ROAD TRIP!!!

We made it! Jon and I and our friends Josh and Steph journeyed to Portland, Oregon last week to visit our friends, Ben and Alli. We had such a blast! Wednesday, we stuffed our car full and started our very long voyage back to "Smokey" California. After 2 very long days trapped inside the car, we made it to Pismo for the 4th of July and then headed home on Saturday night. Here's a brief summary of our trek ~

First Stop: Redding, CA
Okay, we just stopped here to sleep. We got out of the cars to the smell of fire. . . not campfires! This is the hazy view from our hotel room that we happily left. We should have been able to see Mt. Shasta in the horizon, but no luck. . . just a fog of smoke that covered the area.

Second Stop: Ashland, Oregon (Shakespeare Capital of the world?)

Lunch Break! Yeah! We walked around this quaint little town and found some food to eat and found this cool store called Paddington Station. This store was the coolest! We found our little guy an original sock monkey and a book to match (I love children's literature!). This picture is of a bronze sculpture that portrays the town and it's history & people.

Third Stop: Hillsboro, Oregon

We made it to our friend's apartment. . . our desired destination at about 6:30 p.m. We were tired of driving and ready for some hanging out. We were welcomed to clean air and hot weather. Believe it or not, it was hotter that day in Portland than Fresno! Sadly, they aren't used the high temperatures and many of their apartments do not have air conditioning. The guys quickly dove in to MarioKart and us gals chatted. After awhile, we decided that it was time to eat. We ate ate this fabulous restaurant called Embry Hall, the restaurant is in an old house that has been redone into a restaurant. It was so yummy!

Fourth Stop: Church with Ben and Alli and then some shopping on 23rd.
On Sunday, we got up and went to Ben and Alli's church. Ben was playing during worship, so that was cool! We really enjoyed their new church and are very glad that they found a good solid church home after leaving Fresno last year.

After that, we went to 23rd street and did some shopping. Lush had a little kiddie pool filled with water and bubbles set up outside their store. I was so tempted to soak my very swollen feet (A.K.A. Fred Flinstone Feet). The stores were great! This area of Portland was filled with some very cute with old houses and beautiful flowers. Then we were off to Powell's Book Store. Let's just say that this is the biggest bookstore I have ever been in! You could spend hours in here! Then we went to an amazing restaurant called Henry's Tavern. Jon had the most amazing Cajun Mac and Cheese and I had some fantastic salad. The day ended with a beautiful thunder and lightning show! The rain came down hard, but it felt great in the warm weather!

Fifth Stop: Downtown and Eastside Portland

Our Tour Guide, Alli, took the day off from work to show us Downtown and Eastside Portland. We are ever so thankful to her! We went to Pioneer Square, the Riverwalk area, and then to Alli's work, where we went to the top of the building where we could look out and see Mt. Hood. Unfortunately, we brought the smoke from the California fires with us, which meant that Mt. Hood had dissapeared for the day. After that, we rode the tram up to the hospital for even more of a specatacular view (despite the smokey haze). Then off to the cuban restaurant, Pambiche, where we had some tastey Cuban food. It was a pretty cool restaurant. Then, to make our Portland trip complete, we ventured to the land of IKEA, where we had meatballs and did some shopping. Don't worry, our car was already full. . . . we couldn't buy that much!

6th Stop: Goonie-Ville

Tuesday marked our last full day in Oregon. Ben took us on a remarkable tour to Camp 18, Cannon Beach, and Astoria, and even over the bridge to Washington. It was a day marked with a lot of laughter and fun! The cinnamon rolls at Camp 18 were the best ever! Also, quite possibly the largest cinnamon rolls I have ever laid eyes on. They were so delicious!
7th Stop: Cresent City, Redwood Forest, and Eureka

Our trek back to California began on Wednesday. We played at the beach, drove through the Redwoods, and hung out with Paul Bunyan and his friendly blue ox. We concluded our day with a night in Eureka.

8th Stop: Avenue of the Giants, San Francisco, and Pismo

Thursday, we drove for 13 hours. We did a couple of stops throughout the Avenue of the Giants. It was beautiful. We didn't have time to go on any of the nature trails or else we would never have made it to Pismo in one day.

San Franscisco was beautiful. Jon got the opportunity to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time. It was very foggy and windy. But well worth the drive!

We arrived at Pismo Coast Village at 9:00 that night. The weather was great and we were so happy to not have to go anywhere, but bed!

9th Stop: Pismo

Happy Fourth of July! We didn't go anywhere today! It was great! Jon sat around and read his book and I rested. We watched the fireworks from the pier and the dunes. It was a competition between legal fireworks and illegal fireworks. It was the perfect night for fireworks!

10th Stop: SLO and home!

Today we spent sometime around San Luis and then we headed home! We arrived back in our own beds around midnight! Yeah us! After all that driving, the 2.5 hour drive home felt like nothing!