The second half of our journey from San Francisco to Seattle was Oregon and Washington. After departing the creepy ghost town of Crescent City, CA we made our way to Crater Lake National Park in God-knows-where, Oregon. Now, I am not a “nature girl.” I don’t like challenging hikes, bugs, dirt, etc. but this place was really cool! Basically a volcano formed a giant pit a long while ago, it filled with water (as lakes do), and now its a super epic lake surrounded by mountains. The best part is you get to DRIVE all around the park, and take walks if you want to. Nice! We opted to take a few short jaunts through the woods but nothing too tough (Ross knows that hiking and I do not mix well).

Outfit shot! This is my new style – your mom in 1989! (After realizing how ridiculous I looked I changed into leggings. Skinny jeans + big sneakers = NOT OK!).

There were cute little chipmunks that came right up to you! I believed I squealed with delight on more than one occasion.

After spending the night in the Crater Lake area (at an old school “resort” that reminded me of Dirty Dancing) we headed to Portland. Ok, here was my confusion. I live in Portland, Maine – which is OBVIOUSLY on the ocean. Port = ocean, no? Well, much to my idiotic dismay, Portland, OR is NOT ON THE OCEAN. Imagine my confusion when I asked Ross where the water was. He was like, you mean the river?

WHAT?!

Anyways, Portland was awesome. Almost similar to my Portland in a way. Very neighborhoody, awesome food and cool people. Food highlights included Pine State Biscuits (biscuits and gravy – ZOMG!), Viking Soul Food food truck (the lefte wraps are so good!) and of course Voodoo Donuts (we split the bacon/maple and fruit loop – yum). We stayed at another Airbnb place, which was great. We stayed in the finished basement of a house with a private bathroom and entrance (this is the place). Loved it.

I believe I was told to look pensive whilst eating a bacon donut.

After Portland we hit the road for Seattle. We were lucky enough to stay in my cousin’s family’s house in the Magnolia neighborhood (I think it was Magnolia anyway…). Unfortunately they were in Maine while we were there (that figures) but we were happy to make use of their digs for a few days.

I really enjoyed Seattle – such a great vibe, and I’m a sucker for coastal cities. We did a lot of wandering all over town, and really enjoyed the Capitol Hill area. One of the days we went to the aquarium (sea otters!) which was great. I love me some sea mammals (see the San Francisco sea lion experience as proof).

Some of our faves from Seattle included Barrio (thanks to my cousin and his wife for the certificate – the Cazuela de Camarones was so good), Mee Sum Pastry (that is a curried beef bun in my happy little mitts above), and Plum Bistro (a vegan restaurant that was much needed after weeks of gluttony – say yes to kale and seaweed).

On our last day we took the ferry out to Bainbridge Island right off the coast, which was nice. We got to see the city from the water and enjoy a nice walk around the island. I also got to try dungeness crab, which I was dying to try while I was out there. We went to Cafe Nola for lunch, and I got the dungeness crab melt. Very good! The crab sort of reminded me of lobster, but more crabby (excellent description). I’m still a lobster devotee, but it was tasty. We also grabbed some really great ice cream at Mora Iced Creamery. The Dulce de Leche with shaved chocolate was amazing.

That’s it folks! We wrapped up our journey having put 1113 miles on the car – not too shabby! Our trip was great, but by the end we were ready to be home. I missed my dog so much it was actually stupid (I think I dreamed of him most nights – sad). So yeah, that’s it for wedding recaps. Back to regular posting soon!