Many Pacific Northwesterners share a common summertime syndrome. It’s one of those yet-to-be-named disorders, but I have proof that it exists.

Running on a beach on Quadra Island

You may even have it yourself. It is characterized by an overfull calendar of outdoor bbqs, gelato dates and weekend getaways.  You may notice that you suddenly have dozens of smoothie recipes lying around–far more than you can make in one summer. Perhaps you’re obsessing about the progress of your tomato plants, and worrying when you’ll find the time to build that chicken coop. And if you miss even one Sunday Farmer’s Market, you break out in hives.

Bounty from the summer parking strip garden.

Summer had a slow start this year, with days on end of gray and rain in May and June. Of course, this just accentuates the syndrome’s anxiety symptoms. Only two short months of summer, now! Will we have time to squeeze in the weekend getaway to Victoria? That wildflower hike at Skyline Divide?  The camping trip to the Olympic coast??

A hot day at Seattle Center.

For those of you who haven’t noticed this past week, summer is now very much here. Temps will be in the 90s today, the second day in a row. Your local market may be fresh out of popsicles, and air-conditioned hotel rooms are selling like hotcakes on Priceline.

Which is why I won’t be publishing that post on our trip to Jacksonville, Oregon today. I’ll get around to that tomorrow morning, hopefully before the sun comes up. Now, I must get outside, walk to get an iced coffee, take my son to the wading pool, have gazpacho for lunch, then nap under the apple tree.

After all, September will be here before we know it.

Playing in the sand at Alki Beach.

Happy summer!

For more scenes of summer in the Northwest and beyond, check out Photo Friday at Delicious Baby.

Down in the valley, where the green grass grows, there are over a dozen small, family-owned wineries whose creations range from spicy Syrahs to deep-noted Pinot Noirs.

Oregon’s Umpqua Valley wine region is not just one valley, but comprises several small valleys and undulating hills. It’s drier than the Willamette to the north, and cooler than the Rogue to the south.We spent a few hours exploring the Umpqua just north of Roseburg this past week, and stopped at a couple of tasting rooms to sample the region.

Our first stop was the Henry Estate Winery. Scott Henry was out in the vineyards when we arrived, probably tinkering with his world-famous trellis system. It’s his own invention (Henry is a retired engineer) and has been widely-adopted because it allows for twice as much vine per square foot of soil as a traditional trellis system.

In the tasting room we were met by Dan, who kindly acquainted us with the wines of the region. I learned from Dan that the Umpqua straddles the same latitude as France’s Burgundy region, which often results in more complex Pinot Noir than what one might find in the Willamette. I tasted five of their wines, and all were excellent, though I enjoyed their Syrah most of all.

Our next stop was Palotai, where we were greeted by the winery’s dog, a friendly chocolate lab named Bella. Again, we were the only visitors. Michelle, whose uncle purchased the winery three years ago, was working in the tasting room boxing up cases of wine for shipments. Their vineyards contain a few Hungarian varieties of grapes and many of their top wines are blends, like the Bull’s Blood red. We sampled just a few before we had to hit the road and bid farewell to the charming Umpqua Valley.

For more interesting travel photos and stories, visit photo friday, every friday, at www.deliciousbaby.com. Oh, and all of these photos were taken on my iPhone using the Hipstamatic application. Groovy, huh?

Before I moved to the Northwest, I knew as much about glass blowing as I did about raising camels. Which is to say, nothing. And then, it happened. I started to notice art in the form of beautiful, bubbly glass… everywhere.

While visiting Whidbey Island this past weekend, we stumbled upon the Firehouse Studio and Gallery, newly housed in the old fire station on Second Street in Langley. The big garage doors were open and inside, half a dozen people were watching a fellow patron get a hands-on lesson in creating a beautiful glass tulip.

The open-air studio, right in the middle of Langley’s vibrant downtown, is a very cool addition. And I have to admit, the temptation to buy one of their gorgeous (and affordable) glass bowls was powerful. I’m especially drawn to the orange ones.

When you next head to South Whidbey Island, be sure and stop by. But before that, enliven your Friday with more beauty of the Northwest and beyond over at Delicious Baby’s Photo Friday gallery.

The Winter Olympics 2010 kick off today, and many eyes are on Vancouver. Those of us just  south of the border know how lucky we are to have this fabulous cosmopolitan city just a short drive or train ride away.  In fact, it’s high time I follow up this post of Vancouver cheap sleeps with a new collection of terrific, affordable options, as there are many. We’re headed there in March, so stay tuned for that!

Vancouver is chock full 0f favorite things– fabulous ethnic restaurants on Denman, the Museum of Vancouver, Stanley Park, the Granville Island Public Market… just to name a few. One of my favorite things in Vancouver are the False Creek foot ferries you take to get from the downtown area to Granville Island. These mini-ferries hold about 20 people, and look a little bit like toys.Aren’t they cute?

For more great travel photos from the Pacific Northwest and far beyond, check out Photo Friday at Delicious Baby.

There’s nothing quite like a glass of good rosé on a warm spring day. Especially if it’s been kept nice and cool by the thick walls of an oak barrel.

Blackwood Canyon is a unique winery on Red Mountain, near Washington’s Tri-Cities. By the way, a visit there is like no other tasting room experience you’ll ever have, but more on that another time (I promise!). That’s the winemaker, M. Taylor Moore, pouring a taste for some nice folks from Olympia. We pretty much spent the day together (yes, a tasting at Blackwood Canyon takes the better part of a perfect afternoon). The wine enjoyed in the photo is Rincon Point Rosé, which had not even finished fermenting, siphoned straight out of the barrel. Delightful.

For more great photos of travel visit the Photo Friday post at Delicious Baby!

Waterfront property for $17 a night!

An MSR Hubba Hubba backpacking tent along the Bumping River at Cougar Flat Campground, east of Mount Rainier National Park.

Reserve your summer campsites soon. According to the Outdoor Industry Association, camping reservations for campsites on federal lands are up 21% in the past two months. And CNN reports that REI’s tent and sleeping bag sales are up this season, particularly when it comes to larger tents designed for three- and four-person families.

Never been camping before? Here’s a good checklist of basic camping equipment.

April is next week! Behold, Tulipa gesneriana.

Tulips are fortunate to have many fine associations, such as early Spring and Easter. You’ve likely started to see them for sale at your local farmer’s market. They earned a black mark in history, however, when they were popularized during Tulip mania in Holland in the 1630s, resulting in one of the first documented economic bubbles. Though often associated with Holland, both the flower and its common name actually hail from the Persian empire.

Tis the season for tulip festivals in the Pacific Northwest. Head to the Willamette Valley for the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Oregon, and to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in Washington.

The shot of those perky red tulips above was taken on my visit to the Skagit festival in 2005. For more travel photos, check out the Photo Friday virtual exhibit at Deliciousbaby.com.