Travel - The Baughn Diggity Adventures

September 24, 2017January 30, 2018

Pacific Northwest!! Mt. Rainier Area (Post 7 of TBD)

For those that have been following our blog, we’ve totally slacked the last several weeks in coming up with our latest post. Most of this is due to Hurricane Irma. We’ll make a brief post on Irma later, but for now let’s focus on a few areas from Days 11-14: Mt. St Helens, Yakima, and some back roads fishing.

Mt St Helens

The weather really put a damper on our trip to Mt St. Helens. It was cloudy and rainy the entire day, not unusual, but annoying when you’re a tourist. The drive to the volcanic wonder site taking some back roads was very pretty, which almost made up for the clouds. The visitor center at the Johnston Ridge observatory was very crowded, but extremely informative. We actually made 2 trips to the observatory that day. We were headed down about a 30 minute ride away when I thought I saw a break in the clouds. I took a chance, turned the car around and we headed back to the observatory and we were blessed with a slightly better view. It wasn’t perfect, but it was better than nothing! Learning about the eruption, how it affected the area, and the environmental changes was awe-inspiring. You can still see acres upon acres of trees fallen down and the re-growth hasn’t even begun yet and it may never begin. However, the surrounding areas once you get to that clear line where the devastation wasn’t as bad, is truly beautiful with large tress and lush growth.

Cowlitz Falls Park and Random Hiking

For most people, you won’t hear much about this little park. It isn’t even really a park as much as it is a parking lot. However, this little area was pretty neat. We brought the fishing gear and some waders on this day with some live worms and figured we’d give it a shot to catch some trout. There are so many areas of Washington with dams and fish hatcheries for Salmon and Trout. We didn’t really plan to do fishing on this trip, though the AirBnB we stayed was gracious enough to let us use all their fishing gear! At this park, they have some picnic tables, where we sat and ate lunch, and they have a little alcove of water set apart from the Cowlitz River and that is where all the locals come to fish. There were no tourists here. The people coming to fish here were locals and they were fishing for their 3 limit max of Rainbow Trout per person for food that night. Laura and Evan tried their luck with a lure on the river side while Olivia and I tested our luck with the worms. It didn’t take long, after about 30 minutes we had our first bite. I let Olivia reel it in and it was a beautiful rainbow trout, very small, but a pretty fish and she had fun reeling it in. Though she made sure to let everyone know daddy caught it she just reeled it. There’s no fooling her even though we tried to convince her she caught it. From here we decide to drive around and thought perhaps the roads might be open to the Western side of Mt St Helens. Unfortunately, they weren’t but we did some GeoCaching, random hikes, and a fun bumpy ride to scare everyone as we went downhill! We stretched our legs a bit, saw some beautiful scenery, and better yet we were the only people for miles!!

Oak Creek Wildlife Area, Naches, and Yakima

This day was a VERY rainy day. In fact it was rainy everywhere we went except Naches. Which very amazingly is the area where just about every Washington apple sold comes from it seemed like. There were rows upon rows of Apple and Cherry trees. On top of that, the warehouses with all the apple crates outside were pretty neat too. Laura kept wishing she could have brought an apple crate home for an home decoration idea. On this day we stopped for lunch at the Naches Applewood Park. It was a nice little park with a lot of open space, a couple of playgrounds and a swimming pool. We enjoyed our picnic lunch before the rain came at this stop too. Before Naches we decided to venture to Oak Creek Wildlife area. Let’s just say in the summer, it’s pretty bare and the animals are pretty scarce as well. The road is not recommended if you have a minivan as it’s very rough. We drove for a mile or 2 before turning around. In the winter this is a designated safe zone for animals and it’s really helped re populate various animals. We ventured after Naches to Yakima, if you go to your local Publix in Florida you can buy Yakima Apples for a whopping $4 per pound whereas in Washington they are $.99 per pound. Quite a lot of transportation cost associated with those apples. There isn’t much going on in Yakima, it’s a pretty big city and had a nice little outdoor shopping center, but other than that we didn’t do much there. We then battled a heavy rain on the way back to Packwood.

Sunset of Mt. Rainier

While it was rainy for the majority of our time this week in Packwood, we were extremely blessed to capture this picture here. We took Snyder road up to NF-1260 where at the very top there’s a host of trails you can take as well as some back woods camping spots. In the rain a few nights prior up here we saw a mom dropping of her two teenage sons to go camping. This night however, we didn’t go all the way to the top. A short ways from the top there’s an electrical station of some type with a massive antenna and an absolute perfect clearing to see Mount Rainier. The picture doesn’t even do it justice at all. The sun was setting and the clouds were moving away and left this amazing ring of clouds around the mountain that was just really neat to see. Couple that with the sunset and it made for a perfect evening for just Laura and I. Laura’s mom graciously watched the kids and got them ready for bed for us so we could go do that and I am so thankful she did! We might not have otherwise been able to get the picture.

This wraps up our post this week, stay tuned next week as we detail our drive from Packwood to Vancouver by way of Seattle and Everett.

July 18, 2017January 30, 2018

Pacific Northwest 2017! (Post 3 of TBD)

Days 3 and 4

So we’ve given you a brief overview of our trip to Washington as well as our first two days. Now we are going to give you a quick look at days 3 and 4 of our trip. Up on tap: Scenic Highway 20, Thunder Knob Trail / Diablo Lake, North Cascades Visitor Center, Washington Pass Overlook, Heliotrope Ridge Trail, and Chair 9 Restaurant!

Scenic Highway 20

We began our 3rd day in typical fashion with a stop at the Wake ‘N Bakery. From there we proceeded south toward the town of Sedro Wooley. We then picked up highway 20 to head east. The drive is absolutely beautiful and winds through several small towns. On a clear day you can catch glimpses of Mt Baker and many other peaks. On this day we were fortunate enough to have one of our few completely sunny days. Our first stop was the North Cascades Visitor Center. The turn off is relatively obscure, but the center itself is pretty neat. Boasting a 3D topographical map, video about the area and a gift shop with the usual Park Service trinkets. A short jaunt down a boardwalk out the back of the center leads you to a nice little view of a glacier. After this quick pit stop, it was time for our first hike of the day, Thunder Knob Trail

Thunder Knob Trail

Round trip this trail is about 3.5 miles. It is also almost completely straight up. It’s a pretty steep climb once you really get into it. However, the work is well worth it! We didn’t see many animals, just a few chipmunks, but the stench of possibly some bobcats was nearby. About half way up you get to a clearing where you get a glimpse of something so spectacular it makes you want to sit there and just stare all day. Alas we needed to move on to see what was at the top! This hike most definitely worked the calves toting a little one on the back, but our Deuter Kid Comfort III saved my back and shoulders!!! Once you get to the top though, you are rewarded with a gorgeous view of Diablo Lake. There are numerous sub trails you can take at the top to walk around for differing views. If you are lucky enough you can get a chipmunk to come up to you. This is another spot in which you can sit and stare for hours. It’s extremely peaceful and you’re lucky if you pass two other groups of hikers on the whole trail.

Washington Pass Overlook

Drive a little further, and by a little I mean a few hours further, and you reach the Washington Pass Overlook. At 5,400 feet it’s the highest point you can drive to in Washington State. On the day we drove up we were forced to park right at the entrance off Highway 20 due to snow covering the road way. However, that made for a more fun walk up to the boardwalk lookout. The road was pretty clear, but the kids had more fun running in the snow and throwing it. As with every stop we made this trip, the views were unbelievable. With an amazing view of Liberty Bell mountain and the surrounding snow covered woodlands, this was well worth the several hour drive.

Heliotrope Ridge Trail

In what was perhaps one of the most fun hikes we have done with our family, the Heliotrope Ridge trail did not disappoint! The access to this trail is just down the road from the Visitor Center for the Park Service in Glacier. Once you turn down the Forest Service road, it is quite a long drive up a very narrow road. Regardless, the drive is pretty bumpy, but oh so beautiful. Once you arrive to the end of the road you have reached the trail head. I will post a few pictures here of the trail, but they don’t even come close to doing it justice. Determining the full length of this trail was difficult due to all the snow. Based on our trek using the All Trails app tracking our GPS location, roundtrip we hiked 5.8 miles and exceeded 2,800 feet in elevation climb. Our 6 year old Evan hiked the entire trail roundtrip with no problem. Our 3 year old Olivia hiked the first 1.75 miles on her own before finally succumbing to our Deuter Kid Comfort 3 carrier. Pretty impressive from both kids as the hike was almost entirely straight uphill. From the moment we hit the trail we had to deal with snow. Three areas in particular where both sketchy walking across and beautiful at the same time. The first is at this small location of a waterfall where everything else is covered in snow and you have only a small thin path in the snow to walk, one slip and down you go to the bottom! Even more astonishing was the view as you look the opposite direction from the waterfall. For as far as you can see there are snow capped mountains and the view is just awe inspiring. The second was right before crossing the creek leading down from another waterfall. The creek was harder to cross on the way back as the snow melt later in the day had increased the water flow. Lastly, when we got to the stop, the snow was so deep, but as we were walking we could hear the water just rushing underneath us. It was very neat to hear, but at the same time a little scary knowing at any moment you could fall through. Lastly, at the top you are again blessed with an assortment of views with more snow and beauty. We took a break at the top to enjoy some snacks before heading back down. At this point we were covered in snow. Thankful we had some great hiking shoes and waterproof clothing…well most of us did anyway. My poor son’s pants were not waterproof, but he was a trooper! All told the hike took us approximately 4 hours roundtrip. We began after lunch around 1pm or so and made it back to the car around 5pm. When you have kids, hikes always take longer, but we wouldn’t have changed it for anything.

Chair 9 Restaurant

After a long tiring hike we didn’t want anything to do with cooking dinner. We were fortunate Chair 9 restaurant was on the way right outside the trail and right before Snowater, where we were staying. With free wifi, ice cold beer, and coloring pages and crayons for the kids, we were set! The pizza was excellent, the staff friendly, and the environment was really great. We couldn’t say enough nice things about this place.

That does it for days 3 and 4. We hope you enjoyed this post and look forward to our next post!

April 22, 2017January 30, 2018

Hawaii 2007

When we started this blog, my wife and I had discussed we would only include those trips we had taken with our kids. The more we thought about it, we had a lot to tell about all other other trips as well. So let’s kick this thing off with our first trip as a married couple! As the post title suggest, yes we went to Hawaii!!

This was our very first real trip together, atlas one that required quite a bit of planning. I’ll be honest, we did not do a great job with planning, but we learned a lot. For the first week we were there, we stayed at the Park Shore Waikiki. Make no mistake, the website and the pictures make this hotel out to be FAR more than it is. Yes, I realize this was 10 years ago. However, based on my research, this hotel has not undergone significant renovations since. The best part about the hotel was it’s location. Our room overlooked the alley and trash dumpsters below, and the room was the smallest hotel room I had ever been in. That being said, we didn’t go to Hawaii to spend money on the fanciest hotel.

To spend an entire week on Oahu was definitely a mistake on our part. However, we got a great deal on the hotel room, and I haven’t mentioned this yet, but we also had planned a cruise for a week around all the Hawaiian Islands leaving out of Honolulu. My Aunt and Uncle essentially planned the cruise portion of the trip as they were renewing their vows on Maui, so we tagged along. Since this was so long ago, I am going to quickly recap in bullet point format the things we did on Oahu.

Oahu Activities!

“Hiked” / Walked up so many stairs to the top of Diamond Head at sunrise. Truly spectacular and worth the time
Snorkling at Kailua. It was a little rough the day we went, but we were able to rent gear for $20 each and had a nice time. We got the bus schedule mixed up on the way back (before UBER) and ended up being on the Bus for probably 2 hours.
Dole Plantation. Just a neat place to see all the Pineapple and learn the history
North Shore, a nice drive there from Waikiki if you rent a car. Extremely calm in the summer, the big waves are in the winter.
Polynesian Cultural Center – The best part was the evening cultural dance, being able to see the various performances from the cultures was really neat.
The Beach….was very crowded, but pretty neat in that there were so many boogie boarders right at this walled pier area all going at the same time. In addition one night there was a live band that we could hear and see from the Hotel Pool balcony.
Last, and certainly not least, Pearl Harbor. Just visiting a place like Pearl Harbor can send chills down your spine. The fact that there is still oil bubbles coming from the bottom of the water where the ships are sunk is kind of surreal.

Royal Caribbean Cruise

Now onto the cruise. First, I will never travel on a cruise by Norwegian Cruise Lines again. It was the worst experience ever, especially for a first time cruise. They advertise Freestyle Cruising…it is anything but Freestyle. My vision of freestyle and a Hawaiian cruise is board shorts, a t-shirt, and flip-flops 24/7. That is not the case, especially if you want to eat dinner somewhere on the ship other than the buffet line. I actually had to spend time at our first stop of Hilo to go to Walmart and buy pants. We only spent 1 day at each stop which made it difficult to do anything. However, we did spend 2 days on Maui. The first day was spent with my Aunt and Uncle for their vow renewal, a truly beautiful ceremony with just family on an off the beat path on the beach followed by dinner at Roys. The 2nd day we did an excursion bike ride down Mt. Haleakala . It was by far the highlight of our trip. At the top the temperature is in the 40’s in the summer and you are above the clouds. As you transcend down the mountain, you only have to pedal one time for about 400 yards, you literally coast the entire way down. Not only is it a thrill, but as you go down the mountain it is as though you are experiencing all four seasons. Pictures and words do not do it justice, you have to experience it for yourself. On this trip to Hawaii we didn’t truly experience Kauai like we should have, we did a kayak excursion which was great, but not what we expected. We would have to save Kauai until summer of 2012.

Boogie Boarders Just me trying to win a golf ball chip in contest (I got 2nd) on the cruise.

Maui Maui Uncle & PastorThe Ceremony & Family (Me, Uncle, Aunt, Cousin, Island Pastor)

Maui

Kauai Top of Mt Haleakala Just a Sea Turtle – Kona Kauai Na’Pali CoastKauai Na’Pali Coast Concert from hotel Pool Deck Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor Park Shore Waikiki Waikiki Beach Kailua Kailua Dole Plantation Dole Pantation North Shore Polynesian Cultural CenterDiamond Head