ORCA #2: Oregon!!!

We went to Oregon for the second week of our vacation! It was SO great to see where KR is from and be introduced to his life. Sherwood, Oregon, born and raised. It's a small town that has grown since KR was little but it was still tiny compared to what I am used to. It was neat to see where KR went to high school, and where he spend his time as a curious and crazy little boy. One awesome thing about Oregon is that blackberries grow everywhere! They are literally considered a weed there. So they are growing all along the edge of their property so we went berry picking a few times. I have never tasted berries so sweet and delicious. And they were free! I never want to pay for sour berries for 4 bucks at the store again!






t
KR's family's home. They have a lot of property and it was just so nice to be out there and there home was beautiful.
i


Berries to make cobbler. I also made home made jam while I was there. Tons of berries!

In Oregon, you have your gas pumped for you, for free! "What do I say again??" "Fill up, regular."
We went to the science museum! It was so fun!!
This little kid was trash talking and challenged KR to connect four. He had been winning all the other kids but as soon as KR beat him on his first try, the kid lost interest and went to play with something else hahaha.






We went to the Rose Gardens. They were sooo beautiful!! It was just so lovely to walk around and I was obsessed with taking pictures of everything.

Where's KR?








Love this for some reason.









I finally found some flowers that matched me.

We went to the Oregon Zoo! My camera died though so I don't have many good pictures.



Jambo! - Name that movie.
Oregon Coast day! We first stopped at KR's friend's house on the lake. The lake is like 5 minutes from the ocean.
Yay! Back to the ocean!!
We took a little nap on the sand and when we woke up, the water had come up that far right next to us. We were really lucky it wasn't right where we were hahah. We decided to get up and move.


We started driving the coast and saw this awesome look out spot. In the picture of us, the background is all washed out because it was so bright but you can see the view in the few pictures following.


Then we went to the light house! I loved it (minus all the flies. There were literally millions!)












Then we went to this place where there were stores right across the highway from the ocean. As we were walking, we see all these people kinda shrieking and laughing and water bursting into the air.


Then on the way back, we went to Tillamook! Yum!
Squeaky Cheese was on sale! 57 cents for a bag!
There's our change from buying the cheese.
Stevens family's christmas trees on the way out of town. I realized I never took a picture of them.
We also stopped by the Portland temple on the way out of Oregon. So pretty!

We were sad to leave but excited to go to Seattle!

ORCA TRIP!!!! Seattle, WA

So I guess I am going to post this backwards because then when reading my blog, they will be in order. . . Kind of confusing to those who will view them as I post vs. those who read them when I am all done. I will try to narrate to accommodate both.

The last weekend of our two week vacation was spend in Washington. We left Oregon and drove up to Seattle on a Friday afternoon. KR's sister, Susan, lives there and she gave us the condensed tour Friday night and Saturday, before we left Sunday to drive back to Provo.
This is where Susan lives. It was the most awesome place to live ever. It used to be a high school back in the days of like WWII and all, then was converted into very nice apartments. It kept the historic feel and look outside and they even kept the old stairwells. But then they modernized the majority of the inside, including the apartments which were really nice. It was so neat to stop in the stairwell and imagine the students rushing to class; meeting their friends in the hall and stopping to chat; a cheerleader flirting (in a very chaste way) with the captain of the football team; the student body president posting banners to let everyone know the big game was this Friday night. Ah it was just so neat! I wish I could live somewhere like that for a while.
The elementary school nearby had this sign posted. . .
Seattle Skyline. Just an amazing view from the balcony of the building. If I lived there, this would definitely be where I would spend most my time- just looking out and thinking and smiling.
So incredible! I've always been in love of big cities.
Saturday was our main day for touring Seattle. We hit some of the "artistic" tourist attractions, including this troll under the bridge. I am told it is in a. scene of "10 Things I Hate About You" the movie (not that lame tv show they just started). I'm going to have to rewatch that and see if I can spot it.
This was the 'Center of the Universe'. Those little signs pointing said some fun things on them. I thought I was oh so funny when I cracked the very original joke that I am the center of the universe. ha. ha. knee slapper. . .
Dinosaur bush.
These things were awesome! There is this tour you can take in this bus-like vehicle. It drives around town and then! It turns into a boat and tours the river. SO awesome! We didn't get to take it but we saw tons driving around town.
Made a stop in a Seattle thrift store and goofed around. Isn't my boy friend just so adorable?
We ate lunch at probably THE best Thai place I've ever eaten! I only ever get pad thai when I go, so I have plenty to compare and this, by far and hands down, wins. Ah, SO good.
Jai Thai- where we ate lunch.
Then we went to the famous Pike's Place. It's a long market place along the water and it was way fun to just walk around and see everything.
All the colors were very aesthetically pleasing.

Pike's Place is famous though, for their fish market. They throw the big ol' fish around to their co-workers when someone makes an order. I got some videos that I will post eventually. Those are last priority though for my blog so be patient.

Looking down towards the Pike's place market place, right on the water!

Then Saturday night we went to a Mariner's game. It was so fun! I am not the biggest fan of baseball but I just love the atmosphere. Something about going to a baseball game in the summer, it's just classic.

It was ladies night and after much hunting and tracking, Susan and I got our free totes! (Ya, ask me how many times I've used mine since. . . But I just HAD to have one.)



On our way back, we stopped by the very first Starbucks! It was closed but I just really wanted to see it. Man, I wonder if they ever guessed how many of these would be around. . . .
Then early sunday morning, we started the long and sad trek back to reality. We had such a fantastic, incredible and fun-filled vacation, we just didn't want to go back. But we were spoiled to have had two full weeks, we were just grateful.

Oh and while driving back, KR's car hit the 160,000 mile marker. I was driving and felt special to be apart of this momentous occasion. haha.

Hello!

I know I haven't posted in FOREVER.


And I have a TON of pictures to post from our trip.

But you'll just have to be VERY patient.

They will be here SOON.