Oregon 2011

In mid April we took a trip to Oregon for several days just to explore the state.  We completely lucked out and got beautiful sunny weather for all days except for the first in Portland.  Sun in April in Oregon is a lot to ask for but we got it!

We had so much fun traveling with Ethan on this trip.  He was so stinkin' happy the whole time and had a great time walking around exploring.  I am pretty sure that Ethan thinks the world is one big parade and his job is to smile and wave at the people.  He did not stop smiling for 5 straight days and ate up all the attention he got from all the Oregonians.  

The trip started in Portland.  We had some incredible meals (pok pok restaurant is a must when in Portland!) and explored downtown.  Portland is a beautiful city with a great laid back vibe (reminded us a lot of Austin).  

We visited Powells Books - largest bookstore in the world!,  the Portland Saturday market, played in the city parks and enjoyed some great people watching.

From Portland we drove down the Willamette Valley and stopped to visit several vineyards.  We tasted some great Pinots and enjoyed an afternoon wandering in the green grass.  Ethan had just started pointing and that little finger was out all day long showing very exciting things he found.

After the vineyards we enjoyed a gorgeous drive through the Cascade Range to check out Bend.  Along the way was Aaron's favorite place in Oregon - Detroit Lake.  I didn't get pictures, but absolutely beautiful.  Once in Bend, we explored the parks and checked out the Deschutes Brewery.  

We had heard about and seen wonderful pictures of Crater Lake in southern Oregon and were very excited to see it.  We had no idea that this lake gets the most snow in the country (including Alaska!) and  is still completely covered in mid April.  We thought we'd see this...

...but we saw this.   Whah whah whah.  

They still had 131 inches of snow on the ground and had a total of 547 inches this winter.  547 inches!!  WOW.  As neat as that is, we were on vacation to escape snow...so we moved on.

We made a pit stop in Eugene on our way to explore the coast.  The next morning we took some time to see the University of Oregon campus.  Everywhere else we went on the trip Ethan attracted attention from everyone.  We thought it was hilarious that at 10am on a Monday morning not a single college student smiled or made eye contact with Ethan.  Babies and college girls don't mix!  Aaron commented that we were a walking advertisement for Planned Parenthood.  Ethan did not care, he loved all the grassy areas to play!

The best part of the trip was the time we spent on the coast - so many miles of wonderful scenery.  We had a great few days playing on the beaches, looking for tide pools and watching the waves.  

Ethan loves the beach!!  And lucky for us, he seems to have outgrown the sand eating stage.  He has moved on to carrying rocks around.  :)  This is where Ethan learned that he loves to get dirty and LOVES being outside.  He is a beach boy!

Before we left the coastline we had to make a stop in Tillamook, Or to visit the cheese creamery.  We love Tillamook cheese and ice cream while in Anchorage so it was fun to check out where it's all made.  (The theme of this trip was 'This is Where They Make It'...vineyards, breweries and creameries...)

As we drove inland back to Portland we made a few stops by some vineyards to enjoy different wines and some time on the grass in the sun.  It was a wonderful relaxing day!

Vineyards are one of Aaron's and my favorite places to spend a sunny afternoon.  Ethan seemed to pick up on the happy, laidback vibe as well!

The first half of our trip was a lot of fun, partly due to the wonderful state of Oregon but mostly due to this little man's happy smile and laughs.  Pictures from the Houston leg of the trip coming soon...