Featured image: A view of the North Cascade Mountains from near Acme, Washington (photo by Cheryl Landes) Post updated May 13, 2017 Washington State Route 20 (SR 20), the North Cascades Highway, is among the state's most scenic drives with breathtaking views of jagged snow-covered peaks, pristine glacier-fed aquamarine lakes, and dense forests. Bald eagles … Continue reading North Cascades Highway reopening May 16

Featured image: The Queen Mary (photo credit Wikimedia Commons) Today, the Queen Mary celebrates the 50th anniversary of arriving in Long Beach, California, with free ship admission after 3 p.m. and $5 ship tours. Also enjoy free live music from Swedish jazz vocalist and instrumentalist Gunhild Carling in the Grand Salon aboard ship, 5-7 p.m. Carling … Continue reading Queen Mary celebrates 50th anniversary of arriving in Long Beach with low-cost, free events

Featured image by Cheryl Landes Still looking for a place to watch the solar eclipse in its direct path on Monday, August 21? Hotels are sold out, as are most campsites. But there are still campsites available in Woodburn, Oregon, at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm for August 19-21. Hurry, though, because these will sell … Continue reading Watch August’s solar eclipse from a campsite at Oregon’s largest tulip farm

Featured image by Cheryl Landes Spaces are still available for the Sparkle with Your Mom Brunch on Saturday, May 13, at the Wooden Shoe Vineyards at the Wooden Show Tulip Farm in Woodburn, Oregon. Treat your Mom to assorted quiches, fruit skewers, yogurt parfait, scones, muffins, and a choice of mimosa made from the vineyard’s … Continue reading Treat Mom to brunch May 13 at the Wooden Shoe Vineyards

All photos by Cheryl Landes Thanks to cooler than usual spring temperatures, tulip fans can enjoy the blossoms a few days longer in Woodburn, Oregon. Usually by April 30, the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm’s Tulip Fest ends, but in 2017, the owners have extended the event through Sunday, May 7. At the Willamette Valley’s largest … Continue reading Tulip Fest extended through Sunday in Woodburn, Oregon

Photos by Cheryl Landes Updated August 30, 2019 If you saw a billboard along the highway advertising America’s Worst Apple Pie at the next exit, would you stop and try it? I didn’t the first time, but I couldn’t forget that sign on Interstate 80 in northwestern Pennsylvania. During my next drive across Pennsylvania, the … Continue reading America’s worst apple pie is among the best

Featured image by Seattle Times photographer Erika Schultz from the Portraits of Homelessness project  The homeless are humans, too, and they face struggles unlike any other group of people in our society. Seattle Times Pacific NW Magazine writer Tyrone Beason and Seattle Times photographer Erika Schultz wanted to capture the human element of the homeless … Continue reading Portraits of Homelessness panel to focus on human aspect of homelessness May 4 in Seattle

Featured image: Playing with light at the Camera Obscura exhibit at the Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine in Portland (photo by Cheryl Landes) On the last Sunday in April, learn how to make images with a small beam of light at a workshop near you during Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day. Or experiment on your … Continue reading Play with light at Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day events

Photos by Cheryl Landes Updated March 5, 2020 Thanks to winter’s record rainfall, Mother Nature blessed southern California with one of the largest desert superblooms in recent memory. Starting in mid-March, patches of tiny yellow, orange, purple, and white flowers appeared in these tan, gray landscapes. North of San Diego, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park delighted … Continue reading There’s still time to see the California poppies, but hurry