Mike and I are gearing up for our journey back to California and we've had such a great time just relaxing and hanging out with family and friends and opening presents :)
But, it's even better to watch these guys open presents...
Tired of the paparazzi
LEGOS!
Distraught over the fact that he already opened all his presents...
Santa Paws! (he's wearing an extra large but apparently it just won't stretch across his 80 lb frame!!)
With Aunt Heidi
Addison taking it all in...
And a tiny picture I stole off my sister's blog of me and Molly :)
Me and my mom :)
Hope everyone has a spectacular New Year's Eve celebration, whatever it may be! We'll be down in New Orleans--woohoo!
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Mike and I have been cruising through the northwest and midwest for a few days now and I must say, the men of Montana are the epitome of "real men!" We've pretty much been the only car on the road as all the real men of Montana blow past us in their trucks with "gone fishin'" bumper stickers...I love it! I've always heard about how friendly Midwesterner's are, and it's SO true! Everywhere we've visited and every site that we have stopped at we've been chatted up by all the friendly folks out here...everyone is so cordial and cheerful!! Makes me not want to leave, except for the freezing temperatures!
Yesterday we started the day off by visiting a winery in Pasco, Washington. I happened to be at the wheel as we were heading down the interstate and all of a sudden I'm like, "Heeey, I see vineyards!" They were hard to distinguish at first because all the vines are dormant and there is snow covering the ground, but vineyards they were! A few miles down the road I see a sign for Preston winery stating that the winery was open every day from 10am-5pm...next thing you know I'm swerving off the interstate and heading down a very icy back road...but it was so great! Great wine, beautiful tasting room and again, super friendly people :)
This may have been when I inadvertently (OK, I totally meant to) left the freeway to visit the winery...
Our tasting room host was so sweet...
We went on a quick tour of the facilities...
If you're thinking that we look like we just rolled out of bed, hit the road and spontaneously went wine tasting, well then sadly, you would be right!
Next stop: downtown Spokane (which is really cute!)
Next we drove through the panhandle of Idaho and that by far has been the coldest place we've traveled through.
We saw a few frozen lakes along the way and this one we were able to stop and take a few pictures...crazy!
Still can't believe it was frozen!!!
All the sign said was "Old Mission State Park"
Winter wonderland...
Billings, Montana
Today we drove through Wyoming and now we're hanging out in South Dakota and are planning to visit Mount Rushmore in the morning :)
I just love little white churches...
Nah, we didn't stop in, but this place was packed!
Carol says:
Wonderful images Whitney! What a beautiful part of this wonderful country......drive safely and have fun!!
Amy Hunsinger says:
Whitney!!!! Merry Christmas to you, Mike and your whole family! Tell your sweet mama I said hi. I got your lovely thank you note. Thank you so much. Also, thank you for sharing your trip on your blog. You make it all look so fun and breathtaking. And I love seeing Bear enjoying the trip too. WHat an awesome scrapbook. Be safe and can't wait to see you soon! Love you!
(12.24.09 @ 06:14 AM)
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Today we woke up in Kennewick, Washington and were quite startled to see that the sun didn't rise until almost 8am! Yikes! So then we checked the sunset and couldn't believe it went down so early here: 4:10pm...what a bummer! I am definitely one of those people who becomes grouchy in the winter time---I'm sure Mike is thankful we don't live here ;)
Yesterday we drove through all of Oregon and it was SO beautiful...I LOVED it!!! I've always had this inkling to go to Oregon, even though I really didn't know what was there. AND it was so pretty...pine trees everywhere, beautiful mountains, waterfalls and apple butter!
Yes, we found the elusive apple butter barn while driving along I-5 and we just had to turn around to visit. Once exiting at the next stop, we decided to act like we were Oregoners (or is it Oregonians? Oregonites?) and drive the back roads back to the Apple Butter Barn...well, this is what happens when you act like you know what you're doing but you don't: you keep running into dead ends! We eventually drove back to the interstate and found the Apple Butter and it was sooo worth it :) Cutest little place with the friendliest people EVER! They were thankful for us stopping in, wished us well on our travels and sent us on our way with some hand-made, right-out-of-the-oven, fluffy cinnamon rolls...man, I love people from Oregon! :)
I love photographing churches and this is a cute one we passed on the way to the Apple Butter store...
One of the many dead ends on the way to find the apple butter...
We found it!
YUM! :)
A fun stop in Eugene to check out this cute little college town and Mike decided to grab some Starbucks...which, by the way, this was the *cleanest* Starbucks I have ever been in!
Road bikes everywhere in rainy Portland...
Last year, Mike and I brought our own food and it worked out quite well because we didn't have to eat nasty fast food, stop 20 million times for McDonald's and we were eating healthy food...this year we took it a step further and we brought tons of great stuff...here's some of the salad we brought along from our local farmer's market :)
We're driving through Washington, Idaho and part of Montana today...check back later!
dottie says:
Thanks for documenting you guys' "great cross-country adventure #2 " !! I can pretend to be Bear's invisible buddy along for the ride!!! love ya tons
(12.17.09 @ 09:56 AM)
Lisa Braithwaite says:
Next time you're up there, take the 80 east along the Columbia gorge. Some of the most unbelievable scenery there. And then stop in Hood River... and if you like those rural farm roads, take the "fruit loop" out of Hood River (it's a loop, so you'll come back) and stop at tons of farm stands with fruit, jams, honeys, you name it. It's our favorite place in the world.
(12.17.09 @ 03:15 PM)
Heidi says:
Are you bringing of that yummy apple butter east? I bet your niece would love some... ;)
(12.17.09 @ 04:37 PM)
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is all the packing! I mean, who really likes packing? (if you do, then you are officially hired to pack for our next cross country trip!). I LOVE to travel and do so frequently, but it has come to the point where I have several bags/suitcases full of clothes and toiletries and then just never unpack, because if I unpack...well, that means I have to pack it again!
Packing for weeks on end for varying temperatures across the US is challenging (we're talking sub-zero temps versus 80 degrees), but we managed to make it all fit in our rental car. Last year, we drove our old jeep but we decided not to tempt fate this year by driving it 8,000+ miles (told you we were going a tad bit out of the way) and Mike and I didn't think our sports cars would be a great fit for driving in snow, so rental car it is!
These were the days leading up to the trip--I set everything out so I can mentally picture how I will nicely fold or package (aka cram) items into suitcases and trunks. The first bag to be packed was Bear's--it was the easiest...it only took me 5 minutes to pack his bag (yes, my mom bought him a monogrammed bag!). And the stuffed rhino is a gift for his cousin Lucy (my other lab) in NC.
Presents!!!
I inherited this fun (ahem, OCD) little thing from my dad: I drag everything out to the car and artfully (again, the word is cram) place each item efficiently in the trunk...
The trunk seriously looks like it exploded... (really glad that didn't happen today on the 5...it was raining...ohh, that would have been bad!)
This is Bear's party face...
Ready for 3+ weeks of roadtrippin'!!
Check back later :) *If anyone has any great suggestions of places to eat dinner in Portland, let me know!*
Sara Chidester says:
I love the pictures of Bear in the backseat! Have a safe trip, let me know if you have time to meet up while you're in NC! :)
(12.16.09 @ 05:57 AM)
Carol says:
I just got an urgent message from SANTA - he is now very puzzled about how he could leave a gift or two in NC or TN for Bear or Mike or Whit.....I mean after all, how could a gift make it back to CA in that teeny, tiny little car??!!
(12.16.09 @ 08:14 AM)
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By the time you read this I will be somewhere in Nor Cal or Oregon...no, I'm not running from the cops ;) (although, I hope the superior court of LA received my fine for my speeding ticket--darn you, LAPD!)...anyway, I digress...!
Mike and I are on our way to NC/TN for Christmas, and yes, we are driving, AGAIN! Yeah, a lot of people have asked if we're crazy, but it's fun...really! Last year, we went a more direct route and you can check out that blog post HERE, but this year we are going very out of the way (that was my idea) and will hopefully be seeing tons of cool things we haven't seen before (like Mt. Rushmore) and things we haven't seen in years (like snow).
I plan on blogging most of the trip but that all depends on hotel internet-you know how that goes....!
ME: um, I was told you have wireless internet.
HOTEL: yes, we do
ME: well, why doesn't it work in my room??
HOTEL: oh, are you sure you're accessing the correct network? we're 8D9746561099OOOB42342123
ME: YES, I tried it 3 times already.
HOTEL: oh, well, um, we actually don't have wireless internet, we just borrow it from the hotel down the block so sometimes you have to sit in the parking lot to access it or it usually works best if you sit on the roof and the wind blows in our direction.
ME: greeeattttt
But in all seriousness, I will definitely be sharing images soon so be sure to check back!!
Bear is the main reason why we drive because what kind of mother would I be if I left my baby in a kennel all winter long?!
Soo this was about 8 feet of snow last year in Flagstaff and apparently we'll be driving through even more...not sure if that's anxiety or excitement I'm feeling...hehe.
Check back soon! :)
Katie says:
Hope you guys have a blast! Have a good Christmas!
(12.15.09 @ 06:32 AM)
Carol says:
awww.......Bear you don't know how lucky you have it!!!! Have fun and be careful - can't wait to see you guys!!!
(12.15.09 @ 10:45 AM)
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You have a beautiful family, Whitney! Happy New Years!!
(12.31.09 @ 11:53 AM)HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! May you have a fabulous 2010 and a rockin road trip back to CA! :)
(01.01.10 @ 10:28 AM)