3 comments about Hiking the Great Northwest: 55 Greatest Trails in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Northern California, British Columbia, and the Canadian Rockies.

1. it encompasses the hikes that every avid hiker must do before or during death.



2. The hikes cover some of the best hiking over a large area.



3. I have the first edition of this book and it has been an invaluable guide to the incredible hiking in the Northwest. Living in the east and only getting to the west when business or a vacation take me there (for relatively short periods of time) I've always tried to make the most of the time I did have to hike. I have done about 1/3 of the hikes in the book and have yet to be disappointed. I have other, more detailed, hiking books for these areas but I rely on this one for selecting my hikes. I just wish this type of book were available for other areas of the country.

No comments about The Secrets of Masonic Washington: A Guidebook to Signs, Symbols, and Ceremonies at the Origin of America's Capital.

3 comments about Northwest Shore Dives.

1. The third edition of this book is an improvement on the previous and includes new dive sites, 55 in all. The dive sites are located in Washington State in Puget Sound and Hood Canal. All include a picture of the site which makes it easy to find them, the written directions are excellent. The tide and current table calculations are great, even going so far as to let you know if you should plan your dive for tides or currents. He even includes information on things to do for non-divers while they hangout waiting for divers to return. The maps are exceptional, most have depth measurements and all include ebb and flood current information that really makes it easy to plan dives at these sites. I have dived some of the sites listed in the book and the descriptions are excellent. Highly recommended for those diving in the Pacific Northwest.



2. The information is up to date and correct. I use this book exclusively to plan my dives. I have met the author and trust his knowledge of the dive sites and the information given in the book.



3. This book is highly regarded among divers in the BC/WA/OR area. My only criticism is the latest edition (3rd) wasn't really updated much in that it still lists the Edmonds Oil Dock as a "working" pier. This hasn't been a working pier for a long time. But other than that, it's still an excellent book, highly recommended.

2 comments about Holocaust Museum In Washington.

1. Having recently visited The Holocaust Museum, I felt compelled to own this book as a tangible memory. The book captures the essence of the holocaust experience with outstanding images and words, often understated, that continue to evoke the emotions felt in the museum.



2. This book tells the story of the founding and exhibits of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. This book does not replace visits to the Museum. It is an excellent reference book to have in combination with visits to the Museum. The Holocaust Museum is one of the finest Museums in Washington, DC.
   
   The history told at the Museum is powerful in so many ways. My hope is that humanity can learn from history not to keep repeating the many horrific mistakes that were made during the period of Hitler and Stalin. We must always remember that most of the terrible crimes during this period were sanctioned, promoted and authorized by National Governments. The Governments of nations can and do become evil, corrupt and murderous. We the people of the world must be forever vigilant against vesting too much power in the hands of too few people. Concentrated power almost always becomes corrupt.
   
   We must learn from history how to prevent the concentrations of power in too few people. These concentrations of power can sooner or later lead to evil. Even power that is initially built on good intentions will good bad eventually. That is the nature of the human condition that we must fear that charismatic leaders will concentrate power in ways that are unhealthy and deadly. We should find ways to avoid electing charismatic leaders as these types of leaders are just too dangerous. The Holocaust happened just seconds ago in terms of the lifespan of our planet, and something like it will happen again unless we learn the lessons taught to us by history.

1 comments about Washington By Night: Vintage Photographs from the 30s.

1. Volkmar Wentzel's Washington by Night captures the stark beauty of the Nation's Capital, and the grandure of a bygone era, that almost defies description.

   Filled with pictures taken before the World War II build-up, Wentzel's Washington is a still a sleepy southern town, about to awake to the international stage. Captured in this naive state Washington becomes a foreign city ripe for exploration and the unexpected.

   The lush tri-tone images compel close study and readers cannot help but find something new everytime they pick up the book.

   Volkmar Wentzel's view of Washington is an insight into the simple and monumental.

No comments about A Tour on the Prairies (Western Frontier Library).

2 comments about One-Day Trips Through History : More Than 200 Museums, Battlefields, Plantations, Colonial Churches, Monuments, Historic Homes, Forts, and Parks.

1. Now in an updated and expanded second edition, Jane Ockershausen's One-Day Trips Through History is an impressive and "user friendly" compendium of more than two hundred museums, battlefields, plantations, colonial churches, monuments, historic homes, forts, and parks -- all within 150 miles of Washington, D.C. Perfect for weekend side trips and one-day "getaway" vacations, One-Day Trips Through History is ideal for planning chronological, geographical, or seasonal excursions to pivotal and notable places of interest with respect to American history ranging from the arrival of the first European colonists at Jamestown, Virginia, to the bloody battlefields of the Civil War, to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Enhanced with "user friendly" information on the recreational aspects of these various and diverse day-tripper options, One-Day Trips Through History is an informed and informative travel guide.



2. This book was a big disappointment. It is nothing but a compilation of individual travel columns. Not user friendly if you're planning an exploration of the Washington DC area.

No comments about Scenic Driving Washington.

No comments about Washington Irving: Three Western Narratives: A Tour on the Prairie / Astoria / The Adventures of Captain Bonneville (Library of America).

3 comments about Best Hikes With Children: Western Washington & the Cascades (Best Hikes with Children).

1. This book will give possibilities for varying degrees of difficulty hikes and day spots to visit. The best resource I have ever found.



2. We bought this book when my son was 3 and my daughter was still catching a ride in the backpack. We needed easy but nice hikes and boy did we find them. It gives good accurate directions and realistic difficulty rating. A big plus if you are hiking with toddlers. My kids are now 6 and 4 and is still our favorite hike book. You won't be disappointed and you will find a ton of hikes that are close to home yet you feel miles away.



3. This book (and it's companion volume) are highly appropriate for families, children of most ages and for less than highly active adults.

   Thoroughly Recommended!