Pass last weekend en route to a quick getaway in Cle Elum, Washington, instead of the usual winter scene of clean white powder, we saw rocky mountains and hills mixed with whitish-brownish slush. Though we did see a few kids tubing down one hill, thanks to some artificial snow, the rest of the area looked more like Seattle when we get a little dusting: Thin layer of white with lots of green grass poking through.
On the bright side, we were blessed with very little traffic and we anticipated some nice hiking conditions. Yes, aside from worrying about the ski resorts losing money and the small towns suffering from lack of ski commerce, we were okay with the scene since we really weren’t after any ski-related activity. Just looking to enjoy a quiet, unplugged day or so in the mountains.
After getting situated in our cabin rental, we set off to explore the Teanaway Valley and find a suitable hike. First we headed west just a mile or so from the cabin. When the paved road turned to dirt and gravel, we were met with a clean sheet of ice suitable for skating, not driving and certainly not hiking.
We continued on anyway, and thought we’d found a great spot when I saw a sign marking the national forest area and a hiker symbol pointing us toward a trail. We got all geared up, packed Bergen into the carrier on Slaed’s back, and in the time it took me to grab Norman (the dog) and organize my belongings, the boys had taken a spill. The trails here were just as bad as the roadway.
Bergen was fine, protected by the pack, just a little shaken up, while Slaed endured a few scrapes on his knee along with some bruising and soreness. Wonderful dad and husband that he is though, he agreed to continue on to try to find a spot that was a little less icy.
So we ventured back and tried another direction…and another…and then another only to find ice everywhere. It became obvious why we had only seen a handful of people. No snow, you can hike. With snow, you can snowshoe. With ice…that’s a little trickier.
On the way to one of these ventures, we did notice one white minivan parked just outside of a trail entrance, and even though we ignored this spot initially, it gave us hope that we could at least go back and explore it’s hiking possibilities.
You can probably guess that’s exactly what we ended up doing. Thanks to a nice open meadow-valley of an area that receives plentiful sun, we were able to create a hike (of sorts) for ourselves. Now it wasn’t completely iceless. We still had to dodge some slick spots and did our fare share of slipping, but no more falling.
And when we finally didn’t have to worry so much about a skating rink at our feet, we had a chance to enjoy the view. Aside from a bird or two, we curiously saw little wildlife, but for some reason I felt as if a cougar would come around to meet us at any moment! Oh, and we did run into the owner of the minivan. Just a loan hiker out for a nice walk. He was smarter than us though–he had hiking poles!
Have you ever run into less than favorable conditions on an outdoor adventure? What happened?
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More Hiking Adventures:
Rainy Day Adventure + Lunch: Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park
Last week we had one of the most wet and blustery days I’ve ever experienced here in Seattle. Instead of hiding away, which was my instinct, I decided to embrace the weather with an adventure downtown.
After hitting up the central library for just a bit in the morning, we were ready for some lunch and Bergen was not quite ready for an immediate nap. He still had plenty of energy to burn. What to do?
My strategic choice of parking allowed us to have to walk through Pike Place Market. And what better fare to warm up (and add a little cheer) on a rainy day than macaroni and cheese and a grilled cheese sandwich from our world famous Beecher’s Handmade Cheese?
With our goods tucked away, we then made the trek to the Olympic Sculpture Park. A break in the rain, though certainly not the wind, gave Bergen the perfect opportunity to wear himself out as he wound up and down the pathways of the park.
I love the contrast of elements that the sculpture park offers: Beautiful large scale works of art mixed with nature and back dropped with a cityscape.
After a while, we pulled up to a bench near Alexander Calder’s Eagle and chowed down.
Like clockwork, just as the last noodle drenched in creamy cheese was consumed, the sprinkles started up again, and before we knew it, a miserable rainy experience was upon us. I tried to explore just a little longer, but the effort was too great and Bergen was losing steam. Time for that nap I talked about earlier!
Thankful that our rain isn’t constant, just frequent, we keep going, keep adventuring.
Do you ever dine outside? Where’s your favorite spot?
Come join the conversation! If you enjoyed this post, you can keep up to date with each and every post by subscribing to the blog via email. We’d also love to have you join us on all of our adventures by “liking” our facebook page and following us on twitter!
More Downtown Seattle Adventures:
Exploring UW’s Husky Stadium and Surviving a Rainy Day Football Game
University of Washington home football games are usually saved for Slaed (dad & husband) to have time away with his buddies. While we don’t have season tickets, he does get to go to a handful of games each season and looks forward to the fun all year.
This season though with Bergen being a little older, and the stadium being newly updated, we wanted to make a point to go as a family. We live fairly close, within just a few miles, so why not take the time to cheer on our Purple and Gold Huskies.
It figures though that when the big day of the game arrived (we strategically chose a 4pm starting game) it was raining. Not just a nice, normal, misty Seattle rain. No. We couldn’t be that lucky. It was raining buckets. Cats and Dogs. Huskies & Wildcats really, since we were playing Arizona. Just pouring.
Of course we had grand ideas of actually walking all the way from our house to the stadium. We didn’t completely abandon that plan though, and instead drove as close as we could get before the no-parking-on-game-day rules were enforced. Then with Bergen in the backpack carrier and umbrellas in hand (and to think we thought we might not need them!) we made the trek, which turned out to be a little less than 2 miles.
Despite the down right miserable conditions, we managed to stay relatively warm and dry and thus have nothing but happy memories of attending Bergen’s first college football game.
We had to be prepared though and I think we made some smart choices, even if you think we might be crazy (or foolish?) to subject ourselves and our toddler to such an experience.
1. Dress Appropriately. Unfortunately we had to take team spirit (and fashion) completely out of the equation, and just dress to stay warm and protected from the rain. Lucky Bergen got to wear his Oakiwear rainsuit, which many adults coveted, with fleece layers underneath and rain boots. Slaed and I both wore rain pants and rain jackets layered with long underwear.
Shoes are also super important to consider because once your feet start to get wet, no matter how prepared you are with your clothing, you’ll be uncomfortable (and unhappy) in no time. With all the walking we had to do this took some extra thought, but Slaed’s goretex hiking shoes and my Bog rainboots worked well.
Specific Gear Recommendations:
- Children’s rain suits from Oakiwear
- MyMayu Boots, Bogs, and Oakiwear boots for kids
- Precip Rain Pants from Marmot
- Bog Insulated Rain boots
- Goretex Hiking/Trail Shoes from the North Face
2. Don’t Push It. I’m glad we didn’t just abandon our seats all together because getting to watch the marching band and opening excitement of the players running on to the field was thrilling However, since our seats were not covered, we took in the experience of being close to the action for a quarter or so, but then took a break.
3. Warm Food and Drinks. What a difference a nice, hot cup of coffee makes after enduring the rain for a couple of hours. If you’re not into caffeine, there’s bound to be decaf, and if you’re not into coffee, there’s gotta be hot chocolate! We also got to warm up with some pre-game gumbo at our friend’s tailgate. What a treat. Even better, pack your own thermos of warm goodness! We’re never that prepared, but I love the idea.
4. Enjoy the Stadium Away from Your Seats. I love exploring stadiums, ballparks, arenas, etc. The designers put a lot of work into creating these sporting complexes. There’s often art, history, and just fun little touches that make the place unique. Checking out these aspects of the stadium is a great thing to do while you get some respite from the rain.
5. Retreat to the Nosebleeds. Once we warmed up and explored the stadium for a bit, we were ready to continue watching the game we came to see. Luckily, many of our fellow attendees decided not to stick around, and there were plenty of open seats way up high. Though the nosebleeds often get a bad rap, I loved this option. It game us a bird’s eye view of the football action, a view of Lake Washington, and plenty of room to spread out. Oh yeah, and the seats were covered and protected from the rain!
Who are you cheering on this fall? Do you dare attend a game in the rain?
Come join the conversation! You can keep up to date with each and every post by subscribing to the blog via email. We’d also love to have you join us on all of our adventures by “liking” our facebook page and following us on twitter!
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More Sports Fun:
Hike Henry W. Coe State Park: A Hoppin’ Good Time!
I know lakes and other natural formations can be named for obvious reasons. The Great Salt Lake is salty. Crater lake exists thanks to…well, a crater. And many lakes are named after the nearby town, state or region.
These names make complete sense, but for some reason, when our visit to Henry W. Coe State Park near San Jose, California involved a hike to Frog Lake, I didn’t believe there would actually be real, live frogs involved.
Coe State Park is huge. With over 87,000 acres it’s the largest state park in northern California (and the 2nd largest in the state), so we barely scratched the surface with our morning visit here. We did spend enough time though to realize that the area is incredibly beautiful. What a treat to exit the suburbs and sprawling towns of the bay area and enter a land of stately oak trees, rolling hills, and mountains in the distance.
We started off improvising a bit meandering around to see the monument dedicated to Henry W. Coe by his daughter in his memory. We also found pine cones that were literally the size of Bergen’s head! Soon we got down to business though. We were so curious. Was Frog Lake shaped like a frog? Would there be enormous bull frogs there greeting us? Would we hear the telltale “ribbit”?
The answer wasn’t clear when we first arrived, but as we made our way around the perimeter of the small lake, Slaed started to notice something. Looking ahead at the water’s edge every time we stepped a little closer, hundreds of tiny frogs would hop back into the water! Yup, there really are little hoppers at Frog Lake. Likely thousands of them. You can bet we had lots of fun with this; testing out how the frogs would react to different approaches and speeds. We unfortunately couldn’t get too close to the shore since the mud acted much like quicksand.
Look carefully. Can you see the little popping out of the water?
It was here where Bergen got to ditch the backpack carrier and do some hiking on his own. He gathered sticks and rocks, threw leaves, and made sure to point out any deposits he noticed on the trail. It might be time to get him a tracking book!
Though we were visiting on a weekday, we were surprised at the lack of people at the park. We only ran into one set of fellow hikers, and it makes me wonder why this amazing resource isn’t used more?
Info To Know:
- Henry W. Coe State Park is located in Morgan Hill, California (near San Jose):
- 9000 East Dunne Avenue Morgan Hill, CA 95037
- 408-779-2728
- Features include plenty of hiking trails, campgrounds, hot springs, mountain biking trails, and fishing.
- Visit in spring for amazing wildflower viewing.
- Day Use Fees vary between $6-8 depending on the entrance used. Annual passes for all California State Parks are also available.
- Strollers not recommended.
Do you visit state parks in your home state or when you travel? Tell us about your favorite spots!
Come join the conversation! You can keep up to date with each and every post by subscribing to the blog via email. We’d also love to have you join us on all of our adventures by “liking” our facebook page and following us on twitter!
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