Seattle Day Trip

While it was snowing back on the east coast, we took advantage of a sunny day in the Pacific Northwest to day trip to Seattle. We started at the Public Market, which was a little crowded and overwhelming but came away with lunch and some delicious pasta to take home.

We headed down to Post Alley to see the gum wall (but didn't stay long because Tyler was completely disgusted by it.) Next, we walked to the Olympic Sculpture Garden which overlooks the Puget Sound. We spent a lot of time there since the view was so beautiful of the water and mountains in the distance. After that, we headed up to Seattle Center to see the space needle (but not go up it). After a long day of walking, we finished up the trip with dinner in the Capitol Hill neighborhood before heading home. 

Tyler's Birthday Hike

There are tons waterfall hikes less than an hour away -- this one we went to for Tyler's birthday was Elowah Falls. 

(Photo credits for all except the one above go to Tyler)

First Visitor

One of Tyler's friends & co-workers, Rob, received the honored title of our first visitor when he came in January from Madison, Wisconsin.

Hands down the most exciting thing we did (and probably one of the most exciting things that's happened to us in Portland so far) is win a Lego contest at a bar. We were given 75 minutes, the theme of "music" and free reign over a large collection of legos. Our friends Maya and Jordan also joined us, which was helpful since Jordan is a musician and tuned some water glasses as part of our creation. Maya and Megan built a "stage" in front of the water glasses while the boys built swinging pieces to strike the notes of the water glasses and play Hot Cross Buns. Our prize was a random assortment of gift cards totaling $55.

We also took Rob to brunch below our apartment at Slappy Cakes, after Tyler's grandmother saw the restaurant featured on Food Network (http://www.foodnetwork.com/restaurants/or/portland/slappy-cakes.html) They have griddles in the table to cook your own pancakes and many batter flavor choices, like peanutbutter or chocolate.

Lastly, we spent a rainy Saturday afternoon brewery-hopping:

1. Basecamp (camping-themed brewery)

2. Hair of the Dog (with an option for a $1500 glass of beer on their menu)

3. Cascade Barrel (specializing in sour beers)

4. Buckman Brewery (actually just a bar)

5. Some dive bar none of us probably remember the name of after all those beers. 

Cannon Beach

On an unusually sunny November day, we decided to drive out to Cannon Beach for the day. (It's only about an hour and a half from Portland) It's got a cute little town and a gorgeous beach. Also happens to be where the Goonies was filmed, so Tyler convinced Megan to watch it since she'd never seen it. 

Multnomah Falls

There are endless places to hike just a short drive away, but we decided to check off Mulnomah Falls from our list early on. Even on a drizzly day, there were tons of people there to see the waterfall. The hike to the top was about a mile of a windy, very uphill path. There were lots of scenic views (already told Lauren Tindall we'll reserve double the time for this hike when she visits for all her picture-taking)

Settling In

We lived with our Air BnB hosts for a week and a half in Portland before moving into our studio apartment in SE Portland. Since we drove with only what we could fit in our cars, we had a lot of DIY projects and craigslisting to do to make our apartment more homey.

One awesome place in Portland, The Rebuilding Center (http://rebuildingcenter.org), has recycled building materials. We got a door to use as a headboard and some reclaimed wood to make the footboard of the bed frame we built. 

We also built a coffee table with some apple crates.

Still more projects to go, including some bike shelves, but pretty happy with how our place is coming together! 

Oh, and pretty happy we live one block from some fantastic food trucks:

DAYS 6-8: Last Leg!

On day 6, we drove from Denver to Park City, Utah and got to visit with Taylor. It's a ski town but the Saturday nightlife was alive even before the start of ski season.

From Park City, we headed out of Utah, through Wyoming, and up through Idaho. We got to make another stop at a diners, drive ins and dives feature: Pizzalchik and enjoyed some baked potato pizza. From Pizzalchik in Boise, we drove just a little further to make it across the Oregon border and stay the night in Baker City, Oregon.