As we drove away last Friday in our rental car, Jamison suggested we all set an intention for our big trip. A yoga teacher years ago told me that the most important thing in life is kindness and I think this is true. So I decided to aspire to be kind more, and also to learn to "let go" more. Almost a week into our trip now and I'm finding this a challenge! It may be that you're never really "away" from your life, even on vacation, and I tend to be a worrier. And, I have the remnants of a cold that I think may have turned into a sinus infection so not feeling great. And...MATH anxiety! We want to make sure that Jossy keeps up with her math, so just making sure she is on track is stressful. I sure hope this is something that gets easier! Other than these minor annoyances, our trip is starting out wonderfully!!
Our first stop was in Oregon, to visit our dear friends Tim and Dana, visit Alexa who was finishing part of her P.A. residency in Vancouver, and to go to some excellent restaurants in the vegan mecca of Portland!! We hiked on Mt. Tabor and just hung out and ate a LOT. The restaurants we went to this time: Blossoming Lotus, always a fave, so delicious! Sweet Hereafter, a warm new bar-restaurant with a delicious vegan mac and cheese for Jossy! Next Level Burger, so satisfying if in the mood for a burger and shake!! And for brunch, Off The Griddle (now merged with the A.N.D. cafe that was always a favorite for breakfast, especially the waffles and biscuits and gravy!). All were fun and delicious and of course Portland-y eclectic!
Next, we picked up some yummy deli food from Whole Foods and drove to the coast to magical Manzanita! We rented a really cute little airbnb right down the street from our old home, and right in town. Hung out with some old friends there, and Jossy visited her old bff Maya! It was just like they picked up where they left off, and they had a ball drawing tattoos and playing computer games and tiddly winks. We went on a beautiful hike through the rainforest (and boy did it rain that day!) and to the beach. Our second day the sun came out and we enjoyed some surf and sand time on an almost empty beach.
Our last stop in Oregon was Ashland. We stayed in a beautiful old hotel called the "Columbian Hotel", very European with its lots of steep stairs and even shared bathrooms! Since we are on a budget, we thought we would try this and it turned out great. I wouldn't want to do this for the whole trip, but our room was only $58 and very cute and comfortable! Jamison is keeping track of our spending in an app, and so far our food spending has been pretty high! We are trying to figure out ways to lower our eating out costs, so trying to share meals and definitely not wasting any food. We had some extra leftovers yesterday that we just couldn't eat, so we gave them to a homeless man with a dog. Ashland is so pretty right now with fall colors. It is a small town of only 20,000 people, but with a beautiful downtown, tons of hiking and some vegan options. A local told us they have a terrible summer smoke problem just like pretty much everywhere lately though. This first pic was a mural of Guanajuato, Mexico, which is interestingly one of the places we plan to visit in Mexico!!
