Discovery Trail: Centralia, WA

James and I recently discovered a new trail: Discovery Trail. 

It was fabulous.  We spotted a huge bald eagle in a tree by the path.

 We sat on a bench behind the barn and watched the it make a kill on the pond...a bit gruesome.

Who knew this little gem was tucked back in Centralia through a little farm and along the river.  Yes, I think we'll go again.

Leavenworth, Washington

There is a little town tucked into the Cascade Mountains of Washington...a themed town...a Bavarian themed town.  I've been wanting to visit this little place for quite some time, as I've heard it is so magical.  It was.

All the signs and typography in town are tailored to look like what you might see in a quaint old village.  

Even the gas stations.  And. I die.

 Because it was the end of summer, all the hanging baskets and flower pots were dripping with lush bouquets.

 Also there was music playing in the town square that could be heard when walking down the street.

 There is a huge river front park where we spent some time.

 With fabulous views...

 I can't say I would want to live there, but it certainly was a fun place to visit.  I bet a visit during the Christmas season would be just as magical.

Astoria, OR: Mini get-away

Recently we took some family time in Astoria, Or just on at the Columbia River into the Pacific Ocean.

From our room, we could see all the ships coming in from and out to sea.

We spent some time walking around, sipping hot chocolate (for me) and coffee (for Brad).

Some of the docks were open to the public, so we took James to watch the boats in the morning.

My disappearing feet are a testament to Graham's presence as well. :)

Summer Roadtrip: Yosemite & the Central CA Valley

Because I'm sure you'd love to see pictures from someone else's vacation, here is part II of this summer's roadtrip!  A major reason or driving force behind this trip was Yosemite...John Muir's wilderness.  Here we have the view coming from the Southern entrance of Half Dome, and El Capitan.  

 The California oaks were absolutely gorgeous!

This girl was another reason to visit Central California.  We wandered through the very dry grass looking for acorn caps, and it was wonderful.

 Around the park, with Brad and baby, El Capitan was peeking through the trees.

 We ended up doing a majority of the day in the car because the heat was pretty unbearable.

James wasn't too thrilled to be out in the heat either, but the car wasn't his favorite that day either...So we'll see if he turns out to be a roadtripper or not.  This is one of the top 25 things Brad and I wanted to do when we first met.  Check that one off!

Summer Roadtrip: Washington, Oregon & California Day 1

Hmm...this is the third summer in a row that boasts a roadtrip.  This might be the start of a family tradition.  Brad and I planned to take his entire 8 vacation days all in one big chunk and go on a roadtrip to Yosemite!!!  We both love traveling, and always have so much to chat about, and adding a little baby to the mix couldn't make it that different right?  Are you laughing?  Well you definitely should be.  We (self proclaimed) wisely, decided to cut the 13 hour drive into two separate days traveling down, figuring that two 6.5 hour days would actually stretch into 8.5 hour days with stops for the baby.

Day one started with none other than caffeine.

We left at 6:57 am with out little fella tucked into his carseat fast asleep.  Sleeping James made for some excellent mileage because we were south of Portland before he awoke.   McCurry family tradition is to stop at K&R Drive In in Rice Hill for the huge portions of Umpqua Ice Cream as well as delish burgers. 

 Sourthern Oregon has rolling hills, and green trees.

 Coming down the Siskiyous...entering California.

We crossed Shasta Lake just as the sun was setting...  It was a beautiful first day.  

Nashville Roadtrip part 7: Nashville - Seattle - Cinebar

After a brief evening in Nashville, we awoke to another sticky morning.  Oh the humidity makes any heat a million times worse!  We got a phone call from our road trip buddies that they were just entering Tennessee!  Apparently, they woke at 3 am and had been on the road for hours already.  We snagged some breakfast snacks at the gas station and settled into getting the car ready for its new drivers. Dan and Stephanie drove into our hotel an hour later, looking alert but tired from their early morning journey.  We were finally able to be with our fellow drivers!!  (if only for a few hours)  We rested, chatted, enjoyed lunch together, and departed.  Thank you Dan and Stephanie for having us be part of your move to Alabama!

Our flight home was delayed, but we did make our connection in Houston and finally to Seattle by 8pm.  It was a long, exhausting day...one I don't want to repeat any time soon.  On the flight from Houston to Seattle, one seat mate (not Brad) kept blowing his nose into his hand and wiping it on the nearest surface...needless to say I was quite sickened.  

Nashville Roadtrip Part 6: Upland to Nashville

It was our last day on the road!  Leaving Jake and Taylor University behind, we waved goodbye to Indiana and hello to Kentucky and our final destination of Tennessee!  This was the shortest day only a mere 5.5 hrs of driving!  We were going to celebrate our early (3pm) arrival by venturing into downtown Nashville...but we took a coma nap instead.  We did celebrate that evening with dinner at the Cracker Barrel and take out dessert from The Cheesecake Factory.  Mmmm...it was a wonderful treat and end of a road trip.

Louisville

Dear Kentucky, You are really proud of Colonel Sanders aren't you?  His face was plastered 6 stories high on buildings in Louisville!  Also, you surpass North Dakota for best rest areas of all time.  Gorgeous architecture, air-conditioned (bless you!), separate rooms for information, ice-cream vending machines...you have it all.  It is definitely what I would consider to be Southern summer weather, sticky and hot.

Nashville by day

Nashville by night

Dear Tennessee, We didn't see much of you at all.  Just a few hours driving through Nashville highways looking for food.  Perhaps another visit is in store, in order to have a better taste outside of the the airport and hotel.

On this day, Dan and Steph made a HUGE drive from Denver to St. Louis around 12 hrs driving only (no stops included)!!  Their goal was to make it to Nashville by the next morning to see us off at the airport and pick up their car for the last push to their new home (Tuscaloosa, AL).  

Nashville Roadtrip Part 5: St. Paul - Upland

Day 5 of the roadtrip:  Longest day ever...11.5 hrs of driving...crossing from Minnesota, into Wisconsin, through Illinois and over to Indiana.

Dear Minnesota, how can I be going literally 20 mph over the speed limit in a construction zone and still be passed by EVERY CAR?  You confuse me, but thank you for the beautiful sunrise and for housing my awesome family!

Dear Wisconsin, what can I say other than your drivers are possibly the worst in the nation...if you are going to pass someone try to take less than 10 minutes to do so going more than 1 mph more than them.  Sheesh!  Secondly, why so many McDonalds billboards hidden under the trees?  I have nothing else to say to you besides you have beautiful barns; may they runneth over.

Is anyone else confused?

Sorry for the poor quality, but all were snapped from a moving vehicle.

Dear Illinois, you are the only state to have no welcome sign on a major highway, but you did welcome us to the tollway, so...I suppose that counts.  Our experience of you was corn fields....dotted with white, two-story, box houses.  Maybe someone needs to break tradition and paint a house yellow.  Ya know?  Get all crazy-like?  Also, standing on any given overpass overpass could possibly put you at the highest point in the state. :)  Very straight roads always intersecting in a perfect NSEW conjunctions make for lots of stair stepping down across the state.  I have the feeling,  Illinois, that you enjoy order and tradition.

Dear Indiana, you are also cornfields...with two-story, box houses, but props for breaking into other colors like tan, cream and the occasional yellow. :)  Some of your little towns make me wonder how people buy groceries or make money or go to school.  They pop up so suddenly among the corn fields.  Coming from a very rural area, I feel like I should be able to keep perspective, but you bring a whole new meaning to the word remote.  I suppose the corn provides for those things?  However, you have the most exquisite architecture in those little towns...brick and old and beautiful.  Another thing you have going for you is Jake, so be kind to the free-spirited, west-coaster. :)

Day 5 of our trip was full of family, except of course our road trip buddies, who had made it to Denver finally!  Stephanie's perspective here.  We got to see so many beautiful states and enjoy familiy, long roads, and peanut m&ms.  

5 Road trip Tips

1.  If you are crossing a stateline or border, stop at the welcome center.  You may feel like an awkward tourist, but if nothing else, you will more likely than not be able to snag a free map and use a clean restroom.

2.  Bring paper maps.  (See tip #1 for obtaining them free of charge)  Aside from the joy of getting to  spread it out on the dash, you will be able to see what lies ahead road/park-wise as well as discover the history via town names.  These maps come in quite handy if your phone loses power or towers drop out of service or, heaven forbid, the 3G stops working.  Or download them before you leave off the state's tourism website.

3.  Bring water/water bottles.  If you don't feel right purchasing water bottles in bulk, bring a refillable water container so that you can keep hydrated.  Sitting in a toasty car all day can leave you parched, so drink up.

4.  Get out and ask questions.  Whenever you stop for gas or even a break, walk around and talk with the locals.  If you're buying gas, ask questions about the area or the furthest they've traveled.  You may just some interesting tidbits that tripadvisor/the guide book left out.

5.  Unplug, at least for a few hours during the trip.  Nothing kills a trip like a fellow passenger being plugged into their phone, earbuds, ipad, whatever.  Twitter will be ok if you don't tweet about the cool sunset, tourist town, etc.  You are out there to experience it, so get to it!  Maybe you'll be a daredevil and forgo the radio too (you'll be surprised how much more you can take in and bounce around with your road trip buddies).

Nashville Roadtrip Part 4: Dickinson - St. Paul

By this time, in our roadtrip, our reststops were frequent, and my little feet were no longer little, no matter how much driving/walking/stretching was happening.

Today's Goal:  Make it across North Dakota, cross into Minnesota and be at Aunt Margaret's condo in St. Paul by 5pm.  We left the hotel by early, by 7am to give us plenty of time to make stops along the way.  Leaving behind Dickinson with all its oil-town-construction-madness (and "left turn protected on green arrow only" intersection signs) to a peacefully, rolling hill filled sunrise.

 Dear North Dakota,  Your rest stops are amazing.  The above picture is honoring an early morning stop.  Thank you for the free map and guide.  Nice clouds, lots of rolling hills, and, like MT, you are covered with billboards about 10 miles from each town...this is new to me.

Missippi River

Dear Minnesota, I had no idea how cultivated you are...we entered corn country right away...and what wasn't covered by corn was covered in water.  Land-o-Lakes you really are.  I must say however, that your drivers are ridiculous, and every road seemed to be under construction (must be all that miserable snow).  With fines doubling in work zones, the speed limit at 55, I was still being left in the dust at 75 mph...hmm.

We arrived at my Aunt's house, where she provided an amazing home cooked meal of sloppy joes, potato salad and tapioca fruit salad.  Somehow it all seemed to fit.  We had an excellent time visiting with her and her roommate of 20 years, Lois.  Getting to be with family is so rejuvinating!  Then we got another phone call...(maybe I was beginning to dread them at this point).  Dan and Steph were still in Billings, with hopes of leaving the next day pending repair parts...which apparently were nowhere in the vicinity.  They offered us their hotel in Upland, and vowed to meet us in Nashville no matter what.  Oh dear, that meant a 16 hour day, new route through Denver and St. Louis IF things would get going.  Our original plan was to stay two nights in Upland, but with all the changes, we decided to stay one night in Nashville to make it less of a mad-dash to the airport Monday morning.  With that changed, we headed to bed for a 6 am wake up call...prepping for a 11 hr drive the next day.

Nashville Roadtrip Part 3: Butte - Dickinson

The Copper King Mansion...our residence for one night in Butte.  It was a historic mansion that is actually more like a museum, and they let you stay in a few of the rooms (for a fee of course).  If you've always dreamed of living the movie Night at the Museum, then this is the place for you...if not, then don't because it will creep you out.  I was quite creeped out and slept for a total of 3 hrs.  After a wonderful breakfast of french toast and good company, we were on the road again.  Agenda: Central & Eastern Montana & Western North Dakota, meet Dan & Steph in Dickinson, ND.

Upon stopping in Forsyth, Montana for a quick Town Pump gas up and restroom break (seriously, if you are driving through Montana, Town Pump has everything you could ever want and more) we got a phone call from my Dad.  He had news for us...Dan & Stephanie (who had no cell service)were having truck issues and were at a mechanic in Billings (2 hrs West of us).  Some sort of springs weren't working properly and causing all sorts of noise.  They were getting it fixed and would be getting into Dickinson late that evening, but they wanted us to keep driving forward.  Brad and I began praying...for Dan & Steph...for the truck...for patience & peace.

Around lunchtime, we were another relayed message (internet wasn't working for us, but we did have cell coverage).  Actually Team Dan & Steph were staying in Billings that night because they couldn't get the parts until the next morning.  The guys who fixed their brakes in Wenatchee hadn't screwed the lug-nuts in place, and all had snapped off but two!!  The wheel was barely hanging on, and was totally trashed as well.  Couldn't these guys ever have good news given to them?  More prayers were sent their way...by the flip of a coin we ended up driving their Maxima which was working fantastically.  We pressed on, praying often for our buddies, enjoying the scenery, and crossing into North Dakota.

 Can't you just die from the beautiful colors and layers in these rocks?!

Theodore Roosevelt National Park looked crazy with all the domes popping out of the flat land.

We reached Dickinson, called Dan & Steph at their hotel and tentatively set up to meet in Upland, IN to stay with Jake.  Day three complete, much beauty, much stress, many prayers.

Dear North Dakota,  You are my favorite.  Not only do you have beautiful, clean bathrooms, but you also have a guide to all rest-stops across the state (this pregnant lady thanks you).  You have the smoothest roads thus far, and I thought I had developed a crush...which quickly dissipated after chatting with a local who told me that 10 below 0 was a normal winter temperature...at which point I decided less snow is a non-negociable when it comes to moving.

To hear about Stephanie's experience, visit here and here.