Eat. Explore. Love.

One year ago this week, I launched ZEST. I was missing the creative aspects of writing, I was angry that our part of the Pacific Northwest was often overlooked and I love to travel. Mix that all together and ZEST was born.

What a wild year it has been! Although a friend told me that he thought I was “ruining my social life” by limiting our weekends to local research for the blog, I vehemently say “NOT SO!” I have met so many interesting people, visited fascinating places and learned much about our rich history. I have eaten probably too many NW foods, consumed plenty of local wine and just about ravaged my camera while shooting everything from clams to mountaintops.

No, I did not run out of places to explore and people to meet. Quite the contrary, my “bucket list” got longer. Considering our people and places, and the fact that ZEST covers an area the size of New Jersey, that shouldn’t be a surprise.

I ate. I explored. I loved it. This is the 48th post. So what did I learn? Here are a few lessons:

1. People love to be photographed with their pets. Even the shyest person is happy to be in a pet photo. The booksellers of Long Beach Peninsula, and their pets, were especially photogenic.

Karla and Harper Lee of Time Enough Books in Ilwaco

2. A contest will bring out the best in people. 35 people entered the Happiest Place in Southwest Washington contest. Our judges had a fine time choosing the winners. Actually, all entries (okay, all but one entry which was a little, shall we say, personal) were places well worth visiting and blogging about in the future. Thank you, entrants!

Happiest Place Winner - Long Beach - Photo by Spence Photo Design

3. Head for the woods on Christmas Day. We saw very few people when we snowshoed to June Lake, at the base of Mount St. Helens. Just be sure to put the snow park permit on your dashboard, not in your pocket or you, too, will be begging the ladies at the Skamania County Courthouse to reduce your fine!

A Perfect Christmas Day near Mount St Helens

4. Blogging is a family affair. It’s great fun to share the experiences with a spouse. And it’s helpful to have one who willingly accepts all the pesky hotel and restaurant bills and allows his food to get cold while I photograph it. Thanks, Gary!

A good blog partner is willing...to explore

And is willing...to get cold

And likes...to eat...a lot

5. Travel should be more than gift shops and tourist attractions. One of my favorite interviews happened at 10 p.m. on a rainy Saturday night in Camas in a tattoo parlour. They stay open late for a reason. I learned a lot. And, no, I didn’t get a tattoo.

A few of thousands of tattoo choices at Painless Ric's

6. Razor clams are WAY fun! One of my favorite experiences in the last year was learning how to dig and cook razor clams. Special thanks to the stranger in Jack’s Store who told me how to prepare them!

Long Beach Peninsula Clams and a Clark County Riesling

7. A mundane action like getting your piano tuned can be much more than you think. The School of Piano Technology for the Blind tuned our piano. This led me to a special tour of the school and conversations with the students, who came to Vancouver to learn a new vocation. My piano is in tune and I have a new-found appreciation for the school and their piano tuners.

Getting the piano tuned

8. Involve other writers. Special thanks to Julia Anderson, Sarah Coomber and Shawna Burkholder for writing for ZEST. It is so nice to have others sharing their experiences with our readers. I hope to add more guest bloggers in ZEST’s second year.

Looking for trolls with Sarah Coomber and friends at Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge

9. I have the best neighbors in the world. None complained about being photographed for ZEST at social events on the block including a cookie exchange and root beer float social.

Some of our great neighbors

10. It’s nice to get recognition. Blogging can be a little lonely. But comments and occasional accolades make up for the forced solitude. ZEST has been featured on two panels of bloggers and was honored in a Bloggers We Love column of New York’s outside.in Web site. That was very exciting!

There is so much more to write about in SW Washington! I have a very long list of future blog posts to research, photograph and write. I wish I had more time to devote to blogging but plan to keep the writing flowing as much as possible.

In the past year, I ate. I explored. And I continued to love Southwest Washington. Here’s to another year of blogging. Thanks for reading! Katlin