jamie
Jamie's family
News about Jamie's family
Voyages 2022
Diane & Jamie drove from Seattle through Portland, OR; Ketchum (Sun Valley), ID; to Park City, UT to celebrate Jamie's father's 80th birthday. On the way home we drove across the Great Salt Lake and up US-93 at Wells, NV through Twin Falls, ID and Pendleton, OR on the way back through Portland.
Voyages 2012
We celebrated my father's inauguration as President of the American Academy of Pediatrics with a family reunion in New Orleans.
My two eldest sons toured Kelowna, Kamloops, and Valemount BC, and then picked up my parents at the Edmonton, AB airport to tour Jasper, Banff, and then Glacier National Park in MT.
With the team at work, we took the ferry to Victoria, BC and I flew back on a floatplane to Lake Union.
Supermoon May 5th, 2012.
We took the kids on a jet boat tour up Hell's Canyon.
We spent a romantic weekend on the Bellingham harborfront.
We visited our friends and their new baby in Menlo Park and also toured San Francisco Bay.
On the way back from India, I stopped in Dubai, UAE.
I had the opportunity to visit my team in Hyderabad, India.
Voyages 2011
My parents invited me and my youngest son to travel to Ireland with them to explore the countryside and our Irish heritage.
Summer started off with an awesome trip to the University of Alaska @ Anchorage and some sightseeing of south-central Alaska: Kenai peninsula (Seward, Portage, Whittier, Home) and Denali (Talkeetna).
Our first trip of the year was to tour the University of Hawaii @ Manoa campus (and to explore Oahu too).
Voyages 2010
We moved from Mercer Island to East Queen Anne, overlooking Lake Union.
Diane booked a Thanksgiving getaway at the River Rock resort in Richmond, BC. We were upgraded to the Presidential Penthouse Suite with our own billiards lounge! We took the skytrain to explore Granville Island.
Diane took our daughter to visit the University of Alaska @ Fairbanks.
Our big summer trip was to the American Southwest / Four Corners area. We visited Mono Lake, Sedona, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde, Arches and also swung by the Bonneville Salt Flats and the John Day fossil beds on the way home.
We spent Spring Break with Diane's parents in Tofino, BC.
Diane and I celebrated our anniversary on Lummi Island in Bellingham Bay.
Voyages 2009
Our big McInerny family reunion was over Christmas '09 - New Year's '10 in Maui, Hawaii.
We spent two days at LaPush, on First Beach (after noshing at Lake Crescent Lodge).
Jamie took our eldest to freshmen orientation at Western Washington University, in Bellingham.
Our daughter spent a week on Lopez Island with her best friend.
Jamie took our youngest to Aunt Maureen's memorial service on Long Island, and extended my father's childhood memories on Jones Beach.
Diane & Jamie took the boys on Amtrak to Portland, OR and we rode the jetboat on the Willamette River.
Our daughter spent two weeks on the French Riviera with her friend from Thonon-les-Bains.
With Diane's folks, we visited Chelan, took the express boat to Stehekin, and stayed on Mission Ridge overlooking Wenatchee.
With Jamie's folks, we toured WWU's campus, had lunch in Bellingham, and toured Chuckanut drive.
We've taken a couple of quick overnight trips to the Pacific Coast: Long Beach, WA and Ocean Shores, WA, the latter with Diane's sister and niece.
Voyages 2008
With our French foreign exchange student, we traveled 1,400 miles across central WA, to 1,200' deep Pend Oreille, ID and up through the Kootenay Arc (where we found the headwaters of the Columbia River) & Canadian Rockies to Lake Louise and Banff, AB, back through the Selkirk Range to Nelson, BC and 1,500' deep Lake Chelan, WA; 500 miles down to the Bite of Oregon festival in Portland, plus Multnomah Falls, Beacon Rock, and Mt. St. Helens; 400 miles to the Pacific coast circumnavigating the Olympic Peninsula.
1,800 miles from Cleveland, OH through Rochester, NY and Rutland, VT to visit family back east. It was great to see everyone again, and we fun too, especially the alpine slides on Pico mountain. We also enjoyed a hoppin' Jazz festival in Montreal, wished Quebec a happy 400th birthday as we dined in a 333 year old house, and chowed on fresh Maine lobster in Portland.
Diane and the kids took me and Rob & Terrel's family to the new Great Wolf Lodge on Chehalis tribe-owned land in Grand Mound, WA for father's day. It was a wet encounter of the fun kind! Our favorite slide was the Howlin' Tornado where you and three of your comrades plunge 6 stories into a giant vortex. Oh, and we also stopped by to experience Mima Mounds '08 in Littlerock, WA.
Celebrating the creation of a new marriage, we joined Erinn & Chris in Palo Alto, CA. We flew Virgin America's new SEA→SFO service aboard their totally cool, mood-lit Airbus A320 and its Red in-flight entertainment system.
My eldest son took me along with his former Chinese teacher Gordon Davenport and about 40 others in a group tour of Beijing and Shanghai China, where we visited with the family of Dr. Xue-qiao Zhao, Gordon's wife.
Our daughter played the role of Sister City Ambassador to Thonon-les-Bains, on Lake Geneva, and visited Paris too.
350 miles to the end of the world and back: Cape Flattery, Neah Bay, Hobuck beach.
Voyages 2007
360 miles to Ocean Shores for some horseback riding and back, over the three largest floating bridges in the world: I-90 over Lake Washington, WA-104 over the Hood Canal, and WA-520 Evergreen Point.
3,400 miles of driving took us through the North Cascades, Lake Pend Oreille, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Jackson Hole, whitewater rafting on the Snake, swimming in the Great Salt Lake, the Spiral Jetty, Craters of the Moon, the Wallula Gap, and the Yakima Canyon. We met up with Diane's longtime friend Sue and her family who drove out from Kansas City which was a terrific bonus. We were awestruck by the steep-walled valleys in Glacier, fascinated by the geothermal features in Yellowstone (and their thermophile-colored pools), thrilled by the warm and wet waters rafting the Snake, bouyed by the salinity of the Great Salt Lake, and dwarfed by the mere thousands year-old lava fields of the Great Rift of Idaho.
Diane and the kids surprised me with a father's day weekend getaway to Ocean Shores, WA. We started with a peaceful ferry ride to Bremerton and spent two nights on the coast. On the way to the surprisingly delightful interpretive center we had some excitement when we got stuck axle deep in the soft sand on the beach. A nice family (in their high-clearance 4x4 pickup) helped us dig out and roll on. Now I recognize utility of an SUV over a minivan!
Jamie's parents came up for spring break and we toured Seattle Art Museum's new Olympic Sculpture Park (in what is destined to be Seattle's version of Central Park) and also saw construction of Boeing's new 787 up at their Everett assembly building.
Diane's parents spent mid-winter break with us "storm watching" on the Oregon coast: we experienced sun, rain, hail, snow, winds, and sun again all within an hour! At Cape Disappointment we got to see the real rescue divers practicing what we had just seen in Kevin Costner's The Guardian. We saw the lighthouse and the local black-tailed deer, and the pounding Pacific surf battling the Columbia outlet. We took the Astoria bridge and checked into our penthouse suite at Gearhart. It was Stan and Shirley's first visit to Oregon so we drove down to Cannon Beach and hiked out to the tidepools at the foot of Haystack Rock. Venturing further, we completed the US 101 segment between Seaside and Tillamook, visiting Diane's former mentor Bonnie down in Oceanside. We rounded out the trip with a snowy drive over the coast range to check out the new tram to OHSU and the view of downtown Portland and the Willamette river.
Voyages 2006
We drove through Chinook Pass and down the American River past Mt. Adams to spend the night at perpetually windy The Dalles, OR. We awoke the next morning to spy Mt. Hood on the western horizon lording over the Columbia River Gorge. We visited the oddly isolated Maryhill Museum with its excellent collection of Native American crafts from the 19th century, the strangely located American Stonehenge nearby, and the last day of the Maryhill Double installation across the valley. It was a surreal echo of the efforts of Sam Hill, whose eponymous bridge we crossed on the way home.
We took advantage of a glorious day to drive 6,000' up to Hurricane Ridge and peer into the heart of the Olympic peninsula -- we even saw the glaciers on Mt. Olympus. The rangers remarked that they'd never had such lovely weather.
Our annual trip to visit family back east brought us to Cleveland, Rochester, and Rutland (Vermont). Diane also took the kids to visit friends in Pittsburgh. We also toured the lighthouse at Marblehead, Ohio, and the oddly located Confederate cemetery nearby.
We celebrated our daughter's birthday at the Rose Garden arena in Portland, Oregon watching the Champions on Ice show. We also stumbled upon Beervana which dad enjoyed while mom got the kids tattoos. On the way home, we took in the view of the Columbia gorge at the Vista House, had dinner at Multnomah Falls lodge, crossed the river to Washington at the Bridge of the Gods (just upstream of the Bonneville dam), and scampered up the weathered core of the ancient andesite volcano Beacon Rock.
3,000 miles down the spine of the Cascades, the Central Basin, and the NW Coastline With the end of the academic year, we took the children on a tour of volcanoes of the Cascades (Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Hood, Oregon's other snow-capped volcanic peaks) and spent the night at the lodge on the 7,200' rim of Crater Lake (stopping at Bend for a beer along the way). In the morning, we headed through Klamath Falls (where we spied Mt. Shasta) to Lakeview, at the northern end of Goose Lake, which we used to springboard up the Abert Rim, to the central Oregon dunes and Lost Forest, back down Winter Rim/Summer Lake (we also enjoyed Lakeview's Perpetual Geyser). We crossed the high desert (5,000') and the antelope reservations into Nevada where we followed the pioneers over 90 miles of the Black Rock desert/playa to arrive in Virginia City and our ranch accomodations. We met up with our friends in Tahoe, and crossed the Mt. Rose Pass (8,900') on the way back to the ranch. We headed south through Carson City to Mono Lake, and crossed the Tioga Pass (just shy of 10,000') into Yosemite. We had lunch at the falls and a short hike to their foot, and saw a bear on the way out to the Sequoia grove. We spent the next two nights in a tatami room in San Francisco's Japantown, and toured the Presidio, Land's End, and Golden Gate parks (including the tea garden) with our good friends Brynn and Erinn. From SF, we headed across the Golden Gate bridge to Muir Woods, and along California Highway 1 until Bodega Bay. From there we drove up US 101 through the Redwood forest until Old Town Eureka where we had dinner and spent the night. We then climbed the coastal dunes of Oregon and spent the night in Florence. The next day we saw both the Haceta head and Yaquina head lighthouses, as well as a nice brunch in Yachats. We spent the night in Netarts, after dinner with Diane's friend Bonnie and her family. The next day we toured the Tillamook cheese factory, and picnicked on the "100 Steps Beach" opposite the Three Arches reserve at Oceanside.
Skagit / Fidalgo We took Jamie's folks on a trip to see the Tulip festival at Roozegaarde and up to Mt. Erie to take in the panoramic view of the San Juan Islands. We headed south over Deception Pass to the southern end of Whidbey Island and caught the ferry back to the "mainland". My father remarked, ``Where else can you be at sea level in America and see snow capped peaks to both the east and west?''
1,100 miles around the Columbia Basin We took Diane's folks on a trip to eastern Washington state and the Idaho panhandle. We drove over snow-capped Snoqualmie Pass to Soap Lake and Dry Falls. We were able to catch a (private) tour of Grand Coulee dam, including a trip to the interior to see the generators. It was a nice to be able to take Diane's father, a former electric company employee, to the country's largest hydroelectric dam. From Electric City, 99123, we headed over the Oakanogan highlands, ferrying over the Columbia river on the Columbia Princess at Inchelium, and thence to Couer d'Alene, Idaho and their beautiful alpine lake. After a night at the resort, and breakfast viewing the world-famous floating golf green, we toured south along the lake's eastern shoreline, and thence to Lewiston and the lower Snake River valley and the rolling farmlands of The Palouse. We also saw the Lower Granite dam and were able to cross over it. After a night in Walla Walla, WA, we headed down to the Columbia Gap and then to the Ice Harbor dam (which we were unable to cross). We found our way to the Juniper Dunes (navigating by GPS as the entrance is not well marked), and to the Hanford Reservation (which is currently visitor-center-less), and over Rattlesnake Ridge to the Yakima valley (we stopped at one winery), before heading home.
1,600 miles along the Gulf Coast We started our trip visiting my sister Laura and Ron and my brother Matt and Krissie and their daughter in Atlanta. The kids got to tour the Coca-Cola Museum of Marketing Genius (my name, not theirs), and we also had a wonderful tour of the brand-new, super-sized Georgia Aquarium. In addition to the size and volume of the tanks (and the super-star whale sharks Ralph and Norton), we were in awe of the number of fish swimming in large, shimmering schools literally over our heads! From there, we left to visit the hurricane-ravaged areas of the gulf coast, starting with New Orleans (which was working hard to celebrate its 150th Mardi Gras party). As we drove over the recently rebuilt I-10 bridges, we found an eerily darkened city robbed of 60% of its population, but striving to recover. We enjoyed staying in the French Quarter, taking in its architecture with its signature delicate iron balconies, and stopped for Beignets and Chicory Coffee at Café du Monde under the banks of the mighty Mississippi River. From there, we drove over the longest bridge in the world, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway and headed east to Biloxi, Mississippi, which we found to be devastated with barely any signs of reconstruction -- truly a sad site. We continued east and had lunch in Mobile, Alabama near the battleship USS Alabama. We dropped down to the sugar-white sandy coastline of Alabama's Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, and Perdido Key, where we crossed Florida's southernmost interstate border. Driving through Pensacola and Destin, we arrived at our planned destination, Panama City Beach, where we caught up with my brother and his family and spent a relaxing couple of days on the best beach in America. All too soon we had to return north through Alabama to Marietta, and our return flight back to Seattle.
Voyages 2005
With Diane's parents Stan and Shirley we took a weekend trip to the Pacific Coast, stopping to tour the State Capitol in Olympia, wondering in awe at the steaming caldera of the active volcano Mt. St. Helens, enjoying a restful night at the Quinault Beach Resort, and touring the Lake Quinault rain forest. We even had a chance to see the cabling of the new Tacoma Narrows bridge.
We took a couple of days off and spent the weekend at the Waterhouse, near the American Camp, on San Juan, overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Victoria, and the Olympics.
With Diane's brother Tom and his wife Janine we went Whale Watching via Friday Harbor, San Juan Island on the Victoria Clipper III over Labor Day weekend.
With our good friends the Mahers and their daughters we brunched at Paradise Inn, on Mt. Ranier (where we witnessed a life flight rescue), and then down to the Oregon coast to Seaside and Cannon Beach where we saw Haystack Rock.
We took our first family cruise aboard the Norweigian Spirit from the port of Seattle through the Inside Passage to Skagway, Alaska, stopping at Ketchikan, Juneau, the Tracy Arm and the cool blue icebergs of the Sawyer Glacier, and Prince Rupert, BC.
Diane and the kids went east to Cleveland and Pittsburgh, while I met them in Rochester to celerbrate Independence Day. While in New York we stopped at Letchworth and Stony Brook state parks.
With my brother Matthew and his wife Krissie and their daughter we took a Memorial day weekend vacation to Roche Harbor, San Juan Island, where we rented a small boat and explored some of the nearby islands.
Diane's parents visited and we took them to the Tulip festival in Mt. Vernon as well as to see their friends in Grapeview.
Taking advantage of the dry winter weather, we travelled US2 over Steven's Pass to Eastern Washington, to see Leavenworth, Lake Chelan, the Columbia River, Grand Coulee Dam, Lake Roosevelt, Steamboat Rock, Dry Falls, Soap Lake, through the town of George, Washington, and the Petrified Ginko Forest.
Diane took the kids to San Francisco, where they toured Alcatraz and the Winchester Mystery House.
Voyages 2004
McInerny-Staab Christmastime family reunion in Denver, Colorado, where we also visited Boulder, the cog train to the top of Pike's Peak, and the Garden of the Gods.
Train trip to overnight in Vancouver, BC and see the Storyeum, the Capilano Suspension Bridge, and the cable car to the top of Grouse Mountain.
With Jamie's parents, we took a ferry trip aboard the Victoria Clipper IV to overnight at the Fairmont Empress and saw the Butchart Gardens.
Day trip to Portland to see the Japanese Garden, and then east through the Columbia valley to The Dalles and then north over the scablands to the Yakima valley.
Road trip to Vancouver, BC to see the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Scholar's garden and Stanley park.
200 miles to Mud Mt. Dam and then up to 6400' @ Sunset Point to gawk at Mt. Rainier
500 miles around the Olympic Peninsula Clear across the county as we relocated from Pittsburgh to Seattle
2,750 miles through 10 midwestern states to visit family and friends
800 miles to Philadelphia and a friend's bar mitzvah in New Jersey
Voyages 2003
On the morning of August 30th we went down to Point State Park to watch the 200th anniversary reenactment of the launching of Lewis & Clark's Pittsburgh-made keelboat.
August 23rd was such a beautiful day we drove to Blairsville, PA to bike ride on the 3.3 mile West Penn Trail after supper at Clem's BBQ, we also drove through Tunnelton to the Conemaugh Dam and the Tunnelview Historic Site
1,000 miles to The Big Apple and the du Pont estates gardens
Eight ferry rides through the Lake Erie Islands (Put-in-Bay & Perry's Monument, Middle Bass, and Kelleys Island & the glacial grooves)
We thoroughly enjoyed Blue Man Group's The Complex rock show at the StarLakeAmphi... er, Post-Gazette Pavillion, (especially the words on the left )
1500 Miles through the Adirondaks and 1,000 Isles
Down to Washington, D.C. to see the National Cherry Blossom Festival
75 miles to Punxsutawney to see Phil the Groundhog predict six more weeks of winter (he saw his shadow)
Voyages 2002
Halloween in D.C. -- we visited Six Flags over America for their Spooktacular and took in the Space Station in 3-D at the Air & Space museum
700 miles by train to sightsee in Chicago (Diane found tickets from Akron; we had brunch at American Girl Place and lunch at the Art Institute of Chicago ; we also "climbed" both the 1,000' Hancock building and the 1,450' Sears Tower -- the tallest building in the western hemisphere )
1800 Miles to Atlanta and the Blue Ridge Mts. (check out the view from 6,684' -- the highest point east of the Mississippi)
Voyages 2001
2000 Miles in Colonial Canada (where we go 346m/1,136 ft up the CN Tower for lunch and 4,250' to the top of Kilington Mt. in Vermont)
1500 Miles of Virginia Surf and Sky
A short excursion to Niagara Falls and the butterfly conservatory
We caught Panda fever so we took a trip to Washington, D.C..
Our extended family flew down to Key West, FL -- the southernmost point in the continental U.S.!
© MMI - MMXXII Jamie McInerny