Dog Mountain 2022

 

Dog Mountain is an extreme popular hiking trail in Southern Washington state by the Columbia Gorge. The trail is about 3.8 miles long to get to the top with steep elevation gain. Even with the steep elevation gain, it does not stop people from coming to Dog Mountain. During the Spring season, the wildflower bloom at the top of Dog Mountain is magnificent. Thus it is usually very crowded from late April to early June. During this period, hiking permit is also required for hiking this trail.

The hiking permit was no longer required in the second week of June and thus we went for a hike at Dog Mountain. Dog Mountain trail is about 1.5 hours of drive time from Portland. When we got there around 8AM in the morning, the parking lot was about 50% full. Northwest Pass is being honored here as the parking permit. If you don't have Northwest Pass, National Park pass will work too or just have to pay $5.

The rest room at the trail was not at the parking lot. The rest room was actually located 100M further into the trail. So before getting to the restroom, people have to hike a little bit first.

The was cloudy but it was not that cold. The trail started to climb right from the beginning. There were some mud on the trail, but it was not that bad. We steadily climbed the trail and passed by several other groups of hikers. We got to the first look out point where we could see the Columbia River. It was beautiful but extremely windy.

We continued on and started to feel the water drop. We were worried that it was starting to rain, but only to realize that the water drop was coming from the top of the tree. The water on the tree leaves fell off when the wind blows.

After about 1.5 hours, we got to Puppy Dog Lookout. This is the best look out place at Dog Mountain. We were very high up and could see really far over Columbia River. The wildflowers on the side were beautiful. But then again, it was extremely windy.

We continued on to the summit, but it was really getting way to windy. Thus we decided to turn back. The summit was not that far away and only about 0.3 miles to go. On the way back down, we saw many hikers with their lovely fur friends. The dogs were very cute.

Dog Mountain was one of the best hike and we definitely would do it again. Just keep in mind that the parking lot gets full really fast so you have to get there early.

Florida Trip 2022

 

Florida is located on the Southeast corner of United States and it is well known for its warm weather and beautiful beaches. Since Florida could get extremely hot during the months of July and August, we decided to visit Florida in May when the temperature has not reached its highest temperature.

On Day 1, we took the direct flight from Portland to Orlando airport. The whole flight was 5.5 hours and it was very long. When we got to Orlando, it was already 5PM in the afternoon. As soon as we landed, we went to AVIS and got our rental car and toll route pass. The toll route pass was very important since many highways in Florida are toll routes.

On Day 2, we went to Kennedy Space Center. We have always wanted to visit this place and check out the real Saturn V rocket and Space Shuttle Atlantis. Afterwards, we went to Hawkers Asian Street Food for a late lunch.

On Day 3, we took a road trip down to Key West. Before we get to Key West, we had brunch at Little Hen. Then we continued on by driving over the oversea highway. Around lunch time, we stopped by Robbies and checked out the pelicans and tarpons. When we got to Key West, we had dinner at Conch Republic Seafood Company.

On Day 4, we woke up early and waited at the door as part of the Dry Tortuga ferry wait list. Unfortunately we didn't get on. Instead, we walked around Key West and had lunch at El Meson De Pepe. Then we went to the Southern most point of Key West.  During sunset, we went to Mallory Square and watched the sun setting below the ocean.

On Day 5, we went to Smathers Beach. The sun rise was beautiful there. We then headed to Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. Then we had lunch at DJ Clam Shack. In the afternoon, we went to Bahia Honda State Park.

On Day 6, we left Key West and head to Miami. On the way to Miami, we went to Vizcaya. We also dropped by Biscayne National Park but didn't do any excursion there. We then checked in to hotel and went to Bayside Marketplace for a walk. The traffic was crazy at Miami downtown.

On Day 7, we went to Little Havana. We walked for about 40 minutes to get there from downtown Miami. There was a lot of cigar shops at Little Havana and we bought one as a souvenir. We had authentic Cuban coffee at The House of Cuban Coffee. It was really good. We then had ice cream at Azucar Ice Cream. In the afternoon, we took Metromove and went to Wynwood Wall. While on the way there, we had donuts at Salty Donut.

On Day 8, we went to Everglades National Park early in the morning. We first went to Long Pine Key for the sun rise, then went to Royal Palm Visitor center to hike Anhinga Trail. Afterwards, we stopped by Robert Is Here and had amazing smoothie. Then we went to Shark Valley for the bus tour. In the late afternoon, we went to Versailles for a Cuban cuisine lunch.

On Day 9, we went to Miami South Beach in the early morning for the sun rise. Surprisingly there was a lot of people there. The beach was beautiful in the morning. We then drove back to Orland and had lunch at Bee Won Korean restaurant before we flew back to Portland.

This Florida trip was an amazing trip. The only downside was that it was very humid and hot. We were sweating after being outside for just 5 minutes. Also, there was a lot of mosquitos even on the beach. We were bitten pretty badly.

Bee Won

 

Bee Won is a restaurant specializing in Korean cuisine. People can find the usually popular Korean food such as Korean barbeque, Bimbimbap, and Kim Chi dishes at Bee Won. It is located near Orland in Florida. Bee Won is located in a small shopping plaza and lot of parking spaces are available there.

We got to Bee Won around 1PM in the afternoon on Sunday. Many restaurants are closed on Sunday with Orlando area but Bee Won is open. When we entered, there was only 1 table being occupied and still dining.

As soon as we sat down, the waitress brought us the iced water bottle for us. We really needed it because it was really hot that day. We ordered a Kim Chi Pancake, a Bimbimbap, and a Bulgogi Squid. Before the food arrives, the side dishes were brought over to us. There were 5 different side dishes and they were really quite delicious.

The Kim Chi Pancake was really good. We loved the crunch Kim Chi in the pancake with a little of spiciness. Bimbimbap was served in a hot sizzling stone bowl and mixed with hot sauce. We loved the crispy feel of the rice. The Bulgolgi Squid was stir fried with hot sauce with a little of sweetness to it. It was really good as well.

Overall, we enjoyed our dining experience at Bee Won, The servers were very proactive on providing the service and refilling the side dishes. We probably had the side dishes refilled 3 times. We recommend Bee Won if looking for a Korean restaurant.

Wynwood Wall

 

Wynwood Wall is an outdoor exhibition showing unique wall art at Miami Florida. There are several wall art at Wynwood Wall painted by several artists. The wall art is updated every several months. Other than just wall art, there are also many paintings done by the artists and these paintings are sold at Wynwood Wall.

We took the Miami Metromover train to the last station at School Board station. Then we walked 20 minutes to Wynwood Wall. As we got there, we could already see the wall art outside of the Wynwood Wall exhibition. However, we did not know Wynwood Wall has admission fee, which is $12 per person. Since we had walked this long, we figured we might as well check it out.

As we entered the exhibition, the first thing we saw was the carved wall art on the concrete wall. It was pretty cool. Other than that, we saw few monkey sculptures in the center courtyard.

As we went further in, we saw the most famous wall art, Tokyo Rain. The artist painted the raining scene of Tokyo. The reflection of water was painted perfectly. It was an amazing piece of art. There was an indoor exhibition that shows more paintings related to this artist and all the paintings were involved with rain.

Other than Tokyo Rain, the other wall arts aren't as interesting and not as spectacular. We don't think it was really worth the effort to come all this wall to here if there isn't enough time to spend here. We don't think we will be visiting Wynwood Wall in the future.

Robert Is Here

 

Robert Is Here is famous fruit stand located outside of Miami in the state of Florida. Robert Is Here offers variety of tropical fruits and many of these fruits have never seen by people from the North before. Robert Is Here is located at the major road intersection on the way to Everglades National Park and thus many park visitors would stop by here to gather some snack.

We got to Robert Is Here 9AM in the morning. It was still quite early in the morning and thus not many people were here and not crowded. We were amazed by the amount of tropical fruits at Robert is Here. Fruits such as java apple and white guava are the fruits that we have only seen back in Asia. We were quite excited.

Initially we thought Robert Is Here was just a fruit stand but that was not it. At the back of the store, it was like a small zoo. There was a lot of animals at the back and also picnic area for people to use. We saw parrots, emus, and turtles running around. It was quite exciting. Family travel with children could just stop by Robert Is Here and have a nice lunch here and enjoy the day.

Before we left, we bought smoothies from Robert Is Here. We could mix our own fruits into the smoothie. We got the pineapple, guava, and coconut. The smoothie was so fresh and the coconut made the smoothie rather thick, just like a milkshake. We enjoyed it a lot. We wish we also got the sugarcane juice.

Overall, Robert Is Here is definitely a must visit place when visiting Everglades National Park since it is just on the way. It will definitely not disappoint.

Shark Valley

 

Shark Valley is located at the North part of Everglades National Park. Unlike the South part of Everglades National Park where people can drive all the way down the road, Shark Valley only has bus tours and only allow bike to go on the road. The reason for doing this is to preserve the marshland in Everglades National Park that is very fragile. The bus tour need to be booked online prior to the departure. People can bring their own bikes or can choose to rent from the visitor center.

We got to Shark Valley Visitor Center around 10AM in the morning. Since our tour bus is at 11AM, we had lots of time to explore around the visitor center. As we walked down the short hiking trail just right beside the visitor center, we saw a big alligator just by the trail. It was a huge alligator. When we just saw it, we thought it was a model of an alligator and not a real one. The alligator had its jaws open and seemed to be trying to scare us off. In the pool behind the alligator, we could see another alligator in there and also few baby alligators.

At 11AM, the tour bus is here and we hopped on. The tour bus was very comfy. The breeze in the air was soothing and made us wanted to sleep. The tour guide was giving the background of Everglades National Park and the history of the park. Every time there was an alligator on the side of the road, the tour bus would stop to let everyone to see.

After about 45 minutes, we arrived at the Shark Valley viewing tower. The from the top of the tower, we had the panorama view of the entire Shark Valley. It was just endless marshland from all directions.

On the return trip, we came across many blue heroes walking on the side of the road. It was not scare of the bus either and was just doing its thing hunting for food. Other than blue heron, we also saw many other different birds stretching its winds trying to mate. It seemed to us that sitting on the left side of the bus had better view of the wild life.

Overall, Shark Valley was definitely a highlight at Everglades National Park. It really had a lot to offer and we saw so many wild life on the bus tour. We highly recommend to take the bus tour when visiting Everglades National Park.

Long Pine Key

 

Long Pine Key is a popular campground located within Everglades National Park. It is not far off from the main park entrance, probably just around 5 miles. The Long Pine Key area also offers day use area for picnic and barbeque. However, the lake at Long Pine Key is prohibited from swimming since there may be alligators in there.

We got to Long Ping Key right before the sun rise. As we got out of the car, there were so many mosquitos. The swarm of mosquitos were just after us all the time. We had to use bug spray and spray it all over our body to avoid the mosquitos.

We walked toward the pond and saw a snake resting on the ground. We didn't know what kind of snake it is and we didn't dare to go close to it either. The snake however was not moving at all either, we weren't really sure what the snake was doing because it was just resting there.

There was an area like an amphitheater on the other side of the pond. It was on the west side of the pond and a perfect spot to watch the sun rise behind the trees. As the sun rises, we saw birds walking on the shallow end of the water searching for food. The movement of the bird was very careful and slow to that stir the water.

We have never seen as many mosquitos as what we saw at Long Pine Key. It was probably because it was close to a pond. Even when we got into the car, we could still hear mosquitos smashing towards the car window. It was quite crazy.

Anhinga Trail

 

Anhinga Trail is one of the most popular hiking trail within Everglades National Park. The trail is made out of paved path and board walk, thus it is very suitable for people of all ages to hike this trail. The hiking trail is located right by Royal Palm Visitor Center. The trail itself is only less than a mile long and has zero elevation gain. It is a really easy trail but you get to spot many different wild life.

We got to Royal Palm Visitor Center around 8AM in the morning. We were the only one there and the visitor center was not open yet. As we approach the trail, we could hear loud roars from the pond. Initially we thought these roar sound came from the alligators in the water. Then when we asked the rangers, he told us that these are from Pig Frogs. These Pig Frogs can generate super loud sound like dinosaurs.

As we hiked down the trail, we saw a white heron stand by the side of the pond. It stood very still and not even moving an inch. It was very focused looking down into the water. It was waiting for the fish to show up and would strike rapidly to catch the fish. It was completely ignoring us as we walked by.

As we walked further on the board walk, we saw several alligators lying in the water. These alligators had their eyes wide open but barely move a bit. The alligators were just floating in the pond and not doing anything. We were hoping that the alligators would at least open its jaw to show some intimidation.

Anhinga Trail is definitely the trail to go to when visiting Everglades National Park. It is an easy trail to hike and offers a plenty of wild life to see.