Northwest trip!

On August 23, 2008, we began our adventure into the great Northwest. This marks Paige's first airplane ride - and she handled it very well (as well as an almost-4-month-old can). We arrived in Portland, rented a car, and left for Forest Grove, which is about 1 hour west of Portland, for Pauline and Keith's wedding. They chose a resort called McMenamins (http://www.mcmenamins.com/) which was an awesome venue. They have their own microbrews, along with their own wines, and a very relaxed, chill atmosphere. We highly recommend visiting one of their hotels/restaurants/bars if you are in the area.




Poor little Paige - we had her schedule so messed up with the 3 hour east-west time difference. She tried to make it through the wedding reception, but spent most of the time in her carrier before going to bed:



Day after the wedding: hanging out with Uncie Rob in the McMenamin's beer garden :) Paige was still a little cranky from having her sleep schedule thrown off...


After the wedding festivities, we headed back to Portland for a couple of days. We visited several coffee shops, bookstores, etc. around town, and on Monday we decided to get some hiking in along the Columbia River Gorge. There were a plethora of trails to choose from, most with great waterfall vistas, and we ended up selecting three. Paige 'hiked' along with us - by that I mean she rode in her Baby Bjorn, giving Dustin and I a good workout with those extra 14 or so pounds.



After all that hiking, we were all pretty tired.



The next day, we drove out to the Oregon coast on our way to Seattle. Canon Beach was beautiful; we didn't have time to do much hiking, but the views were breathtaking and we had gorgeous weather.

This last photo of the Oregon coast is in Astoria, overlooking Cape Disappointment (lots of shipwrecks) where the Columbia River meets the Pacific.

One recommendation: when driving the north part of the Oregon coast, skip Seaside. Its a touristy, tacky little town that you don't really need to stop for... unless you like that sort of thing...

We finally made it up to Seattle, spent some time in the city (Pike's Market and Pioneer Square), and spent a day up near Bellingham. All very cool.



Ultimately, we made our way back to Portland. Washington Park has a spectacular rose garden, and overlooks the city... good stuff :)



And on our last day, we visited Oregon's wine country (southwest of Portland - lots of great wineries; Pinot Noir is what the region is known for). We finished up in Eugene (U of Oregon) which is a great college town - we just happened to be there on a game day (Oregon vs. Washington) so that was a really fun atmosphere.

And that was the end of our trip. Paige was awesome; travelling with her and Dustin is such a good time :) What a great family I have!! I'll leave you with a view of Mt. Hood taken from Lost Lake... the mountain almost (but not quite) revealed itself through the clouds...