We did it. We officially left DC for our trip. It was an incredibly hectic couple of weeks trying to get the house together, but it all worked out in the end. We have an empty house and all of our things packed into just 4 bags. I left before AJ and while I was sad to say goodbye to the house for who knows how long, and nervous to leave it all behind, it was also an incredibly exciting and surreal experience.
Natalie, my friend since we were 10 years old, and her fiance Zach excitedly picked me up from airport led me to a slice of pizza before we called it a night. I never realized just how exhausting moving out of a house can be until it was over. On Saturday morning we headed to breakfast at Cheryl’s on 12th. If you’re ever in the area, the cheesy potatoes are a must. After that they took me for a drive to see Multnomah Falls, Zach is a big waterfall-head so he was able to give me a bit of waterfall trivia knowledge. I loved driving around the area and seeing all the amazing landscape. This was not only my first time in Portland, but my first time in the Pacific Northwest as well. It was amazing to see all the greenery and gorgeous hills, waterfalls, and mountains. Multnomah Falls was a site to be seen, even though it was busy with tourists, it was worth the drive and the small hike to the bridge to see the power of the water crashing down and spraying a light mist all over onlookers.
AJ arrived late Saturday so another slice of pizza was required. On Sunday, Natalie and Zach took us from 50 degree weather in Portland up to a 20 degree Timberline Lodge, a famous ski lodge where parts of The Shining were filmed. We were lucky that Tabitha and Rich, AJ’s Naval Academy friend, were able to join us as well. They drove down from The Gorge (famous for it’s windsurfing) to have an amazing breakfast buffet, complete with chocolate chip waffles, before we slipped and slid down the icy hills to our cars and started our hour and a half drive to The Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm. It was incredibly beautiful Tulip Fest that occurs in April of every year. Rows and rows of tulips lit up the farm with more colors than you can imagine - red, pink, orange, yellow, purple, white, and even some multicolored ones. We went into full influencer mode for photo shoots in every color, making sure we found the color that suited each of us best. After we exhausted our photo options, we went over to the carnival for kettle corn (which was nearly finished before we even got into the car) and then headed back into the Portland.
The most exciting part of the day for Natalie and Zach? The Game of Thrones premiere. Even though AJ and I are not GoT watchers, I have to admit that we got into it. Especially learning all the backstories. After GoT, we introduced Natalie to Thai food at Thai Bloom just down the street. It was unbelievable. The perfect amount of spice in the green curry, and everything else was so good that it immediately got her (and the rest of us) hooked. As if we hadn’t eaten enough that day, we decided that Salt and Straw ice cream was required to finish the night, and boy was that good idea. The highlight was a wildflower honey ricotta ice cream was light, airy, and delicious. Unfortunately, it was a limited time only flavor so you’ll miss out this time but their regular flavors are just as good.
Natalie and Zach went back to work on Monday so AJ and I took some time to explore Portland on our own. After a quick workout we walked up into Washington Park to see the Japanese Rose Garden. It was a beautiful walk through the tall PNW trees that I’d never seen before. After that we took a drive through the Arboretum and then went up to see Peter Gronquist, an incredible artist from Portland that we both love. He’s done two pieces at our DC house, the plane art that leaves us and everyone in awe, and the squiggle in our kitchen that always catches people’s eye. His new studio is stunning. On a quiet street up in the hills, it has large open windows and is the perfect place for creativity. Gronquist himself is the epitome of cool. The way he describes his art and his interests is fascinating and makes you want to be his friend. I loved meeting him and can’t wait to see what he produces next.
It was really great to spend time with Natalie and Zach. Living on separate coasts, we haven’t gotten to spend much time together the last few years so I was grateful to have the opportunity to see her and catch up with her before we take off and the last time we’ll see them before their wedding.
After Portland we headed to LA for a few days for some R&R before kicking off our international tour. We enjoyed sunsets on the beach, a lot of bread (apparently the latest food trend is large slices of bread with signature butter), and realized how much we wanted to live somewhere with Southern California weather. It was very low-key week but a few highlights were a dinner at Neighbor in Venice and dinner with JC and Jeannine, AJ’s friend from business school. It was the first time we’d seen them since the wedding so there was a lot to catch up on. They took us to Makani and we swapped travel stories and learned about the wild times AJ and JC had in their younger days. And in a recurring theme, we got ice cream after dinner.
While in LA we stayed at an Airbnb in Venice that was a little oasis. The owner, Ward, was also incredibly cool and kind. He was excited for our journey and shared some of his own travel stories with us, including his friends who quit their jobs and have been living in a van with their 2 children for 5 years exploring the world. Amazing. I would definitely recommend Ward’s place to anyone looking for a quiet, peaceful place to stay in Venice. Now, off to Japan.
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