Out at the Oregon coast with family, doing a little writing, relaxing, and having a good time.

Made a quick weekend jaunt down to Crescent City, California, where I did 17 miles of hiking in the Redwoods. Even in February, the temperature was in the low fifties.

Made a quick jaunt out to Fogarty Creek State Park just outside of Depoe Bay on the Oregon Coast. Family had a great time. The temp, while not quite 50 degrees, was still 20 degrees warmer than in the valley.

I have a new friend in the house.  I picked up this handsome little puppet of Pinocchio in Venice during our summer trip to the Mediterranean.  He now sits on my “brag shelf,” standing guard over all the books and magazines where my work has appeared.   It was a pretty big memento to stuff into my suitcase, but I couldn’t pass it up, seeing how my book, Wooden Bones, was coming out at almost the same time I was visiting Italy.  You see Pinocchio puppets all over Italy, of course, but most of them have the traditional red outfit, and this one better matched the spirit of my book.  The company who produced it is based in Italy, and there was only one store in all of Venice where they were sold.

Picture taken on a fun day hike up to Mt. Rainier on Saturday with friend and fellow writer Mike Totten. A flat tire set us back a couple hours, but we still had a great day.

Took the family on a fun weekend trip to Seattle by Amtrak.  This is the view from my train window.

Down here teaching at the North Coast Writers Conference and I managed to squeeze in some hiking while I was here.  This is Stout Grove near Crescent City, California.

Hiking Eagle Creek, Oregon with friend and fellow writer, Michael Totten.