We have been in Oregon for about 3 weeks now and it has been a lot of fun. Tyler is really enjoying his internship with the Fish and Wildlife Dept. He goes out on a boat almost every day doing something with fish and buoys and hooks . I have been doing yard work, helped out with the last weekend of my mom's play, and just got back from a fun trip. Tyler had his birthday on June 16th and was away on a boating trip for work. So we celebrated with my family the day before his birthday and with Tyler's family the day after. He was all alone on his birthday, but hey, he still got to have two parties. Tyler and I also celebrated our 2nd anniversary on June 21st. It was nice to have it in Portland since there is a much larger pool of restaurants to choose from than in BV. We went to a French restaurant called Paley's Place, which was so delicious. I am trying to stay away from sugar (since I'm pregnant) so we had cheese for dessert which was expensive (ish), but so tasty. I love cheese almost as much as I love chocolate. It was wonderful and I am so happy to be married to such a great, funny, silly, handsome, loving guy.
On Tuesday, my mom, brothers and I (Tyler and Dad both had work) went down to Ashland, OR and Redding, CA. We got to Ashland on Tuesday and saw the musical She Loves Me(which SVU did this past fall) at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. It was really good and the set was amazing! We camped at Emigrant Lake that night (in Ashland) and then left the next morning for Redding. ---By the way, the reason we went on this trip was to find some sun as Oregon is having the wettest spring it has ever had and that is saying something.--- We camped at Whiskey Town Lake, which is about 15 miles west of Redding. We had a lot of fun in the sun....
My brothers are so handsome...
Ian
Erik
My mom out on the lake in a kayak
Erik swimming--We brought two kayaks and my family had been to this lake before and said that on one of the islands there was a nice beach. So Ian and Erik got the kayaks and my mom and I decided to swim. It ended up being two miles! I rather enjoyed it though and was not too tired. The only problem was that since their had been so much rain this year their beach was now 2 feet under water! We found a little spot to eat lunch and then headed back to the shoreline. Except this time mom and I were in the kayaks. The boys did a pretty good job swimming all the way, but they did take more breaks. :)
Such as here at a rope swing they found on another island as we were heading back to the shore.
Whiskey Town Lake--from my kayak
On our 2nd evening there, we headed down to Redding to eat at In and Out---
A most delicious place.... and did you know.....
-They don't have any freezers or microwaves
-Their beef has never been frozen, which means it is fresh
-They own their own farms to grow their vegetables and beef on
-Their buns are made without high-fructose corn syrup, preservatives or any nasty stuff
-The workers peel the potatoes daily for fries
-They also treat their employees super well and a worker starts at $10 an hour and managers can make up to $100,000 (McDonald's managers only make $20,000). Also, all employees get benefits, even part-time employees.
Cool, huh?....and you can taste the difference. I wish we had one in Oregon!
The boys enjoying their milkshakes.
After spending two days at the lake we packed up and headed back to Ashland-- and mind you we all had a terrible last night! We had new camping neighbors and they were loud, drunk, rude, used the f-word more than any other word, besides Obama---whom they really did not like. They were rednecks and were every bad redneck stereotype, racist, extremely right-wing (without being intelligent), bad English, drunk and very loud. It was awful. My mom called the rangers and the cops finally showed up at 1:30 am to deal with the situation. So we did not really get much sleep....
Mom and Ian in Ashland (one of my most favorite places!)
Mom, Erik and Ian in Lithia Park with the Elizabethan Theatre behind them
Me with the boys!
Mom with the Elizabethan Theatre behind her (another angle) and sitting on the Green Show Stage. We saw the play, Pride and Prejudice at two and ate dinner at a delicious restaurant called Sesame Asian Kitchen. It was seriously the best meal I had ever had in Ashland and they gave such large portions! The trip was a lot of fun and the plays were great! I want to go back and see some more in July! Hamlet...especially!
Below is a house in Ashland where I would love to live. I had seen in for sale online and have seen pictures from the inside (yes, I am weird and love to look up houses I would like to someday live in), so I was super excited when I actually saw it! It is bigger than it looks and the yard needs work, but I love it! I am dreaming.... who knows if all my wishes will come true and Tyler somehow gets a job in Ashland....hopefully...
