bugsy running on lone rock beach with the airstream and f-150 in the background

Category: Destinations

  • One night in Reno, NV–Big Trip #4

    One night in Reno, NV–Big Trip #4

    We stayed in Reno in early October 2022 as part of Big Trip #4. Our friends moved to Reno several years ago for many reasons: they loved the climate, they loved that it’s an easy flight to all sorts of cool locations out West, they loved the proximity to Lake Tahoe (our previous location), they…

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  • Three nights in Lake Tahoe, CA & NV–Big Trip #4

    Three nights in Lake Tahoe, CA & NV–Big Trip #4

    We visited Lake Tahoe in early October 2022 as part of Big Trip #4. J and I had been to Lake Tahoe before: we went skiing at Homewood a million years ago, and while we don’t remember where we stayed or ate, or even all the people we traveled with, that bright blue lake framing…

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  • Lassen Volcanic National Park

    Lassen Volcanic National Park

    We spent two nights near Lassen Volcanic in early October 2022 as part of Big Trip #4. We had originally booked three nights for our Lassen Volcanic stop, but after being underwhelmed by our first hike, we decided to leave a day early. No offense, Lassen. It’s hard to compete with the other national parks…

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  • Crater Lake National Park

    Crater Lake National Park

    We visited Crater Lake in late September 2022 as part of Big Trip #4. Crater Lake National Park has been on my wishlist for a loooong time. It’s spectacularly gorgeous, but once you’ve done some hikes and stopped at the overlooks, you kind of get the idea. We’d planned on spending three nights there and…

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  • Three nights in Bend, OR–Big Trip #4

    Three nights in Bend, OR–Big Trip #4

    We visited Bend in late September 2022 as part of Big Trip #4. You can’t drive from Mount Rainier to Crater Lake and not stop in Bend! Everything you’ve read about Bend’s coolness is true. We loved it. Mountains, waterfalls, cute neighborhoods, the Deschutes River running through the city, multiple food truck pods (!), and…

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  • Two nights in White Salmon, WA–Big Trip #4

    Two nights in White Salmon, WA–Big Trip #4

    We visited White Salmon in late September 2022 as part of Big Trip #4. We chose White Salmon for a one-night stop between Mount Rainier National Park and Bend, OR because it’s across the river from Hood River, OR, a hip and happening town. Just a few days before arriving we discovered that old friends…

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  • Mount Rainier National Park

    Mount Rainier National Park

    We visited Mt Rainier in late September 2022, as part of Big Trip #4. Mount Rainier National Park, the nation’s fifth national park, is centered around Mount Rainier, the tallest volcano (yes, volcano) in the Cascades, and the most glaciated mountain in the continental US. It’s a huge national park, and with five entrances, planning…

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  • Two nights in Ellensburg, WA–Big Trip #4

    Two nights in Ellensburg, WA–Big Trip #4

    We visited Ellensburg in mid-September 2022, as part of Big Trip #4. Looking to break up the seven-hour drive between Sandpoint and Mount Rainier, we stopped for a couple nights in Ellensburg, Washington. It’s a cute college town, home to Central Washington University, and a historic downtown full of interesting architecture. The highlight of the…

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  • Two nights in Sandpoint, ID (visit #2)–Big Trip #4

    Two nights in Sandpoint, ID (visit #2)–Big Trip #4

    We visited Sandpoint in mid-September 2022, as part of Big Trip #4. Read about our first visit in 2020 here. I was just rereading our previous Sandpoint post and was reminded that we’d only ended up in Sandpoint because we couldn’t go to Banff. This time, Sandpoint was on the itinerary all along, and it…

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  • Banff National Park

    Banff National Park

    We visited Banff for four days in mid-September 2022, as part of Big Trip #4 I’ve wanted to visit Banff National Park in Alberta since I saw a photo of Lake Louise in my Sierra Club calendar as a preteen. We tried to visit in 2020 on Big Trip #3, but Covid kept us out…

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