Don't get me wrong. I definitely missed the boys and Scott. But, I didn't feel too bad getting away for a few days knowing they were all having a blast up north at the county fair and hanging out with their cousins.
I dropped the boys off to Scott up north on our way home from Mackinac Island and then went home to unpack and then repack for my trip to Portland. I hate flying with a burning passion and it was not a smooth flight. Considering the flight attendants had to buckle up for a good 40 minutes of the flight, I was exhausted by the time I landed at 10:30pm (Portland time...).
The following morning was an early wake-up time so we could hit the road for the San Juan Islands. It was a four hour drive followed by a picnic lunch in line waiting for the ferry in the standby line. Somehow we got lucky and we were the second to last car to fit on! The ferry ride was awesome! We had beer and popcorn while taking in the views. Just stunning!
We drove around the island and found our rental house for the weekend. And what a cute place! Oh my gosh, my bedroom had the best views and sounds of the waves crashing into the shore.
We went for a hike by the house to the point and then decided to head into town for some shopping and dinner. They picked a wood burning pizza oven place where I went outside of my comfort zone and tried goat cheese and dungeness crab for the first time! By then, we were ready to head back to the house where we played board games, and did some "light art" with my brother's camera and some head lamps. It was really fun!
Saturday morning was another early start. My brother took it upon himself to book a 6 hour kayaking tour of Sucia Island AND a 3 hour sunset whale watching boat tour. Woo!!!
We ate breakfast at a cute place called New Leaf, grabbed pastries at Brown Bear Baking, and headed over to the marina for our kayak excursion. Our fearless leader, Dorian, took us on a 20 minute speed boat ride over to Sucia Island and then got us paired up in our kayaks. Now, considering I've never kayaked, I knew this would be quite the adventure kayaking out in the ocean...with whales...and sharks...and super cold Pacific water.
It was the HARDEST thing I've ever done! My arms felt like they were going to fall off, my shoulders and lower back were throbbing, and my brother and I (we kayaked together) hit a moment where we were both delirious at sea singing songs about kayaking (imagine Row, row, row your kayak, angrily down the sea, miserably, miserably, miserably, miserably, land is but a dream). But, in the end, it was such an amazing experience! The views, seeing the sea stars, and my brother and I hysterically laughing through half of it made it so much fun!
We were supposed to finish and be back by 3, giving us enough time to go into town for a quick change of clothes and dinner before the whale tour, but the kayak tour got extended almost two hours (since they took us out into some rocky water and it was so fricken hard to paddle) late. We literally got off one speed boat and onto another with the entire whale tour waiting for us.
But, I don't think we minded too much. The whale tour was so smooth as we rode in the boat 45 minutes into Canada (didn't even realize we could do that without proof of citizenship?!). And then...the Orcas! Ohhhh my favorite part of the whole trip! They were amazing! My photos don't even do the entire experience justice. We saw so many and they even put some kind of microphone in the water so we could hear them communicating! We realized at one point that we were just near Vancouver and could see the skyline. With the mountains in the background it was so picturesque!
We caught a gorgeous sunset coming back to Orcas Island. We really had unusually warm weather for the area!
We were starving by this point and utterly exhausted. We ate a delicious dinner at Madrona's, scarfed down some of the best mint chocolate chip ice cream I've ever had, and went back home to crash.
Sunday morning we slept in - thank God! I laid in bed listening to the waves and reading my book peacefully. We had bagels and fresh fruit on the patio for breakfast. It was perfect, but time to pack up and get going. We drove up to Mt. Constitution before heading over the ferry. Unfortunately it was super foggy at the top of Mt. Constitution, but we still found another good point to get a good view a little lower.
The ferry ride was very smooth and relaxing (I did some more reading) and then we were stuck in traffic and construction driving back to Portland! What should have been a 4 hour ride became 6 hours! By the time we were in Portland, it was 9:30pm so we picked up a carry out from my favorite chinese restaurant and watched Money Monster.
Monday and Tuesday were days for me to explore some of my favorite spots in Portland and some new ones too while Eric and Ana worked!
Monday morning I went off on the street car up to 23rd for some shopping. I picked up a donut at Blue Star, shopped at 3 Monkeys among other stores, and then went back down to the Pearl District for lunch at Deschutes Brewery. By then, my sister-in-law was able to get off work and met me at Powell's book store (I could get lost in that book store...it's amazing!).
She then drove me to Division street for more shopping at Adorn where I fell in love with the cutest clogs! We sampled ice cream at Salt and Straw (to die for) and had a street taco and some chips and queso at Honky Tonk Taco. We met my brother back at their place and then went out for dinner at Smokehouse. That turned into drinks and arcade games, which then turned into three games of bowling at this upscale bowling alley. We finished the night strong singing kareoke at the Boiler Room, which turned out to be an epic night! So much fun, but too many drinks!
Tuesday morning I slept off my hangover and decided to be lazy around their condo. I ate a bagel for breakfast while watching Skeleton Twins. Ana was able to get out of work again and pick me up. We had lunch at a really neat place called Khao Man Gai (I think that's how you spell it...). I finally bit the bullet and bought those clogs from Adorn, did some more shopping, and we picked up some of the best donuts I've ever had from a place called Pips.
Eric met us back at their place where we got all my luggage and headed out for dinner before the airport. We ate at a neat place called Pine Street Market (a bunch of places all in one place that kind of reminds you of an upscale cafeteria). I opted for pizza, since I was anxious to fly. My stomach was not up for adventurous food. We walked to Voodoo Donuts (a must) so that I could pick out a donut for Sean and Evan. I was flying a red-eye and knew that it would be a nice surprise to bring them breakfast straight from Portland. Plus, Voodoo makes donuts with cereal on top (the boys love cereal!).
And then it was time to say goodbye. My flight took off at 11pm and of course I didn't sleep a wink. It wasn't as bumpy as going was, but it still wasn't pleasant. But, I survived and was so excited to see my family. My sister-in-law Jackie was kind enough to pick me up at 6am and take me home (perks to living in the same city as family and only 20 minutes from the airport).
I had the most amazing time on this trip and really feel that I bonded with my brother and sister-in-law! A big thanks to them for spoiling me rotten and my parents, of course, for helping me get out there! I can't wait to bring the boys back in two summers for more Portland adventures!
