Saturday Sep 19:

After a much needed night of rest, we hit the road once again. The trek was long, as we made it a point to go through the Redwood National Forest, but we passed the time with come classic tunes from Billy Joel (my absolute favorite), Eric Clapton, the Beatles, etc. We barely made it in time to see the forest before the sun went down (there was a TON of traffic) but it was well worth it. Photos coming soon, of course.

After we spent about an hour checking out the trees, we made our way to Portland, OR. An old friend, Stefani (formerly Ide) Wilkinson, from our youth group lives there with her husband. Fortunately, they have a sweet basement and we immediately crashed out. Driving makes you tired, after all.

Sunday Sep 20:

We kicked off the day with a great lunch at this little vegan place that was within walking distance from Stefani & Micah’s place. It was so great to catch up and get to know the “grown up” Stefani. It’s so cool to see how people change and create these new lives for themselves. I love it.

After lunch, David and I headed to Muddy Water’s coffee shop for a last minute afternoon show he threw together. It just so happened my friend Sean Carasso was in town for a wedding and so he showed up, along with about 12 friends. This made for a nice, unexpected crowd. The show was wonderful and they responded well.

Immediately after that, David and I hit up the famous Powell’s Book Store. I re-bought one of my favorites- Franny and Zooey for a whopping $4.50. Love it.

We then met back up with Stefani, Micah, and one of their roommates for some “Tex-Mex.” Which, let’s be honest, is never that unless you’re in Texas. But the guac was awesome! We were happy.

The night wrapped up with some major relaxation and local Portland beer back at their house.

Monday Sep 21:

I forgot to mention that I AM OBSESSED WITH PORTLAND. I officially declare it second best to Austin, TX. And it’s maybe the only other city I’ve been to that I 100% would move to tomorrow. Just saying…

Which makes it really sad that we had to leave on Monday. I took some photos of Stefani and Micah’s new puppy and then some head shots for Micah’s business cards (he plays for the Portland Symphony!) and then we left for Seattle.

We arrived to Seattle and went immediately to Pike’s Place. Yeah, we’re tourists, whatever. We walked around and I took some photos and we just enjoyed the leisure time. Then we decided to try some famous clam chowder and we were BLOWN AWAY. It was seriously amazing! Yummmm.

After that, we headed to meet up with David’s friend Courtney who had set up a little mini show on her friend’s deck which overlooks Portland. Amazing views! Some strangers even came up to the deck after hearing David play.

Courtney’s friend James suggested we go to this local theatre to check out this movie Sufjan Stevens made called BQE (Brooklyn Queens Expressway). It was definitely interesting.. Amazing music and some really cool shots. But don’t go if you’re super sleepy. ;)

We walked back home and had a good chat with James- he’s freaking awesome! He’s doing some really cool stuff in Seattle and we’re stoked to see what that looks like.

Courtney so graciously let us crash in her living room- thanks girl! Hopefully we can make another trip up there!