run, rest, eat, bitch, buy things, cross-train, blog, repeat.

Friday, September 9, 2011

PDX Love

Clearly, Portland, Oregon is heaven on earth:

DUDE, I TOOK THIS PICTURE. THIS IS NOT A POSTCARD.
 I know, I can't believe it, either. We hiked out to this lake.. Mirror Lake... Gorgeous.
Mt. Hood is amazing.

My trip over the weekend was just amazing. More than I even anticipated.

Columbia River Gorge. 
I hiked a total of 10ish miles...

Umm.. yeah, so we have waterfalls, too.. but not waterfalls you can WALK BEHIND. When Steph mentioned something about being able to walk behind the falls, I was like... you've got to be shitting me? I've only done that at Opryland Hotel! Holy Shit!

Walking behind the falls... BOO-YA, bitches!

Yes, Mirror Lake again. Obviously, Oregon is God's favorite State.

A 5 mile hike on the coast? Umm.. yes, please!

The fog started rolling in, just as we reached the end of the trail...

 5 minutes later? Foggy as hell.

See... I told you... the hike was on the coast. Not on the beach. Glorious.

We checked out Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. Where the outside shots of The Shining were filmed. (which neither of us had seen. Scary Movie=Not Interested).

 Inside Timberline Lodge

From the back deck of the Timberline Lodge.

I ran a total of 20 miles, including an 11 miler that involved running 3 miles to LAUREN's* hotel downtown (yay!!!), 5 miles with her and then another 3 miles back to my friends house. It was awesome meeting her and catching up in real life. She is just as funny, sweet, and cute in person as she is on her blog. Thanks for helping me get in a good longish run on vacation, Lauren!

Yay! New BFFs! Ummm... right?

We ate some amazing food... Places like Produce Row CafeFull Sail Brewery,  Lucca (oh my god their pizzas!), and VooDoo Doughnuts...

Umm.. So, yeah... those aren't the only doughnuts consumed. Hey, we shared!

One of my favorite things was the FREE Rose Garden and Test Rose Garden.


Obviously... if there's a tour. I'm there. This tour guide was awesome.

Acres and acres of roses.

There was also lots of catching up, TONS of laughs (I haven't laughed that much in ages), meeting new friends, shopping, some amazing desserts from Petunia's at the Farmer's Market, Cookouts, and just a general sense of feeling at home even though I was thousands of miles away.

Most importantly, was the time was spent with one of my best friends... Heed this, folks... when you're best friend lives close to you.. SEE THEM, HUG THEM, SPEND TIME WITH THEM, SHOP WITH THEM, SHARE DESSERTS WITH THEM,  AND LAUGH WITH THEM as much as you can, because you never know when they are going to leave your sorry ass in Middle Tennessee for the glorious lands of Oregon. (Of course, bonus for you... instant excuse to go to Oregon!).

This weekend's adventure... Athens, GA. Pray for the Cocks**.

*I swear, I know what "failed muffins" refers to... but I always think of it as a euphemism for something really dirty. (I'm sure that doesn't surprise most of you).

** When I first typed this, I thought... that's gotta be the first time I've ever said that phrase... but on second thought.. I doubt it.

5 comments:

Katie said...

holy crap. ALL of these pics look like a postcard!

LAPT said...

You are the funniest person ever. I am always praying for cocks. I mean... the Cocks.
And failed muffins is from when I tried to eat UBER HEALTHY and would replace oil with applesauce and sugar with splenda and my baked goods always turned out really gross.
So glad that you also had a great trip...LOVED the rose test garden. Did you walk up the hill to the Japanese Garden?

Melanie said...

I am SO jealous! Looks like an amazing trip. I need to get myself back out there again, if for no other reason than I didn't make it to Voodoo Donuts the first time.

Anna said...

Wow, this makes me want to move to Oregon! Beautiful photos!

Tanya said...

Oregon is beyond awesome. *SIGH*

By the by, there is a waterfall you can walk behind about 30 miles down the Natchez Trace. I mean, it ain't Oregon, but it is a Walk-Behind fall.

And I can honestly say I'm not praying for cocks, but the Cocks' win RULED!!

GO COCKS!