Portland and Mt. Hood

Fresh homemade biscuits, fried chicken, fried egg, thick cut bacon and cheese all smothered in gravy.

Southern food has found it's home in Portland, Oregon.

Pine State Biscuits is a must stop in the city of Portland and the line out the door proves it.

The wait was well worth it.

To top off our calorie intake we walked a block to grab some ice cream at Salt and Straw, recommended by my sister.

Move over Greater's in Cincinnati, this all natural, handmade ice cream is now our new favorite. Salt and Straw uses local ingredients and has flavors like Honey Lavender and Pear with Blue Cheese. From first bite you can taste the quality. Yum.

That pretty much sums up our day trip to downtown Portland. Good food. Sometimes that's all you need.

Most of our time was spent back at camp near Mt. Hood.

One afternoon Justin was able to meet a friend who traveled to Portland for work. It was so good for Justin to be able to reconnect, I know he has missed his friends back home.

We have loved our life on the road, but we know we do not have it in us to live a nomadic lifestyle forever. We crave friends and family that we can see on a weekly basis, ones we can call last minute, have BBQ's and hang at the beach.

I say that now because we have been away so long. I am sure that when we get back to sticks and bricks (what RVers call a home) we will miss our travel days terribly.

Since we camped near the Historic Timberline Lodge we spent our last day in Mt. Hood checking it out.

Justin had to carry Layne the entire time because her flip flop broke when she fell getting out of the car. There were lots of tears. It was one of those days.

Up at the lodge we were able to cheer on runners from the Hood to Coast Relay Race. It is a two day, 200 mile, 12 man-team race from Mt. Hood, through Portland, and to the beach. Crazy, but looked like a lot of fun.

Oregon is great, not only is there no sales tax here but they also have service people who pump your gas for you. On top of that we have had amazing weather.

Currently we are East of the Cascades in Bend and we are loving it. More on that next time...

Tillamook and Pacific City

We came to the area for the Tillamook cheese but were surprised at the beauty that awaited us at camp in Pacific City, Oregon.

It was our first time seeing the Pacific in six months. After setting up camp Justin and I stood there soaking in the view and smelling the salty fresh air.

Home is not far away.

The kids were excited to find Huckleberry bushes lining our campsite.

Since we love the beach and Justin wanted to surf we headed straight for the water the next day.

And got our car stuck in the sand. Thankfully we had some help getting it out.

Justin caught a few waves and the kids had fun playing in the sand. Apparently we came to the Oregon Coast at the right time, the weather was sunny and only a little breezy.

In the evenings we enjoyed a campfire and would take long walks on the beach...

Some evenings were cloudy and some clear and windy, perfect for kite flying.

I was able to spend some one on one time with Blake. We climbed a giant sand dune that overlooked Pacific City. It was a killer workout.

We made it to the top after several stops mid way.

The best part was running down.

Finally we were able to cut some time out of our day to visit the Tillamook Cheese Factory, which is the main reason why we came to the area. Tillamook has always been our favorite cheese so we were really excited for this field trip.

We were able to sample various Tillamook cheeses and we tried their ice cream. It was crowded because we went on a Sunday afternoon, but it was still a good experience.

Overall our time on the Oregon Coast was a blessing. Seeing the Pacific again was huge and reminded us of home. Our time on the road is quickly coming to an end and I am trying to enjoy every single minute of this experience.

I am so grateful.

The Olympic North West

Green, green and more green. That's how I would describe Olympic NP.

The rain, fog and constant moisture make this park beautiful in many ways. Ferns sweep the forest floor and the trees grow large, stretching to the sky and covered in moss.

It's another world out here.

While here we hiked to Sol Duc Falls...

and Merymere Falls...

Blake at the bottom.

After our hike we relaxed at Crescent Lake Lodge.

One of the days for lunch we stopped off at Granny's Cafe.

This burger tasted as good as it looked.

We spent some time on the sound...

and had dinner in Port Angeles.

The view from Hurricane Ridge looking at Mount Olympia.

We enjoyed our stay in Olympic, despite the few days where the weather was cool and dreary.

Next stop the Northern Oregon coast.

This is what happened on our drive there...

we always have a mishap or two on our drive days. Usually something gets broken. This time our water went flying from the middle of the coach all the way to Justin's feet cracked open and proceeded to dump water everywhere.

Note: Do not store water on kitchen counter when driving, it could fly and land on driver's feet.

We are going to be RV pro's when all is said and done.

Seattle

It is a gloomy day today and I am still in my pjs at 6:00 pm. I feel so lazy. There is no way I would ever be productive if I lived where it rained so often. It's hard to be motivated when the sun is missing.

Thankfully most of our time in Seattle was warm and the sun was shining brightly.

With Justin's family still accompanying us, we set out to explore Pike's Market...

Navigating the nine of us through the many crowds did not discourage us from such an amazing experience.

The produce alone was to die for.

Fragrant flowers of all colors lined the walkways.

Seafood heaven. We loved Pike's and could have spent all our time and money there.

Walking past the original Starbucks we did not stop because the line was out the door.

Layne was able to hold a parrot while it did tricks.

We found the famous gum wall and added to it's collection.

After lunch we walked to Top Doughnuts...sadly we were not impressed since we compare every doughnut to Leucadia Donuts back home.

The space needle.

The girls and I had a blast keeping cool in this water fountain. Layne got soaked as usual.

After so much walking we rode the Monorail back to our car...

and spotted the first Nordstrom.

We loved Seattle. Loved the city, the atmosphere, the weather (that day).

Most of our time was spent back at camp relaxing. We stayed in the Bothell area. Justin's mom, grandma and I were able to do some local antique/boutique shopping.

One day during lunch at camp Reagan lost her first tooth. This is huge, considering she's eight and most of her friends have already lost many teeth. We were all so excited.

She placed this note under her pillow that night.

I am positive the Tooth Fairy will enjoy sugarless gum.

Sadly we had to say goodbye to our family who has been with us for a week, but we were blessed to get to see more family from my side on our way from Seattle to Olympic National Park.

We had a lovely lunch planned in Tacoma with my Dad's brother and his family.

My sweet cousin just had a baby, so the girls and I were in heaven...

I could have held that cuddly little one for days.

My Aunt and Uncle loving on their grand baby.

He was just precious!

After my baby fix and our lovely lunch we set off to the Olympic Peninsula.

It's beautiful here, but day's like this make it hard to leave the comforts of our RV. Hopefully tomorrow the sun will shine again.