Friday, February 8, 2013

flashback friday: oregon

I'm not one to necessarily dwell in the past, but boy, do I love reminiscing. It reminds me, even on my worst days, that I have had some amazing experiences in my life so far and that there will likely be many more to come. So periodically, I'll be featuring some of my favorite memories in a "Flashback Friday" series--usually close to the anniversary of the date they happened. This won't always be the case, as I have basically no temporal awareness whatsoever, but I'll do my best.

This week, three years ago (yes, I had to look that up), I went on one of my favorite trips ever. I really had never been interested in going to Oregon, but I have a friend who lived in Portland that just kept talking it up. He kept telling me I'd love it, that it was the perfect place for a twenty-something, and that I needed to come visit. I was in grad school and definitely needed a vacation--and honestly, I'm not one to ever turn down the thought of travel + adventure, so I packed my bags.

I was blown away by Oregon. It's, without a doubt, my favorite place in the United States that I've ever been--and I've been a few places. There's ocean, mountains, rainforest, desert, and cities, all in one beautiful state. Here are some of my favorite snapshots from the trip:






These were all from the Columbia River Gorge, which was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. It's incredibly beautiful--there are waterfalls every where you turn. I went back to Oregon last year with my friend Sarah, and I made sure to take her here. She loved it, and I loved being back. Grateful that I had such an awesome tour guide the first time around!


 We spent a day snow-shoeing on Mt. Hood. See that sign above? We definitely came up from behind it. Yikes! Haha. We had an expert with us, though, and even though he intentionally led us into a white-out and dropped off a ledge so we thought he was gone, I never felt nervous about it. It was a blast! I did find out how out-of-shape I was, though. Yeesh!


  We also spent a day at the coast, driving up from Seaside to Astoria and making several stops along the way. We took Goose (aka: Lucy) along with us. She's just the best dog. I threatened to kidnap her and bring her back to Missouri with me, but Don said no. I figured since he played host/tour guide to me for a week and took me to so many amazing places, it might be kind of rude to steal his dog. I can't say I wasn't tempted, though!

Loved this trip so much. I will certainly be going back to Oregon many many times (and maybe living there eventually? Oh, to dream!). Tyler has never been, so hopefully we can make a trip there soon. Thanks for taking a stroll down memory lane with me!






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