Inspiring travel stories, tips, and guides from a couple exploring the world one destination at a time.
Last Updated: June 20, 2026
Willamette Valley wine country was a couple of hours’ drive southeast of Astoria — and after a month of cold, wet Oregon coast weather, it was glorious to see acres of grapevines and sunshine again. The valley is home to some of the finest Pinot Noir wineries in the United States, with over 700 wineries concentrated in and around Dundee, Newberg, and McMinnville.
Last Updated: June 20, 2026
Astoria is in the northwestern corner of Oregon, where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. It’s also where the Lewis and Clark expedition spent a long and cold winter in 1805–1806 before returning east. After a month of cold, wet spring weather on the Oregon Coast, we had a pretty good sense of what they endured.
Last Updated: June 20, 2026
Gold Beach was our first stop in Oregon after leaving the Redwoods in northern California. We were looking forward to a rugged coastline with sea stacks — those dramatic pillars and arches of rock that rise from the surf — and the Oregon coast delivered beyond our expectations.
Last Updated: June 18, 2026
The Coast Redwoods are the tallest living trees and among the oldest living things on Earth. The tallest known Coast Redwood stands 379.1 feet — about 37 stories high. Both Coast Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) and Giant Sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) belong to the cypress family, and the giant sequoias, which we saw at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, are the biggest trees in the world by overall volume.
Last Updated: June 18, 2026
The Sierra Nevada mountain range was just stunning after heavy winter storms dumped a lot of snow. Even though snow was badly needed, it closed roads to attractions like the ghost town of Bodie, California.
Last Updated: June 18, 2026
Pahrump is in southern Nevada and only an hour drive from either Death Valley or Las Vegas. The town is known for its legal brothels and for electing a deceased brothel owner, Dennis Hof, to the state legislature. Hof wanted legislation that would bring the federal government into talks with Nevada to negotiate solutions to Pahrump’s water situation — years of nuclear testing in the region contaminated the local water supply.
