The Redwoods and Portland

We had a really quick trip home to Pocatello with a tire blowout on the way. Drove back to Ogden for a new tire and started on our next trip by way of Reno. The Redwoods have been on our Bucket List for many years so we decided to find our way to Portland up Highway 101. We are so glad that we traveled that route because we had some amazing times in Healdsburg with our friend Carol and then traveling on to Crescent City and the Redwood Forest 

January was a wonderful time to visit the Redwoods because we were basically alone with all of those amazing trees. We really felt like we were able to have a spiritual experience in the forest as we hiked around and spent some time just enjoying our time together with some giant trees!

I took a picture of this red mushroom on the forest floor because I couldn't believe how colorful it was  

This is a really cute bench that we found as walked through the forest on our last morning. 

We drove on to Portland after a final night in Newport Oregon along the coast.  It was raining as we drove into Portland on February 1 and continued to rain for the next week. We rented a 1 bedroom condo on the Willamette river where we stayed through the first part of March.  

Our condo on the river in downtown Portland was the perfect location.  We were able to run, bike and walk from our back door and had a great view of the river and all of its activity.  Trader Joes was within walking distance and so was most of downtown.  

         The Broadway bridge raised for a large ship viewed from our patio.

Our view of the Steel Bridge

This view is from our condo.  The ships would pull up across the river to be filled with grain. The MODA Center (where the Trail Blazers play) is behind the silos.

The best part of the trip was spending a great deal of time with James and Heather and their families.  

Grandma and Ava at the beach in Lincoln City.

Grayson on his 3rd birthday.  He wanted to go to the beach.

Arlo with the dinosaur he dug out of dinosaur egg Grandma and Grandpa brought back from Quartzsite.

It wouldn't be Portland without the food carts.  We found "Cartlandia" on one of our bike rides which had its own VooDoo Doughnut cart.  We are not doughnut people but I have to say that these are really good doughnuts!

Our very, very favorite restaurant on this trip was Ava Gene's where we had our Valentines's Day dinner. We sat at the chef's counter and were able to watch as salads, appetizers and some of the main courses were created.  The meal was one of our most expensive but also the most flavorful and delicious!  Bon Appetit named it #5 best new restaurant in America in 2013. 

Portland is a land of food and restaurants so it is impossible to list all of our favorites so let's just say that we returned home a few pounds heavier.