Pacific Northwest (Lots of Photos!)

Well, today marks a turning point in our trip... From this point forward, we are officially heading home!

We've already travelled over 5,000 miles; and we've seen everything from grizzlies and bighorns to live music and fish markets.  :) It is hard to believe that one week from today, I will be in Georgia with my girlfriends celebrating Jenni's wedding weekend, and Jeff will be back at work.  Wow, time flies! 

Luckily, there are still  3,000 (ish) miles  between us and the real world. Plus, our return trip is nicely broken up with visits with some of my best friends in Utah & Colorado... So, the fun isn't over quite yet!

BUT, first, a photo recap of our whirlwind tour of the Pacific Northwest, which - by the way - we LOVED! 

Monday night in Seattle with Jeff's college roommate Andrew (who works for Microsoft) and his new bride Sarah:

"Crab Feast" (and clam chowder) on the Seattle wharf...

A visit to the infamous Fremont Troll...

And a photo-op at Kerry Park overlooking the whole city, including Seattle's landmark Space Needle.

Tuesday, we left bright & early to cross the border & check-out Vancouver:

Which included a stop at Canada Place to watch the cruise ships come in and the water planes take off...

The 2010 Olympic Cauldron...

The Sea Walk among amazing yachts...

Stanley Park...

and, English Bay Beach.

Then, on Wednesday, we crossed back into the states for one more night with Andrew & Sarah & a delicious home-cooked dinner.  :)

And, finally, Thursday we made a quick stop at Portage Bay Cafe (incredible), the Seattle Public Market, & the original Starbucks before heading south on I-5:

A must-see for me ever since "Real World: Seattle."  What can I say?

On our way into Portland, we stopped off at Cannon Beach to put our toes in the Pacific Ocean.

It was VERY cold...

But also, VERY beautiful!

And, to end our time in the Pacific Northwest, we had - what we consider - a "night with the locals" in Portland.  First, enjoying a beer & live "mountain music" at McMenamins Kennedy School (a 1915 elementary school that has been converted into a brewery, movie-theater, and show venue), and taco's at Por Que No Mississippi?!  The perfect ending to our tour!

Beautiful mountains, perfect weather, great food, fun cities, and friendly people... We loved everything about Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland. Our only regret? That we didn't have more time in any one place. Oh well, that just gives us an excuse to come back!!

As usual, if you still want to see more of our photos you can check them out here, OR, just tune back in later for details and photos of the last leg of Chap-Manifest Destiny 2010! :)

(P.S. We just finished Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol on cd... For 17 hours Jeff and I have actually looked FORWARD to being in the car and have hardly spoken a word to each other... So good!)