About Lora Shinn and Cascadia Kids

As a little girl, I loved family trips around the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. Now, I enjoy taking my kids to visit our beaches and mountains, deserts and rainforests. I can’t wait to share our region’s beauty and bounty with you. I hope your family enjoys Washington, Oregon and British Columbia as much as we do. Here’s a quick Q & A on this site and how it works.

Who are you? I’m Lora Shinn, the 35-year-old mom to a 5-year-old boy and a 11-year-old girl. I’m a former children’s librarian, and a long-time Washington native. I grew up in tiny Skamania, Washington (pop. 351), right in Bigfoot’s backyard. I attended college in Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington.

What’s your day job? I’m a professional freelance journalist. I’ve written travel-focused pieces for a wide variety of publications, including AAA Journey, E: The Environmental Magazine, KIWI, Parenting, Pregnancy, and the Washington State Visitors’ Guide. I’m also the author of Northwest Kid Trips: Portland, Seattle, Victoria, Vancouver.

What’s the mission of this site? To connect families to the best kid-friendly hotels, attractions, restaurants and shops in British Columbia, Oregon and Washington. I look for independently owned options that showcase our region’s strengths, including inclusivity, uniqueness, sustainability, affordability and quality. I don’t accept compensation to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own. If I claim or appear to be experts on a certain topic or product or service area, I will only endorse products or services that I believe, based on my expertise, are worthy of such endorsement.

Hey, can I sue you if my trip sucks? I hope you have the same positive experiences that I’ve had during my travels, but there’s no guarantee. I disclaim liability for blog-readers’ personal safety problems, crappy travel experiences and poor parenting choices.

By reading and using information in this blog, you agree that you alone are responsible for your travels. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. I attempt to update and maintain accurate listings and information on this blog, but urge you to always double-check all listings and I encourage you to explore on your own terms. Information is accurate at the time of content creation.

I take no legal responsibility for inaccuracies, omissions and lack of comprehensiveness, although I urge readers to contact me ASAP at lora AT cascadiakids.com and inform me of the above.

Haha! You made a typo in a post! I’m sure I did. It happens. Just tell me and I’ll fix it.