Sean Carley

I remember several trips to Mount Rainier as a very young child. I remember hiking out trails before the snow melted off and being forced to turn back when a cliff side trail dissappeared beneath a massive drift. I remember a morning by a mountain lake followed by torrential downpours that chased us off the mountain. I think my sister and I were even carried by a ranger for part of that trip. I remember sledding on a slope of Mount Rainier. I remember trying to swim in glacier fed, crystal clear rivers, barely above freezing. I remember drives with plummeting mountain sides made even steeper to my young mind by the trunks of evergreens barely steeper than they.

All of my memories of this great mountain are fond, even the ones that maybe shouldn’t be. Mount Rainier inspires my soul. I’m glad for Mount Rainier.

My wife and I love zoos. We visit them every chance we get. The Toledo Zoo looked good enough to make me wait 3 hours for it to open in a town I knew nothing about. The suggestion that it is the 7th best zoo in the country had my expectations quite high.

The zoo we found did not live up to my expectations but was well worth the visit. Several of the exhibits deserve an honorable mention on Ultimate Zoos with the seal and polar bear exhibits standing out. Something let me down a bit though. I felt this zoo was more about the people visiting than it was about the animals living there. It was subtle but I felt it could have been better.

I would like to go back when I am not exhausted by the road (I had been driving since 1 AM when we hit Toledo) but you should definitely take a look here if you get a chance.

Wondering what this was about, we stopped at City Market for a look around. What we found was remeniscent of Pike’s Place Market in Seattle, a cross between a farmer’s market and a local shopping district. We were there on a Saturday and most of the place was closed down but the health food store and the greek concession were both worth the trip and I would like to return when more was open during the week. If you are in town, it is worth your time to experience City Market.

My wife and I pulled off into downtown Indianapolis in search of a free wireless internet connection and a computer store. I discovered 44 wireless networks at one point, the most I have ever seen. I got connected and found a couple potential stores with relative ease.

On a lark, we stopped at City Market for a look around and this gem, described elsewhere, proved more than worth the side trip. Downtown Indianapolis is attractive and easy to navigate and I found enough to interest me during our brief foray that I am planning to return soon for more flavor.

I freely admit I did not give Detroit any fair shakes but having passed through Detroit on my way to Canada, I honestly hope I never have to go back. The landscape was reminiscent of a pre-holocost Mad Max; industrialism has blighted the land and the smaug was horrible. To make everything just a little bit worse, the drivers were the most agressively rude of any I have experienced in the world, cutting you off for providing the least hint of your intentions.

I was here for a day in 1991 and it did not leave much impression. I am sure I missed everything good about it but I cannot honestly recommend it.

There is a park in Pacific Grove where the Monarch butterflies mate. For about a month, you cannot enter the park, disturbing a monarch is a $10,000 fine, but you can see. These beautiful splashes of color coat the trees in a thick cloak of living warmth. Time your visit well and perhaps you too can swear fealty to the monarchs in all their glory.

“Go ten miles south. You will know you are there when you see the white marks on the road from where the rocks on the cliff face sometimes fall,” said the proprieter as he described how to get to Pardington Cove from the convenience store in Big Sur. It was Christmas vacation on the California coast and we were exploring.

We did as instructed and sure enough, coming around an inside bend on Hwy 1, almost exactly ten miles south, we noticed the marks on the road and a slightly larger shoulder where it was safe to pull off. It doesn’t look like much from your car but if you chance to stop and get out, you will be greeted by a California experience you will never forget.

From your car, you really have two worthwhile adventures awaiting, either of which could consume a day or more. The traditional start has you heading down to the bay. A long, switchbacking, dirt road leads down towards the water, with every step revealing more of this locations enchanting sights. At the bottom, the ocean greets you with its sprightly and thunderous voices as waves break endlessly on the rocky shore and crash through chutes, sending them skyward, by the cliff face.

Keep heading down the trail another 50 feet and you find a surprising tunnel boring straight through the wall of the cove. Cross through and you find another wonderland too good to be missed. When you come out of the tunnel, you are on a narrow trail several feet, straight down, above the clear Pacific waters. The cliff face around this sister cove is sheer for at least 40 feet. Walk up the path a few feet and you are standing directly above a pool teaming with life. I have seen sharks swimming and the random octopus in addition to the colorful anemone.

Follow the trail as it takes you out onto the peninsula of land between the two coves. The adventurous will find a secret cave supposedly used by smugglers during prohibition and tide pools galore. The most adventurous will find you sit directly above the largest chute we saw in the first part of the cove and watch as the spray from the largest waves wets your appetite for excitement.

Another adventure entirely awaits you if you decide to go up from your car instead of down. You follow the creek into a valley with all the lush, verdant forest northern California is famous for. Eventually, the trail disappears and you find yourself scrambling along the creek bed, not minding the wet feet for the joy in your soul. As far back as I have been, every turn brought a new site as wonderful as the last and I find it difficult to turn back.

All told, Pardington Cove will leave an indelible mark on your soul and your life will be richer for it.

My wife and I found The Crumpet Shop the last time we were in Seattle. After we found it, we ate breakfast there every chance we got. Their hot groats are wonderful and my wife loved the pesto crumpet. And the selection of teas, from traditional black teas, to green teas, to exotics like rooibos, was fantastic. To top it all off, the owners were fun to talk to.

All in all, The Crumpet Shop added color and comfort to our trip and I think everyone should give it a try.