For spring break the four McKees took a trip in a rented RV tour along the central coast of California. Big Sur, beach time, watching movies at night on the laptop, family fun all round. This trip would also take us by Hearst Castle, the ultra-splendid getaway palace created by William Randolph Hearst on a big hill overlooking the ocean. I’d heard that it was sort of the “last word” on the subject of residential building projects. For years I’ve admired its go-for-it spirit from afar thanks to glossy photos in a big hardbound book titled “Julia Morgan Architect.” Now [...]

My family and I really like dogs, so we went to Alaska at the start of this month for the start of the 1100 mile Iditarod Sled Dog Race.  A few months ago I found out from my aunt and uncle in Anchorage just how easy it was to go from being a spectator (watching the action over the temporary wooden fences that line 4th Avenue in Anchorage) to being a dog handling participant (right in the thick of it helping to move dog teams to the starting line) just by emailing in a volunteer application and then showing up [...]