As most of you know by now, Baby Luders is due in late March! When I first found out, March seemed like forever away…but now, it feels right around the corner (exciting, if not mildly terrifying)! One thing I knew, though, was that we needed one last trip before baby. We had originally tossed around the idea of Iceland, but Iceland in the winter felt a little…dark.
Then we remembered an idea we had a few months prior – a Pacific Northwest Roadtrip. It originally included a couple days in Sonoma or Napa, which obviously got nixed (I’m not all about watching someone else enjoy wine without me). But, with the added bonus of being able to visit Chris’s brother in San Francisco, and the knowledge that 20-30 hours in the car wouldn’t sound appealing with a baby, we decided this was the choice for us.
We started in Mountain View/San Francisco for Thanksgiving and got a tour of Google and a quick tour of the valley. Unfortunately, though, this was either “confidential” areas or seen from the car, so I don’t have a ton of photos. Photographer fail.
But then we set way for the Pacific 101 and the Redwood Forest. It’s hard to envision just how big these trees are. They are so tall, in fact, that they block a TON of sunlight. One of my favorite things, though, is the texture of the tree trunks. The bark has these vertical corrugations that are so beautiful.
We stopped in a few coastal Oregon cities to enjoy some relaxing, beachy evenings. After a life on the east, the western sunsets were so breathtaking. I also loved the topography of the beaches, with their jutting rocks and scenic inlets.
While in Portland, we spent a little time visiting the Columbia River Gorge. And it was COLD…..and windy! We wimpily tried to avoid icy patches on the trails (come on, we’re from Georgia. We don’t know what to do). But it was all worth it to see such a breathtaking waterfall!
One of our last stops was the Olympic Peninsula. We actually stayed in Forks (of Twilight fame), which was entertaining on its own. Everything was Twilight themed! We actually chose Forks because it was one of the few places in the Olympic peninsula with lodging, much less WiFi. And while our B&B did have WiFi, it also had the option to hang a sign on your door stating which member of the Cullen family you thought the room belonged to. We abstained.
While we were there, we “braved” some pretty strong winds and torrential downpour to visit the Hoh Rainforest. It ended up being beautiful, but a little dangerous because a tree ended up falling down on the road while we were in the rainforest, blocking us in. We had no cell reception, but, fortunately, a more-prepared visitor came by with a saw and was able to get the tree out of the way!
Finally, we ended in Seattle! We only spend about a half-day of our nine-day trek there, but we were able to visit the Pike Place market!
Here’s to seeing how travels with a baby go! At least our final trip pre-baby was a success!