Switzerland, etc.: Familiar Places, New Spaces—and LOTS of Chocolate in Between

How do you turn down an invitation to visit a friend when they're posted at the US Embassy in Switzerland? I saw a few Swiss highlights during my Study Abroad in 2000, but was excited to return with my travel buddy to visit the "Hotel Alto" and see a few new places. I made another StoryMap to map my trip: https://arcg.is/1yOTrO0

Papa Koenigs 80th Birthday Jamboree

In 1961, my dad and a friend hopped in their car and drove from Los Angeles to go camping in Sequoia National Park. For his 80th birthday in July, I wanted to go back and see if we could recreate some of his photos (and selfishly, to visit the park myself for the first time).

 As his Christmas present, I made my dad a StoryMap of our trip, which you can view here:

https://arcg.is/1j1OS9

 

Harmony Road Trip: Church History and other Pennsylvania Highlights

With our church's focus in 2021 on the Doctrine & Covenants and things starting to slowly reopen, my travel buddy Kara and I considered resuming our annual Memorial Day Weekend trips and continuing the Church history theme of our previous years. Next up: the small town of Harmony in northeast Pennsylvania. Members of our faith believe many significant religious events took place there, and while it didn't take long to see it, it was well worth the visit. We booked the last tour of the day to make the most of the trip up there (i.e. enjoy ice cream), and spent the night in nearby Scranton, PA before returning via a state park full of waterfalls. I've had a few trips to Pennsylvania and it always surprises me how much history and beauty are there. You can see the StoryMap here: https://arcg.is/0fSyf4

 

 

Seattle Finale

My last two days I got to work from our Seattle office and Margot graciously let me crash at her place. It was a fun treat to walk past the Space Needle on our way to the office downtown, a space living up to hipster cliches and filled with some awesome colleagues from our Arlington office who’d decided to move west.

 

Their location meant I could grab lunch at Pike’s Place market, and take mini walking tours of the architecture downtown. My last night I even caught up with an old friend and his family and got a quick tour of the Amazon spheres--a breath of tropical air that seems to defy its surroundings.

In the nest of the Amazon sphere

My trip was a bit of a whirlwind, but as a final treat on the departure flight I was treated to a window seat with a window and a stunning view of Mount Rainier in the morning light. It definitely gave me pause to realize that behemoth had been so close most of my trip by always just out of sight due to low cloud cover. Love the change a different perspective can bring!

Olympic Peninsula Day 2

Sunday morning, I was able to attend church at a small ward in the nearby town of Forks before we commenced our drive back to Seattle. The rest of the drive was lovely, with a stop at Lake Crescent to admire the scenery. And just when I thought it couldn’t be any lovelier, there was a rainbow!

Lake Crescent

We also paused briefly in Port Angeles for a parking lot picnic and a glimpse of Canada before taking the Kingston ferry back to Seattle.

Map on the Kingston Ferry--note the unique orientation

These ferries are considered public transportation, but the snack berry and jigsaw puzzles made them seem far superior to any bus or subway ride I’ve had back in DC. We spent most of the ride on the upper deck trying to see wildlife, and while the captain announced he’d spotted whales, he was too vague on the details for us to figure out where he was looking.

Olympic Peninsula Day 1: Hoh Rainforest

Tacoma was still as we left it for a place on my US bucket list: the Olympic Peninsula. I’d seen pictures once and was fascinated by the verdant green, temperate rainforest. I’d hoped to visit on my last visit to Seattle but was unsuccessful; thanks to awesome coworkers this was becoming a reality. Margot picked me up and we drove straight to the Hoh Rainforest, where we met up with Adrienne for our hike after putting on more rain gear. We hiked the Hall of Mosses, stopping to admire the variety of mushrooms and the “mossy beards” on the trees (NPS sign, not our words). It wasn’t grand vistas, but the whole place had an enchanted feel to it.

Hall of Mosses trail, Hoh Rainforest NP

Hoh Rainforest National Park

old-growth trees in Hoh Rainforest National Park

Standing next to a tree trunk for scale in Hoh Rainforest National Park

Hoh Rainforest National Park

Hall of Mosses trail

We continued on to a waterfall, hiking along the Hoh River for much of it. The whole trail was mostly squishy with some good-sized puddles, and I was grateful for the rocks and logs that poked above them. And while it did live up to its reputation as a rainforest, that hike was also (ironically) the first time I’d seen the sun on this trip! The afternoon sun made the wet forest sparkle. The waterfall was lovely, and the hike back didn’t feel as long.

some of the fungi in the Hoh Rainforest

Hoh River

Waterfall in Hoh Rainforest National Park

My hiking buddies Adrienne and Margot

The trail in Hoh Rainforest National Park

We drove to La Push, where Adrienne had found us cabins on the Quileute Reservation just off the beach. The cabin was a true tiny house, and once we and all our gear were inside we walked to the beach to watch the sunset. It was far too cold and windy for me to even stick my toe in the water, but just the sound and smell of the beach felt good. Not to mention some of the most impressive driftwood I’ve ever seen!

Sunset at La Push

This trunk was so cool to climb on! Some parts were worn smooth; other areas had dimples. No idea where it came from or how big of a storm it took to wash it up there.

The food and the company were both excellent, and the wood burning stove made me grateful for our collective fire building skills. The storm overnight also made me grateful we’d abandoned any thought of camping.

Tacoma Days 2-3: NACIS

NACIS (North American Cartographic Information Society) conference program

The cartography conference was excellent and inspiring, and while catching up with fellow cartographers is always a highlight, apparently I only managed to take pictures of their presentations. Here are a few:

The same data using different classification schemes.

Before and after tsunami evacuation route maps

Coincidentally, Tacoma’s museums are free every 3rd Thursday of the month, so I spent an evening visiting their art museum and their glass museum. The art museum was small but had its own glass exhibit, an impressionist exhibit including some regional artists, and an exhibit on the art of the Simpsons--the volume of animated cells for the series made for quite a contrast to the oil paintings.

I hadn't heard that quote before.

Just down the block, the glass museum’s highlight was the live demonstration in their glassblowing studio. In honor of Halloween, they had a team working to create a glass Jack Skellington from “The Nightmare Before Christmas”.

Bird display at the glass museum

Live demonstration at the Glass Museum

I’ve always been an admirer of Chihuly’s work, so it was surprising to see how little was inside his hometown’s glass museum. I later realized it’s because they wanted it to be as accessible as possible, so the best pieces were actually on the bridge to the museum, as well as inside the historic train station next door that people can go inside for free.

Chihuly display on the bridge to the Glass Museum

Chihuly display on the bridge to the Glass Museum

This train station is now a courthouse.

Some of the Chihuly pieces inside the old train station. No light could do justice to all the pieces at once!

It’s a short conference but packs a lot in, and I hope to make it to next year’s.

Tacoma skyline (not pictured: Mount Rainier)