December 2009
2 posts
We had talked about staying in hostels, but for some reason when the time came around that we felt we needed to have a set place to stay I headed for Expedia. I like using the big resellers like Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz etc. If something goes wrong it gives you at least 1 large company with many levels with which to make your complaint- which helps if the actual hotel party is a small...
Jason and I just returned for our second Thanksgiving trip to Japan.
We left Seattle at noon on the 21st, which meant we landed at Narita Intl. sometime around 4pm on the 22nd.
Our flight back to Seattle was almost exactly 1 week later, 3pm on the 29th. This created the longest day ever with us arriving back home at 6am on the 29th, approximately 2 hours before we got up in Tokyo on the same...
November 2009
3 posts
Near Idaho Springs, CO and courtesy of the iPhone app QuadCam.
Tokyo Tower
Hachiko Statue
Shibuya Crossing
International Robot Exhibition
Roppongi Hills
Mount Takao
Imperial Palace Gardens
Tsukiji Fish Market
Yodobashi Akhibarra
Golden Gai & Nonbei Yokocho
Kabukicho
….?
Sunrise Rd Viewpoint View 2, originally uploaded by courtney johnston.
Mount Rainier National Park, WA.
October 2009
6 posts
Gorge Lake Dam, outside Newhalem, WA, originally uploaded by courtney johnston.
This was compiled from 4 iPhone pictures.
Newhalem, WA has a visitors center and there’s an outlook along Highway 20 allowing you to get a good view of the dam.
Gondolas, originally uploaded by courtney johnston.
Oklahoma.
I realized something recently. I spent my first 20 years in Oklahoma and only took pictures of people and places that made me happy.
It never occurred to me to take pictures of the forsaken details that I would really miss, like the clouds. Those clouds make putting up with a puddle jumper worth it.
JR Hiroshima Station, originally uploaded by courtney johnston.
While in Japan I fell in love with the rubber stamps posted in the train stations and at important tourist sites and temples.
It became an obsession, finding the stamps or waiting for the hordes of school children to clear out so I could have a chance of stamping my little blank book.
I’ll only have a week in Tokyo this year,...
Southfork 4 Boat Launch, originally uploaded by courtney johnston.
60 miles outside of Seattle and long after Sultan Basin Road runs out of pavement there is chalky blue Spada Lake.
The driftwood is high and leaves the impression that Spada has been drained to its lowest point of the year. There’s a washout somewhere between 4 and 5, so we never went past 4. I can’t imagine there being...
AC Air Canada
CA Air China
AF Air France
QK AirCanada Jazz
FL AirTran
AS Alaska
NH All Nippon Airways
AA American
OZ Asiana
BA British Airways
CO Continental
DL Delta
BR EVA Air
F9 Frontier
HU Hainan
HA Hawaiian
QX Horizon Air
FI Icelandair
B6 JetBlue
KL KLM
KE Korean Air
LH Lufthansa
YX Midwest
NW Northwest
SK SAS
SA So African Airways
WN Southwest
UA United
US US...
ABQ Albuquerque
AMS Amsterdam
ANC Anchorage
ATL Atlanta
AUS Austin
BWI Baltimore
PEK Beijing (Peking)
BLI Bellingham
BIL Billings
BOI Boise
BOS Boston
BZN Bozeman
BUR Burbank
YYC Calgary
CUN Cancun
CLT Charlotte
ORD Chicago
MDW Chicago Midway
CVG Cincinnati
CLE Cleveland
CDV Cordova
DAL Dallas Love
DFW Dallas/Ft.Worth
DEN Denver
DTW Detroit Metro
YEG Edmonton
EUG Eugene...
September 2009
1 post
Newcastle, WA to our favorite food stand, the small and delicious Bratz in the U-District, to Diablo Lake, WA
July 2009
3 posts
Panorama of outlook, originally uploaded by courtney johnston.
Just outside of Ellensburg, WA.
If you see a scenic outlook, stop off for a minute. You’ll rarely be disappointed.
The clouds here make me miss Oklahoma and Kansas.
Trolley Sign in Chinatown, originally uploaded by courtney johnston.
Mostly cloudy gate, originally uploaded by courtney johnston.
San Francisco, California
May 31, 2009
May 2009
8 posts
Todai-ji Temple, originally uploaded by courtneyjohnston.
Todai-ji Temple, along with having sacred deer running free on the grounds, houses the world’s largest Vairocana Buddha (also Japan’s largest bronze Buddha) in the world’s largest wooden building.
And having been built in 752 AD it is also the oldest building I’ve ever visited. That kind of age is almost incomprehensible to me.
Since...
Whatcom Falls park, originally uploaded by courtneyjohnston.
Bellingham, WA
Hiroshima, originally uploaded by courtneyjohnston.
Mount St. Helens from Elk Rock Viewpoint, originally uploaded by courtneyjohnston.
Boats in Friday Harbor, originally uploaded by courtneyjohnston.
October trip to the San Juan Islands.
We stayed at the lovely Juniper Lane Guest House in a cabin with a couple of good friends.
We took a ferry to go explore Orcas Island, and got this shot of the boats in Friday Harbor as we were setting out.
Playing on the Beach - Ocean Shores, WA, originally uploaded by courtneyjohnston.
Yesterday was made for playing with the dog in the sand.
3 hours from Seattle and you have the Pacific Ocean. It’s too close to not go on a day where there is a break from the rain.
I’m looking for a good day trip (not just hikes!) book for Seattle, Washington or the Pacific Northwest in general.
I’ve found this list from the Seattle P-I folks and it looks like I have a lot of catching up to do.
Satsop Nuclear Power Plant, originally uploaded by courtneyjohnston.
Took a day trip to the beach with the dog.
You can always see two cooling towers from along the road and today we decided to go find them.
Turns out the hyperbolic towers are from a nuclear plant that was being built in the 70s. They ran out of money so it was never completed or active, making it not only interesting but...
April 2009
1 post
Hobuck Beach - Makah Indian Reservation edit, originally uploaded by courtneyjohnston.
January 2009
2 posts
Sign for a river in Japan.
Welcome to another new home for me.
Instead of a complete relocation this is more my vacation home.
I’d like a home that I can update at my leisure with pictures and thoughts of our journeys, large and small.