P+M Hit The Road

British trader John Meares was lost.  In 1788, sailing the Pacific, Meares anchored his ship in a beautiful Cape protecting the ferocious Columbia River.  Frustrated, angry and dog tired, the Captain christened this enchanting place Cape Disappointment.  What a baby, he could have just asked for directions.  This intriguing paradise is far from disappointing.  Claiming a bountiful earth of thick, lush forests, eternal pure blue skies and seas so treacherous it earns the ominous  "Graveyard of the Pacific" designation.  Swallowing well over two hundred ships into its dark abyss, courageous seamen and terrifying stories perished alongside their captains, united forever in the depths of the ocean. Humble sailors respect the raging waters here at the confluence of the Columbia River and Pacific Ocean, warring currents, walls of water dangerously tossing mighty ships through the perilous channel known simply, reverently as "The Bar". To cross it...

When it comes to National Parks, Olympic in Washington State is a monster. At over one million acres, it is bigger than the entire state of Rhode Island, more vast than Switzerland, imagine The Mall of America x 100, now that's a lot of shopping. This place is massive. The glorious Mount Olympus is the heart and soul of this park, its divine majesty produces rain forests, waterfalls, beaches, massive trees, hot springs, meandering pools flowing into peaceful lakes and mighty rivers. It boasts the largest Sitka Spruce in the world, at almost sixty feet in diameter, the dignified old gal is over 1000 years of age and looks every bit of it. Iridescent chartreuse moss blankets trees, limbs jut out from trunks bringing to mind the soft velveted antlers of a gentle deer. In the Sol Duc region legend claims the glowing moss is actually dragon skin lost during battle, scattered throughout the dense forest. When the dragons retreated, their salty hot tears created sulphury po...

Three days on the road and my backside is screaming, get off!  I have new respect for truckers. A person can't travel any further north in the almighty state of Washington without jumping in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and directly into the arms of the Canadian Royal Mounties.  We made it.  Alive. Here's our survival story,  just about the honest truth …  We ventured out in predawn darkness that first day, still fresh, anxious to put miles behind us, well stocked with podcasts, maps and Nutty Bars.  Groggy at first, but coming to life as luminous giants emerge on the horizon, massive windmills of central Iowa stretch almost 400 feet into the cloudless sky.  Sleek, milky white pinwheels gather in farms, the slow, methodic rotations mezmerize the idle mind.  Oddly out of place, planted amid Iowa's signature corn fields and rich black earth, these sophisticated mammoths are unrecognizable to their age old ancestors. I'm awake. Around hour eleven of ou...

Nostalgia fills my soul as Canon in D echos the expanse of the magnificent cathedral.  Weddings remind me of the persistent, unwavering innocence of hope, raw and unfiltered devotion, a frightening commitment spanning the rest of your days.  Hope is not lost on youth though, it is embraced and nurtured there, the excitement of endless possibilities and genuine, uncontrollable happiness.  That's right, love rules. The bride and groom are brilliant, dazzling even.  Full of life and romance, ready to charge ahead with their unique love story.  Embarrassing anecdotes shared, kids dance, cocktails flow, broad smiles and tears stream down beaming faces.  Chatting with the groom about their honeymoon plans in Jamaica the following week, Paul mentioned we had also vacationed in Jamaica a few years ago.  He remembered some of the language; not the translation for good morning or what a lovely day, he remembered "Chaka-Chaka". Groom:  What does that mean? P...