Karen and Tom Wanderings

I (Tom) felt the need to get out on a hike with some elevation gain, so headed to a close, but beautiful hike along the PCT north out of Snoqualmie Pass to the Kendall Katwalk.  This feature is a trail blasted out of a shear cliff.  In actuality, it's wider than some trails with similar exposure, except in this case, the downhill part is solid rock.  So, it's a bit anti-climactic, but the hike was great.  Nice lush forest, and a constant climb to typical Washington views along the crest (in other words, pretty damn spectacular).  And some nice flowers, too!   Indian Paintbrush The Katwalk Red and Snoqualmie Mtns White Campion (I think) Mt Rainier beyond Tinkham Pk More Photos

This year, we extended our annual trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina to spend more time with family.  We both spent more time with our mothers in Virginia, and we also took Karen's mom up to New Jersey to visit Karen's brother (Cliff) and his family.  In the past couple of years, they had sold their house outside of DC, and bought a small marina on the mainland side of Barnegat Sound, which separates the mainland from the Jersey Shore.  It sits across a large creek (Double Creek) from protected wetlands (part of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge).  Peaceful, beautiful, and lots of birds.  Ok, they also have these nasty biting flies called "greenheads", but that seems to be the biggest downside.  We kayaked through the small waterways, and motor boated over to the Jersey Shore.  Unfortunately, the drive took us into the nasty traffic of I-95, but we managed. Overall, a very nice trip ... relaxing, continuously great food, and lots of...