Road-trippin'- Portland OR and NorCal.

Hello world!

This post has been a long time comin'!!

So much has happened! I went on a 12 day road trip from Los Angeles all the way up to Portland OR, I got a new car, a new job, I found 20 dollars, visited San Diego, tried my first recipe with scallops (delicious!!), and tried breathe amongst all the daily chaos of life!

The Roadtrip vacation was so necessary and completely over-due.
My hubs and I haven't been able to vaca together( and I mean, a "just together") since our honeymoon almost 4 years ago. So, yea, it was time.

We both for whatever reason have always wanted to check out Portland OR. The pictures I have seen are gorgeous, not to mention, it's incredibly green!! (something we don't experience here in SoCal- and something that I sincerely miss from my New England days!) So, I guess you could say that I was needing a serious green fix. So off we went! We stuffed our car with our hiking boots, camping gear, and backpacks and hit the road!

On the way up on The 5, we stopped in Ripon CA-visited family(awesome cousins), then rolled up to Chico CA and stayed with good friends- and Daniel got to stroll down memory lane from his college days, and finally sped up the last stretch to Portland!
Portland is a city to see- it's incredibly welcoming to the pedestrian and the cyclist, there is an incredible array of architecture( from colonial to modern, to the abstract), there is such variety in the different neighborhoods surrounding urban downtown. We stayed in the SouthEast side ( Hawthorne/Burnside District)- it definitely has a funky vibe... the gingerbread houses are adorned in bright, bold colors. The districts main drags are filled with little locally-owned boutiques, coffee shoppes, and delicious restaurants and cafes that take local, in-season food very seriously- everything tastes deliciously fresh. Mount Tabor Park was just down the street where you find yourself feeling very small and shaded amongst the redwood trees. Oh, and there was a community garden too!
One of the best parts about our stay was where we laid our heads to catch some Z's!
We found the cutest little cottage studio ( bed,kitchen,dining area, and bathroom) through AirBnB, a website that lets you 'travel like a human.' Our hosts were the sweetest, most hospitatble people... they gave us fresh eggs from their chickens for breakfast and blueberries from their garden. They also gave us a ton of tips on what restaurants and shops to hit up. They really contributed majorly to our enjoyment and over all fun time in Portland and I can't thank them enough! I know where I'm staying if I ever go back. :)

What else did we do? Gosh, so many things! We visited the Chinese Gardens downtown, The Japanese Gardens, The Pittock Mansion (finished being built in 1914 and beautiful!!!), Forest Park (5,000+ acre park), The International Rose test garden ( it smelled amazing there!!!I felt like I was Alice in Wonderland), Powell's Used Bookstore ( so awesome and so HUUUGE! I'm talking at least 5 stories huge!!) (Daniel got one of his text books, a biblical sytax book that at new price would be over $100, but he got it for $38 and it is in exceptional condition.), we visited a bunch a farmer's markets and tasted the best local honey ever! Visited a few antique shops and malls.... I found a 1940s suitcase that I just adore! We went exploring and drove along side the Columbia River and hiked out to see waterfall after waterfall... it was beauitful.Portland is such a photogenic city- it was so fun playing with my NikonD40! I didn't want to leave.



After our Portland extravaganza we pushed the pedal down to Cresent City CA to find the big green giants aka, REDWOOD TREES! We camped in the Redwood National Forest and climbed trees the whole time!!! It felt like I was in that movie, Honey, I Shrank The Kids!!! I think I can now say, I know how it feels to be an ant!! This forest was on steroids!!! Enhanced height, width, and beauty! It was incredibly lush. Around every corner, there was a babbling brook and eye-catching plant life.... from the tallest tree to the smallest fern it was awe-inspiring beauty.
God's creation seriously blows my mind and what a gift that we can find such joy in his handiwork.
There are so many breath-taking places to experience on this earth with the time that has been given to us.
I want to see it all!

We had such a blast- just being together and making memories.

I have pictures to still upload onto my computer.... so I will be following up this post with photos from the trip! :)