The birds. The fish. The fish painting. The fish eating, along with all the rest of that good Cajun food. If Lake Charles, Louisiana, isn’t on your travel list, give it another thought. The area is directly in the path of five bird migratio\n routes. That means birds by the thousands, sometim/es so close you can photograph them with a cell phone. And gators close enough to zoom in on their eyeballs. And, of course, all that yummy food.

Over several days I hiked many trails in the Island in the Sky District, Canyonlands' most accessible area because of its proximity to Moab, 32 miles away. Highway 313 also passes by Deadhorse State Park, a could-be national park. The district's hikes are easy walks to often heavily-traveled Mesa Arch and Grand View Point. From their perches, the White Rim and Grand View overlooks and Murphey Point offer sweeping vistas 2,000 feet above moonlike landforms and the meandering Colorado and Green rivers.

Motoring from Klamath Falls to Yachats we dodged logging trucks and men at work on the highway. We journeyed through a coastal rain forest lush with ferns and evergreens, and pink rhododendrons growing wild. On the Umpqua River near Reedsport we observed a large herd of elk at a wildlife viewing area, but mostly there were long stretches of untouched scenery. Proceeding north along Highway 101, we past towering dunes to our left and unexpected fresh water lakes to our right.

Insect Shield Clothing

by Yvette Cardozo

Hawaii: Ten Reasons WHY

By Vicki Hoefling Andersen

With all this news about Zika, I recently went to the Florida Keys and South Florida mainland well protected. I had assorted bug repellents brimming with DEET, and also, a suitcase brimming with bug repellent clothing.

Clothing by the Insect Shield company isn’t new, but its importance, now with the threat of Zika, is greater than ever.           

At this moment, I see a flotilla of Canada geese, a solitary great blue heron, a lone bald eagle perched in a large Douglas fir, dragonflies in the shore lilies and swallows darting about collecting insects for their diet and the diet of their newborns. This morning a beaver swam by the dock and soon after, a pair of river otters. Bats will come at twilight as will a rare full solstice moon. Dang, I'm stuck in paradise again.

Few places on this globe encompass such a collision of geography, history, culture and adventure better than Hawaii. More amazing is that a place of such tranquility and splendor has been the scene of so much tragedy and misfortune while still maintaining its allure to visitors. Here are ten unbeatable reasons why you should experience the Aloha State.

Who we are: For brief bios on the writers who form this Pacific Northwest collective, please click here.