I decided to fly into Portland the first Tuesday of August and rent a Suburban to do a road trip to Boise for my sister and brother-in-law's wedding reception on Saturday. Everyone who knows me understands I am not fond of sitting in a car! We broke the trip up into small segments and enjoyed lots of fun stops along the way. We took the MCO-AUS-LGB-PDX flights and were glad we made it all the way without any problems after an hour delay in Orlando. Jetblue was still serving Blueberry juice and blueberry flavored cranberries, so my kids were in heaven. On our flight from Austin to Long Beach, Katie and Jared sat next to the nicest grandma who bought three pillow and blanket sets for them and for Tyler who was in the row behind her. She ordered three more sets later for some kids at the back of the plane. She told us that she is always buying sets for her own grandkids, but they have so many now that she buys them for other kids. We already had three sets that we brought with us, so now everyone has one.
When we got to Portland, we stayed overnight at the La Quinta Inn and Suites Portland Airport and started out the next morning. I booked this stay through Hotwire for $65 plus taxes.
They didn't have a regular room available, so they upgraded us to a suite :)
Yay for more room!
My favorite item on their breakfast buffet was blueberry bread.
When we checked out in the morning with full bellies, we were happy to get in the car to GET WARM! It was cold to us and we hadn't thought to bring coats. Our first stop of the day was Multnomah Falls. We used our Jetblue blankets to stay warmer in the wind. Alyssa is sitting on hers for the picture. The last time we were in the area, the whole family hiked up to the top of the falls, but Alyssa fell down the side of the mountain on our way back down... so no one was to anxious to go up there again.
Our next stop was my favorite town in Oregon: Hood River. We decided to pick blueberries from Wilinda Blueberry Patch and enjoyed trying the different varieties. The berries that were still on the bushes were hard to find, but everyone had fun searching. We also stopped at the school Troy attended on Frankton Rd. and picked lots of blackberries from the hedge. We just reached in through the chain link fence and managed to avoid most of the thorns that way. The berries were SOOO good! The kids enjoyed playing on the playground to get some wiggles out too.
Then we headed over to Apple Valley Country Store for some pie to take to Jeanette and Aaron's house in Hermiston for dessert. Aaron wanted something with peach, so we decided to try a Marionberry Peach Pie that was sold frozen. It was the yummiest thing!!! I had some for breakfast and lunch the next day too! (The kids had ice cream sandwiches instead of pie and were perfectly happy with their treat, so there was more pie for the adults.) We enjoyed visiting and watching the kids play. Poor Tyler was pretty bummed about missing out on the fun trampoline setup because of his still healing broken arm! The doctor removed the cast before we left but the fracture hadn't solidified yet, so he had an arm brace that he was supposed to wear and it was forgotten in Orlando :(
On Thursday we headed out on our final leg to Boise. We enjoyed our two bedroom suite at the Towneplace Suites in Meridian. I love hotels that have rooms like that and don't charge a fortune. We went over to Shauna and Rob's for a yummy pizza dinner and loved getting to meet Rob's family.
Friday was exciting because Hannah arranged a boating trip for us at Lake Lowell with her brother-in-law giving us have a chance to go tubing in his boat. It was so fun and the lake was a great temperature. My sister Nicole's dog Cleo was a hoot jumping for joy when the kids splashed water at her! We also enjoyed a bbq back at Shauna and Rob's with more of the family.
On Saturday, I got some time for a haircut and a manicure with French nails while Troy kept the kids at the hotel. Then Jared and Tyler got their haircuts too. We loved the golf course location for the reception and the weather was perfect. The kids had large area to play without being too noisy for the guests.
My sister-in-law Kasi was the photographer and she got some amazing pics! My favorite one is of Alyssa that I placed on the sidebar. Our family picture is also a favorite and we were so glad Doug could come up to celebrate with us.
Since my brother Nathan is on his mission in Mexico, Kevin set up a Flat Nathan for our photos and my kids got the biggest kick out of carrying him around!
The food was wonderful and Hannah's cupcakes and cheesecakes were AMAZING! It was fun to wear flip flops and be comfortable. Shauna and Rob are the cutest couple!!!!
Sunday morning was brunch with the family with yummy donuts and Rob's quickly devoured eggs and sausage. Mom got a picture of everyone with the Christmas quilts she brought since we won't be doing Christmas with the whole family. Our quilts even had names: "Just Be Sweet" for the girls and "Be Nice and Play Fair" for the young boys and "Let It Be Cool" for Troy and me.
After listening to a beautiful concert by the newlyweds, we had to head out on the road again. We stopped in Baker City to visit with my nieces and made it back to Jeanette and Aaron's to sleep. It was great to visit with Troy's Aunt Jan that evening and see pictures of their trip to Sardinia to visit her daughter Karen.
We'd love to take a trip to visit her also someday.
Monday morning we drove to Arlington and toured the area before heading to Maryhill to see the replica of Stonehenge made out of concrete. Katie's project this year for gifted involved making a model of it herself.
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| Maryhill, WA |
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| Katie's model demonstrating the way the light appears at the solstices |
After exploring the hill and climbing in trees, we went down to the orchards below the hill and bought peaches. They were delicious and the lady at the store told us that the kids could pick their own also. The kids enjoyed trying to find a ripe one in the trees which proved difficult.
Our final stop of the drive was back in Hood River at the Apple Valley store for another pie to take home. We chose a strawberry rhubarb pie that was already baked. The pie made it home and we enjoyed it, but it wasn't anywhere near the marionberry/peach that we bought before.
We stayed at the same hotel in Portland for Monday night and spent Tuesday at the Oregon Zoo with Jeanette and two of her boys and her brother Brett and his wife and three kids.
It happened to be a $4 admission day, so it was super affordable and really beautiful.
Thanks to Jeanette for finding a great deal for us to enjoy with them!
Our flight out was a red-eye, so we were weary travelers by the time we made it home...
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