Portland Road Trip

Our little family recently made an epic road trip north to Portland. 

It was quite the adventure indeed. 

My best friend Mel got married past Sunday, and since I was the matron of honor there were quite a few events that I had to be present for! We thought it best to drive up there so we had our car, and weren't limited to the stuff that we could bring. 

We set out Wednesday morning, making it halfway to Medford, Oregon for the night.

I didn't totally think through the one room situation with a baby. 

You see, Felix goes to sleep at 7 -- and is a very light sleeper, so we were forced to watch the tv on mute until we went to sleep. Luckily we were all pretty tired so we ended up going to be early! 

The drive was beautiful, though boring. Driving in one straight line up I-5 for 700 miles can make you want to rip your hair out pretty fast. Good thing Seth and I decided to read a book on tape for the drive, we chose "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter". The book kept our minds busy through the long patches of unexciting landscape. 

We got up early the next morning and headed north. We needed to be in Portland in time for me to get ready to go to the bachelorette party that evening.

We made pretty good time and got to Hillsboro, where Ashley lives and we stayed, around 2. 

We got the boys settled and left shortly after. 

Sidenote: have you ever sat in Portland traffic?

It is AWFUL. Dare I say worse that LA? 

It took me 2 hours to go 15 miles to Mels house just north of Portland in Vancouver, WA.

CRA-ZAY. 

The rest of the night was spent celebrating with the awesome bride and bridesmaids. 

"mood lighting" 

The next day we relaxed until we had to head north again for a nail appointment and BBQ.

Cue cursing about traffic.

We sat for a long time in traffic, and then Ash says "umm Jamie...Felix pooped".

And I think, "ok, nothing too out of the ordinary"

And then, "JAMIE, It's coming out of his pants, its on the seat, I need wipes, WEAR ARE THE WIPES."

Blowouts in rush our traffic on the freeway are FUN. We pulled over, on the side of a bridge in Portland and had to change the poopy little dude. 

And we were very late for nails.

And of course Felix hadn't napped so he promptly had a meltdown. 

This was not my favorite day. 

That was how we kept Felix entertained at the nail salon until Seth came back.

We wanted, so much, to go the BBQ that Mel and Jeff were hosting that night at their new house but it was almost impossible. 

My mom was flying in that night too and wanted to see Felix, so we decided to head back to her hotel in Hillsboro and just have a quiet night to ourselves without Felix.

Seth and I got the chance to go out to a nice dinner, visit a funky Portland brewery, and get Voodoo donuts.
The unexpected date night definitely made up for the interesting day. 

The next day, Saturday, was the rehersal and following luncheon. 

I definitely cried in the rehearsal more than I did the wedding. 

It is so overwhelming to see your best friend walking down the isle. 

Melissa and I also happened to accidentally match that day, oops!

Saturday evening Ashley's fiancee, Steve, had a game in downtown Portland. He plays for the MLS Portland Timbers. I had never been to an MLS game before and it was so exciting. Sports fans in the Pacific North West are diehard. I did not expect such spirit and noise. It was honestly one of the most fun sporting events I've ever been to, besides hockey of course. 

After meeting some of the players after the game, we headed home -- hopefully to get enough sleep before the wedding.

My mom had Felix again that night which was great, though I missed him so much.

I went over to her hotel early in the morning to visit.

Ash and I had to leave early to get our hair done so we could be on time for everything.

We wrote speeches in the hair salon and shared them with eachother -- trying to get through without tears. 

We got to the venue at 11:30 and walked upstairs to wear all the wedding party was getting ready.

Mel was only half way through her makeup and hair but she was honestly the most beautiful bride I've ever seen. After opening our bridesmaids gifts, matching earings and necklaces for all of the maids, we helped Mel into her dress so she and Jeff could go and have their "first look". 

Seth, my Mom, and Felix arrived shortly after. 

I had the boys in matching outfits for the wedding and they couldn't have been any cuter. 

We were confined to the getting ready room for the last half hour before the wedding started. We kept the flower girl and ring bearer busy with spiderman. How cute are they?!

The ceremony was perfect.

It was a scorching 95 degrees, but luckily we werent out there for too long!

The reception was held in an air conditioned tent next to where the ceremony was held. 

Jeff and Felix really hit it off!

And Felix loved Mel. He was jumping and drooling all over her!

Felix also made friends with the ring bearer. It's so fun to see him interacting with other kids!

The night ended early and we all headed home. Knowing that we were going to be driving a lot the next day I mentally prepared myself for all the packing I needed to do. 

We left around 9 the next day. 

Our first stop was in Madras, Oregon to see my old babysitter and friend, Tanya.

We drove through beautiful Mount Hood and through the central Oregon high desert. The Oregon landscape is so interesting!

After Madras, we made our way down to Crater Lake.

Neither of us had ever been there before so we were both looking forward to it.

Crater Lake did not dissapoint. It was truly an incredible place to see.

It started raining shortly after we arrived, which was kind of sad -- but the clouds made the landscape more beautiful that I could have imagined. 

Even though the drive was a lot longer than we thought, it was so worth stopping. 

After Crater Lake, we drove to our hotel in Klamath Falls. We were all exhausted to we settled in for the night and slept really well. Felix slept all the way until 7 am that night, and sure enough he had a tooth pop through in the morning!

On the last day of our trip we were all so tired, Felix was out of onesies, and we wanted to be home so badly! We drove past the beautiful Mount Shasta, stopped in Weed, and jetted home.

We set out around 8:15 and made it home around 5. 

The trip was wonderfully exhausting.

I think today is the first day I feel back to normal. 

Travelling with a baby is not for the faint of heart, it definitely requires super human patience and expecting the unexpected. 

I think I'm content to stay home for the next few months.