Portland, Oregon

In the summer of 2020 we found ourselves returning to our favorite vacation spot, Portland, Oregon. Sadly, this return visit was for that dreaded four letter word - work!  

First work....if that's what you call it!  We are actually wedding photographers and don't really consider what we do work, especially when we are photographing a beautiful wedding at the lush Bridal Veil Lakes Event Venue located along the Old Columbia River Gorge Highway.

With "work" out of the way, and we met up with our life long friends, Bill and Jill.  This was their first time visiting Oregon and we had many beautiful spots to show them! 

Meeting Jill and Bill at Council Crest Park in Portland to start our journey

We drove through the old Columbia River Gorge Highway to the small town of Cascade Locks, Oregon.  Cascade Locks is situated at the very heart of the Columbia River Gorge, where the mountains tower up to 4,000-feet above the river, and waterfalls tumble from the heights to reach the river near sea level below. Surrounded by stunning natural beauty, you can relax, slow down a bit, and take in the grandeur.  That's exactly what we did! We slowed down and enjoyed a delicious lunch and an adult beverage at Thunder Island Brewing by the Columbia River and then toured the old locks (hence the name).  After one last stop at the Eastwind Drive-In for ice cream we moved on to the next site on our itinerary, Mount Hood.

Mount Hood, Oregon, offers scenic recreation ranging from camping, hiking and fishing to nearly year-round skiing. Being from Texas, we are always amazed that people are still skiing on Mount Hood in the middle of July.  We roamed Timberline Lodge with Jill and Bill and threw a couple of snowballs at each other!

We left the snow covered mountain and headed west to the Oregon Coastline stopping at Cannon Beach, Oregon.  Cannon Beach is a charming village by the sea where you can savor the culinary bounty of the Pacific Northwest, stay in luxurious accommodations that are right on the beach and explore the many art galleries and quaint shops making their home in town.  Again, we stayed at the Schooner Cove Inn and from our hotel lawn we could view the magnificent Oregon icon, Haystack Rock.  

A short drive north of Cannon Beach is the town of Astoria, Oregon.  With Victorian-era homes etched into hills overlooking the Columbia River, this picturesque settlement (the oldest west of the Rockies) is a port city with Scandinavian flavor. Astoria is surrounded by forests, three rivers and great local brews. We showed Jill and Bill the Gooney House and the Astoria Column before making our way to the pier for lunch at one of Astoria's breweries, The Astoria Brewing Company.

It was a sad day when we had to leave our beloved Oregon and head back to reality.  Stay tuned for our 2022 vacation when we travel with Jill and Bill, again, to Scotland!

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Las Vegas, Nevada

Our next big adventure had us in Sin City, Las Vegas, Baby!

So, the month of December was absolutely crazy for us!  We booked our anniversary trip to Las Vegas back in October, paying for it in full, as an anniversary and Christmas present to ourselves.  Little did we know that by December we had decide to sell our house, buy a new house and move my parents in with us.  We closed on our new house just a week before our anniversary trip and frantically began moving knowing we were set to close on our old home a week after our trip. Instead of losing the money we invested in our trip we decided to forge ahead with both the move and the travel. 

Flying over Vegas

Once we landed in Las Vegas we went straight to Caesar's Palace, checked in, and being thoroughly exhausted, took a two hour nap!  A nice long nap was just what we needed so, feeling refreshed, we decided to go exploring.  We walked through the The Forum Mall at Caesars where we found ourselves in front of Fat Tuesdays!  Fat Tuesdays is one of my favorite places to visit in Las Vegas.  Try their orange high octane with a shot!  For dinner we made our way across the street from Caesar's Palace to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville where we chowed down on nachos, sipped cold Land Sharks, and chatted Dallas Cowboy Football with the bartender who was from El Paso, Texas! 

The Forum Shops at Caesars - Fall of Atlantis

Love the ceiling painted to look like a sky inside the Forum Shops

View of The Paris from across the Fountains of The Bellagio

Stupid selfies!  As photographers you think we'd be much better at it!

All floral Christmas decorations at the Bellagio

All floral Christmas decorations at the Bellagio

All floral Christmas decorations at the Bellagio

Chihuly glass hanging from the ceiling of the Bellagio

With all the walking we did we really worked up an appetite by late that evening. We debated on doing the traditional Vegas buffet or trying something new when we stumbled upon The Yard House where we had a delicious steak dinner.

Tired, again, we headed back to our hotel for another good night's sleep.  The next day we headed back to Texas where our move was STILL waiting on us and, after five months, a pandemic, and back issues we can say we are FINALLY moved in to our new home.  Now time to plan our next adventure!