One Amazing Thing a Day!

My goal for this road trip was to see or experience at least one amazing thing per day. A part of that goal was to get pictures of these experiences as well, both so I can use them to make cards to raise money for the American Cancer Society and become a National Geographic photographer someday (we'll see about that one haha). In this post, I've included one (sometimes two) amazing things that John and I saw. I will also be putting together a new video of photos to use for my cards... so stay tuned. I hope you enjoy this brief summary of a wonderful two weeks =-)

Day 1- Yosemite National Park- “The Grizzly Giant” Sequoia in the Mariposa grove at Yosemite- It was ginormous!

Day 2- Yosemite National Park- Waterfalls Galore! My favorite was Vernal Falls below that I trekked up alone with my camera wrapped in a sweatshirt so it didn’t get too wet while I snapped a picture.

Day 3- I didn’t say SEE 1 amazing thing per day- so anything goes! At Sierra Nevada Brewery (Chico, CA), I tasted at least 13 amazing beers!

Day 4- Lake Shasta, CA- Shasta Dam and a view of Mt. Shasta (a fourteener)- Shasta Dam is the second largest Dam in the country.

Day 5- Unnamed Beach (possibly “Klamath” Beach) in Northern California- I was suffering from sheer exhaustion after a long hike and few days that felt non-stop. While I was fast asleep in the car, John drove up to Klamath Indian Reservation to try to find me ice cream, on the way back, he found this beautiful beach! It was very secluded, was scattered with giant boulders, and had the biggest waves I’ve ever seen! This was a highlight of the trip for both of us.

Day 6- Oregon Vortex- A cheesy tourist trap, but fun nonetheless. Apparently this is a vortex in which the regular rules of physics do not apply… you get bigger and smaller in size at different points- FREAKY.

Day 7- Crater Lake at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon- This lake was formed when a volcano erupted and collapsed thousands of years ago.

Day 8- Portland, Oregon-Voodoo Doughnuts- I couldn’t remember the last time I had a doughnut before this, but if I never have a doughnut again, I will be satisfied for the rest of my life with this experience. They put everything from fruit loops to butterfingers to cocoa puffs on doughnuts. They even have a little voodoo doll doughnut with a pretzel spear through his heart- or maybe work your own voodoo and bite off someone’s jelly filled head.

Day 9- Portland, Oregon- The International Rose Test Garden- This 4.5 acre garden is used to actually test new varieties of roses from all over the world! It was packed to the brim with reds, pinks, oranges, whites, yellows, and any color rose you could possibly imagine.. up to 10,000 plants. Next door was a Shakespeare garden filled with every plant ever mentioned in a Shakespeare play… impressive!

Day 10- Mt. St. Helens- We visited Mt. St. Helens in Washington, a volcano that erupted in 1980. Unfortunately, there was a thick layer of fog covering a good portion of the mountain so we could not see the crater left when one side of the peak exploded. It was still amazing to be in the presence of this powerful force of nature.

Day 11- Seattle, Washington- Chateau Ste. Michelle winery and a sunset over the Puget Sound- I couldn’t decide between which one of these to use, so I figured I would include both of them! Chateau Ste. Michelle is a wonderful winery that distributes all over the country and is one of the first American wineries to actually compete with French wines. One word: RIESLING! When we got back into the city, we ate a seafood bucket feast (which probably could’ve also been included as an amazing thing of the day) and enjoyed a stunning sunset over the Puget Sound- Sailboats and all.

Day 12 (part a)- Vancouver, British Columbia- TIM HORTON’S- Now maybe most of you Buffalonians would consider Timmy Ho’s good, but not amazing. When you can only enjoy it a couple times a year, however, it becomes amazing. I was not expecting to see one either (forgetting that it is a Canadian thing), which made the experience that much better. I’m pretty sure John thought I was having a heart attack when I screamed in the realization that there is a possibility of a Tim Horton’s nearby.

Day 12 (part b)- Squamish, British Columbia- The Chief- This is the 2^nd largest granite monolith in the world. We were going to hike it, but it was too rainy =-( . I think that my favorite thing about Squamish, however, is the fact that the indigenous people actually spell it like this: “Sḵwxwú7mesh” --In case you didn’t notice, there’s a seven in that word! Haha

Day 13- Vancouver, British Columbia- The Capilano Suspension Bridge (and northwestern rainforest)- This was a fun, almost disney-like experience. We were able to cross an suspension bridge that is 4 full grown T-rex’s tall (really, that’s what they said). For those of you who have never had the opportunity to see a full grown T-Rex, this bridge can also be compared to the shoulder height of the Statue of Liberty.

Day 14- Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington- We camped overnight here (in the rain, yay). In the morning, there was still a thick layer of fog over the mountain. We were able to catch glimpses of some glaciers and some beautiful, surprise waterfalls created by the snowmelt along the road.

Day 15- MY BIRTHDAY- Columbia Valley wine country, Washington- It was my turn to pick where to go (not that John complained)! We got to visit a number of wineries in this region that pretty well known for Rieslings, but can grow just about anything. Some of the best wineries we visited were Bonair Winery, Maryhill Winery (2009 Washington Winery of the yea), Marshall’s Winery (in some guy’s garage, but delicious), and COR Winery. We also got to visit Full Sail Brewing across the river in Oregon! I highly suggest the Columbia Gorge area for a picturesque and relaxing vacation.

Day 16- Oregon Coastline- Although we were heading home (and had about 13 hours of driving ahead of us), we were able to take part of that drive down highway 101. It wasn’t a sickeningly windy road; John actually enjoyed driving it. I was able to enjoy spectacular views of the jagged cliffs above the ocean, waterfalls emptying into the Pacific, and giant waves crashing over still rocks. Although I wasn’t able to get many pictures since we had to get a move on, it was a brilliant way to end a magical two weeks before heading back to California for the summer!

Trivia- Just to see if you read to the end: We visited the second largest dam in the country, the Shasta Dam. What’s the largest?

Thanks for reading!