The Pacific NW

Over Labor Day Weekend Rudy and I went to the Pacific Northwest for a getaway with his friends. 

Robby was going up for the whole week and invited the rest of us to come up for the weekend. He is from Washington, however, right outside of Portland. Needless to say I was confused all weekend. 

Are we in Oregon or Washington? Was a common phrase.
We flew in Friday night and drove straight to Robby's parents house.

Saturday. 

We went on a beautiful hike in the morning outside of... Portland {I think}. Although I was not prepared for a hike at all. 

How funny that boys do not communicate what to pack for trips. 

So I got a whole new outfit for our trip! 

{Brendan, Rudy, Robby, Brian}

{Rudy & Brian decided to jump off the cliff into the river. I was terrified but they got quite the crown gathered to watch them}

{and then he walked around like this cause his shorts were so wet, we had to listen to him scream "mens rights" the whole walk back}

We explored Portland at night. Walking downtown, hitting up a popular bookstore, getting dinner and then making the required Portland stop at Voodoo Donuts.

{This place was huge. I could have stayed there all night}

{The line was out of control and sadly not worth it. They taste like donuts}

Sunday.
We took off with Brian, Brendan and Austin {Rudy's mission friend who lives in OR} to our day trip to Seattle. Its about a 3 hour drive from Portland to Seattle and I got the luxury of sitting back middle seat between Brian and Rudy. How fun!
The drive wasn't too bad and I knitted most of the way.
We went straight to Pike Place Market and got killer parking.

The other boys had all been to Seattle before so they were good tour guides for us.
The Marked is unreal. No wonder its such a hot spot! So many things to look at and buy. I could have been there all day.

 

We had lunch at Pike Place Chowder. Rudy loves Clam Chowder and he was not disappointed.

Of course, the gum wall.

Then off to the Mariners game. The stadium was right in downtown we got prime parking once again.
Going to a Mariners game was absolutely perfect. Checked another stadium off the list, had great weather, great seats, and great company. And they won!

Next up we went to the Space Needle.

 {Rudy was really excited that he was "on" the Space Needle}

Gas Works Park.

We decided to drive back to Portland and get dinner. Our drive was pretty entertaining as we played Heads Up on the way back. Playing with those boys was out of control fun.

{Saw Mt. Rainer in the distance as we stopped at a gas station on the way back}
Monday.
We made the drive back to SLC with Robby. It was a long drive but kinda fun since neither Rudy or I have driven through that part of the country.
The first part of the drive was lined with trees and then we followed the real Oregon Trail. We stopped in either Idaho Falls or Twin Falls, can't keep those cities straight to see this phenomenal bridge over the gorge. And saw some crazies bridge jumping.

It was such a fun trip. Although it was quick I felt like we were able to see soooo much! We were constantly busy. I am so grateful for Rudy's friends. Those guys have such a great friendship and I am glad I get to hang out with them a lot too. 

el finale.

We have reached the end of my Mexico trip.
But just cause it was winding down, it did not disappoint.

We spend our final morning in Taxco, and just when I thought I couldn't love it more, I did.
We had breakfast in the courtyard of our hotel and loved that.

It was decorated so pretty and quaint. The food was pretty good (stinky cheese again!) but we loved our hot chocolate.

At the very top of Taxco was a statue of Christ and we really wanted to see it.
The hotel informed us that the only real way to get up there was by taxi.
This was because of the crazy streets of Taxco.
We piled into a taxi for a really great adventure.

I have never experienced such crazy and intricate driving. They were winding around these little narrow streets so fast. If another taxi was coming down the road, our taxi would need to back down the road to make room.
The crazy drive was so worth it. The view from the top of the mountain was so amazing.
The Christ statue was spectacular.

We then made our way back to Mexico City and all of the traffic.
We met Brian's family at Xochimilico, a very Venice-esque place for a little river cruise.

It was a lot better than I was expecting. We took off on our boat and the river was packed with other boats that provided legit entertainment

food

and good sights

 

and then just crazy drunk people on boats that felt very "great & spacious building"-esque.
Afterwards, we headed out for Korean karaoke for entertainment and then out to a really fancy five-star restaurant for a really late dinner.

So late that it was giving me anxiety about our 4:30 am wake up call for our flight the next morning.
Annie and I got about 2.5 hours of sleep our final night and were up and out for the airport.
Our flight was leaving at 7 and left the house about 5:25, but with it being so dark out we had some trouble getting to the airport. Then we couldn't find the right terminal and missed it about 3 times.
We got dropped off at about 6:20. And in true Leigh fashion, my anxiety started setting in.
We were running real tight for our departure.
We went to the wrong kiosk and then was informed we were even at the wrong airline. We were on a Delta flight out of the other terminal. The terminal we had past about 3 times  in the morning.
We rushed to the bus to switch to the other station and at this point my anxiety left and reality set in that we were missing our flight. We rushed through the terminal anyway. And alas, the airline was all closed up.
Brian came and met us (since he wasn't flying with us) and we sat and waited to figure out how we were gonna get up.
Annie and I sat and played games and resisted the urge to scratch our bug bits, which had gotten increasingly worse.

Bites as of the Sunday after.
 (which yes, I still have and then tend to itch every once in awhile)
Brian was nice enough to purchase us new tickets.
Redirecting our flight to Atlanta then to SLC.
I had a great trip. So much fun and saw so many great sights.
I am so thankful for Lourie and Brian for being so kind and generous on our trip together.
I felt like another daughter on a special family trip.
And although I loved Mexico,
it was the best going through customs and hearing "Welcome home"