Trip to Japan...NOT! (Part 5: Crater Lake and Willamette Valley)

After a longer drive than we anticipated, we finally made it to Crater Lake, Oregon. 

We got there right around dinner time, and we were only planning on staying one night.  I made the decision to just eat dinner and then go to bed instead of going to see the lake right then.  The lake was, I think, about 7 miles away from our lodging, and I didn't think the girls would be very happy to get back in the car again after that day's drive.  Oh, and I have I mentioned on the blog yet that I'm pregnant?  I don't think so...most of you know, but for those of you who don't, I found out Memorial Day Weekend about Baby #3, which was interesting timing for this trip (we took the trip in mid-June).  Meaning, I felt like crap the entire time!  So my decision to have a low-key night was partly selfish.  I needed rest!

It turned out to not be the best decision, because when we got up the next morning, we had breakfast, then drove up to the lake.  At least we think we did.  You couldn't even see the lake!  Fog had completely settled inside of it, and except for seeing signs for Crater Lake everywhere, you wouldn't even know a lake was in the area!

Bummer.

We asked a few of the park rangers what they thought the chances were of the fog lifting.  Some of them were hopeful, others weren't.  So we decided to wait it out in the main lodge, which had a lakeview.  We figured if/when it cleared up, this would be the best place to see it.

One thing I've neglected to mention so far about this area, was the amount of snow leftover from the winter.  This was mid-June, and the snow was piled so high!  The girls loved seeing that. 

They also had fun waiting in the lodge.  Grant and I did, too - we love National Park lodges and their rustic beauty! 

Hours went by, and we started to realize that if we were ever going to actually see Crater Lake, we would need to stay another night.  So we checked on availability at this lodge, and they did have a room for us.  {That was the good thing about this whole trip - it was totally unplanned, so we didn't really have a tight schedule.  We booked tickets back to California while we were at Paul's house in Portland, so the only thing we had to do was be back in Seattle for our flight.}  They worked quickly to get it ready for us in time for the girl's naps (I feel like my whole life revolves around getting these girls to sleep!), and we all took very long, much-needed naps.  When we got up, Grant went down to the lobby area to see if the lake was visible yet, and it just barely was! 

Crater Lake is known for being very blue, but it was evening, and the sun was setting, so we couldn't really tell the blueness of it.  But this gave us so much hope that tomorrow would be even better - and it was!

Because of how much snow was still piled up everywhere, we weren't able to drive around the lake, or go down closer to it.  So, we took some pictures, then started making our way back up north. 

Next on our make-it-up-as-we-go agenda was Willamette Valley in Oregon.  It's a small, but well-known wine country, and even though I was pregnant, we were going to some wineries in the area.  Don't worry, I spit out the wine I tasted. 

The area was so beautiful!

It was my birthday that day, so I think this was Grant's attempt at getting a picture with me and the girls, but as you can see, Kendall wasn't having it.

We spent one night there in Willamette Valley, and then we headed back up to Seattle for one last night before flying back home.

All in all, it was a great trip.  I do wish we could've made it to Japan, but at the same time, with me being in the early stages of pregnancy, part of me was relieved that we never made it.  I was still able to tour around a part of the country that I've never seen before, and I think we all had a great time.

Trip to Japan...NOT! (Part 4: Portland)

First let me say, I'm so sorry for the blog-neglect!  For what it's worth, we only moved into our house 3 1/2 weeks ago, but we were gone for 1 1/2 of those weeks.  I had to wait until we moved in to finish this series, because all the pictures from the trip were on our regular computer, which was packed up in storage. 

Okay...

Once we arrived in Portland, we made our way to Paul's house.  Paul was one of John's (Grant's older brother) roommates at Florida State, so we've known him for a while.  After we got to his house, we talked a little, then walked down the road to get some food (burritos and cupcakes) then piled in the car to head to Multnomah Falls (I'm sure I've said it somewhere on this blog before, but I have a thing for waterfalls).  I've heard so much about these falls, this was probably the main thing I wanted to do in the Portland area.  It did not disappoint! 

And as an added bonus, it wasn't just the view of the falls that was so great, the whole area around there was just beautiful!  Here's a few pictures of a lookout over the Columbia River Gorge.

The next day for breakfast, we walked to this place that Paul had been telling us about - Pine State Biscuits.  He told us about this item on the menu...the Reggie Deluxe...a biscuit, with fried chicken, cheese, gravy, bacon, and a fried egg.  It sounded so wrong, but so right.  It was awesome, and I kinda want one right now.

I have to be honest, as we were talking to Paul about things to do in Portland, he kept mentioning food and eating out.  We thought he was a little obsessed.  Until we realized that Portland is a food-lovers paradise!  From now on, when I think of Portland, I think of food.  Wonderful, delicious FOOD!

Which brings us to our next stop...

I've seen this place several times on TV shows.  Apparently, if you go to Portland, Voodoo Donuts needs to be on your agenda.  So we went there.  Except it was closed for remodeling.

That wasn't a problem, though, because they had a second location across town.  So we went there and got some really delicious treats.

Lest you think all we did was eat on our visit to Portland, our next stop was to the Japanese Gardens.  Beautiful, quiet, serene.

That night was our last night in Portland and, okay, we did do some more eating.  But I was able to do a very cool thing after dinner!  Let me back up.  As we were driving to Portland, I was thinking about the Portland Modern Quilt Guild.  So I looked up on my phone to see when their next meeting was.  It happened to be my last night in Portland.  So I thought it would be really cool to check it out!  Although, I have to say, being the kind of shy person that I am, I definitely was about to chicken out.  So at dinner, I nervously kept watching the clock, but I was being quiet about it.  I didn't want to tell Grant that I had changed my mind, and I wasn't going to go.  The meeting started at 7 pm, and right around 6:50, Grant looked at his watch, and literally pushed me out of the restaurant so I could go.  So I went, and I'm so glad I did!  As soon as I walked in the room, I felt at home - a quilty home.  I also got to meet one of my favorite quilt bloggers, which was really cool.

Anyways, the next morning we would be heading down to Crater Lake.  But before we left, we had to do some more good eatin'.  Paul had been raving about Tasty 'n Sons, so we chose to go there.  Oh man...this place was so good!  It's family-style, so we were able to order a lot of different things, and eat a little of all of it.  First of all, their biscuits were TO DIE FOR.  The best.  Trust me - this is coming from a true Southerner, who knows a good biscuit when I taste one.  Grant and I said that we would've been happy just eating the biscuits with the equally amazing honey butter.  Of course, we didn't stop with the biscuits.  But everything was very, very good.  I was so caught up with how good everything was, that I only got one of the entire meal - this was kind of a Middle Eastern dish.  Can't remember what it was called, but it was good.

Crater Lake will be it's own post, but before I get to that, I'll mention what we did on the way down there.  We stopped at the cemetery where Grant's grandma and grandpa are buried (his mom's parents).  I didn't think it would have such a deep impact on Kendall, but she actually got really sad about being there.

All in all, we had a great, but fattening time in Portland.  If I ever go back, I'll make a point to hit up the food trucks, which are really popular there, but we couldn't quite fit it in this trip.  Literally.

Kendall Speak: The Story-Telling Edition

Sorry for the interruption in the Japan posts, but we are not in our own house yet in Florida, and the pictures of our trip are on our computer, which is packed away in storage.  In the meantime, we're living at my parents house, but we're hoping to be in our own house soon.

I was in the backyard with Kendall and Cami, and Kendall asked if I wanted to hear a story.  Sure, I said!  So she told me to sit down in the grass and she would tell me.  Here's the first one:

"One sunny day, there were two children walking down the street.  And then they got eaten by the big bad wolf.  The end!"

I told her that I didn't think it was a very good story.

Later, she wanted to tell me another story, and I told her I hoped it was better than the first one.  Here's that one:

"One sunny day, there were two children named Kendall and Cami.  They had a bad teacher...I probably shouldn't tell that story."

The funny thing is, while she was telling these stories, she had the sweetest smile on her face, and was talking in the sweetest little voice you've ever heard.  She may be a little morbid.

Trip to Japan...NOT! (Part 3: Astoria and Cannon Beach)

(Bear with me...we move to Florida in less than a week, so I don't know when I'll be able to finish this little series)

So Tuesday morning at the airport, Grant was fairly certain we'd get on the flight to Tokyo.  But again, long story short, we didn't.  I felt bad for some people that I overheard talking.  They had been trying for over a week to get on any flight to Japan with no luck.  We didn't want to keep trying after that, so we decided to just have a nice little Pacific Northwest vacation.  I was sad (although a little relieved) to not make it to Japan, but at the same time, I'd never visited this part of the country before, and it was something I really wanted to do before we left the West Coast.  So it was all good.

We had to rent another rental car, so once we got that squared away, we made our way down to Oregon, starting in Astoria.  If you're not familiar with Astoria, Oregon, then you're not familiar with the movie The Goonies.  It's such a classic, must-see movie, and Grant and I both grew up watching it.  Astoria is such a cool little town, with all its Victorian-style houses built on hill after hill.  We found the house from the movie, and got a few pictures.  I thought the little donation box was funny.  We were not about to give any kind of donation to people that lived in such a beautiful house, with a Porsche parked in the driveway.

After we ate lunch in town, we started making our way to Cannon Beach, which was also a big part of The Goonies.  This was one of the places where we were literally going door to door to different hotels, finding out rates, and checking on availability.  We actually found a great deal at a cute little hotel a block away from the beach, which worked out perfectly.

Cannon Beach was beautiful, breathtaking, and I've never seen anything like it.  These first pictures were taken in the evening, when the tide was in...

But we heard that in the morning, the tide was out, and you could walk right up to the rock, so that's what we did!

After we left Cannon Beach we started heading towards Portland, which deserves it's own post, so you'll just have to wait!

Trip to Japan...NOT! (Part 2: Mt. Rainier & Olympic Peninsula)

Once we rented the car, we decided to head down to Mt. Rainier.  But before that, we called Grant's mom to find out the address of her childhood home.  When we found the house, I couldn't believe how cute it was!  The whole neighborhood was just really picturesque.  It was cool to see a little bit of family history there, and have Cami see her grandma's house.  Kendall was asleep in the car.  Oh, and something cool happened right before we were about to leave.  A few houses down, there was a guy sitting outside reading the Sunday paper.  We looked a little suspicious, so he asked what we were doing.  When I told him that my mother-in-law grew up in the house a few houses down he said, "Was that the Berg family?"  Apparently, he moved into his house about a year before Grant's grandma died back in the mid-90s.  It was cool that he actually knew her!

After that little visit, we made our way to Mt. Rainier.

As you can see, there was quite a bit of snow leftover from the winter.  We took a break from the cold and hung out in the lodge for a bit.  The Paradise Lodge is absolutely beautiful - but really, what National Park lodge isn't?

Unfortunately, we didn't get great views of the mountain while we were there.  And after being there for a while, we decided to start making our way back towards the Seattle area.  Since we didn't have a plan for this, we were really following our noses.  So we decided to stop in at the Air Force base that's around Tacoma to see if they had any availability at the lodge.  After getting lost trying to find the base, when we finally found it, the lodge was full.  So, we had to just kind of figure out spur-of-the-moment what to do. 

We knew we were going to spend the next day on the Olympic Peninsula, so we started heading that way.  As we were driving, I was pulling up hotels on my phone (by the way - thank God for smartphones!) to see if I could find any reasonable rates.  I found this one hotel that looked great, right on the water, for a good price, so we ended up going there.  It was the Silverdale Beach Hotel, and we had a room that looked out over the water.  It was awesome!

The next day, we made the trek through the Olympic Peninsula.  Being a Twilight fan, I figured since we were so close to Forks, we had to go there.  But close isn't exactly the right word to describe it.  It's on the oooooother side of the peninsula, so it took us a while to get there.  I would say that one of the highlights of our trip was driving along Crescent Lake - one of the most beautiful lakes we've ever seen before!

When we finally made it to Forks, we actually drove through it, because the girls were sleeping, and we wanted to go to this rainforest, which was about 12 miles past Forks.  Well, right when we got through the town, Cami woke up - and not too happy.  She cried until we got to the turn off for the rainforest, but as soon as we turned, there was a sign saying it was another 14 miles to the entrance!  We decided it wasn't worth all those extra miles, so we turned around and went back to Forks to get some lunch.

Forks.  My goodness.  The only thing this place has going for it, is that it's where Twilight was set (and, by the way, none of the movie was filmed there).  And the whole town was seriously Twilighted out!

After eating and taking some pictures, we decided to start the several-hour drive back to Seattle.  We had to get back that night, so we'd be able to try for Japan again early the next morning.  To save time, we ended up catching one of the ferries from Bainbridge Island to Seattle, which was a lot of fun, and a little windy!

We finally made it back to Seattle, went back to the hotel we went to on our very first night, and got prepared for the early morning.

More later...