There's no place like home...

At least, that's how I feel after driving nearly 3000 miles in 2 weeks!

We decided that we would try to get a couple of vacations in before baby comes and the end of April seemed like the perfect time to do it, so off we went! We headed up the California/Oregon Coast for the first trip. Scott had never been there and it had been I awhile since I had, so we were both really excited to go. We traversed the arid desert, Sierra Nevadas and central California for 1000 or so miles until we finally made it to the coast.

I love the climate of the Pacific Northwest! Everything is so green and the rainy/misty weather doesn't bother me at all! We spent the next two days going through the Redwoods. (I have to be honest. I was pretty sick of trees by the time we got up into Oregon.)

The rainy weather we had on day two disappeared and it was actually really sunny for the duration of the trip. We camped in some great spots, my favorite probably being underneath the redwood trees. To give you an idea of how tall those trees are and how much light they shut out to the ground below, S and I slept in until 10:30 thinking it was only about 7:00.

On our fourth night we found a great place to stay that was right on a secluded beach. As soon as we had camp set up, we took our camp chairs and barbecue grill down to the beach, had lunch and played in the sand for awhile. The water was too cold to enjoy, but that didn't detract S from throwing on his swimsuit anyway. I accidentally found out that the shorts I had brought for the trip no longer fit me but, luckily, I could fit into the hubby's.

Day 5 we woke up and realized that we still had a lot of distance to cover in 3 days so we thought it would probably be best if we cut into central Oregon and headed up to Portland. I've never been to Portland nor the Columbia River Gorge so I was very excited. The river is HUGE, exactly as I had expected it would be. We didn't spend a lot of time in Portland, but I would really like to go back someday. I think one of my favorite parts of the trip was going to the Bonneville Dam and seeing the fish ladders there. Just off of one of the dams there were a group of Sea Lions who were taking advantage of the fish and having themselves an entertaining (and slightly gory) feast.

They also have this fish hatchery with the world's largest Sturgeon--10 feet! For a fish! He was more the size of a dolphin.

Night 5 was accidentally our last night because, as we headed out the next day, we were making good enough time that S decided we might as well drive straight through. I was sad that we actually had more time to spend on the coast than I thought we would and didn't take advantage of it. But I have to admit, my bed felt awfully comfortable that night!

I went back to work for two days and then it was off for vacation two: our (becoming) annual trip down to Powell. I was pretty concerned that I might not be in the best shape for it, but I ended up being okay for the most part. I drank tons of water, stayed in the shade, and tried to take naps whenever possible. All in all I think it was the more relaxing vacation of the two. It's so beautiful down there and, since we didn't have a boat growing up, most of it is still relatively new to me.

I think our lil' girl liked the boat, too. She was very active for most of the trip. It's hard to believe that she'll be with us on our next trip down there! A little tiny part of me missed having the opportunity to get on the wake board, but I had fun playing photographer. S had a lot of time behind the boat this trip.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. They were great trips and we had fun. However, we are both glad to have an excuse to stay home the rest of the summer and take it easy.