Oh Canada

When we first moved to Oregon, it just so happened to cross over with the time that one of my best friends from high school, Elana was living in Portland for a year. She was at the tail end of her time here, but in the month or so that we had in the same place, we were able to spend a good amount of time together hiking, running a Thanksgiving day 5k, and swing dancing! I think the highlight was the five days that we spent together in Canada. Getting to live in the same place as this dear friend was such a joy, so when she asked if I could take some time off work to venture across the border, I didn't even think twice!

We left on a Friday night to drive to Seattle. We had planned to then drive the next morning to the ferry to Victoria Island. However, about 30 miles South of Seattle, Elana suddenly realized that she forgot her passport in Oregon. This is SO easy to do, and when I was packing for the trip I probably said "Don't let me forget my passport" at least 10 times to Devin. Elana and I laughed in disbelief, but immediately got to work searching about border-crossing rules and stories. We thought maybe it wasn't that strict of a border, and maybe if we looked, we would find lots of stories of people who had gotten into Canada with only their license, or a picture of their passport! Alas, this was not the case. Everything we read said that indeed, you do need your passport, and under no circumstances will be allowed in without it. Our options were pretty limited, so it was back to Portland we went! Devin just so happened to be doing a show in Portland that night, and being the sweet guy he is, was trying to think how he could help us! He ended up leaving his show a bit early, driving to Elana's house to get the passport from her roommates, and then driving towards us on I5. He met us about 30 miles north of Portland, saving us about an hour of driving! We all reunited at a gas station, and were very excited to finally have the passport in hand!

Although we did not get a lot of sleep that night, our plans the next day went as scheduled, and we woke up to drive to the ferry. Our first day in Victoria was spent visiting the Butchard Gardens to see their Christmas light display. I have never been to the gardens in the daylight, so technically I can't compare, but I have to say, I still think I'd like them more with the Christmas lights! It was magical! We walked through the display, admiring the creativity that went into the design, and then settled in to sing along with the carolers for awhile!

We stayed at a beautiful bed & breakfast that had a view of the Craigdarroch Castle right outside the window. We had a cozy evening by the fireplace, and woke up the next day to sunshine! We were ready to see more of Victoria before our afternoon ferry back to the mainland.

We spent the next three nights in the beautiful town of Squamish. We arrived after dark, so were very surprised when we woke up and saw that we were completely surrounded by mountains. We didn't even know! The town also got it's first snow the night we were there. Our plan was to snowshoe to a cabin in the mountains, where we would spend the night, and then snowshoe back out in the morning. However, due to the fresh snow on the mountain roads, they were much icier than we anticipated! We had chains for the car tires, but despite our best efforts, we could not make it up the hill. We were quite disappointed as our plans crumbled in front of us. But, as we had already learned on this trip, when things don't go as planned, it's best to just laugh it off, and come up  with another plan!

We called our airbnb host to see if we could stay an extra night with her (which we could, yay!) and  headed to the tourist center to get some information about day hikes. They had some great recommendations for us, and the bright side was that we would get to see more variety than we would have if we only did the hut hike. The first day, we hiked a challenging trail up to the Summit Lodge. There is a gondola that you can take, but we knew it would be more fun to hike up. The challenging part of the trail was that sections of it were covered in ice, making it very difficult to get a grip! We made it to the lodge just as the sun was setting. They had decorated a tree in the forest with Christmas lights, and had a bonfire roaring to thaw our fingers and toes. After walking across the suspension bridge, we made it inside to find that we had the lodge entirely to ourselves. We grabbed a hot drink, Scrabble, and cozied up by the Christmas Tree to relax a bit. Shortly after, they informed us the last gondola down was leaving, so we had to bid farewell to the dreamy mountain lodge.

The next day, we hiked deep into the forest to find Rainbow Lake. There was only one other group of snowshoers that we saw, and after a few hours of walking in, when we should have been arriving at the lake, we ran into them again, realizing that neither of us had found the lake. We all must have taken a wrong turn and followed the wrong trail for a little bit. Since the days were very short, we didn't have enough time to keep searching, so we stopped to eat our lunch, and needed to turn around to make it back down before we lost all light. We didn't care that we didn't find the lake, because the experience of walking in the mountains and being surrounded by the deepest snow I've ever been in was stunning on its own. We had a great view when we stopped to eat, and it was plenty satisfying! 

After our snowy adventures, we walked around the famous ski town, Whistler. Whistler hosted the nordic events in the 2010 Winter Olympics. We warmed up with a coffee and a snack, then browsed the boutiques before heading back to our airbnb for the evening.

Our final day in Canada, we enjoyed a walk in the park in Vancouver. The sun was shining, and we strolled along the waterfront, where we could see the city skyline as well as some historic points, such as old totem poles. We needed to get back across the border to avoid hitting traffic in Seattle, so we crossed back into our home country with hearts full of new snowy, beautiful memories!

Cross-Country Move

After a wonderful month in the Midwest catching up with friends and family, working, studying, and helping with my brother's wedding, the time had come for us to make the move to Oregon. When Devin moved to Iowa in 201, he bought a car that then sat in Iowa for the four years we lived in Spain. So we packed our little car to the brim, and hit the open road.We decided to take our time on this drive, including a few more people in the Tour D'Friends, and taking in the scenery along the way. Our first destination was Colorado, where we spent a week in visiting three different people and of course, enjoying the Rockies.

 We first stayed with my good friend and roommate from Spain, Rachel. Rachel left Spain two years before we did and has been settling in Denver. She recently got married and bought a beautiful home, which she was gracious to share with us just weeks after moving in. We enjoyed spending time in the Washington Park neighborhood, hiking in Boulder, and even got to spend some time with Rachel's parents, whose visit overlapped with ours for a day. It was so good to spend time with someone who has also experienced the move from Spain to the U.S. and understands the different aspects of that. It was so fun to be "roommates" again for a few days!

When we left Rachel, we went another part of Denver to spend the weekend with my college best friend and bridesmaid, Sammie. Sammie and her husband Joel are both busy medical residents, and were so kind to spend their weekend with us! We started our time together by attending a Brendan James concert downtown. I am a HUGE fan and loved introducing Sammie and Joel to one of my very favorite artists. On Saturday, we ventured into the mountains and did a beautiful hike to a lake and visited the small town of Idaho Springs. Sunday we made it to a pumpkin patch near Boulder . We had a blast chasing one other through the corn maze and admiring the farm animals. Sammie and Joel are uniquely thoughtful people who live their live with much awareness and intention. They are a couple I have admired since the very beginning, and one I will always long to spend more time with.

When Sammie and Joel had to return to work, we continued to Ft. Collins to spend time with my Uncle Dave and Aunt Debby. Visiting them is always a pleasure, and this time was no exception. We love talking with them, hearing their stories and perspectives, and relaxing in their beautiful home with a mountain view. They had great suggestions of new things to check out in the area, and took us on an evening hike on a trail we had not been on before. They are fabulous hosts, and we cherish our time with them!

From Dave and Deb's we drove through the Rockies with the destination of Moab, Utah. On the way, we stopped near Grand Junction to do a hike up to a lake. The hike was not long, but made up for it by being quite steep. The lake was certainly worth it, with crystal clear water and a waterfall jetting out of the rock.

We arrive in Moab in the evening, but could already feel the energy of the surroundings. As we left the Rockies we saw the landscape transform into dry, red rocks. We couldn't wait to explore more the next day! When the sun came up, we made our way to Arches National Park. The road winds around different rock structures, offering different views of unique formations. There are various opportunities to stop and hike to get up close and marvel the enormity and rareness of the rocks. We completed a few different loops in the sunlight, and then went to Dead Horse State Point to watch the sun fall for the evening.

From Moab, we headed North to Salt Lake City. On the way, we stopped for a hike to _____. In SLC, we were fortunate to connect with an old college friend Deborah and her husband Anthony. They live in on the Utah State University campus while Deborah completes her PhD. I have not seen Deborah in many, many years, and although Anthony attended APU, our paths had never crossed there. We loved catching up on all of the happenings of the years since we met as college freshman. They shared many humorous things about life in Utah. For example, all beer served on tap cannot be over 4%, but some restaurants serve other beers they make that have a higher alcohol level, but they must be in a can. Many facts like this just made us chuckle and ask, "Why??" 

Our final leg of the trip brought us through Eastern Oregon, to the lovely city of Bend. We have spent a couple of days in Bend before, but decided we would stop and take in some new hikes before driving the rest of the way home. We finally made it to Tumalo Falls and continued on the trail past it to see a few more falls. After a night in Bend, we hit the final stretch, stopping to hike to the infamous Blue Lake. The trail to Blue Lake is a fairly flat path surrounded by mossy green, and at this time of year, bright Fall colors. Starting our time in Oregon in the outdoors was the perfect way to get us excited about the new possibilities we will have as we make our new home!