The more I experience the Northwest, the more I appreciate all that is unique and colorful about the region. With every weekend excursion, road trip, or museum visit, I discover fascinating stories behind the names and the landscapes of the Northwest. Having written about travel and recreation in the Northwestern United States for over 16 years, I’ve been fortunate to visit places and talk to people that have revealed so many interesting stories. Knowledge of these stories gives the Northwest’s landscape and character a depth and richness that I find amazing and makes me appreciate how truly special this part of the world is, both for the uniqueness of its natural features and for the types of people that call the Northwest home.
Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, I have enjoyed the opportunity to live in cities and towns both east and west of the Cascade Mountains and to travel extensively through the region and the Western US. I’ve experienced and learned so many fascinating things about Northwest people and places, both through travel and through study and reading. I was About.com’s “Northwest US Travel” expert from 2000 to 2016, writing about travel and recreation in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. During this time I earned a Master of Arts degree in the Humanities and chose to write my thesis on early travel in the Pacific Northwest, with a focus on 1890 to 1940. All of these experiences have provided me access to amazing Northwest stories, both well known and obscure. It is my hope that this blog will allow me to share these stories in a way that encourages you to get out, to learn, and to enjoy your own Amazing Northwest experiences.
