Road Trip: Day 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Well hopefully no one was sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for me to post because I haven't had any internet access for a while...as in since we left Oregon. All of the hotels we stayed at said they had "free Wi-fi" but it was down at every one of them. I don't know how that happens but I'm glad to say that the Wi-fi issue was really the worst one we have had on our trip which is pretty darn good.

Lets start with Day 2 of our road trip. We stayed the night in Stockton, CA and right when we pulled up there were some super shady looking people staring at us and our car full of stuff. That didn't make me feel very good since I was already super paranoid that everyone was just waiting to break into my car and steal all of my stuff. We took out a lot of the big bags which made me feel a little better but I was still a nervous. When we came out the next morning- the car was still there, in one piece, just as we had left it. We started the day bright and early and ending in Avondale, AZ where my family lives. It was a pretty uneventful day. I have driven from Oregon to Arizona many times so it wasn't all that exciting. We arrived in Avondale in the evening and my grandma had made us dinner so we sat and ate and listened to all of her amazing stories. The next morning we got to sleep in (thank goodness!) and decided to go for a run at Estrella park. It was nice to get outside and move around since we had been driving for a couple days. We got to the parking lot and there were lots of trails to choose from. We decided to take the one that said "beautiful views of our turf field." Only in AZ would you advertise views of fake grass. Later in the day all of my family came over. All my aunts and uncle, all of my cousins. It was pretty awesome. Everyone used to live pretty close to my grandma but in the last few years some of my cousins and their families have moved away so it was really nice to have everyone together.

The next day we left super early to get to Amarillo, TX. After much debate, we decided to go up through Flagstaff, AZ instead of the way I had originally planned to go because it was quicker and the weather wasn't bad at all. It can get pretty bad in Flagstaff so I didn't want to take any chances but when we saw that everything was going to be clear, we decided to go for it. The drive through AZ, NM, and TX was pretty easy. All of the scenery started to look the same but it was still beautiful in a way that is so much different from Oregon. We got to Amarillo and had a nice dinner at an italian restaurant where we split a southern sweet tea (see below for picture of me enjoying sweet tea). When I went to pay the bill- as per our agreement on the trip- the waiter looked SO confused. It kept trying to hand the check to Ry so I let him then put my card in it. When he came back to have me sign the receipt he, again, looked so baffled that I was paying the bill. It was pretty funny. I guess its a southern thing. :) After driving around for a while trying to find out hotel, we finally found it and there was hardly anyone there. It kind of creeped me out. It almost felt deserted. Ry didn't seem too concerned (of course) so I tried not to let my mind wander. We checked the weather for the next day and it said there was a possibility that ice would form over night. We decided to still get up super early and try to leave at 6a as we had planned. The next morning, after I had gotten ready, I went outside to see if it was icy. It didn't look bad so Ry and I packed our things and went down to pack the car. I decided to move it closer and as I was yelling to Ry that the road felt fine and that there was no ice, I almost slipped and fell on my but because the road was covered in a sheet of ice! I got to the car and it was covered in ice and icicles. We enjoyed breaking all of the icicles off of the car before packing it with all of our stuff. We could see the highway from our hotel and the cars looked like they were going pretty fast so we decided that it would be okay to leave.

The drive to Memphis that day was pretty easy even though we spent the first part of the day worrying about the ice that wasn't there. It was pretty foggy and cold through Oklahoma and Arkansas. We didn't stop much except for gas and lunch. We arrived in Memphis on New Years Eve where we rang in the new year by sleeping and gearing up for our 14 hour day on New Years Day.

Our drive from Memphis to Washington DC was the longest day yet but it seemed to go by rather quickly. We had gotten in a routine where we would stop every 3 hours and get gas, use the restroom, and eat. Tennessee was the longest state ever! It took us most of the day just to drive across. We did, however, get to stop at the most elaborate gas station somewhere in TN, I can't remember exactly but it was SO nice. They had an awesome coffee bar with like 10 different coffees and a separate creamer bar with 20 different flavors of creamer. It was amazing. Everyone was super nice and had cute southern accents to top it off. We arrived in DC around 8:30p after the GPS kept telling me to turn the wrong way on all the crazy one way roads in DC (don't worry, I didn't listen to it). We are staying with Ry's sister, Amanda, in her beautiful townhouse in downtown DC.

This morning we walked to a very yummy breakfast place that reminded us all of Portland then we went to the National Zoo. It was SO AWESOME. I did not expect to go to the zoo but I love animals so I was pretty excited. I took some pretty cool pictures too (see below). We then went to Georgetown to walk around and do a bit of shopping. I love Georgetown. They have every store you could ever want. After walking around for hours and hours and stopping at some more yummy places to eat, we finally meandered home where we are now very exhausted.

Tomorrow we will be off to MA to visit Ry's family. Sorry for such a long post. Hope you enjoyed it.:)

Love you all,
Steph

Road Trip: Day 1

Well, the first day of our road trip to Massachusetts went very nicely. Yesterday, I spent much of the day getting my car ready for our trip. One of the things I did was replace my windshield wiper blades with special winter ones which are supposed to prevent snow from jamming the blades. As we got further south, it started to rain. It was a good thing too because we realized that the drivers side windshield wiper blade didn't touch the windshield all the way. We decided to stop and investigate before we got into snowy conditions. I found a Carquest in Medford and after much searching we arrived at some random appliance store. I called Carquest and they said, "Oh yeah, we moved about 10 years ago." Thanks Yelp for the directions for the location that is 10 years old. Once we arrived a nice man came out and looked at our blade. We managed to adjust it just right so it was working but he explained that winter blades don't work with every car because of the shape. Anyways, it got a little over my head so I decided to purchase a normal, non-winter blade just incase we needed to switch it out. After that detour plus a gas & Starbucks stop we got back on the road. Going through the pass into California was no problem at all. It was so beautiful with all the snow glistening in the trees. After we got down into the valley the SUN came out! It was a very nice treat. We arrived at our hotel fairly early so we decided to explore a bit and go on a walk. It is always fun to check out new places, especially with Ry because he is so adventurous.

Anyways, I'm off to relax. We're going to try to get on the road around 6 tomorrow morning so I need some rest. :)

Christmas/Engagement Photoshoot

Ry and I have been engaged for about a year (gees! how times flies!) and we have never taken any photos or done any sort of "official" announcement so when I bought this awesome Groupon for our Christmas cards, I thought what a great time to kill two birds with one stone. On the day of our shoot, it turned out to be beautiful so we just wandered around the Pearl District looking for fun places to pose. We had never really taken pictures together before, besides one here and there, so it was totally awkward at first. Mal was nice enough to be our photographer and she did an amazing job! Thanks, Mal!

Anyways- Here are some of my favorites:

This is one of the first photos. We honestly didn't know what to do!

Same with this one...a little awkward but getting better.

Trying to be serious...but not really.

All that awkwardness for this one. THE Christmas card photo.

Ry insisted we take a photo by the totem pole.

On our way home we took one final photo. Pretty cute, I'd say.

Wine Tasting in Wenatchee

In about a month, Ry and I will be driving to Massachusetts.  Before things got crazy, we wanted to do one last rendezvous. I decided to try Groupon Getaways and see what they had to offer. Ry loves wine tasting so I bought a deal that included wine tasting at 20 wineries in Central Washington. I looked up Wenatchee, WA and found that it's about 5 hours away from Portland. It was perfect, not too far and not too close. We left super early the day after Thanksgiving (no shopping for us!) and managed to pack in 10 wine tastings. We stumbled upon Leavenworth, WA and were shocked to find a completely German themed city. It was so much fun to check out but also SO random. After all of the wine tastings on Friday we were much more assertive on Saturday about what we liked and what we didn't like. My all time favorite was one that had no alcohol at all. It was an amazing lavender apple cider from a local family in Wenatchee. I know it sounds odd, but it was seriously so good. You should try it!

Here are a few pictures from our trip:

Day 1: Leavenworth, WA

I wish it wasn't rainy so I could have taken more pictures but this is from their main Christmas Village. Totally Awesome!

 Day 2: Wenatchee, WA

One winery still had a few grapes on the vines!

Lucky us! This weekend was barrel tasting weekend!

There are so many wines...I had no idea.

 Day 3: Wenatchee, WA + Driving Home

Artsy photo of the downtown area.

So much sun! I love it!

There was frost/snow on the ground! Very exciting!

Foot sculpture in the garden...it was very accurate with veins and all!

Other pretty cool sculpture.

Beautiful sunset driving into Portland. It was a great way to end a great weekend!

A little about me...

I'm 24 years old and live in Portland, Oregon with my gorgeous fiance. My ultimate goal-other than being a great friend, wife and mother- is to become a physician assistant. I get to start fulfilling my goal in less than two months when I start PA school in Massachusetts. Everyone asks- why Massachusetts? Well, it wasn't exactly easy to decide on considering I knew I would have to leave Oregon but for the first time, I was ready for a totally new adventure. My future mother-in-law grew up in Massachusetts so I have a lot of family out there and I thought if you have to go somewhere, Massachusetts isn't too shabby. They have distinct seasons...less rain...more snow...lots more to do. I mean really, I feel like I can't go wrong.

Anyways, enough about moving, I want to take a minute to show you some of the amazing people in my life:

This is my wonderful fiance.

This is Mal and I. We have been best friends since we were five. She is an amazing person and I miss her very much because she is currently living in Peru!

This is my very best friend Michelle and her little girl, Ellie.

This is Michelle, her husband and her baby girl, Olivia.

Last but not least, these are my amazing parents and my future in-laws who are also pretty darn amazing.

I'm a pretty lucky gal. I've had an amazing time here in Portland and I've absolutely loved growing up in Oregon. But, it's time to spread my wings and see what the world has to offer!