Seattle Space Needle, seen from the Pacific Science Center - Aug.23, 3006	Butterfly exhibit @ Seattle's Pacific Science Center If God said "Wendy, you must live in a big city," I would pick Seattle.
Orcas in Puget Sound, WA - Aug.23, 2006 I've been wanting to see Orcas since living in Tacoma while stationed at Fort Lewis.  But, Desert Storm, then working on my masters degree after returning from war, kept me from doing the important things....   They're gorgeous in real life!!	Orca Breach
On a slope of Mt.Rainier, WA - Aug. 29, 2006           Only half a state away is Olympic National Park - we went from snow-covered peaks to warm beaches and rain forests.  And, from winter coats and boots into shorts and sandals. We could have spent months in Washington state...there's sooooo much to enjoy.	Snow at 6,000 feet on Mt. Rainier...in August! Mike is an X-Army friend of mine who still lives in the Tacoma area. So, I looked him up after arriving at McChord. He loves Mt. Rainier as much as I do.  It's a beautiful mountain...but the day we climbed the wind and fog made it both erie and exciting to walk into the swirling "nothingness" of the mist.  On our way down (after throwing a couple snow balls) a little parting of the fog gave way to a ghostly view of a neighboring peak From Mt. Rainier into a break in the mist...
Hoh Rain Forest - Olympic Nt. Forest, WA - Sep. 2, 2006	Hoh Rain Forest - who couldn't love it?
Ruby Beach, Olympic Ntl. Forest, WA - Sep. 2, 2006	Around every bend is waiting a surprise....   Olympic National Forest is a "must see."  Hoh Rain forest is enchanting, and the kids loved playing around the tide pools at Ruby Beach.
The Pacific North West is part of the "Ring of Fire..." a line of volcanoes (active like Mt. St. Helens, dormant like Mt. Rainier, or erupted like Crater Lake) running from Washington, through Oregon and Idaho, and into Northern California.    Geologic evidence has proven that every few thousand years somewhere on the ring becomes active...	Mt. St. Helens, WA - Sept. 4, 2006
Crater Lake Ntl. Park, OR; view of Wizard Island - Sept. 6, 2006 Top of Wizard Island, Crater Lake NP	The water IS REALLY this clear!   What a magnificent place!! But, if it hadn't been for James Steele this National Treasure would have been stripped of its trees, minerals, and crystal clear water (up to 150 foot clarity!).  The hike down into the crater is heaven going down and "Hell-sinki" comin' back up (Natalie said).  Take your fishing poles, or the boat ride inside the crater, or over to Wizard Island.  We hiked to the top of that mini-volcanic dome as well.   The kids slept extra well that night.
I love looking for the strange, the spiritual, or the less traveled.  It leads to exciting exploration and discovery.  And, not just of excellent places to climb or hike, but of places to meditate, contemplate, or to imagine....	Balancing Rocks at Lake Billy Chinook, OR - Sept. 10, 2006
Lava Flow Cave, Newberry Volcanic Monument, OR - Sept. 11, 2006	If ever visiting Bend, Oregon, make sure you grab a lantern or hat lamp and head into the mile-long lava river tube of Newberry Ntl. Volcanic Monument.  Because we always site-see during the week, when everyone is working and kids are in school, we're many times the only people there....alone.... in the dark....
This is my best shot of Hell's Canyon, on the Oregon/Idaho border.  We hiked a very challenging trail, and saw some wildlife, but besides the fact that this is the deepest gorge in the US, the views just weren't very astounding.   I heard there's good fishing....	Hell's Canyon, ID - Deeper than the Grand Canyon! Sept. 13, 2006
Craters of the Moon Ntl, Park, ID - Sept. 20, 2006	What a cool place! Lots of up close lava viewing...   The campground is in the middle of a lava field.  It might get a tad bit toasty in the dead of summer, but September was perfect!
Battling Bison; Yellowstone NP, WY - Sept.23, 2006   Our Nation's first National Park is as good as expected. Even better. With several inches of snow on the ground, Yellowstone was still quite busy.  I cannot imagine what this place is like during "peak" season. I don't want to imagine that....   So, I won't, and instead I'll hold onto these memeories...	Stunning and Magical - Yellowstone
Hell's Half Acre, WY - Sept. 27, 2006	Hell's Half Acre "Art" Hell's half acre was closed down when we stopped. So,  we crawled through a loose part of barbed wire to stretch our legs a bit.  It's really cool, but I suspect we could have got into some sort of "trouble" for crossing the fence line.  (So, don't try this away from home...)
The climb to Medicine Wheel, WY - Sept. 29, 2006 At almost 10,000 feet - Medicine Wheel, WY Off the Mtn & back on the plains!! Antelope remind me I made it back down!	Medicine Wheel, MT (a Journey in itself)   It started out what I thought would be about an hour drive up the mountain to Medicine Wheel Ntl. Monument.  After about the first half hour the road suddenly graded to about 7%.  Since I've been on 10% grade hills in Alaska, I thought it'd be no problem. After about another hour of that, the road went into about a 9% grade. The RV (still towing the 4,700 lb Explorer) crept up at about 30 mph for the next half hour when, I swear, the road went to at least an 11% grade...if not more.  For the next two hours we inched along at 15 mph. Really. I stopped at every wide-shoulder turn out to let the RV, and my pumping heart, have a rest.   I finally came to a large lot - the entrance to a picnic area/trail-head. It had a parking area big enough to turn around the RV.   Because I had no idea how much futher I had to go, or how going down the other side would be, I contemplated heading back the way I'd just come.   Just then, a man pulled in and stopped. He told me Medicine Wheel was only another mile up, and that the other side down was easier. He couldn't believe I'd actually made it towing the car. Hardly anyone does. He suggested, though, that I park the RV at a semi-truck chain up area another 1/4 mile up, and disconnect the Explorer because the dirt road into Medicine Wheel was buried in snow. I thanked him, and knowing I'd just been given a message EXACTLY when asked/needed, I took his advice.  Turning off the main road onto the dirt one to Medicine Wheel, there was no denying that that wonderful man had been sent...for a reason.    Locking the Explorer into 4WD, we made it to the parking lot, then we trekked another mile through 1-2 feet of snow to the summit.  I have to say, it truly was a spiritual quest. One I'll never forget.
Devil's Tower, WY - Sept. 30, 2006 This is NOT from a postcard. I just think the National Park Service made the road to Devils Tower with just the right angles to make anyone's photos postcard perfect. The amount of people who climb DT is unreal, and watching them through binoculars is as unreal. They often rest on the flat surfaces of the columnar stacks...	Another perfect camp site!!
Custer State Park, SD - Oct. 2, 2006 Custer State Park has some awesome trails and hugenormic rocks to climb on. We were there for hours.  My youngest sister and her son had driven from Iowa to spend some time with us, and we all came here. Wow!	Never enough climbing!! We actuallly got lost off the Sunday Gulch trail and luckily made it to the road at sunset to hitch a ride from a woman in an empty van - with enough room for all six of us.  Figure those odds. Things truly do always work out....
BADLANDS, SD - Sept, 5, 2006 With an "open hike" policy, this is a kid's paradise! We climbed all day, literally until the sunset.   I'd go back here in a heartbeat...	....and still more climbing!! Another unbelievable day slips away....
Chimney Rock, NE (also referred to as "Elk's Penis" by early Plains Indian Tribes) Sept. 9, 2006	Scottsbluff, NE - Oregon Trail landmark - Oct. 9, 2006 Nebraska was chock full of wonderful people and interesting places. We'd began our Oregon Trail studies backwards from Oregon, and had passed many landmarks and old forts along the way. Like Devils Tower, these landmarks stick up "in the middle of nowhere" and are visible for miles. Check out the story of how Scottsbluff got its name!
Nebraska Coyote	A young Red Tail Hawk, Nebraska