Excitement is . . .

As of 11:30 tonight, I will officially be in New Mexico!! I am so excited to be back home for Thanksgiving, I can't control myself. I think my emotions can only be described as a combination of: 

Enjoy your holiday with your loved ones, I know I will be counting my blessings.

Washington Trip: Part 2

The next leg of our adventure was spent touring around San Francisco. This is where we experienced the only main trouble in our trip. Since our schedule was not 100% settled before hand we just took care of all hotel reservations the night we needed them. Well we ended up in SF on Saturday evening before a SF 49ers game the following morning, talk about a mess. Luckily we were able to get a hotel and headed straight to bed. The next morning we started off with breakfast at the Hollywood Cafe as recommended by Miss Football before we hit up the pier. It was awesome! We had lots to see, from boats to seals, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and the fun shops scattered in between.

The Golden Gate Bridge

Alcatraz

After we saw everything we needed to in SF, we headed for Napa Valley. We were able to schedule a tour at the Robert Mondavi vineyard. We were able to see the process of making wine from grape to bottle and we had the best tour guide. Bob was a sweet older gentleman that had been doing tours on and off for 42 years, he was a riot. 

These barrels are about $1800 and only 12 are made a day by 2 guys.
Below is the signature of the one who made that barrel.

After Napa Valley we drove up to Eureka, CA to stay the night. The next morning on our drive up the National Redwood forest we ran up on a herd of Elk at an RV park. I guess they are always there just hanging out so we stopped by to say hello. 

A little further up the road we started running into the big stinkin' trees! They were pretty awesome! Just as we were enjoying the trees, our route took us along the shoreline and it was gorgeous! Enjoy the pictures loves!

Stay tuned for the next installment!

Weekend Trip to Portland

Last weekend was my only weekend I had alone, so I decided to take a little road trip to Portland, OR. My coworkers were nice enough to offer me suggestions of where to go, so I hit the road. My day was filled with a lot of walking and a lot of sites to visit. I started out at Portland's Saturday Market, then headed over to Powell's bookstore before lunch. I snuck in a quick bite to eat at Jake's Famous Crawfish Restaurant before hitting up the mall. I mean come on, if you are in Oregon with no sales tax, you have to go shop. Unfortunately I was not as successful as I would have liked to be at the mall, but was able to find a few things. Portland was a blast and a great way to spend on Saturday.

Portland's finest

Isn't this tree gorgeous? 

Crab and Fish Cakes for lunch, don't mind if I do!

All the more reasons I am falling in love with the Pacific West!

Washington Trip: Part 1

We started off our trip in Albuquerque and like all responsible adults do before an 8 hour road trip, we got up at the butt crack of dawn to go to the International Balloon Fiesta. For those of y'all not from NM or unfamiliar with this, you NEED to check it out. Last year was my first year and it was awesome. It is pretty crazy being down on the field, one minute you are walking between all the balloons then all the sudden they start ascending. Every where you look there are balloons filling the sky. You definitely should add it to your bucket list loves!

On the way to Las Vegas we stopped by the Hoover Dam! It was another bucket list item checked off the list :)

After spending the night and next morning in Vegas with Baylor Babe and her sweet hubby, we drove to SF. For those of y'all that have driven that way, there is not much to see the first 200 miles or so. So the pictures were limited, but I managed to snap a few.

Stay tuned for part 2 of the trip!

Livin' the Dream One Mile at a Time

Since we last caught up, I have been quite the traveler. As y'all know my mother and I took a 8 day long road trip from Albuquerque, NM to Olympia, WA! It was an absolute blast and I was so thankful to be able to spend that time with her. I am going to try to break up our trip into a couple separate blogs, but here are a few summary collages to catch you up until then.

Albuquerque to Las Vegas

Las Vegas to San Fancisco

San Francisco

Napa Valley

Redwood National Forrest and Coast Line

Seattle's Pike Place Market

Space Needle

Dinner on the Pier

Capilano Suspension Bridge in Vancouver.

Granville Island Public Market in Vancouver as well.

Stay on the lookout for more traveling blogs to come!