1 comments about Moleskine City Notebook Seattle (Moleskine City Notebooks).

1. I received my Seattle Moleskin- My only beef with it is that it doesn't include my neighborhood, or Office area (I Live South of the city, and work East of the city) I wish there were downloadable maps so I can add pages at the same scale. Beyond that, it's cool.

No comments about Rand McNally Easy To Read Washington State Map.

3 comments about Waterfall Lover's Guide Pacific Northwest: Pacific Northwest : Where To Find Hundreds Of Spectacular Waterfalls In Washington, Oregon, And Idaho.

1. This is a MUST have book for waterfall hunters, Mr.Plumb does a excellent job in telling you how to get to the falls, how hard it is to get to it and how nice the falls are. Plus there are a lot of real nice photo's here,although there all black and white, except the cover of the book.
   I also liked how he has maps of each "section" of the three states in this book.
   Each waterfall listed in the book Mr.Plumb tells you how to get to that waterfall, what kind of waterfall it is, how hard it is to get to it, the height of the falls, a star rating on how nice the falls are, and a little detail about the waterfall, and each waterfall he listed in the book has a very good map on where it is.
   You certainly WILL NOT be disappointed in this book, I use it whenever I look to see what falls I want to go to.



2. I sent for this book at the same time as another book, The first book from another vendor got to my house within a week. I waited the 7 to 21 days and still not book from "Caiman", I e-mailed them and got an automated responce of "7 to 21 day" At 30 days I e-mailed them back, a book got to me at about 31 days, bad business!



3. This fantastic book is in it's 4th or 5th printing. The reason why is because it is so comprehensive, and so thorough, and so original.
   
   The author not only visited literally hundreds of waterfalls all listed in this book, which must have taken months of research, plus travels, and studying of topographic maps, on top of countless miles of hiking, backpacking, and even some boating. The book is also very easy to read. There are no long passages of famous quotes from naturalists of the past. Just lists of waterfalls grouped by region, making it very easy to see more than a few on one trip. Add great directions and maps on how to get there, and superb descriptions of each waterfall. He also rates the waterfalls, gives information on how worthy the view is, how easy or hard it is to get to the waterfall.
   
   If you are a waterfall lover, or even think you're interested in seeing some, this valuable book is as good as it gets.

5 comments about Frommer's Washington D.C. with Kids (Frommer's With Kids).

1. This book is an excellent guide for things to do in the D.C. area with kids. We live in D.C. and were looking for new things to do, especially with our 3 year old in mind. We bought the book and learned about exciting locations and activites that we never knew about. For example the Doll and Toy Museum, Naval Observatory and Amazonia exhibit at the National Zoo.
   
   The restaurant and dining guides though are way off, the do not include the best food (including child friendly) nor convenient, fun and affordable hotels, infact they recommend some of the worst! Of course we've gained this knowledge from living here for 6 years, still would expect better form a guidebook...for food dining and hotels I'd recommend Lonely Planet's guide to D.C. area.
   
   Only other downer was driving to the Childrens Museum only to find it was closed until 2009. Still I have the 6th edition and the 7th edition hopefully is updated with this info.



2. I have four editions of this book and I would not consider going to DC without it. It is worth the investment to make sure that you are getting the latest and greatest information. I have NEVER had a problem with the information if the edition is current. A quick flip through the sixth and eighth editions shows how much info has been updated, plus almost every listing provides a web address (in addition to all the other contact information) so you can get more detailed information if you desire.
   
   When we are in DC, this book stays in my backpack at all times. The maps are clear and conscise, and the authors helpful hints have saved us a lot of time. I have all the info from the washington.org and AAA and just about everything that it covered in scores of brochures and booklets is in this book. It truly is the only book you need!



3. I found this book to be very helpful and complete. The humor and affection that the author shows for the area and kids in general was very welcome departure from the otherwise stuffy travel guides I'm used to reading. I found her insights about timing visits, local restaurants to check out, and walking tours to be very handy. Reading her guide was like getting advice from a helpful Mom. It's sold me on the Frommer Kids series, and I'm looking forward to using them on my next trip!



4. This book was a tremendous asset in planning our family's first ever D.C. trip. This was our first real encounter with big city transportation and I felt really sorry for those families who were lined up at the Metro ticket machines trying to decipher them. Also some really great hints for "cheap eats"(Union Station has something for everyone & won't break the bank),beating the heat, and sight-seeing options when the "big attractions" were impossible to get to. This guide was invaluable in planning our days with children who range in age from 7 -16. Purchased Fodor's Around Washington, D.C. with Kids (Around the City with Kids)which was simple for my children to read and enjoy. Using the Fodor's book in conjunction with this Frommer's my family spent many enjoyable evenings over 4 months planning our trip.



5. I would strongly recommend you look at other guides to Washington D.C. as Frommer's Washington D.C. with Kids was not helpful and actually was a hindrance. This book gave us misinformation and was completely out of date. I will just share two of our experiences from our first days in D.C. we disregarded the book and relied on our concierge from then on...
   
   The Zoo: Frommer's emphatically advised to get there early (it 'opens' at 6:00) and that you should stop first at the information kiosk to get a map and the daily schedule for feedings etc. They also stated that the Animal Crackers Cafe was open for breakfast. Well, we got there about 8:00 and NOTHING is open until 10:00....not the information kiosk (so we were without maps or schedules and the place is huge), most of the animals were inside the buildings which were closed until 10, none of the cafes were open for anything to eat or drink until 10. What you WILL see before 10 is zoo employees driving trucks and golf carts around setting things up and watering plants. By 10:30 when the elephants were scheduled for their bath my husband announced that he didn't care if the elephants were going to do the cha-cha, he already done enought walking and was ready to leave. Also Frommer's should have noted that the Metro is a pretty long walk to and from the zoo.
   
   The most blatant example of out-of-date information...The National Geographic Museum: Pages 191 and 192 must be from the 1998 guidebook because the permanent displays, interactive exibits, and videos the book describes have been gone (we inquired) for 9 years. No volcanoes videos, no touch and play mammals kiosk, no tornado to 'feel', no flying dinosaur, no orbital flight, no global access video games that "your kids will have to drag you away from", etc. What was displayed while we were there was China and it was good but not at all resemble what we had anticipated based on Frommer's description.
   
   Save yourself $17 and a lot of aggravation and don't buy this guidebook. We are headed to North Carolina and I'll look at Fodors or Michelin.

1 comments about Day Hiking: Mount Rainier National Park Trails.

1. I say little, only because the book won't take up much space in your pack. It includes a lot of hikes and a lot of information, nonetheless. I really like the Day Hiking series, and have used it to find some great new (to me) hiking trails. One of my only complaints about the Mt. Rainier hiking guide is that the publishers printed a new map for every hike in the book, even though two trails might have beens side-by-side, without even overlapping, and trail B might be visible in the map for trail A, and vice-versa. It's slightly annoying, because it makes it harder to gain a sense for where the trails are in comparison to each other. This hit a head at the trails out of the Paradise area, where at least five trails overlapped. While five trails on one map could have gotten confusing, a happy compromise of two maps with a few trails each would have saved spaced, and shown the proper relationship between the trails. I also had a problem with a few trails where hike A might be to travel five miles along one trail, and hike B might be to travel ten miles along the same trail. That's not two different hikes; that's just turning around sooner or later (and summarized in an 'extending your trip' box for most of the other hikes). The Day Hiking North Cascades book presented it's trails in a much neater fashion, by clearly indicating overlapping or nearby trails on the same map, without exaggerating the number of hikes included.

1 comments about Out and About with Kids: Seattle: The Ultimate Family Guide for Fun and Learning.

1. We are headed to Seattle to "scope it out" for a possible relocation and I just received this book. It is simply laid out and obviously written by a parent who knows what kids enjoy. It focuses on non-"commercial", quality family time which I love!

1 comments about Hiking Mount Rainier National Park, 2nd (Regional Hiking Series).

1. This is the second edition of a guidebook that I previously called "the best guidebook for hiking (as opposed to climbing) Mount Rainier National Park". That's still true.
   
   The book covers pretty much every official trail in the park, from quarter-mile long interpretive loops to the 90 mile round-the-mountain Wonderland Trail. The book is organized geographically, and includes a table of lists which show trails organized by features (such as easy trails that go to waterfalls, etc.).
   
   Surprisingly it does not contain an alphabetical index, which makes it hard to look up trails or places if you only know their names and not their locations. (For instance, the cover shows a wonderful view of Myrtle Falls, but I was unable to find out from the book how to actually get there! I had to be able to recognize that the view of the mountain was from the Paradise area, and then the falls were shown on one of the Paradise area trail maps.)
   
   It has been some time since I last read the first edition of this guide, but I remember it being quite personal, with descriptions of what the authors saw when they were actually there. There is nothing like that in this edition -- there is no sense that authors actually travelled to Mount Rainier. The writing style seems very professional but unfortunately also very dry.
   
   I spend most of my time in Mount Rainier going off the trails and up to the many peaks that are in the park -- and this book is useless for that purpose. It doesn't even tell you about such easy unofficial trails as Knapsack Pass or Third Burroughs Mountain. To get information like that I recommend Beckey's Guide, Smoot's Climbing Washington's Mountains, and Goldman's 75 Scrambles. (Or my own Seattle Scrambles website.)
   
   But it is an excellent resource for what it does cover: official, maintained hiking trails in Mount Rainier National Park. Each trail is described with a qualitative overview, a detailed description of the hike, a list of points of interest, a map, and a table of vital statistics like the estimated hours it will take to hike the trail and the official source of information on current trail conditions.
   
   (The maps show some topographical detail and some trail detail, but they are not really replacements for serious topo maps. They do show UTM coordinates, but they don't say which datum they are using. The maps probably do suffice for summertime, good weather use -- when you are unlikely to lose the trail as long as you stay on it.)
   
   The book also has some chapters in the back covering things like "leave no trace" ethics, dealing with cougars and bears, how to hike in springtime snow, and subjects like that. Nothing in any great detail, but it could be useful information.
   
   For the person who wants to explore the official hiking trails of Mount Rainier, from the popular to the obscure, this is the book I would recommend.

4 comments about Not for Tourists 2008 Guide to Washington, D.C (Not for Tourists Guidebook).

1. I can only speak for the Silver Spring section of the book, as that is area I live and am intimately familiar with it. But if it is any indication of the quality of the rest of the book, beware!
   
   The book contains listings of many companies and stores that have been closed for 5+ years, the map included is at least seven years old (many roads have been removed to make way for larger buildings), and many stores, bars and clubs have opened in the past five years that are not listed. The book fails to mention a shopping mall in the shopping section. Also, it lists Gold's Gym twice with the same address, and places Tastee Diner at the wrong location on the map (the location it was moved from about 7 years ago), even though the correct address is supplied. The text tells drinkers to be aware that bars in Silver Spring are few and far between, but many new bars and restaurants have opened up in the past several years that the editors are obviously unaware of. While Silver Spring has not become an Adams Morgan, there is certainly some good nightlife: Jackie's, McGinty's, Galaxy, Gallery, Piratz.
   
   If the book was a 1999 or 2000 edition, it would be acceptable, but too much has changed recently for this book to be considered a valuable guide.



2. The NTF series of guide books is terrific. It has absolutely everything you need and my friend who now lives in D.C. loves it.



3. I live in New York, and am a committed fan of NFT's NY edition. I still carry it everywhere, and I lend my older copy to visiting friends. That said, the Washington D.C. version seems amateurish by comparison. First of all, it's huge. It's the size of a DVD case, and thicker. It will not fit in your coat pocket. Second, the text written about various locations can read like bad blog-posts by some people who really hate DC, dripping with facile, simplistic sarcasm and snark. It can get a bit hard to read. It looks as if NFT's editors or marketing team decided to emphasize "attitude" in its DC edition, rather than the intelligent presentation and informed guidance that made the NY edition so great. On the upside, the maps' format and presentation are as clear and useful as ever, and are certainly better than the maps of most other guides.



4. This book is so helpful for folks like us who are moving to DC shortly that my wife said "hands off", she was keeping this copy and that I should buy my own! Enough said...

2 comments about Good Night Washington, DC (Good Night Our World series).

1. A poor sequel to the "Good Night America" original, and a great disappointment. Bad illustrations, uninspired presentation and choice of subject matter. Don't bother with this one.



2. The Good Night... series are good books for young kids to read or to have read to them. It includes basic words and gets the kids interested in different travel locations.

1 comments about Fodor's Seattle, 4th Edition (Fodor's Gold Guides).

1. FODOR'S SEATTLE, 4TH EDITION is a great travel guide to Seattle and its surrounding suburbs, with loads of great ideas for dining, shopping, sightseeing, and recreation. It also features some great day trips out of the immediate area, including Olympic and Mount Rainier National Parks. This is a great book for travelers, but even people who are not travelling anytime soon can enjoy it as well.