18 Places to go on a Pacific Northwest Road Trip!

My brother, Ryan, and I, headed out for another sibling trip together! Neither one of us had been to the Pacific Northwest, so we were both pretty exited! As kids, we had a massive backyard in a valley that was super safe. There was very little need for any supervision, so we ran wild all summer long with the neighborhood kids building forts, tree houses and finding frogs in the creeks and streams. It was a pretty great childhood, and this trip kept on reminding me of all the things we use to do growing up in our small northern town. I feel super fortunate that I can travel here and there with my brother. Not a lot of siblings could do a 2 week road trip together, so I totally give us props for that. The long drives gave us time to talk and open up as well as time to soak in all the scenery. 

We started our trip in San Francisco and took the 101 all the way to Seattle, then took the 5 on the way back down. We drove my Prius, which had it's perks in terms of gas milage. It was also just big enough to do some car camping when we didn't feel like tent camping. If you are taking a road trip, download the app Roadtrippers. This kept us really organized with mileage and distance, etc. You can find hotels, places to eat and other things to do around your area. 

1. Fern Canyon: We camped at Gold Bluffs Beach campground, which is right next to Fern Canyon. You have to drive on a dirt road for 6 miles that has some pot holes, but my Prius made it! I would recommend a small SUV for the added clearance if possible. Make sure to bring water shoes for the Fern Canyon hike. You will be hiking through water the entire time. The water is also freezing cold, so if you have scuba boots to keep you feet extra warm, bring those! The redwoods and sequoia trees are right around that area too, so there's a lot to see! 

2. Tour-Thru Tree: This is just up the road from Fern Canyon and for $5, you can drive your car though a giant sequoia! I figured since we were passing through, we might as well do it! 

3. Out 'n' About Treehouse "Treesort": This place was a little bit of a detour for us, but well worth it! If you like tree houses and quirky places to stay, I highly recommend this place! There are so many of them built by the owner and each of them is unique. I loved it there! They offer a complimentary homemade breakfast and other activities such as horseback riding, etc. The tree houses themselves don't have bathrooms, but there are plenty of bathrooms/showers that are well maintained with hot water. This place was magical and my favorite place that we stayed on the whole trip! 

4. Samuel H. Boardman State Park: We made various stops along the Oregon coast because the entire 101 is so gorgeous! I would recommend not adhering to a specific timeline for this part of the trip because you never know when you are going to see something and want to jump out of the car and explore for a few hours! 

5. Secret Beach and Thunder Rock: This place looks like it's straight out of a fairytale. I love how trees grow on the rocks in Oregon. This was one of my favorite beaches. 

6. Beverly Beach Sate Park Campground: I highly recommend this campground. All around it was a great experience. The staff is organized and the grounds are kept well. It's right off the beach and next to Devil's punchbowl. The nice thing about this campground is that there aren't any bears!

7. Drift Creek Falls: We headed toward Lincoln City and did this hike. It's a half day hike if you stop to take a picture every 20 feet, but otherwise, you can get it done in a couple of hours. This hike takes you all the way to the swing bridge and waterfall. It's beautiful!

8. Canon Beach: Hands down, this was my favorite beach that we went to and I totally lucked out with the weather! It was a gorgeous sunny blue sky and colorful sunset. We went back the next day, but it wasn't the same. It was grey, windy and the tide had come in, covering up all the mossy rocks. This beach is a MUST!

9. Ruby Beach: We made two attempts at this beach. the first time was very dark and rainy. The second time was perfect. There is a big log jam that was fun to climb around to get to the beach, but this beach is not accessible for anyone with physical disabilities. However, there are still great lookout points to enjoy the view. 

10. Hoh Rainforest and the Hall of Mosses: One of the top things I wanted to do in Olympic National Forrest was this place. I took SO many pictures of these mossy trees. I was mesmerized by them! There is no doubt in my mind that this area was the source for Dr. Suses's inspiration. The trees, the plants, everything looks like something out of his books. 

11. Forks, WA: We stayed the night in Forks, which is just as odd as the book says it is. The people there are a little hostile toward tourists, and there is absolutely nothing to do there. However, it's a convenient place to crash after visiting Hoh Rainforest. 

12. Sol Duc Falls and Hot Springs: The original plan was to go to the natural hot springs, but the road was washed out, making it a 20 miles round trip hike to the hot springs. We almost rented bikes to get there, but it was too late in the day without camping overnight. So, we opted for Sol Duc Resort. This place is more commercialized, but the plus side of that is the water is always tested and safe. Right down the road is the beautiful hike to Sol Duc Falls. 

13. Seattle: We spent a day and a half in Seattle and did all of the silly tourist things! One of the highlights was Pike's Place Market, which is totally not overrated, (unlike Fisherman's warf in San Francisco.) There are so many great places to eat there. Everything is local and the market area has good energy. Naturally, we had stick some gum to the gum wall :) We also went to Capital Hill, Ivar's Fish Bar, and the troll. We ended our stay at Gas Works Park. 

14. Mt. Rainier: Little did I know that Mt. Rainier is a summer thing! The pass opened up on the day that we were leaving which made it convenient for the drive. We camped and did the Skookum Flats Hike. We saw bear tracks on the trail! There are only two places to eat in the nearby town of Greenwater. I highly recommend eating at the Deli. The first night, we were tired and made the mistake of eating at the Tavern. The next morning, we ate at the Deli across the street, and the food is comparable to the quality that you'd get in a bigger city.

15. Mt. Hood: We didn't explore too much in the city of Portland. Ryan took off to go back home and I met up with my video partner, Dan. I don's ski or snowboard anymore, so we hiked up Mt. Hood as far as we could go. 

16. Multnomah Falls: This waterfall is extremely touristy, but definitely worth it! Don't let the crowds scare you off! This place is straight out of Lord of the Rings!  Not to mention, this place has one of the cutest visitor centers I've ever seen. There were food stands, restaurant and the staff was super helpful. The Columbia River Gorge is a big area with LOTS of waterfalls and hikes. I was really impressed with Oregon's waterfalls. They are just as big if not bigger and more lush than in Hawaii. I got there around noon which allowed me to capture the sun's light rays on the mist. We did the five mile hike after visiting Multnomah. 

17. Oneonta Gorge: This was even better than Fern Canyon! This hike is also not for wimps! The entire hike is in freezing cold water. For the most part, the water only comes up to your ankles, but in certain parts, it can get up to your neck! I decided to scale the wall to avoid going through neck deep freezing cold water. Most people wore their bathing suits. If you want to be really prepared so you can hang out there for a while, wear scuba boots and a wet suit. I went there twice. Once in the mid day sun to capture the sun ray's hitting the mist of the waterfall, and then again in the evening to capture the gorge with even lighting. 

18. Last, but not least, is Yosemite! This was my first time to Yosemite, and since it was toward the end of the trip, we didn't do any major hikes. We did the two mile hike to Taft Point. Even though this hike was super short, it was a bit hectic coming back in the dark. The trail is not marked well in the snow. Thank god we brought our headlamps and compass! We camped the night and then headed back to LA! 

17 Things To Do On Kauai

Since I had so much great feedback on my Southwest blog post, I decided to put together a detailed list from Kauai. These photos are a collection from the times I've been on the island in the last three years. It's my favorite Hawaii island!

I feel extremely grateful that I got to see and do so much on this island. The first time I went, Patrick Kelley and Matt Feeser put in endless effort in showing me around. They introduced me to their friends and it was so much fun! Without these two amazing humans, I wouldn't have been able to do half of this stuff. At the time, I don't think I fully realized the opportunity or how much it was impacting me. Looking back, I appreciate how much they went out of their way for me. 

For those of you interested in an unique and educational workshop on photography, I highly recommend Patrick's Kauai Adventure Photography Workshops. He's an amazing landscape photographer and takes his tour groups to places on the island to get incredible scenic shots. It's a hands on learning experience! I can't say enough about him and his team that leads these tours. If you are on Kauai and are an avid photographer, definitely check into it!

Top things you need if you are going to hike. 

1. Waterproof hiking shoes that let your feet breath. Because it rains so much, it's guaranteed that water will be on your trail. There are streams to cross to get to a lot of the waterfalls, so your footwear is very important. Nothing is worse than wearing wet, disgusting socks in soaked hiking shoes. 

2. Always have your swimsuit on hand. Most hikes have a waterfall destination, so you want to be prepared to jump in if you feel like it. 

3. Invest in a good backpack and carry water, sunscreen, snacks, all the essentials all the time.

4. Leave everything fashion related at home. Kauai is wet, muddy, humid and frankly nobody is paying attention to you. This is not Waikiki! I made that mistake my first time there. I even brought heels! You will never wear any of it and there isn't any nightlife.  

5. Buy a waterproof case for your iphone and camera. Life is easier when you aren't worried about getting your phone wet. For your DSLR and iPhone, I recommend the DiCAPac brand. 

1. Hike Kalalau Valley Look out Trail

I'm going to start this list with something that isn't in the guide books. This is one of the most worthwhile hikes I've ever done. One of the reasons I love it, is because there are so many discoveries along the way. The way you access this trail is to the left of the regular lookout beyond the chain linked fence. The fog is always rolling in and out, so you have to be a little patient with this hike if you want to see the view at the end. This hike is not difficult and I'm guessing less than 2 miles round trip. Bring water and never go while it's raining or after a heavy rainfall. These are 4,000 ft. cliffs, and in some parts there are massive drop offs on both sides. 

2. Red Sand Waterfall

On the road up the canyon to the Kalalou lookout, there is this amazing red sands waterfall. Definitely check it out and walk around. I felt like I was on Mars. 

3. Hike to The Upper Waipo’o Falls in Waimea Canyon

This is a great hike to see the canyon valley. It's a much different view than the Kalalou lookout. This is a lot longer hike and fairly strenuous. This is a regular hike that is well paved and listed in the guide books. 

4. Stay in a Yurt

I'm all about staying at funky places. This was one of the few airbnb places on the west side. There were two yurts on the property. I recommend this for the adventurous! The amenities were very barebones. There was one outhouse and outdoor shower along with an outdoor basic kitchen. Everything was clean and I definitely recommend this to anyone who can handle it!.

5. Beach Camping at Polihale State Park

Polihale beach is so vast that it makes you feel like you have the whole beach to yourself! It's a little bit of a trek out there, so make sure to pack all the supplies you need. You can get out there with a car, but I recommend an all wheel drive vehicle. 

6. Beach day at Poipu beach Park

For those of you that want your Hawaii experience to be all sunshine, Poipu has really great weather. In my opinion, this is where you want to go snorkeling. I've tried snorkeling in other parts of the island, but nothing compares to Poipu and the convenience. You can rent the gear at the Sheraton and buy the food at the local shop. You can also rent the paddle boards on the beach. It's always sunny and hassle free. Make sure to eat lunch at the Puka Dog (best hot dogs ever), or grab a burger on the patio by the Sheraton.    

7. Helicopter Ride

If your budget allows, I recommend doing a helicopter ride. Any chance you get to see the Na Pali coast, take it. There were so many waterfalls and views to see including the famous opening shot from the movie Jurassic Park!

8. Eat at the Mermaid Cafe

While in Kapaa, check out the Mermaid cafe. It is a favorite of mine. And for coffee shops, make sure to hit up Small Town Coffee.  

 9. Jump in a waterfall and swing on vines at Hoopi Falls

This is one of my favorite places on the island because jumping into waterfalls is what it's all about! This place is such a gem. If you take the trail and hike further down, there are some vines that you can swing on. This is definitely not officially advised in any of the guidebooks, and I strongly don't advise it to anyone who is not physically fit. However, if you can hold your own body weight with your arms, it is incredibly fun and a super memorable experience. 

10. Splash through puddles on Loop Road

Steven Spielberg used this road to film the Jurassic Park sign. Since then the road has eroded and makes for great pot holes to go off-roading on. You can't do this road in a car. You need a high clearance vehicle to do this activity. Since it rains a lot on this island, this is the perfect activity to take advantage. I could go off-roading and splash in the puddles all day every day. If you make it to the top, then make sure to bring some boogie boards and swim through the old irrigation tunnels to the waterfalls on the other side. It's super rad!

11. Stop at a Coconut Stand

Whenever you see a coconut stand on the side of the highway, pull over and get one! Make sure to pay the extra $1 to have them carve out the coconut meat when you are done drinking the water. 

12. Take an outdoor shower

I've stayed in some pretty funky airbnb's over the years. This was one of the more regular ones, but I really loved it. One of the reasons I decided to stay here was because of the outdoor shower amenity. This place is clean, organized and located in the Wailua homesteads. I love when I see attention to detail, and the owners really went out of their way to be very thoughtful about each unit. This area is a bit more upscale and I did not hear a single chicken during my entire stay!  Click here for the link.

13. Sail along the Na Pali Coast

I had the opportunity to hop on a sailboat and see the mighty Na Pali coast by private tour. It was one of the best times. Whether you decide to see the coast by kayak or booking a boat tour, I highly recommend it. We stopped at Kalalau beach, which you can only get to by kayak or hiking. It's also where they filmed a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean. We went into caves and climbed around at the beach. 

14. Hanakapiai Falls Hike

This trail starts at the end of the road on the north shore. It's also the same trail you take to do the Kalalau trail hike, which is the big 11 mile hike. If you are only prepared for a day hike, the Hanakapiai falls trail is perfect. You will see beautiful vistas along the way, a beach full of stacked rocks, a bamboo forrest, and at the end, a gorgeous waterfall that you can jump into. I would recommend starting early because you will want to spend all day doing this hike. 

15. Kayaking

If you like kayaking, take the opportunity to either do a tour along the Wailua river to Secret Falls. Or, if you are up for something more physical, book a tour to kayak along the Na Pali coast. 

16. Horseback Riding at Silver Falls Ranch

I will admit, I am not a horse person. The opportunity came up for me to ride a horse at this ranch. There were beautiful vistas, and I'm glad I had the chance to do this! 

17. Explore all the beaches along the north shore

Driving along the north shore and stopping to explore all the beaches was a favorite past time while I was there. Some of my favorites and seen below are Ke'e beach, Anini, Secrets beach and Tunnels beach. Eating lunch and grabbing a shave ice in Hanalei is a must! Don't forget to stop at the Wainiha General Store as it's your last chance to grab food and snacks before heading to Ke'e beach. Remember that you won't be able to get any reception or service the further north you go, so bring quarters just in case you need to make an emergency call at the vintage phone booth! 

11 Places to go on a Southwest Road Trip!

I wanted to do some traveling around Utah and the Southwest for a while, and what better time than the holiday break! I did this trip with my best pal and video partner, Dan. My favorite people are those that I can create with and we always have a lot of fun together. I came up with the whole itinerary: 2 weeks and 1,700 miles!  This is something we’ve never done before. Some of my favorite photos are when I passed the camera to Dan and had him take a picture of me. When I’m behind the camera the whole time, I’m usually never the one in the photos, so it was nice to have him there to capture some memories for me.

Normally, the photos I see of the Southwest are all during the summer, so I was excited to do this trip in the winter to experience a different type of scenery. It wasn’t as snowy in some spots as I was expecting, but still made for beautiful vistas. None of these photos are heavily photoshopped. I’ve never been a fan of over-doing the colors to the point of over glorifying a place. What you see is what you get if you go to these same places! For this post, I wrote a lot of my little tips incase anyone reading this wants to do a similar trip in the winter. Whenever I go anywhere, I do a bunch of research on the places so I can be as prepared as possible. I read yelp reviews, other travel blogs, anything I can that seems honest and helpful. So I hope some of this is useful!

Tips before we start:

• If you plan on going to more than three national parks in the span of one year, purchase the national park pass for $80. 
• If you are going to do this hike in the winter ice, you need to wear crampons
• I recommend snow boots as opposed to just regular hiking shoes. I opted to wear Sorels because I can’t stand my feet being cold.
• Temperatures were between 25 and 45 degrees, so dress appropriately. 
• Avoid wearing jeans or any cotton clothing.
• Some of the places and hotels we stayed at did not have hair dryers, so bring one of those.  

1. We started out in Los Angeles and drove through Vegas. Our first stop was Zion National Park. We did Angels Landing right off the bat. This is a really popular hike and will take at least three to four hours round trip. Since we took photos and videos along the way, it was an all day hike for us. I counted around 21 switchbacks on the back side that were pretty slippery. I saw younger guys wearing Pumas while trying to hike the switchbacks. They slipped all over the place and had to crawl in some spots. Don’t be like that. Wear proper foot gear, and you will be so much for comfortable. 

2. Our next day, we hiked The Narrows. Hands down, this was one of the coolest things that I’ve ever done. Zion apparently turns into Disneyland in the summer, but in the winter, the crowds really taper off. We had the entire narrows to ourselves! We did not see one person hiking during our whole trip! We hiked all the way to the Wall Street area and then turned around. This was an all day hike for us because we took our time with photos, etc. Hiking through a river in a gorge during the winter gave me an adrenaline rush that I’ve never had before! The beauty of all the snow and ice is something I could only experience during winter, and we were completely remote. The hike itself was pretty easy, the water level never got past my upper thighs, but it was definitely a work out since we started off going up stream while constantly concentrating on our balance. There were plenty of rocky sand bars to rest.

Hiking the narrows in the winter means wearing a dry suit because the water is so cold. I was really cautious about risks of hypothermia being hours away from help, so it was important to do this right. We rented everything from Zion Adventure Company. This place was great because they set us up with a package of everything we needed to stay warm and dry in case we fell in. It was money well spent. While we came back from the end of our hike, we saw these two people trying to hike the narrows in a garbage bag. The Narrows was not a potato sack race. I could list a million things wrong with this decision, not to mention it was getting really dark. Don’t be like that.

3. Our next stop was Bryce Canyon. Unlike the cute hip town of Springdale, the options were much less around Bryce. We only had the option of staying at the Best Western and eating at the one restaurant in the whole town. The food was pretty bland and terrible, but it was our only option. I still recommend checking out Bryce. The rock formations were like nothing else I have seen. They are called “hoodos” and the hike around the park took a day. There are some switchbacks in the beginning and end that I recommend using crampons for. Again, I saw an older guy wearing nice dress shoes with a baby on his shoulders trying to do this hike. He slipped all over the place and it gave me anxiety just watching him. Don’t be like that.

4. We headed north to Mystic Hot Springs. I wanted to find a place that was in between Bryce and Moab, and this seemed like the perfect spot. I found this place on Airbnb. They had 6 working tubs and two bigger soaking pools that got pretty hot. Dan took some fun little shots of me while I explored all of the tubs! I’m a huge sucker for hot springs, but will not jump in anything. I asked how often the tubs were cleaned and how regularly the water was tested. This place was quirky and and such a great escape from the norm. The first night we stayed in the “my cabin.” This had a cute little pot belly stove that reminded me of my Dad’s old potbelly stove. This kept the entire cabin pretty warm throughout the night. The second night, we stayed in the old vintage bus. This wasn’t as warm, but with the space heater, it was comfortable. I’ve never stayed in an old bus before, so that was exciting!

5. After being at the hot springs for two days, we headed to Moab to trek around Arches National Park. I was really surprised at how lively the town of Moab was! Usually towns that are under 10K in population are pretty creepy in my opinion, but because there was so much tourism, even in the winter, Moab turned out to be a pleasant surprise. There were lots of hotels and decent restaurants. Our first attempt at going to Arches wasn’t so smooth. In the excitement of being at arches, Dan didn’t quite put the car into “park.” We watched the vehicle slowly move backwards into the ditch...We happened to get this all on the GoPro, so I think this will make for some funny video footage when we edit that together.

Anyway, Arches was fascinating. These rock formations were way bigger in real life than the pictures can portray. There are so many arches within a few miles radius. All of this happened because of water and erosion over thousands of years. These hikes were pretty easy, but I still recommend crampons in the icey parts. We saw almost all of the arches that the park has to offer! The one thing I think I missed out on was doing some nighttime timelapses at Delicate Arch. It was just too cold and we were not prepared to be there for several hours during the night. During our hike at Delicate Arch, I spotted a fundamentalist mormon family. It was quite the treat. There were 17 of them and they all passed us one by one while sprinting to the top. The girls all had the traditional homemade looking dresses and 18th century hair braids, while the guys had blue jeans, plain sweatshirts and bluetooths.

6. After spending a couple days in Moab, we headed south to Monument Valley. This is on the Navajo Reservations, so the national park pass won’t work for this. There’s a community of people that live around this area, so we made acquaintances with some locals to take us to Tear Drop arch on the reservation. We were really lucky to have them help us because normally this is a guided tour only in the summer. We went off-roading a little bit to get to this place, and it was worth it. Not many people have the opportunity to capture this view and have the place all to themselves! It’s just a reminder that it never hurts to ask locals to help you out to find hidden gems.

We stayed at the hotel this is inside the park, and I highly recommend this hotel! It’s called “The View.” It had the best breakfast for the price, and the view while we ate was picture perfect. The hotel was built near the most iconic parts of the park. We opted out of the 17 mile loop around the park because we had to get on with our trip, but this was something I would like to do in the future.

7. We drove down to Paige, AZ to Antelope Canyon. This was one of the most mysterious and beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. I didn’t even know this existed while growing up. Apparently not many American’s go there as the tour guides said mostly Asians and Europeans do the tours. We could only do Antelope Canyon through a tour. We did both Upper and Lower Antelope Canyon since we had time, however, if you only have time for only one, do Lower Antelope. It’s cheaper and the colors are more vivid. Both tours are about the same in length. The soil was very clay like, and this canyon was formed by an earthquake, thus forming the really narrow and tall walkways. Over thousands of years of water and erosion, the smooth, wavy walls were sculpted. The colors were created by the bright Arizona sun reflecting off the rocks. The colors in my photos were actually what you will see when you do these tours, and you cannot take a bad photo of this place. I highly recommend Antelope canyon. It was natural beauty that I will never forget!

8. Since we were in the town of Page, Arizona, we went to nearby Horseshoe Bend. This place is super touristy just like Antelope Canyon, so be prepared for the hoards of people! There was enough room for everyone to get their pictures, but we had to share this with a billion other people!

9. For our Grand Canyon activity, we did the South Kaibab Trail. We went all the way to Skeleton Point and then headed back. Out of all hikes I have done, nothing quite compares to the vastness and undeniable beauty of the Grand Canyon. I had a few more things planned for us at the Grand Canyon, but I opted out of them. I will make plans to do the other activities during the spring/summer months. 

10. On our way back, we took the old Route 66 starting in Siegelman. For anyone that wants to do this route, just know that all the fun kitschy stuff is in Siegelman. Had I known this, I would have spent more time there. The most interesting thing about Route 66 were these crazy mannequins. There were a ton of them in the town of Siegelman.

11. Our last stop was Joshua Tree. We drove around a big chunk of the park, hung out for a little while, took some pictures and then headed back to LA. I look forward to go back to Joshua Tree in the spring to camp!