This weekend we headed up to Seattle to see a Mariners game. We left Saturday morning and got to our hotel by noon.

It's not a roadtrip without cream soda!


We dropped off our stuff and then took the light rail downtown. I have never been on a light rail before and it was so awesome to see the city from up above.

We loved looking at all of the beautiful buildings downtown.


We went to Pike's Place first and looked at all of the little shops and stands. Nate was so happy to be able to get some huge samples of smoked salmon, his favorite. I loved all of the flower stands filled with peonies. We bought lunch from a couple of different places. We got a roast chicken sandwich and orange blossom donut holes from one place, the best chowder and sourdough bread from Chowder, and a pastry from Piroshky Piroshky (the line outside of this place was huge, so we had to try it).

Pike's Place!


We walked along the waterfront and saw the huge ferris wheel and then to see the Space Needle.


Our feet were pretty tired by this time and it was almost time for the game, so we headed to Safeco Stadium. Nate was so excited to see the stadium and watch the game. It was really fun and a close game!

At the Mariners game!

This big Hawaiian guy from 50 1st dates threw the first pitch! i actually met him when I was an extra on Hawaii Five-0!




The next morning we slept in and then got some donuts for breakfast. After that we drove all around Mercer Island and walked down to the water. Mercer Island is so beautiful! It feels like you are in a jungle and all of the houses are so amazing.



Then we drove to the Ballard Locks. It's a place where boats come in from the ocean, into an enclosed place. Then they suck out all of the water, fill the area with fresh water, and then the boats are let into the fresh water. It was really cool to see!



From there we walked to a farmers market. We didn't end up buying anything, but I just love walking around farmers markets and trying all of the samples! Then we had lunch at a place that we had walked by on the way to the market that looked really good, Portage Bay Cafe. They had the most amazing breakfast foods!! We shared french toast and a huuuge chorizo quesedilla with guacamole and roasted potatoes. They have a bar with tons of kinds of fresh fruit and fresh whipped cream that you can go to and add anything on your food. I put soooo much whipped cream, fresh strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and coconut on our french toast. It was amazing! By the time we finished, it was almost 4, so we headed back to Vancouver. It has been so much fun doing little weekend trips since the weather has been nice. In a few days my Mom, Dad, and little sister Ally come to visit! We are so excited for them to come!!! My mom is staying for a week longer, which will be sooo fun! Then a few days after she leaves Nate's parents are coming to visit! A few days after they leave we will be moving to Arizona!!! We are so excited to have our families visit and show them all of our favorite things to do out here, it will be a fun way to end our time out here!

One of our favorite things about Portland is the food. If anyone knows me they know I love to eat good food and I looove dessert(mostly all things chocolate). Nate and I soon found out that Vancouver has no good places to eat. They rated Subway as the best sandwich shop... Anyways, after going out to eat in Portland, I fell in love with every place we went. One of the best things is the million food carts that are everywhere. They have the BEST food and are so cheap! We have gone to about 4 of the different larger food cart spots, and there are still a ton we haven't tried. Here are a few pics of some of our favorite places to eat here.

Urban Fondue:
This is the first place that we ate, when we were visiting Vancouver/Portland to see if we wanted to move here. It is still one of our favorite places to eat! (The smoked cheddar fondue and heath bar chocolate fondue are our favorites.)


Pine State Biscuit:
Nate's sister,Nicole, & I discovered this place when she was visting! We were going to a bakery to get some sweets and saw a line out the door for this place. It smelled so good, we had to try it! The Reggie sandwich is amazing! Biscuit, fried chicken, bacon, cheese, & gravy (aka heart attack sandwich, but it is so good!) They also have the best apple cider and marionberry jam.
<

Salt & Straw:
Delicious ice cream. Favorite flavor= almond brittle with salted ganache & also honey balsamic strawberry


The largest group of food trucks we have found (on 5th Ave). Nate usually gets a gyro and I usually get a falafel wrap here. The dumpling truck is also so good too! All of the trucks looks so good here!


Good Food Here Food Trucks:
Best Mac'n'Cheese and hawaiian food truck with malasadas!!



Blue Star Donuts:
Fun flavors and so good! (Voodoo donuts is good too but I can't find a picture from it. I like this place best though.)


Pearl Bakery:
This place is so cute! It is right across the street from Powell Book Store so we usually stop here after. They have the best hot chocolate with tons of whipped cream, delicious bread, and the donut looking thing is called a gibassier- it is my favorite! It has orange peel in it and is so light and fluffy.

I kept trying to get a funny pic of Nate sipping his hot chocolate, this is the best one I got (:


This pizza is from the Pyro pizza food truck. It's really good. My favorite margherita pizza here is from Lovely's Fifty-fifty though. It's amazing. Nate is eating PB & Jelly fries from the Potato Champion truck. They are delicious too and have satay peanut sauce and raspberry chipotle jelly.)



These are only half of our favorite places! I think it's safe to say we have gotten a lot of good eating in since we've been here!

We went kayaking down the Clarkamus River in Oregon. Once we got the river with our kayak, we realized we didn't have a way to get our car once we were done. Nate ended driving to our end point and then taking a taxi to where I was waiting, at the starting point. Once we got on the river is was all worth it. I am loving the summer here, the weather is perfect and we just love being outside all day long!

There were some little rapids on the river, which was fun! At a few parts there was a fork in the river and we would have to choose a way to go. A few times we chose the wrong way and ended up in 1 inch water, stuck on rocks. We'd have to get out of the kayak and push it and then hop on it to go down a little rapid to the other side of the river. It was so much fun and hopefully we will be able to go once more before we move!!!

A few weeks ago Nate got offered a teaching job in Arizona! My family lives there and Nate's family is just 5 hours away, so we decided it would be a good move to make! We have loved living in Washington and so close to Oregon and being to explore so many new and different areas. It has been awesome for our marriage to be in a new place and have so many new experiences together. We are excited to be moving close to both of our families now though!!

Lately the weather has been perfect so we have been taking advantage of it and spending our days outside. We have a really pretty trail right by our apartment that we like to run on. It passes by streams and bunches of wildflowers!

We planned each weekend out until we leave to make sure that we can do everything that we have wanted to do up here! A few weekends ago, we both took Friday off and went camping in the Columbia Gorge. The drive up there is so pretty and one of our favorite drive up here. We found a pretty spot to camp and were the only ones there! There were tons of huge pine trees and bright yellow wildflowers everywhere! We made foil dinners and reeses s'mores and sipped on honey cream soda. It was so nice to get away from everything and have such a relaxing weekend!

Last weekend was a 3 day weekend so we headed to the Oregon Coast to camp. We stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory on our way there and it was so fun! I kind of laughed when people kept telling us to visit the factory but we both ended up loving it! It was really interesting to see how everything was made and hear the history behind the brand. We got to sample a ton of cheese and eat cheese curds (squeaky cheese). I actually didn't like the cheese curds very much but it was still fun to try. Then we bought some smoked cheese and had a picnic outside with a baguette and some fruit. Tillamook also makes ice cream, so of course we had to get some of that! I got marionberry pie and hazelnut salted caramel in a waffle cone and it was seriously the best ice cream I have ever had!!!

(I always make fun of these things, but couldn't resist getting a weird picture of Nate..)


Next, we stopped and did the prettiest hike along the coast. It was so gorgeous and had the prettiest views of the ocean. At one part, we were looking down and saw two whales, a mom and baby one, swimming next to each other. It was sooo amazing to watch and we kept watching until they were too far to see.





Then we went to our camping site and had the usual, foil dinners and s'mores! In the morning, we went on a walk from our campsite to the beach. There were sooo many mosquitos. For some reason they hate me and love Nate! He seriously had a swarm following him! We would start running and they would still follow him until they got left behind. Once we would stop, they would find him again!

After the beach we went to do another hike. This one was down by the ocean, through tide pools and ending at Thor's Well, a deep hole in the rock that makes waterfalls all around it when filled with water. The hike was so beautiful and the weather was perfect! We accidentally ended up taking the wrong path, I think we should have realized it since we had to cross a little river and then make a pretty big jump over the ocean from one rock to another on the other side. Anyways, we ended up having to turn around and go back until we found a much easier path. We finally got to Thor's Well and were standing right next to it, filming it with a GoPro when a HUGE wave came and completely covered us!! Luckily I was right behind Nate, so I just held on to him with one hand, and onto a rock with the other hand! It was awesome though and we couldn't stop laughing after, it made our trip! (: There were a ton of people watching from above so everyone kept making comments to us after about how we gave them a good show. Next we drove up to a pretty viewpoint, the highest one on the Oregon coast. We had a picnic of baguette, Tillamook cheese, fruit, and chocolate! Afterwards, we headed home.



It was such a fun trip, I always thought that Hawaii was the most beautiful place and that I would be living there forever. Who would have known that I would move to San Diego and then near the Oregon coast! It has been so amazing to live in so many beautiful places. I love them all and love all of the differences between them. I still love Hawaii the most, nothing can beat the laid back atmosphere and the amazing surfing and private beaches. San Diego is awesome because there is always something going on, the best Mexican food, and also some fun (cold) surf. Oregon has Portland, which I love (mostly because of the amazing places to eat), the prettiest hikes and camping, and has more trees and greenery than I have ever seen!

It is crazy to thing that now we will be settling down in Arizona. I am so excited to be by my family and close to Nate's family, but also a little scared to think of buying a house and being so settled in a place. I always said I could never live away from the ocean after living in Hawaii, but as I've gotten older I've realized that family is the most important thing. (And we will be taking monthly trips to San Diego so I think I will get a pretty good amount of ocean/ surfing time!)