Year of the Mini-Vacation

This year, instead of taking all our vacation at one time, we decided to spread it out throughout the year, taking 1-2 days off and making 3-4 day weekends, along with a few 1-day trips. Here’s what we’ve done so far:

January: Overleaf Lodge; Yachats, Oregon. We spent a long weekend walking along the beach, watching storms, and enjoying the spa.

February: Draeger's Cooking School; Mountain View, California. We traveled south to see Corey for his birthday and to participate in a wonderful private cooking class.

March: Edgewater Hotel; Seattle, Washington. We thought it would be fun to be tourists in our own backyard. This is the hotel the Beatles stayed in (where they fished from their room) when they visited Seattle.

April: Coast Victoria Harbourside Hotel & Marina; Victoria, British Columbia. A quick Victoria Clipper ride took us from Seattle to one of the prettiest (and one of our favorite) cities in Canada.

April: Rhododendron Species Foundation and Botanical Garden; Federal Way, Washington. What a delightful day we spent wandering around the gardens, located on the Weyerhaeuser Headquarters property. It was so quiet and peaceful, you would never know we were so close to I-5.

May: Cannery Pier Hotel; Astoria, Oregon. Casey and family were out of town for the weekend, so we thought we would celebrate Craig’s birthday in Astoria. Riley (Casey’s Toy Fox Terrier) went with us since we were puppy-sitting while they were gone.

June: Alaska Cruise; ms Westerdam, Holland America Cruise Lines. This was our one long vacation, which we took with 6 friends and family members. We saw Glacier Bay, Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau, and Victoria.

July: Leavenworth/Cashmere/Wenatchee, Washington. We decided to take another long weekend and go antiquing in north-central Washington. We stayed in Leavenworth (a charming Bavarian-styled town) and did our antiquing in Cashmere (home of Aplets & Cotlets) and Wenetchee. We visited Apple Annie’s Antiques, the Antique Mall of Cashmere, and the Antique Mall of Wenatchee.

July: Snoqualmie Train Tunnel; Snoqualmie Pass, Washington. The weather was a bit gray and drizzly at home, so we thought we would take a drive up to and hike through the tunnel – you’re inside for 2.3 miles each way, so what does the weather matter?

August: Bonneville Hot Springs Resort & Spa; North Bonneville, Washington. Less than an hour’s drive east of Portland, Oregon, on the Washington side of the Columbia River, this resort is nestled along a hillside where quiet prevails. Amenities at the site include a lovely restaurant, spa, pools, miniature golf, and even rooms with their own private hot tubs.

August: Port Townsend, Washington. The forecast for the day was temps in the mid-90s, too warm for our likes, especially since we don’t have air conditioning in our house. So, we decided to go for a drive to Port Townsend and do some antiquing. Didn’t find much, but still had fun, particularly at the Port Townsend Antique Mall.