Owyhee River Wilderness
OWYHEE RIVER WILDERNESS, OWYHEE, ID :: After a weekend in Bend, I drove over to a place that sounds like Hawaii, but is spelled Owyhee. Millions of people have been...
Author
John
We’re John & Kristie. Here we share our adventures in the Pacific Northwest and beyond, along with the places, projects, and experiences we’ve enjoyed together since 2001. Between 2010 and 2026, this website became quiet while we focused on the greatest adventure of all: raising our kids. We never stopped exploring or taking photographs, but during those years we shared most of our stories and everyday moments on social media instead. To celebrate our 25th anniversary, we brought the website back to life. We’re now gathering those missing years in one place, adding the posts and photographs we previously shared elsewhere and rebuilding this site as a lasting record of our family’s adventures. Thanks for visiting and exploring our story with us. We hope you enjoy looking through the photographs and memories – and we’d love to hear from you in the comments.
1272 Articles
Bend
BEND, OR :: Bend: Bantering and bonding with bosom buddies in breweries, Blockbuster, and boutiques with boardgames, bikes, books, burritos, and birria amongst all the bougie...
The Castle Museum
BURGHOTEL "AUF SCHÖNBURG", OBERWESEL, GERMANY :: Our final day was spent at our castle-hotel exploring the onsite tower museum and enjoying their delicious made-from-scratch...
Gutenberg-Museum Mainz
GUTENBERG-MUSEUM MAINZ, MAINZ, GERMANY :: Gutenberg’s movable-type printing press is arguably one of mankind’s greatest inventions, credited with bringing about The...
Mainz, Germany
MAINZ, GERMANY :: We checked out market day in Mainz. It was about an hour away from our castle-hotel, and the largest city we visited during our three weeks in...
Simple Page
Who we are Suggested text: Our website address is: https://rivaxstudio.com Comments Suggested text: When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the...
Secret Garden at the Castle
BURGHOTEL "AUF SCHÖNBURG", OBERWESEL, GERMANY :: A secret garden surrounded our castle-hotel. It’s so secret, we only discovered the entrance on our third visit! Using...
Drosselgasse Rüdesheim
DROSSELGASSE RÜDESHEIM, RÜDESHEIM AM RHEIN, GERMANY :: Rüdesheim is one of the top wine producing regions in Germany, and it also includes a famous alleyway called...
Burghotel “Auf Schönburg”
BURGHOTEL "AUF SCHÖNBURG", OBERWESEL, GERMANY :: We have returned for a third time to our favorite castle overlooking the Rhine, Schloss Schönburg in Oberwesel. The town...
Europa-Park
EUROPA-PARK, RUST, GERMANY :: We love Europa-Park! It’s Germany’s largest theme park, and the most visited seasonal theme park in the world. No one beats...
Rulantica
RULANTICA, RUST, GERMANY :: We enjoyed two days at the Rulantica water park! With over 50 slides and attractions spread over the area of six football fields, indoors and out,...
Hotel Krønasår
HOTEL KRØNASÅR, RUST, GERMANY :: After “roughing” it through Iceland and Switzerland for two weeks, it was time to relax and indulge in the comforts of...
Grindelwald, Switzerland
GRINDELWALD, SWITZERLAND :: Sometimes our most memorable travel moments are unplanned. When fleeting from one tourist hot spot to another, we fill ourselves with precious moments...
Glacier Canyon
GLACIER CANYON -GRINDLEWALD, UNTERSEEN, SWITZERLAND :: We explored an impressively deep glacial canyon that was recently featured on the Amazing Race. In that episode, the teams...
Pfingstegg
PFINGSTEGG, GRINDELWALD, SWITZERLAND :: Pfingstegg is a cool little park on the side of the mountain with a fun alpine slide and forest swing coaster. It also has a playground...
Schynige Platte
SCHYNIGE PLATTE, WILDERSWIL, SWITZERLAND :: Schynige Platte is one of the best trails in the Bernese Oberland! Unfortunately, it requires riding the slowest cog train in the world...
Lindt Swiss Chocolate Heaven
LINDT SWISS CHOCOLATE HEAVEN JUNGFRAUJOCH, INTERLAKEN, SWITZERLAND :: Before leaving Jungfraujoch, we of course had to stop at the world’s highest chocolate store,...
Jungfrau
JUNGFRAU – TOP OF EUROPE, INTERLAKEN, SWITZERLAND :: Some photos from “The Top of Europe” at Jungfraujoch overlooking the Aletsch Glacier, the largest in the...
Ice Palace Jungfraujoch
ICE PALACE, JUNGFRAUJOCH, SWITZERLAND :: Also at Jungfraujoch are a small network of caves carved into the glacier! Since 1934, the Ice Palace has hosted visitors in a chilly...
Alpine Sensation
ALPINE SENSATION, JUNGFRAUJOCH, SWITZERLAND :: We took a train to Jungfraujoch, Europe’s highest railway station at 11,332 feet! Built over 112 years ago on a well-financed...
Karaoke Gondola
MÄNNLICHEN, GRINDELWALD, SWITZERLAND :: The Swiss gondolas are amazing, but there are a few that take the fun to another level! On our way back from Lauterbrunnen, we rode...
Lauterbrunnen AKA Rivendell
LAUTERBRUNNEN, SWITZERLAND :: A young J.R.R. Tolkien visited the Lauterbrunnen Valley, and it inspired his vision for Rivendell, one of the last Elven homes in Middle Earth. We...
Männlichen-Kleine Scheidegg
MÄNNLICHEN-KLEINE SCHEIDEGG, GRINDELWALD, SWITZERLAND :: The 5km trail from Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg is one of the most popular in the Jungfrau region, and for...
Männlichen Royal Walk
MÄNNLICHEN ROYAL WALK, WENGEN, SWITZERLAND :: Our first destination in Switzerland was Männlichen for The Royal Walk. Not sure why it’s called that, but the views...
Hotel Bodmi
HOTEL BODMI, GRINDELWALD, SWITZERLAND :: Our trip to Iceland was great, but it was just the layover stop to Switzerland! (Icelandair lets you extend their layovers for up to...
