Before heading down to Disneyland in Anaheim from San Francisco this August our group took a 1-day detour up to Napa and stayed in Calistoga. Keeping with the family-friendly theme of our trip, we visited a winery where children are welcome and even get their very own local drink (non-alcoholic of course) to swirl, sip, […]

The Exploratorium in San Francisco is not your average museum. In fact, it’s pretty much unlike any other museum I’ve visited so I won’t call it that. It’s an imagination-boosting, mind-bending, tinker-encouraging, eye-opening, fun-filled space for science and discovery. It was another stop during our recent trip to San Francisco with Disney Canada and Travel […]

There are various San Francisco activities and landmarks that make a trip to the City by the Bay complete such as a tour of Alcatraz, dinner at the legendary Tonga Room, family fun at Pier 39, photo ops at the Golden Gate Bridge, riding a cable car or navigating Lombard Street. For families, fans of […]

One place I have always wanted to visit when in San Francisco is Alcatraz, which is as notorious as some of its former prisoners. The 9 hectare island sits about 2.4kms from San Francisco and has had many lives. First as a lighthouse, military fort and military prison in the 1860s, then as a federal […]

Photos and write-up about a visit to Maquoketa Caves State Park Iowa

On a typical grey day in early May I spent an afternoon touring three wineries, a bistro, and a chocolate shop in the Comox Valley with a media group as we sampled delicious treats from some of the region’s best local producers. The trip was hosted by Tourism Vancouver Island and when we reached Courtenay […]

John and I enjoyed a few days exploring “The Other Vancouver”, which is Vancouver, Washington. Located about two hours south of Seattle along the I-5, this Vancouver sits along the Columbia River and was incorporated in 1857, 29 years before Vancouver, BC. While planning our trip to the “other” Vancouver in Washington State we knew […]

There had to be a better way to get pedestrians over a set of busy train tracks and a four-lane highway in a scenic riverside city and Vancouver, Washington found the perfect solution. In 2008, with federal, state, and private funding, the Vancouver Land Bridge opened to the public. This 40-foot wide paved pathway links […]

It’s one of those moments in the life of a Pacific Northwest resident that everyone remembers — where they were, what they heard, what they thought it was. I was only a few months old when Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980 but from 500km away, people (like my mother) recall hearing the […]

Last August, John and I were invited to the Ka’anapali Fresh Festival on Maui, which celebrated locally-grown ingredients prepared by local chefs at a variety of unique beachfront events. On top of the festival, we toured MauiGrown Coffee, had a beer pairing lunch with Maui Brewing, and even managed to fit in a volcano sunrise. […]