Thursday, July 9, 2009

ready, set, SUMMER!

For six months, I've been anticipating my business trip to Seattle. Not only do I absolutely love that city, but my best friend Jessica was to meet me there and we'd begin the drive south on the coast to start our summer. The big summer kickoff couldn't have been more amazing - beautiful scenery, thoughtful conversation, painfully intense laughter, and even some fireworks...


Before leaving Seattle, we had a great dinner on the Sound (I promise I haven't gained 70 lbs, it's just the sweater...)



And what's a trip to Seattle without a Space Needle visit and the Experience Music Project?



View from the Space Needle



Tribute to MJ

I'm such a lover of Mr. Frank Gehry!


After the sightseeing, we headed for Portland!

Mt. Rainier, only visible 90 days of the year - we got lucky!


In Portland, we stayed with one of Jessica's best friends from high school, the lovely Carrie. We tore it up at Karaoke in downtown Portland!



Heading west to the Oregon Coast was so green!


After 2 hours of winding road, we hit this...



We stopped at a Fred Meyer in Dunes City, OR to get gas and pick up some more road trippin' tunes


Just behind the Fred Meyer, I saw this



We made it through the entire state that day, and were able to watch the sunset over the breathtaking coast.



We made it to Eureka that night and crashed at a Super 8 along the highway next to this


The next day, we passed through the Redwood forest


Then we followed the highway back to this


It was wonderful to stop and take pictures whenever we were inclined



Jess has a bit of a fear of heights and with the road often inches from a cliff, leading to the sea below, I drove most of the way


But all was well because Jess' car is a trooper :)



After the redwoods and craggy rocks we came upon a familiar sight



And after 21 hours of being on the open road, 2 delirious ladies pulled up to the good ol' Ocean Canyon Resort in Avila Beach at 11:00 at night. We spent the weekend basking in the sun, laughing and dancing at Harry's, eating roasted corn and petting baby calves at Avila Valley Barn and dodging bird poop on the seashore


The road trip was one of the best trips of my life and something that I have always wanted to do. We took our time and didn't allow ourselves to be stressed about a schedule or "should be doings" and  we reaped the incredible benefits of relaxed patience.  But after the 3 days of scenic travel, it was so wonderful to arrive home to him :) 


He likes to wear my clothes sometimes 

2 comments:

Dan said...

Great pics V! Clearly, your coastal odyssey was epic and I'm totally jealous. You KNOW how I love a roadtrip. I'm really glad you decided to stop at EMP, I had an amazing time when I went years ago, and when I heard that you were passing through Seattle, I thought to myself "She can NOT miss this." Gehry is crazy genius, right?!
Well, since this was posted, WE'VE had a couple roadtrips and I must say, you and Jess are two of the best companions for adventure and/or mischief. I've had a blasty blast so far, let's not stop anytime soon, okay?
...and remember, "The thing about trailers is, sometimes they spin."

Olive Oyl said...

Please tell me you went to Denny's and got toast at like 2am.

Also... Dan. You need to get a blog. It is the cool thing to do. :)