Off The Paved Road

Mountain Loop Highway Is Open

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Mom) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 20:46:00 +0000

The Mountain Loop Hwy is a scenic road between Granite Falls and Darrington, Washington. It's about 55 miles, and about half of that is dirt road. Due to the storms a couple years ago, the highway was closed for repairs.

Be sure to take your camera! We took the drive this past weekend. It was just a lazy afternoon, Sunday drive. We weren't prepared to go on any hikes. But it was well worth the time in the car. It's a gorgeous drive along the Stillaguamish River, through the Mt. Baker - Snoqualmie National Forest. The snow pack is melting, so there are water falls in several places along the road.

It took us a couple hours to drive the gravel road portion of the trip. It's a very good road, considering it is gravel. But there are so many view places to stop and check things out.

If you are into camping, there are several camp grounds, and most of them had vacancies. I did notice that a lot of them had been reserved for Labor Day Weekend. The camp grounds are basic. There are out house type of bathrooms, but no running water to wash your hands, so take your own water, baby wipes, and hand sanitizer.

Next time we go, we will take our hiking boots and back packs, and spend more than a few hours on a Sunday drive.

Cruising In Style - What Not To Wear - Shoes

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Mom) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:43:00 +0000

Oh my goodness, I'm absolutely shocked at how some people dress to impress when they disembarking the cruise ships. We have a ways to go before the cruise ships head back to Seattle for the Alaska cruise season, but if you are like me, and you are cruising to Alaska this spring, you are already planning what to pack.

When you are disembarking the ships in Seattle, keep in mind you may have a good 1/4 to 1/2 mile walk from the ship to the customs check out. Customs can go fast, but it can be a very long slow wait. So wear something comfy to walk in. I didn't say you have to dress like a droll. Comfy doesn't have to be frumpy.

The last time I was cruising in Seattle, I actually saw a couple of women wearing shoes with spike heels when we were disembarking. Could they not look out from their breakfast table and see how long and steep the walk was going to be?

Did they think we were all going to look at their Christian Dior's and think "That girl's got it going on. She's got great shoes." Well, that's not what we were thinking dearie...

We were thinking... "Stupid idiot."

Hiking

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Mom) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 05:21:00 +0000

This is a beautiful time of the year to go hiking. I recently joined a group of local hikers. I'm fairly new to hiking, so I chose my group by my physical abilities... I chose a beginners group.

If you do a google search for meetups hiking, you can find a group in your area. Be sure you don't join an advanced group, if you are a beginner. There is a big difference in the hikes and what the group expects from you.

My hubby and I signed up for a class so we could learn how to hike safely. The instructor gave us a list of essential equipment and hiking gear. It was well worth the money spent.

One of the biggest things I learned from the instructor is about my clothing choices. I always thought 100% cotton was the best thing to wear. It's not. I was surprised to learn I should not be wearing 100% cotton or wool when I'm heading out on a hike. It's all about the wicking of moisture away from the skin. Cotton doesn't do that.

As I said, I highly recommend you take a class, before you start out on any hikes. Even a day hike can go wrong. At least you'll be prepared for your off road experience if you take a class and follow the basic instructions for a safe hike.

Rock Bottom Prices on Cruise to Alaska

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Mom) — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 20:29:00 +0000

Sometimes it doesn't make any sense to wait until the last minute to book a cruise. If you have your heart set on going some place on a specific date you might miss out if you wait until the bargain prices kick in. However, if you can make the plans at the last minute and pack your bags and go the savings can be fantastic.

I just did a search for Alaska cruise and came up with some really great deals. For instance Vacations To GO has this type of last minute travel packages. Carnival cruise line has a June 27th '07 cruise departing from Vancouver, Canada. It is marked down to $579 from 1,929 at a savings of 70%. This is a 7 day cruise and you would be sailing on the Carnival Spirit.

Off The Paved Road In Wa State

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Mom) — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 04:59:00 +0000

Here in the PNW we had a lot of rain and wind storms this past year. The Washington Trails Association has created a storm damage map and database. It is a current guide to the backroads here in Washington State. It would be very wise to check it out so you know the condition of the roads / trails before you make any off road journeys.

Full Swing Summer Vacations

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Mom) — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 23:48:00 +0000

It's June! Where did the year go? Considering it is June and school is out or nearly out for most of the United States I'd say the summer travel season is nearly in full swing.

We just got back from a cruise and a little road trip. Another road trip is scheduled just shortly. Not a long road trip this time. I figure we'll put around 700 miles on the car for the next road trip.

So what is involved with our road trips? Obviously we need to make a plan. At the price of gas no need for extra running around that isn't necessary. We use road maps and the Rand McNally website to map out our vacation.

Once we figure out how many miles we'll be traveling we will have an idea of how much money we need to budget for gas. At the price of gas it's a lot more than I'd like to pay!

I know what I'm doing. Now how about you? Planning a road trip this summer?

Once you know where you are traveling to and how many miles you will be traveling that is a start. You'll need to figure out how many miles you can average in an hour. If you are travelling interstate most of the way good for you! You can figure you'll travel 60MPH to 80MPH most of the time, but you need to figure in stops and rush hour traffic. That slows ya down big time.

If you know how many hours you want to be on the road each day or how many hours you want to travel helps with scheduling hotels and food.

During the busy summer season of travel you don't want to be travelling without a hotel reservation down the road. But don't schedule it too far down the road. If you don't make it to the destination you will be charged anyway. I generally figure we can travel for 6 to 8 hours a day and not be too terribly exhausted at the end of our trip. So looking at the map, figuring out what we are doing for the day. How many side trips and how long at each side trip, and how long will it take us to eat all has to be figured into the daily schedule before we make a reservation down the road.

I love to travel without any real set plans. So we often won't even call ahead to make our hotel reservations until around noonish to one in the afternoon. Sometimes everything in a town or city is booked so that gives us time to rethink our plans and figure out if we want to travel later in the day to the next town or stop somewhere between where we were planning and where we are now.

That's it for now, sorry for the long post. I'll be back later after I check details on my upcoming road trip.

Off The Paved Road

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Mom) — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 13:37:00 +0000

Off the paved road... first post.