2023 in Review — The Towering Travelers

2023 was perhaps not as balanced as we’d been planning originally - we ended up going to 8 countries, 7 of them in the last 6 months of the year. While it’s been amazing to travel so much, we’ve been missing having more time in Seattle, and it’s been really nice to take a look back at some of our local adventures, especially in the first half of the year.

Classic Puget Sound views - mountains and sailboats (photo/Jason Rafal)

A sailboat sitting on the water in the Puget Sound, with fluffy clouds in the background. — Jason continues lusting after sailboats (photo/Jason Rafal)

Close-up portrait photo of Caprica's face. — Testing out a new lens on Caprica (photo/Jason Rafal)

In February, we went to San Diego with friends for a long weekend and spent some time soaking in the beautiful sun and eating a lot of Mexican food.

People walking along the beach, with large sand cliffs on the right. — Looking for fun shore things at Torrey Pines (photo/Jason Rafal)

A pelican flying along over a rocky cliff alongside the ocean. — Many shorebirds (photo/Jason Rafal)

Several sea lions sitting on a large rock outcropping. — I always enjoy large piles of sea lions (photo/Jason Rafal)

Silhouettes of children climbing cliff rocks in the setting sun. — Sunset silhouettes (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also were able to fit in some camping over the summer, and we used our little drone to get some amazing pictures of the Washington wilderness. I had fun learning to fly the drone and clumsily edit together footage.

A drone shot looking down on the treetops of a forest. — Looking down at our campsite - see if you can spot us (photo/Jason Rafal)

A sunset drone photo of a dirt road winding through a forest, with snowcapped peaks in the background. — I love this wilderness so much (photo/Jason Rafal)

Sunset drone photo looking over forests and meadows toward snow-capped mountains. — A second view because I couldn’t pick one (photo/Jason Rafal)

Nicole holding a drone controller and looking up at the sky. — This is what it looks like to learn to fly a drone (photo/Jason Rafal)

Close-up of Nicole looking at the camera while holding a beer. — More experimentation with a new lens (photo/Jason Rafal)

Nicole lying in a red hammock in the woods. — The joys of camping (photo/Jason Rafal)

For Fourth of July weekend we drove up to Canada, where we stayed at a lakeside guest house outside of Vancouver and spent a couple of days relaxing and taking in amazing water views.

Dozens of kayakers paddling past two small docks at dusk. — Our relaxing sunset view (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also found some beautiful hikes in the area. British Columbia never ceases to amaze with its beauty.

Sunlight hitting the top of a waterfall and spilling down the side of the mountain. — Dramatic sunlight at Shannon Falls (photo/Jason Rafal)

Looking out toward a road winding between a mountain range and a large, turquoise body of water. — Looking south down Howe Sound (photo/Jason Rafal)

Jason got much more into birding this year, and he had fun learning about species of birds and how best to photograph them.

A cormorant sitting on the water with a small fish in its mouth, surrounded by three seagulls who want to take the fish. — Seagulls are always being jerks and trying to steal things (photo/Jason Rafal)

A cormorant floating on the water with a fish in its mouth. — A cormorant with a treat (photo/Jason Rafal)

A bird with beige, yellow, gray, and black feathers perching on a branch. — A beautiful cedar waxwing (photo/Jason Rafal)

A small bird sitting on a reed with its mouth open mid-song. — A very noisy songbird (photo/Jason Rafal)

Four strings of barbed wire, with two birds on the top wire and two on the second wire. — Birds on a line (photo/Jason Rafal)

Close-up of a small bird sitting on a string of barbed wire and glaring at the camera. — Glaring at the camera (photo/Jason Rafal)

A great blue heron sits on a ledge and releases a feather from its beak. — This heron was preening itself and releasing its feathers into the wind (photo/Jason Rafal)

Dozens of shore birds flying together low over the surf. — A collection of shorebirds (photo/Jason Rafal)

A fluffy owl perched on a branch in dense foliage. — A little owl peering down at us (photo/Jason Rafal)

As always, there were also lots of fun plants and animals.

A fuzzy bee hovering next to purple flowers. — A pastoral bee (photo/Jason Rafal)

A white flower with a bee in the middle, with green leaves and the blue sky in the background. — More flowers and bees (photo/Jason Rafal)

A rat perching on a small tree trunk and looking down at the ground, with its tail wound around the tree. — A rat in a tree (photo/Jason Rafal)

A small branch with yellow and pink flowers. — Weird little flower leaf things (photo/Jason Rafal)

A creek flowing through mossy rocks and logs. — We have so many of these pictures from around Washington and I love them all (photo/Jason Rafal)

A marmot sitting on a rock with a snowy meadow and a mountain in the background. — One of posing marmots in Mt. Rainier National Park (photo/Jason Rafal)

We went camping in Oregon with friends during the Perseid meteor shower, and while we weren’t in the best place to see a ton of meteors, it was incredibly peaceful to just lay on our backs and marvel at the stars.

Looking up between the silhouettes of tree branches at a night sky with shooting stars. — The stars I always miss in Seattle (photo/Jason Rafal)

Nicole riding a bike on a dirt road through a forest. — Riding a bike through a beautiful Oregon forest (photo/Jason Rafal)

We had friends visit from Colorado, and we showed them around both the wilderness and the city.

Martin opening a wooden box hanging from a log. — Martin opens some sort of geocache (photo/Jason Rafal)

A salmon staring through a glass window as it swims by. — Salmon at the Ballard fish ladder (photo/Jason Rafal)

A man assisting with the lock leans toward a boat to shout instructions. — Watching the sometimes chaos of the Ballard Locks (photo/Jason Rafal)

Martin, Rachel, and Nicole standing on the beach as sunset fades to dusk. — Inviting our friends to sunsets at Golden Gardens (photo/Jason Rafal)

A view of the Seattle waterfront from behind apartment and public storage buildings. — Moody Seattle waterfront (photo/Jason Rafal)

We were gone for a lot of the second half of the year, but it was an amazing autumn, and we spent much of our time in town on walks and hikes to marvel at the fall colors.

Close up photo of a spider in a web with colorful fall leaves in the background. — Fall mood spider (photo/Jason Rafal)

View looking up at an art installation of small suspended glass pieces made into a net. — An art installation at the Arboretum (photo/Jason Rafal)

View of a turquoise lake through pine trees. — The Cascade lake colors are always amazing (photo/Jason Rafal)

View across a lake to a cliff face with a lookout tower on top. — An alpine lake with a lookout far above (photo/Jason Rafal)

View across an alpine lake with colorful bushes and pine trees on the other side. — If you squint, you can see the side of Mt. Rainier in the background (photo/Jason Rafal)

Autumn light falling between a metal tower and a brick building with an orange-leaf tree behind. — Light (photo/Jason Rafal)

Close up photo of dozens of tiny mushrooms on a tree trunk. — So many tiny mushrooms (photo/Jason Rafal)

Looking up a large tree trunk covered in ferns. — An incredible tree completely enveloped by other plants (photo/Jason Rafal)

A moss-covered branch with red leaves in the background. — I will forever love all of the moss here (photo/Jason Rafal)

Black and white photo looking out from under a bridge to a beach, with the Olympic mountains in the distance. — Moody beach days (photo/Jason Rafal)

Nicole walking on a street corner with sunshine shining through yellow leaves. — That autumn sun and those yellow leaves (photo/Jason Rafal)

People sitting on the lawn in front of Green Lake in the afternoon sun with a flock of geese flying overhead. — Green Lake is always a pretty magical place, but fall is an especially special time there (photo/Jason Rafal)

As always, thanks for reading along with our adventures this year, and we hope you’ve enjoyed the pictures. We’re going for more balance in 2024, but as always, we’ll just have to see what life brings us. We feel so lucky to live in this beautiful place and be able to explore so much!