I love it when we are out exploring and stumble upon a hidden gem. This summer we’ve found a few. A new mountain view, a meadow of wildflowers, a new waterfall. It’s one of the things that keeps us going out there and exploring. You never know what you will find.

Have you ever been out in the middle of nowhere on a clear moonless night and looked up at the sky? It’s pretty amazing! We are very fortunate to have lots of dark places to choose from if we want to view the night sky. It’s something we try to do at least once every summer.

The first time I saw the alpine meadows in full bloom up at Mount Rainier was a complete accident. Scott and I decided to hike the skyline loop - a gorgeous 6-mile loop starting at Paradise. I couldn’t believe my eyes! You couldn’t design a garden more perfectly if you tried. It was just stunning!

Hiking to Fire Lookouts in Washington – High Rock Lookout

Wow! What a view! After 1.6 miles with a 1635 ft elevation gain, we had finally reached the top. The scene before us was amazing!

We wanted to get some photographs of the full moon rise happening in a few days, and wanted to make an adventure out of it, but needed to stay in the area since we had to work the next day. So what did we do?

We decided to hop on a ferry boat and head for Vashon Island and Point Robinson.

Where are we going to watch the moonrise this year?

Every spring and summer when we can expect better weather, I begin to look for great places to view the full moon rise. We’ve found a few great places but this one we keep coming back to.

One of my favorite weekend trips in Oregon is visiting the beach. Oregon is well known for its’ many wonderful beaches. We like to save the most popular ones for the fall when there are fewer people. To avoid summer crowds, we visit the ones that don’t get as much attention.

I love summer. I love sunshine. I love the long hours of sunshine we have in the summer.

Every summer I try to cram 6 months of activities into our 2 months of sunshine. Some years it can be exhausting, but always it’s lots of fun.

Here are 8 things on my summer bucket list.

Another day to adventure! We were ready to move further along the Cascade Loop.

We were on a quest to find a waterfall we’d read about but never seen before.