What’s a vacation without coming home to a camera full of photos that won’t be printed for years, an overstuffed suitcase of dirty clothes and a happy heart bursting with fond memories?
Seriously, the last week has been so great. And then sadly came to an abrupt end as soon as we got home. Apparently between the time change, day of travel, lack of food with substance and the start of a cold, everything in me decided to fall apart and be quite sick for a bit. But was it all worth it in the end? Absolutely.
I don’t even know how to put it all down in a Thursday Three. (Don’t I say that every week? Clearly I should blog more…) Here’s my best attempt at the rest of the week after we left Portland. Believe it or not, the good photos off the camera have yet to be sorted so these are just what we’ve got from our phones.
1. Having family in cool parts of the country has its benefits. Obviously if they live somewhere cool, yet far, that can be a bummer, too. After Portland we drove through the gorge and up and down the Oregon landscapes to visit the hubby’s brother and his family. We had so much fun playing with our little loves (our four-year-old niece and two-year-old nephew). They have grown and changed so much since we last saw them in May. I love being an aunt! Plus, it was great to spend time with his brother and sister-in-law…a bit like old times before we all moved different directions.
2. Weddings bring the happy couple’s favorite people all into one room. When we got married we thought it was so fun to see people we loved getting to know each other for the first time. Part of our reason for heading out west was to attend the wedding of a good friend of mine. When I studied abroad in Greece, we traveled together every weekend and she was my closest friend there. I was so glad to get to see her again and attend her wedding. But what ended up being an unexpected bonus was meeting all of her other friends. These are the friends I heard all about while we hiked mountains and ate crepes. It was as if I was meeting long-lost friends for the first time and we hugged as our friendship came full circle.
3. Driving the coast and exploring was unbelievable. There are so many different parts of Oregon and changes in scenery within a few miles. We went to a tulip farm, drove through mountains, played on Cannon Beach, visited a cheese factory and even spent a day hanging out in Seattle, WA to see the hubby’s uncle and the gum wall. This is clearly the catch-all of the three so I can throw a bunch of photos up here. At least I’m honest.
