Browsing Tag: travel

    Depoe Bay, Oregon
    Miscellany

    There’s Something About the Oregon Coast

    April 22, 2026

    Cari and I fell in love with the Oregon coast this weekend. Our first two visits (2021 and 2025) were great, but something just seemed different or better this time. It felt like a home away from home. From the minute we saw the beach and water to the minute we left, the two of us were non-stop smiles and happiness.

    In all three visits, we’ve stayed in Pacific City — cool little town. We did an Airbnb the first time, then stayed at Headlands Lodge the past two times. It’s a really cool, kinda swanky spot right on the beach. The staff, food, and everything has been great both times. We love it.

    This trip, we made our first visit to Depoe Bay, which is just OMG beautiful. We had lunch there one day at a spot right on the water, then walked around a bit and poked our heads inside a couple little shops. It was a lovely day. We also stopped at a place nearby called Boiler Bay, and did some whale watching from the shoreline.

    We’re both ready to go back like…tomorrow! But we’re now also thinking the Oregon Coast is tops on our list of retirement places. I don’t know what happened on this visit, but something clicked. We just love it.

    sunset on the Oregon Coast
    Music

    Mixing Rock and Real Estate in Las Vegas

    March 1, 2026

    What a week…in the best possible way.

    Cari and I just spent a full week in Las Vegas, which is not something either of us would normally volunteer to do. But months ago, when she suggested I join her for RE/MAX’s annual international conference in February, I instantly knew the Eagles were playing more shows at the Sphere, so I was all in! And that was only the tip of the iceberg on a fun week of mixing business and pleasure.

    First half of the week was business. We both attended RE/MAX’s R4 conference and got to hang with some of our favorite local RE/MAX-ers. I heard James Clear and an incredible woman named Vanessa Van Edwards speak.

    Cari had a bunch of business things going on early in the week, which meant I had enough free time to go do some stuff on my own…like SEEING DEF LEPPARD as part of their residency at Caesar’s Palace!!

    This was my second time seeing them. I think I preferred the stadium show a couple years ago, but this was still terrific. This venue seemed almost too small for them, and the sound wasn’t great for the first few songs.

    I sat next to three ladies — two were about my age, and seemed like they were sisters. I think the third may have been their mom, who must’ve been 80-90 yrs old and was TOTALLY rocking out. She was so cool! 😎🥰

    After the real estate and Def Leppard portion of the week, two of the best people in the world drove up from Arizona to hang with us for the second half of the week — Mat and Holly!!! Somehow, we hadn’t seen them face-to-face since 2017. So there was a lot of catching up, hanging out, shopping, eating great meals, and a little gambling.

    We capped that off with the Eagles concert at the Sphere on Friday night, which was fantastic. Cari and I saw the Eagles about 18 months ago at the Sphere, and I preferred this one a bit more. They had a bunch of new visuals and added “End of the Innocence” — one of my all-time fave songs.

    Before the concert, we paid a visit to the Eagles experience inside the Palazzo — it’s a really cool collection of memorabilia and mini-versions of the Troubador where Don Henley and Glenn Frey first met, and a “Hotel California” on Sunset Blvd. Cari and I didn’t get to see it in 2024 because the F1 race was approaching and had taken over that space.

    It’s been a while since I’ve traveled anywhere and stayed a full week. Pretty exhausted at this point and glad to be home after…ahem…taking it to the limit.

    Miscellany

    Blast from the Past in Bend

    August 21, 2025

    If you are of a certain age and find yourself in Bend, Oregon, someday, you MUST stop in at the last Blockbuster on the planet.

    I went before the Counting Crows show on Tuesday and figured I’d just get a selfie outside, then leave — because really, who wants to look at rows and rows of DVDs and a few displays of popcorn and candy for sale??

    But I saw a few other tourist types going inside, too, so what the hell…in I went.

    It was so fun!!!!

    In addition to the rows and rows of movies for rent or sale, they have a ton of merch for sale, plus some movie history displays (Marty McFly outfit, Indiana Jones outfit, etc.) and other fun stuff to make us older folks nostalgic for the simpler times.

    10/10 would def go back.

    Miscellany

    “Enhanced Cleaning” on Airplanes – Where Has This Been All Along?

    March 7, 2020

    Alaska Airlines published this video a few days ago talking about the “enhanced cleaning” that it’s doing on its planes in light of the coronavirus situation. You see chairs being sprayed and wiped clean, tray tables, armrests, air vents and attendant call buttons, bathroom doors and on and on and on.

    Am I the only one who watches that and wonders why it hasn’t always been this way??!!??

    Every flight on every airline should’ve been cleaned like this all along — and going forward, this is how it should always be.

    Miscellany

    Where to watch NFL games on Hawaii’s Big Island

    November 12, 2018

    We found our tribe of Seahawks fans (12s!) at a neat sports bar in Kailua-Kona!

    If you’re a big football fan who’s traveling to Hawaii during NFL season, you might reach a point during your trip planning where you wonder … Where am I gonna watch the football game on Sunday?

    My wife and I have been to different Hawaiian islands probably 2-3 times during NFL season, and each time we’ve managed to find some good places that open up early Sunday for tourists to catch their favorite team’s game. Our most recent trip was last month when we visited the Big Island (Hawaii) with friends. But we were the only ones who wanted to find a place to watch NFL games — preferably with other Seattle Seahawks fans! — so the planning was all on our own.

    Good news: There are three sports bars nestled closely together in Kailua-Kona and each one opens early on Sunday mornings for NFL fans!

    My wife and I ended up at Oceans Sports Bar, which is just off Ali’i Road, the street that runs along the coast. As we were walking there, we passed by two other sports bars that were also open early and had TVs on for people to watch the games — Bongo Ben’s and Laverne’s. There are a few other bar/restaurant-type places in that same area that may have also been open, but we didn’t walk to them.

    (By the way … we’re talking 7:00 AM in Hawaii. That’s when the early games kickoff, at least before the mainland changes its clocks. If it’s after the clock change, kickoff will be at 8:00 AM Hawaiian time.)

    Oceans has a pretty big bar area with a bunch of TVs above showing the games, and then several more TVs placed throughout the dining areas.

    My wife and I arrived just as the game began and picked a table in the first dining area, where about 10-15 Seahawks fans had already gathered. It’s always fun to watch a game with other 12s, and this was no exception.

    The crowd grew as the game went along, and there were eventually about 25-30 Seahawks fans spread across two dining areas. There were also some Broncos fans, Chiefs fans and a few other teams represented … but Oceans Sports Bar seems to be the place for Seahawks fans to gather.

    Service was excellent. Our waitress was quick to bring my wife a mimosa and kept me filled with various tropical juices all morning. For breakfast, they offer a buffet that runs $14 per person, as I recall, which is pretty much a bargain for Hawaii. It was fairly standard stuff — scrambled eggs, bacon, home fried potatoes (to die for! OMG), biscuits and gravy, fried rice and some fresh fruit options. I think they had the fixins for a loco moco, too. As part of the buffet, you can also order a Belgian waffle — it looked delicious, but we were too full to try it.

    All in all, we had a great morning. The food was good. The service was good. The atmosphere was really fun. And we got to watch the Seahawks beat Detroit alongside a big group of fellow football fans. If you’re an NFL fan looking to watch the games on Hawaii’s Big Island, you can’t go wrong with Oceans Sports Bar — especially if you’re a Seahawks fan!

    Miscellany

    Santa Monica’s brilliant solution for pedestrian traffic & crosswalks

    December 22, 2017

    You’ve probably been frustrated by sitting in a taxi or your own car at a big city intersection and having to wait several minutes for all the pedestrian traffic to go in all directions before your car can inch its way down the street. I’m pretty sure there’ve been times in New York City when I’ve sat a good five minutes without being able to turn right or left because of all the foot traffic.

    Don’t get me wrong: Walking is great, and I enjoy walking through Times Square or downtown Seattle or wherever I can … as long as my destination is close enough to make it feasible. But sometimes you gotta drive, and that’s when getting three miles across town can take a half hour.

    Well, Santa Monica has this figured out. Cari and I saw this last month when we were visiting for a few days:

    Look closely. See that girl walking across the street? She’s walking diagonally through the intersection.

    Here’s what Santa Monica does: At a red light, car traffic in all directions has to stop for 30 seconds. And for those 30 seconds, pedestrians are free to walk in whatever direction they want, even diagonally across the street. After 30 seconds, car traffic can resume — first the cars going in one direction, then the cross-traffic, then everyone stops again for the pedestrians. While cars are moving, pedestrians can’t go in any direction — that speeds things up for cars needing to turn right or left onto a cross street.

    It’s genius. It sped up everything. Cars flowed smoothly through the intersections and walkers/bicyclists got where they needed to go faster.

    I’ve never seen that option in any big city like New York or Seattle, but they should give it a try.