When the weather in Oregon gets above 50 degrees, it's like the whole state drops whatever it's doing and goes outside. Last weekend, I was one of those people. Despite having a final paper due next week, A and I decided to take advantage of the 70 degree weather and go exploring. We decided on Corvallis, a small college town 45 minutes north of us and the home of the Oregon State Beavers (*cough* Go Ducks *cough*).
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Last Friday, I had to be in Portland for a law function so A and I decided to head up to Mt. Hood Meadows do to some skiing on Saturday. A is a skier but I am a snowboarder, however, I decided I wanted to learn how to ski that day. I was excited and pumped to learn, but that changed very quickly......
When I think of Oregon, I think of rain and nature.... but mostly rain. But on the few occasions where it's not raining, I try to get out and do some hiking. Last week, A and I took a trip to Silver Falls State Park near Salem. We hiked the Trail of Ten Falls, where you guessed it, there were ten waterfalls!
A few weeks ago, the sun finally decided to make an appearance after weeks of rain and cloudy weather. Not only was it sunny, but it was a warm 65 degrees! (the Californian in me is seriously thinking I'm crazy for saying that). Because it was both sunny and warm, my friend A and I decided to take advantage of the weather and head to the coast do some hiking in Florence.
Right after the new year, I took my very first trip to the Canada. A good friend of mine from law school is from Canada and so we decided to take one last trip before the semester started and before we were forced to spend all of our waking hours studying in the library. Although it was only a week, I had the opportunity to experience a lot of British Columbia. I was able to visit Victoria, Vancouver and Kelowna- 3 very different, but fun cities. I was able to see the Parliament Building in Victoria, eat some of the best sushi I've ever had in my life in Vancouver and go snowboarding and ice skating in Kelowna. I even had Tim Horton's a couple of times during the week and also did some serious beer tasting (like I could visit Canada and not try the beer!). It was truly a great trip and I kinda hate to admit it (just because I don't want to give my Canadian friend the satisfaction), but I can't wait to visit again. P.S their money really does smell like maple syrup ;)
When one thinks of Oregon beer, Eugene is usually not the first place they think of. I'll be honest with you, I was a little hesitant when I moved to Eugene. I didn't know much about the craft beer scene in Eugene and I was worried about not having close access to local breweries. I knew that Portland was two hours away and Bend was an hour and a half away. I also knew that I wouldn't be able to get out there as much as I wanted to because of school. To my surprise, there are actually a lot of breweries in Eugene. In fact, there are so many, I began a brewery group with some of my law school friends and every Friday we would try a new brewery. After the semester, we still hadn't gone through all of the breweries and cider houses! I'm excited to head back to school and continue exploring the Eugene craft beer scene next semester.
Hey guys, so I know it's been wayyyyy too long since my last post but now that I have some free time I thought I would let you know what I have been up to these last few months.
Right after I got back from Austin, I began to prepare for my big move to Oregon for law school. Everything happened so quickly- the packing, the moving and even starting school. I was so busy, I never got a chance to write about any of it . Who would've thought law school would be so time consuming ;) On another note, I am happy to report that I survived my first semester of law school (barely) and am 1/6 a lawyer! After being home for a few weeks I was itching to get back out there and travel again. I thought about going to either Chicago, Omaha or Asheville. But when I really thought about it, my mind kept going back to Austin so I took it as a sign and booked a flight.
The last major stop on this grand camping adventure was Zion National Park. I'd been wanting to visit Zion since my freshman year of college six years ago (yes, I know I'm old), when a group of friends went camping there for a guy's trip.
The morning after Mesa Verde, my sister and I began our journey back home. We decided to drive through Utah and visit some of the state's national parks. Our first stop was at Arches National Park in Moab, where we decided to glamp in a teepee the first night. For those of you that don't know, glamping is glamorous camping and the place we chose (despite the high winds at night) couldn't have been better. It was just north of the park and was the cutest campground ever, filled with teepees and safari tents.
After a day of exploring Flagstaff, my sister and I decided to go to check out the Four Corners Monument rather than stay in Flagstaff for an extra day. It was about a 4 hour trip through the Navajo Nation and along the way we were able to make a pit stop at a Navajo Code Talkers exhibit. It was inspiring to learn about the critical role the Code Talkers played in WWII and to see all of the memorabilia.
By the time we got back from Europe, May had just begun. I spent a greater part of the month helping my sister with her last month of high school. There was a Prom, some AP tests, a graduation and lots of celebrations. Needless to say, there wasn't much traveling done that month, just a quick trip to San Francisco during Memorial Day weekend to visit a college friend and see my first Giants' game (see pics below).
Ever since joining Pinterest, I have come across pictures of the Cliffs of Moher and have become obsessed with visiting them. But when I looked it up on Google Maps, I saw that it was on the opposite coast from Dublin and I didn't think the chances of visiting the Cliffs would be very likely if I ever visited Ireland. However, I was determined to at least try and even went as far as getting my international driver's permit from AAA before I left, but the idea of me driving on the opposite side of the road across Ireland didn't make my mom too excited. So, instead we found a day tour that took us from Dublin to the Cliffs and back.
The last stop on our grand European adventure was Ireland. We spent two days in Dublin and one day taking a tour of the Cliffs of Moher. We started our stay in Dublin by going to the place that Ireland is most known for, the Guinness factory!!!!!! People always told me that the Guinness was better in Ireland but I never believed them. I just thought it was that whole, "it's just because you were in Ireland" deal, but boy was I proved wrong. The beer really was better, smoother, sweeter and creamier than in the states. After the beer tasting, we headed into the heart of Dublin and explored the streets for a bit before I was hit by a massive wave of fatigue and was forced to retire to our hotel and sleep.
The last two days in Paris were spent doing the rest of the touristy things on our list such as, visiting the Notre Dame and the Louve. We walked around, ate as much French food as we could fit into our bellies and tried to take in as much of the city as we could. But before we could do all of that, we realized we had no clean clothes and so we were forced to do laundry in a foreign country. Let me tell you, that was an interesting experience! You figure that using a washing machine would be pretty simple, even in a foreign country... but I was wrong. Word to the wise, make sure you ready the directions for the washing machine before you start putting in the detergent! Nevertheless, after a slight delay, we were on our way to taking in as much of Paris as two days would allow us.
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