Summer Vacation Part I

I got a week off this Summer! As soon as I got the dates, I booked a plane flight to the Northwest. I went to Oregon and Washington and now have been to all lower 48 states!
My lovely friend Bryce met me in Portland at the hostel I was staying at. We went out to check out the Portland nightlife. I loved Portland! We hung at the Rogue brewery and had some local ales. The next morning after a delicious breakfast at the hostel, we loaded up in Bryce's VW bus and drove around Portland in the daylight before heading North.
Didn't realize quite how much water and how many bridges the area has


Next we explored Multnomah Falls - beautiful!!


And since ferns are my favorite plant ever, the northwest's fern collection did not disappoint...


Then we headed to one of the many McMiniman's breweries to make sure we got a fair sampling of local ales. In case you didn't know, Asheville tied with Portland, OR for the best beer city in the USA!! It was the least we could do for the city that worked so hard to get up to Asheville's standards. Not many pics from the breweries, but this was a cool outdoor patio - unfortunately we didn't get to enjoy it because it was the big heat wave in the Northwest and fairly unbearable to just sit in the sun

Then Bryce dropped me off in Olympia, Washington to see my dear friend Aidan who I hadn't seen since we both lived in Durango, Colorado, about 4 years ago.

Myself & Aidan

Olympia Farmers Market (can I just say, the produce there was unimaginable to me! When even the conventional grocery stores had rainbow carrots, I knew it was heaven)

Capital building over harbor, and a lovely moon overhead

One of the many free natural lakes for kids to swim in around the area (ours in Asheville are all forced or man-made, so don't nearly have the magic as the natural ones)

I had gone there with the thought of this being a place for the kids and I to live, but didn't end up liking the town of Olympia as much as I thought I would. Even so, I didn't get nearly my fill of the area, just a little taste - I'll definitely be back (and not during a heat wave next time). Thanks so much to Bryce and Aidan for helping me get around and making me feel so welcome!