The Cooleys in the Northwest

Adam and I spent a week in Portland and Seattle. We flew into Seattle early on a Sunday morning and rented a car to drive down to Portland. It was only a 3 hour drive and Adam loves seeing a new part of the country (aside from Hawaii he hadn't been west of Omaha) I highly recommend seeing both cities at once if you have time. I wish we would have had a few more days to go even farther north to British Columbia, maybe next time.

We got to have dinner with Lynette and Jon in Portland which was great. And Lynette picked cherries (now I know why she loves it out there) and made a delicious chocolate cherry cobbler. Sometimes I wonder why I'm still in Des Moines when it seems like everyone else has moved, but it's great to have people to visit around the country. It would be nice to have Lynette and Jon closer. I think we would have tons of fun hanging out with them (and Adam would love playing with their Wii). It's hard to find couple friends sometimes. I loved seeing their apt too since I had lived with Lynette for a few years. it was fun to see familiar things and be able to picture her at home.

Adam joked about moving to the Portland area and I honestly don't think we ever would, but it is something to consider. The city is beautiful and there is so much to do in the area. We drove over to the coast, went to wineries and orchards, did some hiking, saw waterfalls and mountains, pretty much everything you could ever want and no sales tax! And of course the Powells bookstore in downtown Portland. I could have spent an entire day or at least an afternoon there. Adam dragged me out after about 45 minutes, but it's a booklover's paradise.

It was our 2 year anniversary while we were there (the traditional gift is cotton if you were wondering) so we got reservations at Portland City Grill, a nice restaurant on the 30th floor of a building downtown. We had a corner windowseat, so we overlooked the city and ate amazing food. It was fun to get dressed up for a fancy dinner.

Other highlights of the trip included:
buying an 18 pound tuna in Seattle (we had it packed on ice and just checked it with our luggage)
eating the best crabcakes of my life in Seattle
riding a ferry to Bainbridge Island
buying coffee at the first Starbucks
hiking to the top of Multnomah Falls
wandering through flower gardens in Oregon
free wine tastings





Cannon Beach, Oregon
Too bad it wasn't a sunny day, but it was still beautiful.







Multnomah Falls