The Endless Summer Road Trip

Our theme song. *

In early September, Mike and I took a week long road trip through Oregon and California. Highlights of the trip included: the redwoods, San Francisco, Big Sur, and Crater Lake. I decided to dust off my Fuji instax camera for the occasion. It’s been awhile! I brought it to Morocco but only used it a couple of times. At this point, all of my film is a few years old… which makes it even more exciting to watch the photos develop. You never know what the images will look like.

Not all of the photos turned out, but here are the ones that did:

Oregon/California Roadtrip
One lane covered bridge in Oregon

Oregon/California Roadtrip
Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

Oregon/California Roadtrip
Big Sur from Bixby Bridge

Oregon/California Roadtrip
On the beach in Big Sur

Oregon/California Roadtrip
Wizard Island and Crater Lake

It was fantastic way to bring summer to a close. Plus, I really do like showing off my pretty West Coast to my Ontario raised boyfriend.

xo, jill

*Ha, you know when you actually go read the lyrics then you’re like, “Wait, what??”

Urban Light

Welcome warmth.

When we returned from Australia last July, our reentry to North America occurred at LAX. We were lucky enough to be able to spend a few days there with good friends. At one point we made a little stop at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for the Urban Light exhibit.

And then our photos somehow took a paparazzi style turn.

Favorite photo of the trip is courtesy of Hannah’s instagram:

Good friends can dress alike without even realizing it.

Sometimes the best part of a long journey is seeing a friendly face at the end of it.

xo, jill

Instant Summer

It felt short.

I’ve been in Morocco for about three weeks* now and this past summer feels like so long ago. Like always, it was wonderful to see friend and family, and reconnect with my favorite corner of the earth.

I pulled out my instax camera and some partially exposed film. Here are a few instax photos from over the summer:

picking peaches with Jenny

Hannah and Allan at Molly’s wedding reception.

Annie and me at Molly’s wedding reception.

The perfect location for Molly’s wedding reception.

And a lost but then found photo of Joel from summer 2012

So good to be among the people you love.

xo, jill

*All is well. Just insanely busy.

Summer #1

Northern Hemisphere.

I really, really had a wonderful (Northern Hemisphere) summer this year. It was a lovely combination of spending time with family and friends, but still doing a fair amount of traveling. There was berry picking, peach picking, hiking, cooking, baking, time at the lake, delicious food… all things that feel like home.

Here are just a few more photos from the summer that didn’t seem to fit with any other posts… and then I’m done. I swear.

Sunset over Bellingham Bay
Boxx Berry Farm
On the tracks / Delicious
Annie, she gets it. 
Perfect picnic / Last minute Vegebration at Cathedral Park
Peaches on Sauvie Island / Foliage
View from grandparents’ house / Hiking in the Gorge
Gelato tradition with Stupid Ann.

Of course, now that I’m in the Southern Hemisphere summer is once again just around the corner!

xo, jill

Voodoo Doughnut

“The magic is in the hole!”

One night when Mike and I were in Portland, we stopped in at Voodoo Doughnut. I was surprised by how much it had changed since the last time I was there (4ish years ago). The place is huge now. It used to be a tiny little hole in the wall where you could take Swahili lessons (remember Shauna?) before they opened at 9pm. Now there are three cash registers, a bar where you can eat your doughnuts, and room to spare. Weird.

Plus, the line out the door… well, kind of funny because they make you wait outside so even if there were only 4 people waiting the line would technically be “out the door.”

Ok now honestly, I think Voodoo is way over hyped. Sure, it’s a fun place with a glittery brick wall…but the doughnuts, not really anything special. It really doesn’t need to be the focus of every Portland themed travel show and blog. And I’m kind of sick of people making a big deal about “driving to Portland just for Voodoo” or “bringing Voodoo all the way to relatives in some other far away place.” Doughnuts get stale fast. They are not going to be delicious.

Portland has plenty of cool, unique, and much more delicious eateries. Get over the silly doughnuts already.

All that being said… of course I took Mike there. I had to. It was on the Travel Channel for goodness sakes! But I did privately laugh as the guy behind me kept saying, “I can’t believe I’m actually here!”

xo, jill

And the rockets’ red glare…

the bombs bursting in air…

Ok, this post is a little late. But better late than never. With the presidential election coming up, I’ve been paying much closer attention to the news coming out of the US and thinking about my home country much more than usual. So I guess sharing about my Fourth of July is a little bit topical after all?

Anyways… it was my first Independence Day on American soil in a few years, so I was pretty excited. I headed over to my friends’ place for some good food and fireworks (Thanks, Ben and Stacy!).

I was obsessed with making caramel corn this summer.
Can you see Mt. Hood smack in the middle? 

I even brought along a little face paint to keep the spirit of last year’s celebration in Abu Dhabi. Plus, since I did this for Canada Day, I felt like I owed America a little something.

Note to self: horizontal stripes not facially flattering!

After the sun went down we were in the perfect location to watch the Oak’s Bottom firework show. Then we did a few of our own.

Photo by Kevin

Photo by Kevin
Photo by Kevin

Personally, I stuck to sparklers. My dad trained me well regarding the dangers of shooting roman candles out of your hand. (Even if it does look pretty cool in pictures).

Photo by Kevin

It was definitely a successful evening.

xo, jill

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...