Two Week Road Trip (Part I ) – Oregon & Idaho

I never thought I would be preparing myself for a road trip of this magnitude. It’s one of those things you talk and talk about, but you can’t even imagine how the trip will unfold. I want to start this off by mentioning that we had previously endured a road trip together, so we were pretty confident we could do it again! Our first trip was from Raleigh, NC to Austin, TX. We were originally thinking about traveling to Europe, but we were worried we wouldn’t have enough money for it. I think we just happen to have a thing for road trips anyways.

We knew this trip was going to be a a little different from our last. We had so many kinds of activities to get ready for. We planned on Oregon being a bit more relaxing than the rest of the trip. We knew we would have to be mentally and physically ready for our five days of camping in Yellowstone soon after. Because of that, our Oregon trip was mostly planned around sight seeing and finding the most delicious restaurants.

By the time we landed, slept in our cute Airbnb, had our lyft driver get us to Enterprise the next morning, it had been 24 hours since I last ate. We finally got to Mother’s Bistro and they let us know it would be over an hour wait. Thankfully, the bf was keeping an eye out for any open seats at the bar. Y’all, omg. The hour wait would have been so worth it. This place was so good. 10/10 would recommend to all breakfast/brunch lovers.

The first thing we wanted to do after getting some food in our bellies was head to the Portland Saturday Market. The Market was so inspiring. There are so many creatives in Portland that have found they’re calling and doing a fabulous job of sticking true to who they are and how they want to live. I bought some beautiful earrings from a artisan at the market. She also sells prints and tapestry. Her work is absolutely breath taking. She seems to be one of those people that is good at everything. You can find her work here. I wish I knew her name!

Our day was off to a great start and we still had a good bit of energy in us so we decided on making our way to the Japanese Garden. It sure did not disappoint. There was so much to see. I couldn’t believe tickets were only about $15. You can even enjoy a relaxing lunch among the trees.

If you know as a couple, or remotely know Austin at all, you know we had to take advantage of all the awesome breweries in the area on our first day. After the Japenese Garden we made our way to 10 Barrel Brewing  (guys on duty really knew their stuff and had great recommendations) and then walked to Deschutes Brewery right after that. The original Deschutes is actually in Bend (which we would visit next), but we were super eager to try it. Beer was awesome and the food was great. Good times all around

At the moment, I don’t think I realized how sad I was to be leaving Portland. I really grew to love the city, but it was hard to be down when I knew we were heading to Crater Lake the next morning. Unfortunately, we visited on the cloudiest day. You can literally see the clouds hovering over the  entire lake, but it was still one of the most beautiful views.

P.s. Did you know?
Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States, the second-deepest in North America (after Great Slave Lake in Canada), and the ninth-deepest lake in the world.

We had no idea until we read a neat sign. It also showed us a picture of the contraption they used to figure it out. The coolest!

Honestly, leaving Crater lake was tough. It was pretty cold since the sun wasn’t out so we didn’t do too much hiking. I would have loved to explore it another  day, but ya know… got to stick with the schedule.

After a couple of hours at Crater lake we headed towards Bend! I added an exclamation point, because I really do mean to say it with excitement. I fell over heels in love with Bend. It remind me a lot of Asheville, but with a even more chill/ less populated version. And the food scene = just as awesome. Farm to table here has a different meaning.

The first  place we wanted to get food from was Chow. It was precious. The staff were so genuine and friendly, and the food tasted SO fresh.

Here’s a picture of what I got – soooo goood.

We had so many great options for dinner during our Bend stay. We were having  such a hard time deciding which to go to. If you are ever in Bend make sure you check out this article with some great options. For dinner we decided to try Spork and it did not disappoint. It is a really unique and authentic place. It is Mexican, Asian Fusion, Soul Food*. I’ll just leave you with that and this picture.

Writing this part is hard. I did not want to leave. Oregon is a really neat state. I loved everything about it. The weather, the people, the active lifestyle it excudes. I really hope we’re back some day.

Since the drive from Bend to Yellowstone would have been a long one, and so not fun, we decided to stay right outside of Wyoming. We looked for a place to stay and found this really cool camper in Ashton, Idaho. Here is the link to the Airbnb. This Airbnb was everything we needed and more. Kathy, even had some clean water we could use during our stay. There was a working stove and toilet which we didn’t expect. And although you had to sleep in your own sleeping bag on the bed, it was the best sleep I had in days! I slept like a rock. We slept with the windows open and it was so peaceful hearing the wind, and feeling more connected to nature than usual. We woke up and could hear the cows across the creek moo-ing. It was the best!

If I would have known how terrible I was going to sleep in Yellowstone the first two nights, I would have refused to leave this camper.

That night we went to bed at a decent time knowing what was ahead. We knew we had to get to Yellowstone at a good time, before all the camping spots got reserved. You’ll have to look out for my part II post to find out what happens.

The next morning was stressful and not what we anticipated, but it makes for a good story and a good laugh now looking back 🙂  Don’t worry. No bears involved!