Road Trip Day 5: Portland

After leaving the Redwoods, we decided to skip our stop in Eugene and just drive all the way through to Portland. It was already getting late and I wanted to get us to our hotel at a decent time. When we finally arrived around 8pm we just got settled and hung out for the rest of the night. It was so nice knowing that we could actually un-pack our bags since we would be spending the next 3 days there! At that point, we were so done with the constant packing and unpacking in hotel rooms!

The next morning we woke up and decided to go to the Japanese Gardens. I had actually saw a picture of this place on Pinterest and I knew I had to go! It's the most authentic Japanese garden in the world (outside of Japan of course). The weather in Portland was so beautiful; they say August is the best time to be there. It was a beautiful, clear, warm, sunny day. The gardens were very beautiful and peaceful. We saw waterfalls, koi ponds, a huge zen garden, and of course a ton of bonsai trees. Everything was green and covered in moss, it was so pretty.

 I snapped this picture from the Japanese Gardens. It's the perfect view of Portland and Mount Hood!

 The moss made everything feel so whimsical and delicate.

 Koi pond, waterfalls, and a bridge.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous!

 Japanese zen garden. I can't even imagine all the work that goes into maintaining this place!

After we left the gardens we spent the day in Portland looking at potential neighborhoods and houses.We spoke to a few realtors and locals to scope out the best areas to live in and we got a lot of great feedback. That night grandma baby-sat Cayden so Mando and I could have a date night. I forgot my camera and am still kicking myself for it! Downtown Portland is a dream and I wish I could show you all how amazing it is. The nightlife is just incredible, packed full of restaurants and bars. Most of them brew their own beer locally so Mando and I tried a few local blends. Portland is also the greenest city in the entire country so all the food comes from local sources and is just so fresh. We went to a bar and talked to a lot of super nice people and learned a ton about the economy, job market, best places to live, and schools. That kind of advice from locals is invaluable for us! We had such a fun time, and I think it really proved to Mando that Portland has the best of both worlds... beautiful scenery, quiet neighborhoods, and a hip downtown area with plenty to do.

The next day we went to check out the falls. There are a ton of waterfalls outside Portland, but the biggest and best one is Multnomah Falls. According to Indian folklore, it was built for an Indian princess as a private place to bathe. You truly cannot comprehend how tall and majestic this waterfall is; it absolutely took my breath away. Nearby there was another smaller waterfall called Wahkeena Falls so we checked that one out too. It was such a beautiful day; I swear the weather was like a dream there!

 I loved this plaque dedicated to the Oregon Pioneers. Took me back to playing my favorite game as a kid, Oregon trails! The other picture is a view from the top of the waterfall. The hike was SO worth it!

 Mando and I at Wahkeena Falls. It was hard to photograph well because the waterfall was so curvy and there were a lot of trees blocking the view!

Multnomah Falls. So stunning in real life. You can feel the temperature drop from all of the spray. We hiked to the bridge and to the top of the falls and the view just kept getting better and better! 

After visiting the falls we wanted to check out a neighborhood back in Portland. If you're anything like me as a child (read: BOOKWORM) then you grew up reading Beverly Cleary books and you know Ramona and Beezus lived in Portland. When I found the neighborhood that the real Klickitat Street was in I knew I had to go. This particular neighborhood (ironically named Hollywood!) had also been one that the realtors and locals recommended to us. It was like destiny. The homes were all vintage, victorians and tudors just like our neighborhood here in Orange County and we absolutely fell in love with the area. Then we went to Grant Park to have a picnic lunch which is home to the Beverly Cleary Scultpure Garden. The park was dedicated to her and is full of life-sized bronze statues of her main characters. It's also a splash park so we stripped Cayden down to his diaper and he had the time of his life playing for almost a full hour. What I loved most is all the families that were there with their children. Keep in mind this was a Thursday afternoon, in the middle of the day and it was packed full of young mamas like me and their kids, and surprisingly, A TON of dads! I think that made Mando and I the happiest... there were at least 5 dads there playing with their kids which you just don't see around here unfortunately. Everyone was so friendly and it just seems like the perfect place to raise a family.

Our last night in Portland was so sad. I was definitely not ready to leave. We decided to go back downtown to Cool Moon in the Pearl District for some local ice cream, all handmade in their shop. It was 100% the best ice cream I've ever had in my life. I chose this espresso ice cream and I'm literally salivating right now thinking about it. The sun was just starting to set and there was a ton of families out in another splash park enjoying their rare but gorgeous weather. It was then that I think we all realized that yes, this is definitely a place we could see ourselves living.

 Downtown Portland at sunset

 As you can see, we ALL enjoyed Cool Moon ice cream!

 In the Pearl district after the sun went down. This place was magical, let me tell you.

The next morning we packed up and left early. We took the 5 all the way home and only had to stop one night in Central California. I took this picture right as the sun was setting.



All in all, it was a great trip. There were some scary parts, some wonderful parts, and some parts that just made you stare in silence at how beautiful nature can be. I'm so glad we went and I have no doubt in my mind that Portland is the place for us to be someday. We won't even start seriously looking until after the wedding next May, but I feel like we have a long-term plan now and I finally feel at peace with the way things are going. I just can't wait to get back there! XOXO

Road Trip Day 4: The Redwood Forest

Even after arriving at our hotel at 2am, we were still up early the next morning so we could see as much of the Redwoods as possible. I think all of us were looking forward to this part of the trip to most (other than Portland of course). I've always wanted to see the Redwoods and I knew it was going to be beautiful. We ate breakfast quickly and were on our way. Our first stop was the Founder's Grove where the largest redwood tree once stood, weighing over a million pounds. When the tree eventually fell back in the 90's, it was so loud the whole town thought two trains crashed together. The tree is on the ground now and goes for miles, but you can see how huge the roots are. Being in that forest just makes you feel so small and insignificant, but in a good way. Even though there were a lot of people walking around near us, it's totally silent there because everyone is just in awe of how big the trees actually are. Near the forest is a place with a huge tree that I believe was struck by lighting resulting in a wide crack in the trunk large enough to drive through!

After spending some time exploring the forest, we drove to a little town nearby called Ferndale for lunch. There was one main street with the theatre, grocery store, butcher, and general store; it seemed like it came out of an old movie. Driving through the town we saw huge herds of elk just chillin' on the side of the road. It was insane.

The view from our hotel in Humboldt

The drive-through tree

The gorgeous redwood forest. I was obsessed with catching sun beams through the trees

Cayden loved the forest. He had so much fun exploring and climbing everything

You just can't even comprehend how tall these trees were. This was as far as the zoom on my lens would go!

Me and my honey resting

The roots on a fallen tree

More sunbeams

The Goliath tree. This was just the circumference of the trunk + the roots. The trunk went on for miles!

The road that runs through the forest

Tired boy napping after a long day of exploring

Herds of wild elk on the side of the road

Ferndale must be the smallest town in California!

After lunch we were finally on our way to our last stop, Portland, where we would stay for the next 3 days. I'll be back tomorrow with pictures of that magical city! XOXO

Road Trip Day 3: The Northern California Coast

When we left San Francisco around 2pm on Monday, we were headed North to Humboldt County. Even though we were going up the coast, we estimated it would only take us 5-6 hours to get to our hotel near the Redwoods. Boy were we wrong...

Before I go on, I want to say if you've never been up the California coast, you're definitely missing out. It's absolutely beautiful and I think everyone should experience it once in their lifetime. With that being said, I will never do it again! Now, I already have terrible, crippling anxiety in my day-to-day life, so imagine me stuck in a car with my 1 year old driving on a 1-way road on the side of the tallest cliff you could ever imagine. We just kept climbing higher and higher and pretty soon we couldn't even see the bottom of the cliff anymore, just ocean as far as the eye can see. We were literally driving inside the clouds. Not only that, but with the windy roads we were only able to go 15-20 miles an hour at all times. I thought I was going to die. I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and I would have traded my first born son for a Xanax. Okay, maybe not but I was that close. It literally took us 5 hours to go 100 miles. 100 MILES. THEN we got lost in the creepiest deserted town in the middle of NOWHERE and couldn't we find the highway for almost 30 minutes. (Keep in mind we had zero reception out here so we couldn't use our phones) We finally arrived in Fort Bragg, which is about halfway to Humboldt, at 8pm to stop and eat and stretch our legs. During dinner we decided we were going to forgo our original plan to take the coast all the way to Oregon (I shudder to imagine driving those cliffs in the pitch dark) and instead we'd just jump over to the 5 until we reach Humboldt. Let me tell you, I am SO glad we did. We finally arrived at our hotel around 2am that night. 12 hours later.

After all that, I'm still glad we got to see almost the entire California coast. Like I said, I think it's something everyone should experience at least once. As scary as the cliffs were, the scenery is absolutely breathtaking. The beaches up north are so different then I'm used to... They are very rocky and choppy. It's crazy being at the top of a cliff and seeing huge rock formations in the middle of the ocean. The powerful waves just crash into them and you can see the ocean spray even from that far away. We stopped several times to take pictures, it was that beautiful.

The next day we were up early to explore the Redwoods. The forest was my absolute favorite part of our trip, you'll see why tomorrow! XOXO

Road Trip Day 2: San Francisco

After Big Sur, it took us a few hours to drive to San Francisco. We got there at about 8pm Sunday night and checked into our hotel on Lombard Street. Since we would only be there for the day, we woke up early the next morning and headed to Fisherman's Warf so we could see as much as the city as possible. My favorite part was the street vendors selling fresh seafood off of their carts! I bought a sourdough bread bowl filled with the best clam chowder I've ever had. It was amazing. We were planning to take the boat to tour Alcatraz, but all of the tours were already sold out so we had to settle and see it from the pier. 

After we spent some time there we decided to head to China Town. I couldn't believe how incredible packed and crowded it was there on a Monday afternoon! We ran into a local Chinese woman who told us to avoid this particular street where the tourists go, and to go to Jackson street if we want authentic Chinese food. We followed her advice and ended up at this amazing restaurant whose name I couldn't even pronounce. We then preceded to stuff our face! The food was out of this world spectacular. I had just eaten clam chowder and I still ate everything in sight! After lunch we wandered around the markets, which was probably the best part of San Francisco for me. I have an obsessed with weird odds and ends like that!

           Cayden in our hotel room looking out on San Francisco                                       Our view from the hotel 

              The cable car leading to Fisherman's Warf                                                      Our first view of the Warf 

         Street vendors selling fresh, hot crab. It smelled amazing!                       The best clam chowder I've ever had! 

                                                                                   More street vendors by the pier

                       We were bummed we didn't get to tour Alcatraz, but we still got to take pictures in front of it! 

                                                                             Chinese market 

                                                                                    Inside the Chinese market 

                                                                                                      China Town 

                               I loved the interesting architecture of the buildings and all the bunting and Chinese lanterns! 

                                                One of my favorite pictures from San Francisco

After China Town it was time to get back on the road and continue our trip! Tomorrow I'll be posting pictures of the California coast. You wouldn't believe how long it took us to drive less than 100 miles! XOXO

Road Trip Day 1: Big Sur

 First off, thank you so much to my guest posters from last week, Jessica and Alana. I loved both of your posts and you guys were such a huge help while we moved and got settled! I only have 2 boxes left to unpack, YAY! Now I can finally get back to my regular blogging schedule...

Now, I'm not gonna lie, I hate uploading and editing pictures. Taking pictures, I love. But uploading, sorting, cropping, editing just bores me to tears. Which is exactly why I'm just now getting around to uploading the pictures from the Oregon trip we took a month ago. But at least I am sharing them right? Do I get points for that? I decided I'm going to dedicate this whole week to our Portland road trip. Every day I'll share pictures from the different places we went along the way. The trip was so much fun, and the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. It's one of those things you have to see in person to really comprehend the beauty, but I'm going to show you pictures anyway! ;)

On the first day of the trip we left early in the morning. Cayden was asleep in the back, I had Starbucks and magazines, my mom was the navigator, and Mando was driving. We were ready to go!

Our first stop was Big Sur. We drove about 6 or 7 hours up the winding roads of the California coast passing through countless little beach towns and saw gorgeous views of the Pacific Ocean. At one point I swear I saw a whale jumping in the ocean! It was amazing. We finally arrived in Big Sur around 2 and stopped for lunch at Nepenthe.

In case you aren't familiar, Nepenthe is a little restaurant located on a cliff in the heart of Big Sur. You can eat outside on the patio and you have the most stunning views of the cliffs and the ocean. I'm not gonna lie, I was NOT impressed with their food, but I think the view made it almost worth it.

We ate lunch on the patio and then spent some time letting Cayden stretch his legs while I snapped some pictures. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. The ocean literally goes as far as your eye can see. It was such a sunny, beautiful day. There wasn't a cloud in the sky as you can see!

This picture pretty much says it all. Just look at that view! You have huge cliffs, beautiful trees, and of course the bright blue ocean stretching out in front of you. It was so gorgeous, I'm running out of adjectives!

When we were done, we loaded back into the car and we were back on the road again! I had to take a picture of the succulents that were growing everywhere. They were huge! How cute is my big boy by the way? I think it's time I finally stopped dressing him in onesies, LOL.

Next stop, San Francisco! I'll be back tomorrow with more pictures and stories to tell! XOXO