Where It All Starts

At some point you can't just sit in front of the computer reading about other peoples adventures. You need to get out there and see for yourself how truly spectacular our world is. No amount of pictures or YouTube videos will ever do justice to the beauty that is around us.

It would be easy to say that our jeep adventures started when we got a new Jeep Unlimited in 2013, but really our adventures together start with us. Our jeeps are just tools that allow us to get out and spend more time with each other and share the beauty that surrounds us, without the distractions that come from the modern day world and our chosen careers in the tech industry.

Debbie is a Program Manager specializing in large scale migration, deployment, and upgrade of data centers. Currently she drives a 2017 2-door Jeep JK Wrangler Rubicon and in the past has had everything from a Rubicon to a YJ. She's the photographer and videographer of the team and also enjoys Scuba diving and building wood gear clocks.

Jesse is a Senior Build Engineer for a major software company. Currently he drives a 2013 Jeep JK Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited and in the past has had a 68 Bronco and Jeep XJ. Jesse also enjoys maps, navigation, making random websites, and making sawdust with various woodworking tools. 

We both grew up in the small town of Colville, WA. We've known each other since 1980 or so when we met on the playground at the merry-go-round. And, while it took us awhile to realize what was really missing in our lives, we finally got married in 2010.

In early 2013 we purchased a bright green JK, and promptly named it The Green Monster.  In mid 2013 Debbie decided to purchase her own smaller, two-door sport model. Why two Jeeps? Because we both like to drive, we both like to explore, and we like to bring friends along with us when we can. This allows us to share the challenge and to carry enough gear to keep ourselves comfortable at campsites and on the trail. While Debbie has since traded the sport in for a newer Rubi, Jesse still enjoys his Green Monster...though with several modifications added since then!

Also in 2013 we added Emma to our family. She is a Purebred Border Collie and is our official Jeep Dog. We had so much fun with her in that first year that we decided to add a second Border Collie to our family in 2014 and named her Amber. They go everywhere we are allowed to take them and even a few places where we're not sure we are supposed to! They are always willing to go explore and never wander more than a few yards from us. They have been the perfect addition to our family!

This blog will be quite a bit of historical adventuring combined with all of our new adventures. Here's to another year of new places, new roads, 

and new friends. It is our hope that you follow along as we share some of the adventure that awaits. We hope we can inspire you to get outside and see for yourself what can't be seen on a computer screen.

Memorial Day Weekend 2014 Part 3

The last day of our long weekend we had sunshine and an idea of where we wanted to go. Once again we headed East. This time we took a left at Cle Elum, WA to head over Blewett Pass. Before heading over the pass, we decided to head up to a fire lookout we had read about, exploring some of the forest service roads along the way.

Memorial Day Weekend 2014 Part 1

With the sun out, the temperatures up, and a three day weekend we decided it was the perfect time to stay home and work on the yard jump in the Green Monster and go exploring! With only a basic starting point in mind, but no real destination, it was one of the most relaxing weekends in a long time.

Make the jump to see pics and read about the first day of the long weekend.

First Weekend with RubiRock: Windmills, concrete beacons, and a hidden creek.

With all the wet weather on our side of the Cascade Mountains, we decided to head east until we found sunshine. About 100 miles is all it took.

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First Weekend with Rubi Rock: Evens Creek ORV Park

When you buy a vehicle for the purpose of driving off road, well, the first thing you want to do is take it off road. Gotta make sure it works as expected, right? That's what we told ourselves anyway.

Road Trip to Mt Baker

Even though we've lived in this area for quite some time, neither of us had ever taken a trip to Mt Baker. With spring being as nice as it has been, now seemed like as good a time as any to make the trip up there. So we climbed into the Green Monster, loaded up some snacks for us and some dogfood and water for Emma and hit the road.

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First Weekend in Spring 2014

The first day of spring this year was March 20. What better way to welcome it in than a trip around the area at various places we enjoy. The first weekend we saw great weather and open skies while there was still a chill in the air. We first headed out to NF-70, one of our favorite roads to start out on where we met the elk in the picture above. We wanted to see just how far the snow had retreated and check out the road conditions. We headed up into the hills, then back into town the next day for a lazy walk around the Microsoft Campus where the flowers were in full bloom. We finished up the weekend with a trip to the Marymoor Park to let Emma play with other dogs.

Make the jump to see lots more pics of the first weekend in spring!

Stopping Along The Way

We quite often travel from one side of Washington to the other to visit family. It used to be a trip that was rushed and the drive was more often than not a trip straight through stopping only for gas. Coffee and food were bought at a drive through or the gas station where we were filling up. But a couple of things have changed. First, we got a dog that needed regular breaks from the road. Second, we got a Jeep that needed regular breaks from the road. Now, unless there is some pressing event taking place at one end or the other we take back roads and make stops at places that seem interesting to us. Here is just a sample from one such trip from our home near Seattle, WA to our hometown of Colville, WA, and then back again.

Make the jump to join us on a couple of the little side trips and stops we have made.

Finding Snow Around Seattle

The warm weather we had in January sent the wrong message. It told all of Debbie's tulips it was spring and they all started popping out of the ground. Unfortunately this meant when freezing temperatures came back a couple weeks later, they all died. Not only did we get freezing temperatures, we got a late season snowfall. But despite the untimely demise of all the front yard flowers, we took advantage of the situation to go play in the snow with our Jeeps.

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Exploring Old Dominion

Old Dominion is perhaps one of the most prominent mountains around the Colville region. Just to the east of town, it towers over everything else in the area.

While on a trip to visit the homestead Jesse and Debbie's Father decided to head up there since neither one had been up there in the years that either had lived there.

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North Cascades Scenic Highway Just Before Winter Closure

The North Cascades Scenic Highway is one of the most spectacular drives in Washington State. Whenever we get the chance, this is the route we take to go visit family. It closes every winter because of avalanche danger. We decided that with winter well on the way, yet the highway still open, we needed to see what it looked like up here with snow.

More pictures and story after the jump.

Raymond, South Bend, and Ocean Shores

Debbie had an assignment for work one Sunday in Raymond, WA. Rather than just make the trip there, work, then drive back home, we chose to make a weekend trip out of it spending time in Raymond, South Bend, as well as traveling up the coast to Ocean Shores. November brings wind and rain to this area, but that didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves.

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Exploring an Old Barn

Over the years, whenever we've seen an old barn along the freeway, we've always thought it would be fun to go explore it. But when you take the freeway, by the time you get to the next exit it is either to far away to backtrack, or you have forgotten about it.

When you take the side roads, that is not the case. Between Spokane and Wenatchee there are thousands of acres of farmland and quite a number of these old barns sitting just off the road a little ways making for a great opportunity to explore. When you step into one of these old barns it is a lot like stepping back in time. You can often find remnants of the past. Long forgotten pieces of equipment, parts, tools, and sometimes papers that show just how long the barn has been there and what it was used for.

Enjoying the Fall Colors

Fall is always amazing with the colors that it presents us with. We decided to take a drive around our neighborhood to check out some of the changing colors.




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Wild Horse Monument

Along the Columbia River overlooking Vantage, WA is a brilliant steel sculpture of wild horses. We've driven past this artwork perhaps a hundred times and had never stopped. On one of our recent trips across Washington to visit family we decided to stop and take a closer look.


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Over Stampede Pass

Andy is a good friend of our who also does a significant amount of back country exploring. However he does it on two wheels instead of four.

He had mentioned there used to be a route from Greenwater, WA on highway 410, through the Cascades to Easton, WA on Interstate 90, and he wanted to see if it still existed.


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Skate Creek Road

Our good friend Andy let us know about a road that is open during the summer between Packwood, WA and Eatonville, WA named Skate Creek Road. On a sunny summer day, Debbie and I decided to go drive this road and do a little forest service road exploration. We weren't disappointed.





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Trip back to the Homestead.

Even though we live in the Seattle area, both of our roots are in the small town of Colville, WA. Colville is located in north eastern Washington in a place where there is lots of sunshine in summer, lots of snow in winter, and enough outdoor activities to keep a person busy for a lifetime. Debbie's family still owns a small farm nearby this town and we regularly make the trip to go see them. When we are there, we make sure to spend time exploring our old haunts as well as finding places we didn't see when we lived there.

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Trip to Deception Pass

When talking about passes in Washington State, most of the time you are referring to one of the many mountain passes. Deception Pass on the other hand is a waterway. It is a very narrow canyon in which water flows into and out of as the ocean tide comes in and goes out. Located at the north end of Whidbey Island and is what separates Whidbey from Fidalgo Island in the Puget Sound.

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Long Way to Whistlin' Jack

Whistlin' Jack Lodge and Restaurant is a nice little place along highway 410 in the Cascades. It's a pretty common stop for people heading over the spectacular Chinook Pass. It sits along the Naches river and is a great place to get breakfast and take a break from the road. Because Chinook pass closes during the winter, the only way for those on the west side of the state to reach it, is to go over Snoqualmie pass to the north or White pass to the south, then double back. But during the summer, this is another spectacular drive that Washington State offers with breath taking views of mountains, canyons and the ever present Mount Rainier. You don't need a Jeep to get here and enjoy the views since it is a state highway. You really don't need an excuse to take this drive. All you need to do is want to see some of the best our state has to offer.

But if you have a vehicle that can take a dirt road, there are hundreds of miles of options to take you across the Cascades. When we found ourselves badly in need of some escape, we packed up a lunch in a cooler, filled the thermos with coffee, loaded ourselves and Emma into the Green Monster and headed out for a day of enjoying the sun and solitude that can be found by taking the long way.




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