New Posts to Come

Sorry I haven't posted in the past few days. Jeremy, Max and I left Portland on Sunday and headed into the Olympic National Park, where we've been camping the past few days (needless to say, there is no wifi in the mountains!) So many pictures and stories I need to update (over 500 pics!)

Quick recap of events:

Friday: Headed up to Hood River. Columbia River Gorge is so pretty! Went to Full Sail Brewing company to do some necessary beer tasting and a little lunch

 Saturday: Wandered around the outskirts of Portland.

Sunday: Left Portland and headed to the coast to Astoria (GOONIES!) and went up the 101 to Olympic National Park.

Monday: Loved the park so much we decided to stay another day.

Tuesday: Drove all the way through Seattle to Missoula, MT, where we are now. Max is so happy we're not sleeping in a tent!

I promise to update all the blogs, but after over 12 hours on the road today, time for sleep!

Epic Road Trip Day 8

Day 8: Thursday, March 24, 2011

Officially been one week since we left SF. Today was not terribly exciting, we just took care of some errands and the weather was crappy (meaning uninspiring). We got the oil and transmission fluid changed, as well as the wiper blades to prepare for the upcoming weather. Jeremy also made roasted veggie lasagna, my favorite, since Brooke has pneumonia, so we're trying to take care of her the best we can. 

Since I'm sure no one wants to see the inside of a waiting room, I decided to upload some photos from San Francisco. All of the seaglass featured on here is stuff that Jeremy and I have found (mostly Jeremy!). Hopefully tomorrow I'll have something more exciting to post. 

Epic Road Trip Day 7

Day 7: March 23, 2011

Another day in Portland. Luckily it didn't rain today, so we decided to help out Brooke with some chores (meaning I updated my blog while Jeremy helped Brooke clean) and then head into town to do a little sightseeing on our own. I told ya'll I was going to check out the Grilled Cheese Grill and Voodoo Doughnuts. Which we did! It was so awesome. I finally got my grilled cheese with pickles, and I was so happy because they use the good pickles, Claussen. Got two of those with a side of really good homemade tomato soup. Jeremy got the Jalapeno Popper with roasted jalapenos, colby jack, sour cream and tortilla chips (in the sandwich). So good! We ended up eating in the double decker bus while Mariah Carey was playing.

Next was Voodoo. Of course I had to get the bacon maple bar, the original. And let me tell you, I'm a big Dynamo bacon maple apple doughnut fan, but it doesn't even compare to the bar with the full strips of bacon. We also got, blueberry cake (really good), Mango (not so good), gay bar (cream filled, of course!), blunt (more of a novelty), and of course the Voodoo! Really cool place, really cool doughnuts.

On our drive back we decided to take the backroad and ended up seeing signs for the Pittock mansion. On a whim, we went to the hilltop and it ended up being one of the most beautiful places in Portland. It reminded me of the Winchester Mystery House in the sense that was built by a ridiculously rich person and it's beautiful. 

Epic Road Trip Day 6

Day 6: Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Today started with getting up early, guzzling coffee and hitting the road (minus the 500 lbs of cargo!). We headed southeast into the Hood Mountain National Forest to visit Bagby Hotsprings. It was only 80 miles away but took over two hours to get there, but it was one of the most beautiful drives I've ever been on! The pictures do no justice. 

There was still snow on the ground once we got up to where the hotsprings are, which made it more intense and beautiful. It was a nice juxtaposition of cold and hot. After 1.5 mile hike into the forest, we reached our destination and had to wait 1.5 hours to get into a tub. There are four individual tubs and one larger tub, which is what we waited for. Since you only have to pay five bucks for parking and the tubs are free, there is way more demand than supply! There were so many people up there, we were lucky to even get in! Since we were waiting, there was a group of Portlandians(?) who were waiting there too, so we invited them to come and hang out with us in the tub, since it was going to be just the two of us anyway. We had a great time getting to know them, they were really cool and found out they were from SLO and the guy was a kiwi! I feel like that is really the spirit of the hotsprings, getting to know new people and getting in touch with nature. It made the experience that much better.

I do have to say, that being there in that big tub was one of the most awesome experiences ever! Not only did it feel amazing, but it was really cool being in the middle of nature. After getting out, you feel like a brand new person; I just wanted to go and melt into the snow and take a nap. But we had to hike back and then drive back. It really helped my butt after falling hard on it. Needless to say, when we got home I just wanted to pass out! Brooke made us some of her famous soup and then sleep...deep sleep! Thanks Bagby Hotsprings!

Epic Road Trip Day 4 & 5

Day 4 & 5: Sunday and Monday, March 20 & 21

So here we are in Portland! It's a pretty cool city with lots of personality. Sunday Jeremy and I got to chill and catch up on our trashy reality TV (but half a day was more than enough!). Today we met up with Brooke and went into town to check out some of the food carts. The one food cart I wanted to visit is called the Grilled Cheese Grill and is housed in a double decker bus. As we were passing by I noticed it was closed and my heart fell to the floor! But luckily there was a food cart 'pod' about a block away that we went to visit. It's like a little city of deliciousness! Not a lot of the food carts are open on Mondays, but there was a korean bbq place and hot dog place. I decided to get the best of both worlds and got a chili cheese dawg and a sample plate of bbq. Both were really good and we got to eat under a little tent with heaters. I wish I had more pictures, but it was raining a little too much. Brooke took us through a quick tour of old town, and I saw that Voodoo Doughnuts was there, but the line was around the block! Needless to say, the bacon maple doughnut will have to wait another day.

Just chilling for the past few days and it feels so good! I laugh when I think about work and I feel like 'peace out', not even worth my time. Right now we're all just sitting down with a glass of wine (or a few) and cooking brussel sprouts with bacon, enjoying good conversation. Nothing feels better than wine, food and catching up with good old friends!

Tomorrow, Bagby hot springs in Hood Mountain and dinner with Brooke's parents. Max also has a buddy to play with, Stanley. He's got 80 lbs on him, but they are getting along really well. Portland has treated us well so far!