What's with the Name?

So you might ask, "What's with the name of this blog?"

Well, I was born, raised, schooled and lived in the Seattle area most of my life. I did spend two years to do a Masters degree at the University of California at Santa Barbara from '87-'89. Now, I'm living in Switzerland. Most people know that the Alps are partly in Switzerland. The other mountain range in the title is the Cascades. The Cascades are a lovely range of mountains that Stretch from British Columbia in the north, south through Washington and Oregon before they end in California. They are a set of mountains formed by the subduction zone where the Pacific tectonic plate goes under the North American continent. The Cascades get their name from the many waterways that flow down the mountains due to the high level of precipitation. There are many wonderful waterfalls in the Cascades.

So, a couple years back, I got married to my wife, who's swiss and we're now living here in Switzerland. And so, this name.

Where we live though, is at the very northern point of the Jura Mountains, but not many people know about them, and they're a short range anyways, though they're also quite nice. There are the Vosges, which are also not widely known, which are also a short ways away. Finally, there is the Black Forest, which most people don't know, is also a mountain range. All of these ranges even have skiing areas. Sadly though, this year there hasn't been much snow...