Katie's shower

This weekend was so fun getting to celebrate Katie! I am so thankful for Katie 's friendship and I can't wait till her wedding next month!

I have known Katie since we moved into the house across the street 22 years ago! I cant believe it has been that long!

This shower was so fun to catch up and see some friends from high school...

And get to hang out with some friends from college!

It was also a special time because our families have become really close over the years. I feel like they are family! I love this picture of me and Katie and our moms! So cute!

After we all took naps and relaxed after the big brunch, we went out to continue the fun!

I had the best time with these girls this weekend! It was so fun to be home!

Final stop: Portland

What can I say about Portland....

It's kinda weird. And Portlanders (is that even what they are called) love that they are weird. They embrace it.

We did all the touristy things.... saw the sights.

Saw the world's largest independent bookstore!

My favorite thing that we did in Portland was go to the Rose Garden. It was amazing!!!

That's really all I have to say about Portland! haha I think we were just all ready to head back home at this point.

Such an amazing trip. I had the trip of a lifetime. Love my parents. Loved seeing this beautiful country we live in! USA :)

The End!

Oregon Coast!

To be honest, I didn't have a clue how beautiful Oregon is! After the disappointing trip to Crater Lake, we stopped for a night in Eugene, OR (home of the Oregon Ducks) and then drove to the coast. WOW! I couldn't get over how beautiful (and windy) it was!

We saw sea lions too! They were huge!

I am somewhere in this picture below....can you see me?!

Our waiter at the restaurant in Eugene suggested we stopped at this place called the Devils Churn. It was this narrow inlet off the Pacific Ocean that waves splash up against and creates this amazing, beautiful spray! Some say, that during high tide it can spray several hundred feet in the air!

Dad and I explored the dangerous terrain while I gave mom my camera to take pictures of us. I just have to share the series with you because they make me laugh. Love you mom!

Crater Lake

Biggest disappointment of the trip was Crater Lake. You cant tell, but mom and I are making sad faces in this picture.

I hear its beautiful! But we took a long journey to go see Crater Lake, and I could see was snow.

There was still 25 feet on snow on the ground where we went to visit on June 30th. Have you ever seen so much snow in your life? Um no.

This is what its supposed to look like!

Well at least I got a t-shirt :)

Multnomah Falls

Tallest waterfall in the state of Oregon.... check!

It's hard for me to believe that its not the tallest waterfall in the United States....but I still think its awesome.

We drove down the Columbia River Gorge(ous) and then came to see the falls. Amazing.

I took a short hike to go up halfway up the falls! Its hard to see, but if you look closely, Im in the pink shirt up there!!

Mount St. Helens

This is the view on the front porch of our Bed and Breakfast the morning we were going to visit Mount St. Helens. We made some very nice friends at the B&B who were from England.

After visiting and being obsessed with Mount Rainier the day before, I didn't think much about Mount St. Helens Volcano. But it was incredible in a different way.

We went to the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument and it was sooo interesting. For example, did you know that Mount St. Helens was the deadliest and most destructive volcano in the history of the United States? And I will probably see it erupt again in my lifetime. Crazy!

Unlike lava volcanos, Mount St. Helens is an explosive volcano. It now has a mile wide crater along its side that we could very easily see from the observation/ memorial we visited.

Its really hard to tell in the pictures, but these trees were so cool/crazy! Mom loved these trees!

Mount St. Helens was so so interesting. I will never forget the extreme wind and cold temperatures and how much the altitude affected me while I was there. It was such a unique experience and I loved getting to see it!

Hurricane Ridge

Hurricane Ridge is on the edge of Olympic National Park. They call it Hurricane Ridge because of the hurricane-like winds they get at the top.

They say the weather on hurricane ridge is unpredictable. They warn you to come prepared. It was raining when we were driving up to the ridge so I had my rain jacket ready and I was prepared (except for the snow).

Once we got up to the top, it was freezing so I had to buy a jacket. And I love it! Wore it out on our trip!

Aren't they the cutest?! Love them so much...

We even saw a few deer! It was awesome!

And we saw a bear! Just kidding...

"Is THAT Mount Rainier?"

The day we drove to Mount Rainier was the first day I saw the bight blue sky on our trip. It was pretty overcast and cloudy and sometimes rainy so far on our trip. So when we were driving to Mount Rainer, I still had not seen it!And then I saw it.......... "Is THAT Mount Rainier?!" was all I could say. It is indescribable. It is beautiful. It is magnificent.

I think this was my favorite day of the trip. It was just so amazing. I was in awe. I took one-thousand pictures and tired to pick some of my favorites.

Mom, Dad, and I had lunch at the bottom of Mount Rainier and then we decided to drive to the top! Well, not the the top, but as far as you can drive up. We could have hiked up higher if we wanted. But we were not really dressed for that as you can see....

On the way down, Dad and I wanted to look at the famous reflection lake. It is a big lake that reflects Mount Rainier and its a great view! We had to hike over tons of snow to get to the reflection lake, and IT as covered with snow too! I was not prepared to do hiking in the snow!

Should have worn other shoes! Not flip flops!

Mount Rainier is one of the tallest points in the US. It is over 14,000 ft high! Crazy big and extremely beautiful.