Here we are at the end of summer already! Esh. And now we are back on the road!
We spent a fabulous July and August back in Portland, enjoying being in a familiar city, running boring errands like seeing the dentist, and catching up with some of our favorite people.
A few summer highlights.
Not living out of a suitcase! We rented a cute place in North Portland, allowing us to explore a kinda-new-to-us neighborhood and finally unpack for a change!
Spending quality time with my parents, even when it included things like helping them clean out their closets!
Learning to white water kayak on the Klickitat River outside White Salmon. 3 days of kayaking is hard work, both mentally and physically, especially with Class 2 and 3 rapids! But it was still fun for us to spend time on the river and learn a new skill.
Backpacking to the beautiful and remote Minam River Lodge. Girls weekend in eastern Oregon, spending 3 quiet days without technology, just reading, playing games, hiking and eating incredible food.
Getting back into the Crossfit scene. Yes, we are those weirdos who crave being at the gym. It was great finding a new space to get some coaching and throw some barbells around.
Cloud Cap hike up to the Mt Hood glacier. Caught up with some girlfriends from my Crossfit Pearl District days with gorgeous views of Rainier, St Helens, Adams and Jefferson all along the way, and even a crazy numbers of Monarch butterflies and ladybugs to keep us company.
Counter Culture food and wine event at Anne Amie Vineyards. The best NW festival of the year – amazing food, fabulous wine and the most beautiful setting.
Crawfish Boil Party! Jordan and Scott know how to throw a summer shindig.
Hiking to Wahkeena Falls and lunch at Sugarpine Drive-in. A quintessential Oregon day with one of my bestest friends – a walk to beautiful waterfalls and stunning views of the gorge, followed by a perfect cornbread roasted corn salad and massive waffle cone loaded up with chocolate soft serve ice cream.
Amazing 5-Course Dinner at Oui/SE Wine Collective. Incredible food including an insane shishito pepper and peach salad with coconut cashew cream, 3 bottles of wine, and lots of laughs.
Catching up with friends over drinks in backyards and patios. Restaurants and bars are fun, but this is better.
Wine tasting at Hawk’s View and Alloro Vineyard. I just love that in less than 40 minutes, you can be drinking good wine, overlooking Mt Hood or at a place that looks like a Tuscan villa.
Walking through the Peninsula Park Rose Garden in the evenings. A short walk from our temporary home to the massive garden filled with colorful, blooming flowers. We didn’t do this little stroll nearly enough!
Beating the heat by splashing around at Lewisville Park. When it’s 95+ in Portland, girl talk while sitting on rocks in a chilly river is necessary.
Hiking in Forest Park. Oregon is sure pretty!
Reuniting with our old margarita machine. It was a special moment for Brice 🙂
Where are we off to now?
Our roadtrip has now begun! Our general itinerary goes something like this, with a lot of wiggle room:
- McCall and Boise, Idaho
- Yellowstone!
- Grand Tetons
- Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and the Badlands
- Denver
- Arches/Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon, Antelope Canyon
- Grand Canyon
- Joshua Tree
- LA
- Yosemite
- San Fran
- Crater Lake
We’ve clearly got plenty of national parks and hiking on tap, along with some stops to visit friends mixed in. While we do have a hefty amount of driving ahead of us, thankfully we’re prepared with an equally large list of podcasts.
Wish us luck!