Quick update!!

I've been in LA for 4 days now with only one day left!! My trip is almost done and I will probably start posting content by the end of next week. I look forward to sharing my experiences in California with you all! :)

Day 4 of my favorite days of summer would be my trip downtown with Hannah and my mom. 

7/31/14

Hannah, Vanessa (a friend of ours), and I had found this interesting import shop that was having a sale due to them moving locations the last time we went downtown, but we weren't able to spend a lot of time there, so we wanted to come back. Dan decided that he wanted to work on his papers that day so he didn't come along, but my mom did. We rode the MAX down there, which is Portland's TriMet rail system, and then had to walk several blocks. This day was another scorcher, but luckely the blocks in Portland are fairly short. Here are some of my favorite shots from the day!

This was taken on the MAX ride there.

They had quite the selection of 80's and 90's manga. I regret not buying at least one!

After we shopped around (Hannah and I bought headbands and I got a necklace), we decided to go across the street to a restaurant called Tilt. My mom and I weren't too hungry so we ate pie (merionberry and apple) while my sister ate a burger with fries. 

 

After burgers, fries, and ice cream, we stopped by Ben and Jerry's for a scoop of ice cream. My mom, like always, got a double scoop of ice cream and shared with my sister. I got they cherry garcia flavor, which is my favorite flavor from Ben and Jerry's, but I'm the only one in my family that likes cherries, so I had one scoop all to myself. After we rode the MAX back and got home safely, my mom wanted my sister and I to do our daily harvesting of our next door neighbor's overgrown fig trees. They have two trees that go way over into our yard, and they actually don't eat too many of them, so they gave us permission to take as many as we want! My mom is absolutely in love with figs, so we pick some for her everyday. On average, we get maybe 8 a day. 

Well, today is the 15th, so only three more days till my trip to LA!! I cannot contain my exitement. Hannah comes back from Vancouver, B.C., today, so we'll be picking her up from the airport. Julia (one of our childhood friends) and I actually booked flights to LA for the Halloween weekend in October, with plans on visiting Disneyland again. Out of all the times I've been to Disneyland (which is a lot), I've never been when it wasn't summer! It will be really cool to see it dressed up with festive decorations. I have a lot to look forward to this year! :)

Day 3 of my favorite days of summer was on the 25th of July.

7/25/14

The only day of the week that I don't work is Friday, so my family tries to do something eventful every week, and this time we decided to go to the beach. Hannah and I had been two times before, one time before Dan got back from college, and another on the 4th of July with Dan and some friends. We discovered this part of the coast because a friend of ours (Jeremy, the same one who we're going to LA with in less than a week) is building a beach house there. Compared to two of the more popular beaches in Oregon: Seaside and Canon Beach, Pacific City is less crowded, and you can drive your car on the beach! I wouldn't recommend driving it on the soft sand if your car doesn't have 4-wheel drive, though. Here are some pictures I took through out the trip:

Dan was sleeping and the lighting was amazing, so I took advantage of the opportunity haha. 

 

Some more pictures of Hannah and Daniel. We played (more like tried to play) frisbee earlier, but the wind made it really difficult. Not that it stopped us from trying to perfect our forehands, though. More than half the time was spent chasing down the disc haha. The frisbee we always use is one that Dan got from a science bowl tournament in high school. Normally it is a somewhat opaque white color which turns into a vibrant purple when in the presence of UV light. It's pretty cool. 

The weather was very nice despite the wind; hardly any clouds in the sky! I regretted not bringing my sunglasses.

There is a huge sand dune that you can hike up to get an awesome view of the coast line. However, this picture does not do it justice. There are other objects in the picture for scale, but it looks much bigger in person.

Hannah and Dan are shell scavengers in their spare time...

Seagulls.

More seagulls.

Here, you can see how few people were on the beach when we came! It's been like this all 3 times I've been here, which makes it our number one go-to beach site now. 

Bonus ladybug.

We ended up having a great time at the beach with minimal burns (I say this because the first time we went, we all ended up with sunburns) and some new, fond memories. My mom and dad stayed fairly close to the car the whole time in their lawn chairs while Hannah, Dan, and I hiked up the sand dune about a mile or so away. It ended up taking a while, so my mom got worried and made my dad drive them towards the dune in search for us. On our way back our car got stuck in the sand (which is why I mentioned at the beginning that I wouldn't recommend driving your car on the unwet portions of sand if you don't have 4-wheel drive) and all of us had to get out and push the car until we got to the more compacted areas. Haha it was quite an adventure,  but not one that I think I would want to repeat too soon.

Day 2 of my favorite days of summer was my trip to Seattle with my mom, dad, and Hannah.

7/18/14
Daniel (my brother) and several of his friends drove up to Seattle for a DotA tournament: The International. For all you non-gamers out there, DotA stands for "The Defense of the Ancients" and is an online battle arena video game. It's getting pretty big, apparently, and something close to $10 million went to the winning team. Anyway, since my brother was going to Seattle, Hannah and I wanted to go too, remembering that the last time we went was sometime in middle school. My dad and I made a deal that if I drive there, he would drive back, so that Friday, armed with a cup of coffee and a recently made playlist, I start the engine of my Corolla, ready for the three hour drive. The drive there was pleasant for the most part. We ended up stopping by Carl's Jr. for a small meal about half way, then we went right back on the road again.

The traffic didn't hit us until we were on the outskirts of Seattle. After a couple aggressive lane changes, muttered curse words, and horn honks, we find out exit and make out way to the International District. Hannah heard of this Japanese restaurant called Tsukushinbo, that supposedly serves some of the most authentic ramen in Washington. People get in line an hour or so before the place opens in hopes of getting a bowl of ramen, since they make limited amounts each morning. We were lucky enough to get three bowls, along with chicken katsu and vegetable tempura. I really wish I had taken pictures of the restaurant and food, but even before they set the dishes on out table, the aroma of the broth invaded our senses and our thoughts were fixed purely on the food. I know for sure that we will be stopping by again the next time we visit Seattle.

After we ate ramen we stopped by Pike's market. The place was gorgeous, and they had so many shops! The roads were packed with people, lining up at various stores, such as the original Starbucks and different types of bakeries. We ended up buying around 7 pastries from a French, and I think Danish bakery, which we ate periodically throughout the day. Our last stop was the FRYE art museum, which was free admittance and surprised us by having three Bouguereau paintings. Bouguereau has been one of my favorite artists for quite some time now, so I was really happy to see some more of his paintings in person. After we looked through the museum and bought a couple post cards, we decided to drive back home. We had a really eventful day (with over 6 hours of it dedicated just to driving) and I'm so glad I brought my camera. Here are some of the shots I took:

 

 

Overall it was a super fun day, and I loved the quality time I got to spend with family. Hopefully the next time we go back won't be too far into the future!