.DAY1.DAY2.DAY3.
DAY1:I do not even know where to begin with this trip. My nephew (yes, nephew – he is 15!), Arin & I have wanted to check Oregon off our bucket list for quite some time now & it was the PERFECT time for us to go. We had great connections, family, and friends to visit and enjoy their company and we had the availability. Since second grade, Arin has LOVED Oregon due to a school project he had to complete on the state. From the photographer’s perspective, I have always wanted to go!! God has truly done some amazing landscaping in that state & I could not wait to sharpen my photography skills here. Not only did we know several people out on the West Coast, but we were also in for a treat to meet a new photographer & his wife (they will be introduced later).
I am going to break this trip down in several blog posts so that it is not overwhelming & for those truly interested, they will get a fairly detailed glimpse into the days of our trip, a trip of a lifetime!! Grab your coffee & popcorn and enjoy (and don’t judge my iphone pics).
Arin & I flew good ol’ Southwest on Friday July 10th and arrived in Portland late that evening. Thankfully we have a wonderful cousin, Christina & her better half, Craig, who came to pick us up.
We woke up Saturday morning to so much baking/cooking. Homemade scones were in the making, espresso machine turned on, and bacon wrapped cinnamon rolls. I quickly learned they had blueberries, raspberries, and apples in their backyard. I WAS IN HEAVEN! We pay $4 for a tiny container of raspberries back in Ohio for a total of about 10 of them. They informed me that is common in Oregon. Many people have fresh produce simply growing in their backyards and their are even places along the road you can stop to pick whatever you want. My cousin and I walked down the sidewalk and picked plums – FOR FREE! For those of you who do not know, I LOVE homegrown, natural, organic produce.
After a filling breakfast, we headed for our first hike of the trip to the Punchbowl Falls. Christina and Craig navigated this hike & the photos will speak for themselves. After the hike, they went camping with friends & Arin and I drove another 15 minutes to the Hood River. They were having a Wind Surfing festival to raise money for Cancer – definitely nothing we can do in our neck of the woods. It was here I officially felt like I was on the west coast. All the guys looked like ‘surfer dudes’ just enjoying a Saturday night down by the river. Man, their weekend adventures look so different than ours – it’s unreal. We tried to decide where we wanted to catch dinner so we landed on a pizza place, along the river & let me tell you, it did NOT disappoint. If you are in the area, check out Solstice Wood Fire !! We enjoyed the Hot Mama pizza at the pizza bar, where we literally sat in front of where the chefs made the pizzas. As we sat there, we engaged in conversation with the Owner and several other employees. To our great surprise, they treated us to hands down, one of the most amazing desserts I have EVER had. We enjoyed a gluten-free homemade graham crust, dark chocolate layer, and roasted marshmallow cooked in the wood fire. It was to die for. Oh, EVERYTHING is gluten-free in Oregon. SIDE NOTE: Oregon is very very health conscious. Markets are beyond popular, every bakery has gluten-free, baking powder is aluminum free and so on! I felt right at home being among so many people who value healthy lifestyles.
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yummy food at Solstice
Day 2: Arin really wanted to visit Oregon University. He is in LOVE with that place & even cheered them on during the National Championship when OSU played them. Before heading down to Eugene, we stopped at the world famous VooDoo Doughnuts! I, personally, do not like doughnuts (weird, I know) so Arin enjoyed one. The line was crazy, but we met some people traveling from the UK who literally just came from Oregon University that morning. They say you need to go to this place for the experience, but the BEST TASTING doughnuts are at Blue Star, which we hit up later in the week. We walked down the street to an ADORABLE coffee shop, called Stumptown Coffee, which is what most restaurants and shops use as well. I loved this atmosphere and the coffee was perfect. We enjoyed our breakfast before continuing our trip to Oregon University. A friend from church told me her aunt own a bakery & it just happened to be on our way to the university so we met up with her. She ended up giving us all her treats for FREE – gluten,vegan, and dairy free biscotti’s, ice cream sandwiches, and banana bread. If you are in Salem, check out The Sensitive Baker. Again, we got back in the car and continued our trip.
Finally, we arrived on the campus & of course, I wore my Ohio State University National Championship shirt. Arin was not too impressed with me, but we toured the campus. Lucky for him, they were have new student orientation that day so he was able to walk into several buildings!
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After we visited Oregon University, we hit the coast. We have a good family friend we have vacationed with for years who grew up in Oregon! Our friend Ben has since been married and now has one of the cutest little girls EVER. They were so gracious to allow us to stay with them and visit. They introduced us to an authentic Mexican restaurant & then we ventured to the beach in hopes to catch a sunset, but it wasn’t looking too good. The rest of the evening we simply caught up on our lives over the past years. The next morning, Ben made us pancakes and took pictures of miss Saraiah, then took us to Pacific City – one of my favorite parts of the trip!!! The view was unbelievable, the weather was perfect, and I felt alive. Ben taught us how to sand surf & for the first time, I did it!! Don’t mind the last couple pictures below where I wiped out. It was epic!!! I could have stayed here ALL DAY. I can’t believe this family grew up just 30 minutes from such a place.
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Once we left Pacific City, we traveled a little more north towards Ben’s sisters’ home in Tillamook. Laura greeted us with a big hug and a warm smile as usual expected. She has to be one of the sweetest people I know. Laura’s husband, Andy, grew up on a dairy farm that is a provider for the famous Tillamook Cheese Factory so she took us down on the farm. Andy’s father had just finished milking the cows for the evening shift so we got the personal tour of the dairy farm. At the end, we got to sample some raw milk, which was phenomenal. We enjoyed it and they even gave us a ‘to-go’ bottle! We had an awesome visit with the Werner family & got to meet the rest of Laura’s kiddos. She has an army – 7 & pregnant with her 8th!!! I had met at least 3 of them almost 6 years ago, so there were several to still meet (their pictures coming in a later post). After our visit, we headed back to Portland!
Jonny - Wonderful words and pics, Miss Katie. You’re a talented gal 😉 SO wonderful meeting you and getting to know you a bit more. Already looking forward to the next visit!