Earth Day every day: outdoor adventures that teach kids to love nature

In our part of the world, Earth Day usually dawns chilly and soggy. For many years, I dutifully took my kids out to the local celebration (always held outdoors, of course) so we could freeze for a few hours while batting around an oversized globe-patterned beach ball, learn about sustainable housing and bio-diesel, and eat local produce. Don't get me wrong: there's nothing wrong with any of that. … [Read more...]

No rain dance required: three soggy days on the Olympic Peninsula

According to the middle-aged waitress in Hoquiam, Washington's only coffee shop, it had already been raining on the Olympic Peninsula for two days straight when we drove through en route to nearby Lake Quinault Lodge. And the forecast was not promising to get any better. "Can't imagine why you're visiting in March," she observed, pouring my coffee into a brown ceramic mug. "It'll still be … [Read more...]