Thursday, July 9, 2009

Gone West

Eric and I went on a giant road trip last week. It was fun to see lots of places and spend a whole week with each other... and the car. (What a champ she was.) I was the queen of keeping the ice in our cooler cold and un-melty and Eric was the king of finding cheap gas. We made a great team.

Idaho: We drove into Twin Falls late in the evening after seeing a beautiful sunset. It was too dark to find anything, so we just pulled over and slept in the back of our subaru. In the morning we realized we were right next to Malad Gorge State Park, so we took a moment to enjoy the view.

Bend OR:
Very confusing freeway system. (Why would anyone name two roads parallel to each other the exact same?) The city was absolutely gorgeous though. Eric and I kept commenting on their clean building codes. We found a local taco place and ate our dinner in one of the prettiest parks i've seen. (I would love to live in one of those little homes next to the pond.)
We stayed there one night and then I ran my marathon in Sunriver, which is 15 minutes south of Bend. If you haven't been there, you must. It is absolutely beautiful there. And I was lucky to have Eric run the last 6 miles with me. What a pal he is.

Portland:
We met up with some friends in Portland... and we got spoiled by them. (I would recommend staying with them if you ever visit Portland:)) We went to church with them and then rode our bikes around the city and checked out the boardwalk. Saralynn was an amazing cook- I couldn't get over it. 

Eugene OR:
Eric went to the campus to meet with a professor about grad school. I rode my bike back and forth from the motel room. sweet. We didn't have a whole lot of time there, so we just checked out the University and had a delicious lunch at another pretty park. (Oregon is where it's at for parks)

The Coast:
We drove the 101 down the Oregon coast and stayed in a funny little campground with horses and dogs with many people living there. good times. It was just outside Crescent City- which was kind of a mysterious place. We both felt like it was kinda abandoned and eery. Then we woke up and drove ALL DAY LONG! We connected to highway One and took that down to Bodega Bay and Stinson Beach. The "One"  wasn't all it's cracked up to be- but maybe that's just cuz we were so sick of driving. 

Muir Woods:
Eric made me get out of the car and walk through the giant Redwoods. We both kept saying ooo and ahhh, at those giants. I felt like dancing in the forest. So I did.

San Francisco:
We started the day out right visiting a friend at the Oakland Temple, and then taking the Bart into San Fran. We brought our bikes, so we ended up riding around the entire city. Delicious clam chowder, riding over Golden Gate, cruising Sausalito, taking a ferry by Alcatraz, dinner in China Town, dessert at Ghirardelli, and cruising back to Fremont. Five stars for the day.


Yosemite:
Haha we found out later that we misplaced a day, so we didn't get to spend much time in Yosemite. What a bummer. But we did walk around and get an ice cream cone. There were masses of people though... very annoying. We ended up driving through the prettiest place known to man. A joy ride.
Lake Tahoe: I would drive back there in a heart beat. I fell in love with Lake Tahoe. So pretty, but always full of vacationers. Eric and I found a campground at 9:00, set up our tent, and then found a pizza joint at 9:30. (That's usually how it goes when you're on a road trip.) We woke up and went for a lovely ride. Then took a bath in the lake. 
We got in the car at 11:00 am and drove through that desert Nevada and the Salt Flats of Utah, finally getting home at 7:30 pm. 

Special friends along the way:
Spencer and Saralyn in Portland, Cute Michelle in Oakland, and we didn't get one of Lippencot but did snag a picture of his sweet ride.

14 comments:

Jacquelyn said...

oh goodness jenn, it looks like an awesome trip. And this entire post looks like it was cut right from a magazine. very creative and talented. i'm glad you guys went and had a good ol time.

Whitehead Family Fun said...

Makes me tired just reading but I bet it was amazing, especially to bike all of the cities- best way to see something :)

Aub said...

so jealous you got to go to lake tahoe, and your pictures are awesome! Also, my experience driving on highway one was amazing! so don't be dissin it!

Carrie B. said...

Holy freakin fun, Jenn! Super jealous! Beautiful photos too!

Unknown said...

Very cool. You named a majority of the places on my must see list. And...I'm so proud you ran a marathon!! I had a 10K and it nearly killed me.

Steph said...

very jealous! looks amazing! is that a new camera i see??? oh and great job on your marathon...way to go!!

Brad said...

You guys are easily the coolest people I know. That trips sounds amazing.

julie williams said...

You failed to mention you ran a marathon!!! Wow what a trip! You two are a amazing! So fun to see you; thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to spend time with us. We love you!!
Jules

Karalee said...

That looks so fun! I love San Fransisco. Paul and I went there for are honeymoon and decided that we'll move there when we retire.

Sarah said...

That was such a fun post to get to read and see, thank you...for a moment I felt like I got to go too! You are such a great photographer, and writer too. So fun, and you guys are awesome

Lisa said...

Such a fun trip! We move to San Jose (an hour south of SF) on Monday, so if you ever want to drive out again and need a place to stay, please let me know! I'd love to see you!

The Campbell Clan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Campbell Clan said...

You two are some of the most fun people! Thanks for coming by and seeing us. We really enjoyed your visit and LOVE your pictures! Jenn, you are very talented-your blog is so beautiful and fun to read! Thanks for sharing and for living life so fully-you two are inspirational. :)

Matt, Karin, Sienna, Sadie & Tanner said...

Wow, what a post. You guys sure know how to have fun and I am super impressed. That honestly looks like such a fun little trip. How did you decide to do that? Oh and I cannot fail to mention how amazed I am at your marathon. I cannot run worth beans and hate it oh so much. I would love to learn to enjoy it but I am THAT bad.

That was really enjoyable to read.