When I last wrote, Lisa and I had just wrapped up a winter break trip to Baja California in Mexico and I was hinting at some more travels to come.

A lot has happened since then and I'm eager to recap:

146 Parks

The parks project has been dormant for a while, mostly because the handful of parks that remain are seasonally closed or difficult to get to. I did manage a long-weekend road-trip through eastern Washington in early May and that led to a few new ones that I can share with you now:

Fields Spring: It's been a while since I've done a park visit. The 20 or so parks that remain on my to-do list are mostly open seasonally, so the project necessarily took a bit of a hiatus this past winter.

Riverside: Riverside is really many parks rolled together under one name. I had a few hours in one afternoon to explore it, which was not nearly enough, but what I saw I truly enjoyed.

ericscouten.travel

I mentioned before that I had upcoming travels to California and the East Coast in the works. Here they are:

California Part 1: Half Moon Bay and Pigeon Point: Lisa and I are in California this week while I attend a conference. We flew down Sunday afternoon and took some time to enjoy the coastal drive from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz on Monday before arriving at the conference venue in Mountain View.

California Part 2: Mendocino and Fort Bragg’s Glass Beach: For me, the appeal was yet another visit to Mendocino, probably my 15th or 20th over at least 30 years. (I was there twice last year alone!) For Lisa, the appeal was an opportunity to visit Glass Beach in nearby Fort Bragg.

California Part 3: A Beach Walk and Back to Home: Our time in California is over. This morning, I went for an early morning walk through Mendocino Headlands State Park.

The Very Scenic Route to Spokane: There are ... more direct ... ways to get from Poulsbo to Spokane, but I'm not one to let the shortest distance between two points get in the way of a good time.

East Coast Part 1: To “The Other Washington”: Where I live, we refer to Washington DC as "the other Washington." I'm not sure if that's meant as a compliment or not. Anyhow, Lisa's work and mine conspired to have us both on the East Coast this week, so we arranged to fly together so we could enjoy the weekends together even though our work required us to be in different cities.

East Coast Part 2: Acela Train to New York: Today I took the Acela train from Washington to New York City.

East Coast Part 3: The High Line: My work has me staying in a hotel in the Meatpacking District of New York this week. When I asked for walking directions from Penn Station to my hotel, I wound up on the High Line, which is an elevated railway converted into a public park and walkway space.

East Coast Part 4: Around New York City: I spent most of this week meeting with my team.

East Coast Part 5: Roosevelt Island: Lisa suggested I explore Roosevelt Island while I was in NYC. Today is my last day in the city and I made some time before heading out to do so. I found an island that was clean and quiet and mostly residential, with some great views across the East River to the larger parts of the city:

East Coast Part 6: Back to DC: Now that our work weeks are over, I came back to Washington to reconnect with Lisa and spend some time near DC before heading back home.

East Coast Part 7: Clifton and Harpers Ferry: Today was our last full day on the East Coast. We met with a favorite cousin of Lisa's for lunch in Clifton, Virginia, where I (the newbie to the family) was very warmly welcomed.

East Coast Part 8: The Long Flight Home: It was time to return home today. We took a little time to have lunch and walk around Alexandria, then headed to the airport for our flight home.

But what about that subject line, you ask?

I'm writing this from the Seattle Airport where I'm about to embark on my first European adventure in five years. I'm heading there to attend European Identity Conference (EIC), where I will be both learning and presenting on behalf of my team. Excited to be back and to have a couple of days ahead of the conference to explore. More travel stories will follow soon, although I suspect they will not land until I am back home in the States in a week or so.

See y'all soon!