ROADTRIP

Pretty sure I should be writing my paper on Robert Rauschenberg but I guess it is going to have to wait because I want to post some pics from our trip! The trip was so fun, the drives were long, but totally worth it. (the worst drive was from our hotel to Shanna's reception, I got directions from mapquest and it took us like an hour to get to the reception a little longer because I entered the freeway going east instead of west, ooops. And pretty sure on our way back to the hotel I had a new set of directions from mapquest that only took us 20 minutes, we were laughing so hard but we were SO bugged!! We should have used the 2nd directions on our first trip out)

Well we headed out at about 5:20 am and when we left there was snow on the ground and on my car. Jess snoozed for an hour or two and I jammed to some serious songs. It was pretty fun, the sun came up and a few hours later we stopped in Idaho for gas and some breakfast. (For those of you who have never traveled through Idaho you aren't missing much, but you are missing out on a stench that occurs quite frequently and randomnly throughout the state, it made me giggle everytime.) We were back on the road, somehow I missed the OREGON state sign and for several hours we were debating about whether we were in Oregon or Idaho and finally came to the conclusion of Oregon because of the dandy Oregon Trail signs. We than stopped in Pendleton for the restroom and a little Starbucks, as well as gas. Don't worry they pump your gas for you, which was hard for me to remember just ask jess!!

We kept cruisin along and came up to Hood River where we stopped for a little Chinese kind of good, kind of gross, but mostly cheap and a good break from the car. Hood river itself was a cute little town on a hill! loved it.....the best part was that jess had us pack up some food to go so we didn't hurt the Chinese ladies feelings, classic.

We finally arrived in Portland/Gresham at the Hampton Inn around 4:30, I took a little nap and Jess got ready, I hurried and changed and we left for our excursion to the reception. After the disgustingly winding road, and slow speed limits drive (don't forget the dollar toll across the freaking skinny bridge!!) We arrived at Shanna's reception which made the day worth it. We first saw her now husband Austin and it took him a minute to recognize us and than he said what are ya'll doing here? We didn't even answer we just asked where Shanna was, so we ran downstairs and saw her at the bottom of the stairwell she turned around and saw us and screamed, and we had a little freak out moment. IT was SO good!!! We than enjoyed meeting friends and family and chatting it up with Austin's parents and I stuffed my face with delicious cupcakes from St. Cupcakes!! After a few hours we departed back to the hotel and good thing because Jess got quite the headache, so thank heavens for the short ride home!!

The next day we got up got ready. We did some researching and decided to go check out a place in Portland called 'The Pearl District' I was intrigued by the description of the pearl, it had some old warehouses (i love old things!) ya da yada. Mapquested again and we were on our way. After a few minor setbacks we arrived and parked my car. (There are so many one way streets in Portland it is kind of creepy, I got so concerned about which streets are and aren't one way. confusing....) We walked around, got a hot dog, shopped at the Posh Boutique. Ate a frozen yogurt that had honey, granola, banana's, strawberries, blueberries. No need to worry it had the calcium you need in one meal, only 130 calories and 0 grams of fat! (not that we cared ahha). We kept walking around, just going into places, taking pictures, talking, giggling, looking at hot guys, and jess found the dog of her dreams! Later we went to Pizza Schmizza for lunch where we ended up laughing so hard at the people working there, they were very nice however!! The weather was so hot, nice but hot. We later decided to check out downtown Portland and rode the street car into town. It was fun minus the stinky man who smelt like our BO couch in Germany. We went to go to an art exhibition but decided against it and spent the money otherwise. I am sure it was the better choice, haha, Leatherheads.

The theater was nice and cold, and they had the biggest drinks for a movie theater and slurpees!! SO GOOD!! After that we decided on Macaroni Grill for dinner, which was of course delish! Our waiter was something else........... Came back to the hotel and enjoyed a slice of cheesecake and Ty on extreme home makeover.

Left Sunday morning at around 9:30 portland time. Made a few pit stops, one at Multnomah falls which was beautiful but misty!! I would recommend this for sure! Than we stopped at BurgerVille by the Dalles Dam to get the infamous raspberry shake that jess had as a tot. No need to worry that it was only 10:30 am, we weren't quite sure the burger joint would be open. The place was open and was serving strawberry shakes, which were pretty darn good. We kept traveling and laughing as we heard and saw bugs WHAP on my windshield. (ps whap is a word) We made a stop just before Boise and got some Jack in the Box and gas. And we made our final Road trip stop in Rupert to get some delicious A&W root beer ice cream. As if I hadn't eaten enough crap the past 2 days, but it was well worth the dollar. So next time you are near Rupert you should stop on in.

Before we made it all the way home we stopped in SLC to attempt to take some pics. We ended up laying in the gutter of State street in Salt Lake to get some pics, good thing Jess is such a good sport! Only got whistled at and honked at like twice, that is always a plus, made it home with a few minutes to spare for it to be a full 10 hour trip. And of course the perfect end to a perfect roadtrip day was Kelly Clarkson, 'Can I have a Kiss' 'You Found Me' and Matt Nathanson 'Come and Get Higher' (he is my new found musician;)

That was all for our trip although there was much more behind the scenes..................hope you enjoy! ps here is the bug whapping windshield before i got a car wash today! You can't see it so well but trust me there are plenty of bugs. And what is the last thing that passes through a bugs mind when it hits your windshield? Its butt. (courtesy of Jess!)