After 2 months of being home bored OUT OF MY MIND trying to have intellectual conversations with my dogs, I finallllly received an invite for some road tripping adventure!
The occasion was a family friends birthday as well as the day America decided to ditch the rest of the world and turn into ass holes, AKA the Fourth of July. Oh, and let’s NOT forget the amazing celebration of me not being in my house! 🙂
Road Trip Time! Yeeaaaehhhh
I arrived at my friend’s house first thing in the morning to get this show on the road. I figured my dear friend Crystal and her hubby rented this large truck so we could enjoy this road trip without being smashed like avocados. Ha, that was wrong. Screw awesome me being comfortable, no no. They rented the Tahoe because of their extra baggage, their 18-month-old- son, had sooooooo much crap! A pack and play, high chair, a baby this and a baby that. Who did this kid think he is? P Diddy or something? This already set the tone for what road tripping with Baby Bradley would entail – high maintenance!
On the Road
Awww the road. Driving 12 hours north in one go sounds like fun right? No. Crying baby, pooping baby, too much fast food and 103 degrees of heat right outside the door. What Joy! On the plus side, we got to drive through the beautiful northern Californian landscape. Apples, wine, oranges, walnuts, you name it! There was always some type of delicious produce growing just outside the car window.
Jedediah Smith California Redwoods
Just when I thought we were for sure driving around in circles, we reached Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park. The home of the tallest trees in the world!!! We were instantly immersed in a forest of 300-foot trees, hiking trails, river runs and dirty rugged men that haven’t showered in days. YES! 😉
It has been years since I had been one on one with nature. Oh and I truly was thanks to my cheap ass phone company who said my service was out of bounds. I was in northern California, not Africa for goodness sakes!
So no phone, no internet, no Tinder, just bugs and trees – OK, Let’s do this!
Our mornings started even before the butt crack of dawn due to our little bundle of joy, Bradley. Even with Grandma, Grandpa, and family galore around, it was not enough to get him to not freak out and cry bloody murder at 4 am. Each morning they had to load the screaming angel into the truck and drive him around town in order to calm his preciousness down.
4 am + a screaming baby + dead silent camp ground = the most hated campsite in the world!!
Our days were filled with relaxing by the river and counting the number of mosquito bites on our legs. The water was freeeeeezing, so it is safe to say I watched the swimming from a distance under my holy shady umbrella.
We went hiking through the Redwoods taking pictures and breathing in the beautiful clean air. Coming from the horrible LA smog, our lungs literally almost collapsed from all the freshness!
Words cannot really describe the feeling you get when you are completed surrounded by these huge giants. You really can only take a step back in awe and try to take it all in. But for real, how the heck did these trees get so dang big?!!
Grants Pass
The next stop on our road trip was Grants Pass, Oregon. What!? You have never heard of it!?! That’s okay, no one has!
It is a little city tucked away in the south end of Oregon. It has that small mountain town feel, with a local village, trees everywhere and we can’t forget about those gun shops. It is here our family friends moved to years ago to get away from the big city and also, as they made it very clear, to escape the Californian taxes!
They own a large property of land covered in delicious veggie and fruit gardens. Oh, and don’t forget that special and legal plant in Oregon, weed! Her house was the type of place you would love to escape to for a nice bed and breakfast in the spring. It was a cute cottage covered with knick knacks and photos. Including nothing other than 3 dead people in jars that I had to sleep next to each night!
Unfortunately, I was feeling under the weather for the most time we were there so I missed out on all the fun stuff there was to do. River floats, wineries, checking out farms. All of that plus more must wait for the next trip up!
Portland, Oregon
Our final stop was the one I was looking forward to the most. A city I have been dying to visit for many years. A city that I just knew I would love. Portland, Oregon! Everyone I was with was invited to a wedding for the night and then there was me, who just kinddaaaa tagged along. So I either had the option to wedding crash orrr spend what would be our only night there doing some solo adventures.
I chose solo adventures, duhh!!
I began my night by just randomly picking a street to walk down from our hotel in the city. I hit the jackpot because one of the first things I came across was BOOM, a brewery. Fathead Brewery had a menu that every stoner probably dreams about. Beer battered this, deep fried that. Yum yum yum! I caved in to the beer battered mushrooms and shared them with the chatty boys next to me. In return, they shared their beer battered pickles and a beer sampler.
Life was good!
Next, I found the biggest book store I have ever seen. Powell’s Book was multi-level, multicoloured, and just multi-amazing!! I could have gotten lost for hours checking out cool books and trinkets but with only a few hours left, I had to keep on moving.
But I only got just as far as the corner where I was stopped by a cool looking pizza place just calling my name. No, I was not still hungry, but yes I was going to stuff my face with whatever I found inside those doors. Sizzle Pie had Pizza slices the size of my head.
There really is a Jesus!!
I continued on throughout the streets of downtown, swinging by little shops and checking out unique stores. The city night had great vibes, well, after you subtract all the cracked out druggies running around the streets.
The Saturday Market in Portland is a must to visit if you like to shop and eat at delicious food trucks. It was filled with hundreds of little cool clothes, jewellery and more cat booths than even the largest cat lady knows what to do with!
Our very last stop was to swing by the International Rose Test Gardens. Here we took pictures with what other than, roses! 10,000 roses from all over the world are planted in this garden, making it one of the most beautiful rose gardens I have ever seen. I was waiting for the Red Queen to come out and say OFF WITH HER HEAD!
Now the only thing left to complete this trip was the lovely 12 hours we had to head back to LA. At this point in time, even the thought of fast food made me want to puke, and if I heard one more scream coming out of that babies mouth I was a second away from throwing myself into moving traffic.
Buuuutt if there was anything I learned from the road trip, it is 2 years old are uhhhh difficult travel companions? Even with a dozen family members there to help out, he was still a handful. I finally understood the whole “it takes a village expression” very clearly. Though tough at times, he added that extra level of sweetness and excitement to the trip that made all our hearts melt.
A level of excitement I have secretly been preparing for the past 5 1/2 months, while I have been thankfully back home with my village.
So in case you have not already guessed it by me placing a baby as the star of this post …
I will be having a forever travel companion of my own coming very soon. This little half Aussie baby boy in my belly is due early December, and ooohhhhhhhh what an adventure we all have ahead!
<3 Hot Pregnant Mess
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I would love Portland! Jedediah, especially!
Wow! Congratulations are in order! 😀 😀
Thank you!!! I bet you weren’t expecting that! Hah 🙂