Sunkissed Escapades :: Oregon Roadtrip

My husband and I took a road trip up to the beautiful state of Oregon this past month. We've been planning it for a while now and we're both so stoked to go exploring and adventuring up there.

We packed my Kia Soul full of everything, including his surfboard, and headed out for a week of escapades. 

If you have a chance to visit, I'd highly suggest it. Here's a bunch of photos from the driving, eating, hiking, relaxing and all the little stops along the way.

First stop: Shasta Lake, Mt. Shasta

Yaks on the 5...literally the best burger I've ever had, not to mention their coffee is delicious and they give it to you in a french press!

The home we stayed at the first couple days had visitors on the lawn everyday. Precious deer and wild turkeys! It was fun doing yoga together. 

Outside of the cutest little breakfast place called The Teapot on Wheels, right by the river.

Views from a few of our hikes. These first photos are from Lower Table Rock Trail, the last 30 minutes of the trail you're walking on top of a plateau and you have a 360' view of the mountains and city below. It's unbelievably gorgeous!

Stopped at the tasting room at Del Rio Vineyards. Yuuuummy wine and friendly staff. They do everything on site- it's a great local winery in Gold Hill.

Jacksonville is an old little town with a lot of charm. We got there around 6 on a Sunday night and a lot of the stores were already closed, but we enjoyed walking around and had dinner then coffee and dessert at a great local cafe. 

This day was probably my favorite :: CRATER LAKE. I've been wanting to visit this gorgeous phenomena for some time now, and this bright blue lake is completely everything it's cracked up to be!

View from the top of Garfield Peak, I'd HIGHLY recommend hiking this trail if you're there.

Found the PCT! One day, I'd love to hike at least a portion of the Pacific Crest Trail. We saw it from the highway we were on, and pulled over to check it out.

On to Portland...the city of a million cafes and another million local restaurants. Not that that's a bad thing- it just made it harder for us to choose where to eat with all the delicious options and only one day!

Laurelhurst Cafe- get the quinoa salad or the Donald Trump sandwich.

Blue Star Donuts - locally sourced and made from scratch daily. I got the lemon poppyseed- sooooo amazing with a glass of ice cold milk.

On the way back down from Portland we stayed at Lakeshore Inn, right on Lake Oswego. We woke up to gorgeous views of the lake and the amazing houses on it; the hotel was lovely and we found a great deal! I wish we could've stayed there a few more days- there's a heated swimming pool downstairs that is overlooking the lake that I would've loved to swim in!

Had breakfast at Down to Earth Cafe on a rainy morning. (Seeing rain was so great).  It's a small family owned restaurant with organic ingredients and tons of delicious options. Their coffee was great as well. These eggs benedict and potatoes were delicious. With all our heavy meals, I was still trying to keep it balanced (trying is the key word), so I got a smoothie to go with fruits, ginger, greens and seeds. (Pretty sure I gained like 10 lbs on our trip...that's what vacations are for though, right?)

Speaking of packing on the pounds, we also HAD to stop at Tillamook Cheese Factory for some free samples, a tour of the place and a deliciously cheesy grilled cheese sandwich.

So many beautiful little stops on our 15 hour drive back home. It didn't seem like that long (probably because I wasn't driving), and the gorgeous views from the passenger window were keeping me pretty occupied. 

Yes, that's a huge Elk standing on the side of the highway. I thought it was fake at first, then it barely moved its head and my husband and I both yelled "it's real!" So glorious and strong.

Our humble ride. My husband drove the whole time (I swear I offered), such a loving guy- he said he wanted me to be able to enjoy the sights.
I can't wait to travel up there again, maybe next time we'll take a tent or trailer and camp instead, there's campsites about every 10 miles it seemed like! Thank you Oregon, US Interstate 5 and US Route 101 for the beautiful memories.

Until next time, keep dreaming. xoxo

Sunkissed Escapades: Weekend Away in Morro Bay

My husband and I went away for my birthday weekend a couple weeks back. It was such a beautiful little trip, I just had to share some photos! We decided to head over to Morro Bay for a few days to do some relaxing, hiking and good (hearty) eating- as per usual. The weather was gorgeous- sunny but not too warm, with a lovely breeze. We scored on a fantastic room at The Inn at Morro Bay. Definitely check into it if you're staying in that area! 

Our view from the hotel deck

With the sailboats and the calm blue water, it felt like we were in a Mediterranean fishing village.

Breakfast at Dorn's was amazing! They say they have the best buttermilk pancakes, and don't dismiss it for false advertising. I'm usually a waffle gal- but these were to die for. Although they were huge, I'm pretty sure we both finished our's...along with the rest of our breakfast!

We chose a new place to go hiking that we hadn't been to before, Montana del Oro State Park. You can see the ocean from almost any trail you hike, the beaches are gorgeous, and it's free! We hiked up to one of the higher peaks, which was a good workout after our hefty morning meal. The views from the top and other spots along the trail were just unbeatable, and by the time we got to the top, the morning sea fog had rolled away and it was sunny and warm.

My handsome man, wearing our lucky hiking backpack as usual. 

There were so many beautiful butterflies playing together at the top of the peak.

 

We rested at the top and enjoyed the view for a while, then headed back down the mountain to go check out the bluff trail.

"Rock Shrine Beach" as I like to call it - this was the biggest one there. No one ever tries to break them down, it's really cool.

Had to take a few sunset pics that night- because really, who ever gets tired of watching this gorgeous sky?

We spent the last morning playing frisbee (our frisbee's awesome, you can get one here!) and drinking a few beers on the beach. Made a pit stop at Firestone Walker Brewery to eat on the way back - they had some delicious grub and it's one of Eddie's favorite beers, so he was in hog heaven. 

We got back home with sand on our feet, red cheeks and another beautiful weekend of memories to cherish. So instead of spring cleaning this weekend, consider getting away yourself! It's always a better option.

And here's one more sunset photo just because I really love my new camera...and sunsets.

Until next time. xoxo