Big Trip to the Big Apple

November brought a first for me...my first trip to New York City! I consider myself a well-traveled individual, at least within the United States, but I had never been to NYC. My best friend and roommate from my senior year of college, Lauren, has lived in NYC since we graduated. She is getting married in January and I am her matron of honor (matron?!?). So I decided to head to New York and throw her a shower. It was a whirlwind weekend, but so much fun. I don't get to see Lauren often so while being in New York was a treat, it was even more wonderful to have some face-to-face time with her.

The shower was at Alice's Tea Cup, a well-known tea room in NYC. Much to my surprise, this is one of Lauren's favorite places. I Googled "Bridal Shower New York City" and found this place. I booked it, but didn't give Lauren any details until the night before the shower. She was sure that I had asked one of her friends where she would want to have a shower. I was thrilled that she was so excited and that I had chosen wisely!

As Lauren puts it...Alice's Tea Cup is the "girliest place in the world."

In addition to many varieties of delicious tea, we were presented with 5 of these 3-tiered stands full of scones, finger sandiwches, cakes, cookies, mousse, etc. There were 10 girls present so you can about imagine how much food we took home. It was amazingly good. We ate until we all felt ill. Lauren and I had to go back to her apartment to take Advil and a nap!

On Saturday night we went and saw the musical Spring Awakening.

(Lauren and I outside the theater)

It was a fun-filled weekend. We walked all over the city (SoHo, West Village, Central Park, 5th Avenue, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Bryant Park...whew!). I may not have been there long, but I was able to see so much. I can't wait to go back to see more of the sites.

Lake Lure, NC

In October we drove to Lake Lure, NC to spend a long weekend with Adam's family. We love being in the mountains and it was so fun to catch up with Adam's parents, Jeff, and Kelleigh. The picture above is of Kelleigh and Connie on top of Chimney Rock, overlooking Lake Lure. The girls decided to go for a hike and the boys stayed at home! Although Adam and Doug will tell you that they took their own hike on the, shall we say "road less travelled." They both came back with war wounds from that excursion. Another great fall weekend!

Fall 2008

Adam and I kicked the fall off by visiting Carter Mountain Orchard, just outside of Charlottesville. It was a beautiful day and the views overlooking Charlottesville were amazing. On just the other side of the mountain from the orchard is Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home.

Does Adam look exciting to pick apples or what?

Yum! These are the apples we came away with. They were delicious! I honestly couldn't believe how much better they tasted than store bought apples. The other highlight of the orchard for me were the cider doughnuts they sold. They reminded me of the doughnuts I used to get as a kid at the Auburn Fair. So good! It made me wish I could sit at Grandma Rufner's kitchen table and share one with her just one last time! Adam and I definitely want to make apple-picking at the Carter Mountain Orchard a fall tradition. It will be fun to take our kids there someday.

After hiking the mountainside to pick our apples, Adam and I decided to eat at Michie Tavern (pronounced Mickey). Located at the base of Carter Mountain and a short distance from the entrance to Monticello, Michie Tavern (ca. 1784) is a well-known historic site.

Adam displays the classic southern fare we dined on...cornbread, bisquits, mashed potatoes, fried chicken, pulled barbeque pork, green beans, black-eyed peas (which he tried for the first time and did not like...neither do I). We both stayed away from the stewed tomatoes...yuck! Because it is all-you-can-eat, Adam went back for seconds. By the time our waiter asked us if we wanted fresh peach cobbler, we were both so full we had to decline.

Later on in October Adam and I invited our small group from church over to carve pumpkins. I hadn't carved a pumpkin in years. It was fun and our pumpkin looked great!

(Adam took the picture above, sorry for the bluriness!)

Adam pulling the "guts" out of our pumpkin. I was happy to let him do that part.

Our pumpkin!

Can you tell we chose the easiest design? The pumpkin on the left is an owl and the one on the right is a spider and its web. Next year maybe we'll try something a little trickier!

Cannon Beach, OR ~ Haystock Rock

(This picture is out of order...I hate it when Blogger does this. Does anyone know how to format picture order on Blogger? If so, please share!)
Another gorgeous picture of the Oregon coast.

Our rental car....JUST KIDDING!!!

Before we left, Adam suggested that for our last day in Oregon we rent a convertible. We had planned to head to the coast for our last day of sightseeing so I thought the idea was perfect. So, Sunday night we picked up our little convertible and headed out to the coast...with our fleeces on, the seat warmers going, and the heat cranked! We weren't going to let some chilly temps keep us from taking full advantage of the open air ride. Even though we were freezing! On Monday morning we drove across the Columbia River from Astoria, OR to Washington. So now Adam can say he's been to Washington too (for all of 20 minutes)! We then headed down the coast to Cannon Beach.

Adam's first views and steps into the Pacific Ocean. We weren't sure which was colder...our bare feet in the snow of Mt. Hood or in the water of the Pacific.

Haystack Rock!!! As a child of the '80s I am a huge fan of the movie The Goonies. One of the things Cannon Beach is most famous for is Haystock Rock and its other surrounding rock formations. While I knew these rocks from The Goonies we were delighted to find out that the tide pools around these rocks are amazing! We were also able to look through telescopes and see puffins and several other types of birds that make their homes on the rocks. No one has been on top of Haystack in 40 years so as not to disturb the natural habitat. The rock stands 235 feet above the sand. I was bummed that it was cloudy this morning, but it was low tide so we were able to get up close to the rock and walk among the tide pools.

(This picture of Haystack was taken later in the day when the sun had come out, but notice that the tide had come in and covered the tide pools we had walked among that morning)

Look familiar Goonies fans? Nicole...I would have died to have you there with me!


Two starfish hanging out on a rock in the tide pool. These rocks were covered with layer upon layer of mussels. We also saw fish, crabs, and other wildlife.

This guy is HUGE!


That about wraps up our trip to Oregon. We had a wonderful time and only wish we had a few more days to keep exploring. By the way, you may have noticed that we appear to be wearing the same clothes each day of our trip. We (me especially) were ill-prepared for the cool temps a great deal of the time in Oregon...especially near Mt. Hood and that morning on the beach. So, Adam is always in his orange fleece and me in the only long-sleeve item of clothing i brought. Trust me, the next time we head that way we will be much more prepared...right Adam?

Multnomah Falls & the International Rose Test Garden

This is Multnomah Falls, the second largest waterfall in the United States. Notice the bridge that crosses over the upper pool. In 1995 a wedding party was standing on that bridge when a natural rock slide from the upper fall occured. 20 members of the wedding party received minor injuries from flying rock...including the groom who was hit in a rather "unfortunate" location. Too funny!



We also had a change to visit the International Rose Test Garden in Portland. These roses reminded me of the ones used for our wedding. This place was amazing. I have never seen so many varieties of roses in my life. We were amazed to learn that the whole garden is tended to by 1 full-time gardener (I imagine that's a dream job) and 2 summer volunteers.

Mt. Hood

Just two more pictures as we drove around Mt. Hood towards the Columbia River Gorge. These views were so amazing. While in Oregon we saw Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and even Mt. Ranier (from the airplane). So beautiful! It might rain a lot in Washington and Oregon, but I would imagine these views on a clear day make it all worth it. Adam and I kept wondering if people become "immune" to the beauty of the scenery.

Timberline Lodge ~ Day 2

On Sunday we were able to head back up to the Timberline Lodge. For the first time since we had arrived in Oregon the weather was clear...and Mt. Hood was no longer "supposedly" there. GORGEOUS! Another first for us...riding up a ski lift and romping through the snow in shorts and sandals...Brrrr!!

Notice that we are above the clouds in the distance.

The peak of Mt. Hood

A picture of Mt. Jefferson in the distance.

Fritz, Chris Higgins, and Adam with the peak in the distance.

Fritz and Adam headed up the ski lift (Fritz was also in our wedding and we once again had the pleasure of hearing him sing at Matt & Kelly's wedding).

It's amazing that the day before I stood in a very similar location by the Timberline and all my camera could capture was gray clouds and no mountain! The views were spectacular from up there...and on top of the great views a kid wearing a powder blue leisure suit exited the ski lift behind us and went skiing on down the mountain. Too funny!

Timberline Lodge

I imagine that most of you have seen the movie The Shining (think REDRUM...that oughta jog your memory). To our delight, Timberline Lodge, which was used for the outside shots in The Shining was located 6 miles up the mountain from our resort in Gov't. Camp. While Adam was tending to his best man duties on Saturday, I travelled up the mountain with some friends. Unfortunately, it was extremely cloudy/foggy and the ski lift was closed, but I did get some fun shots of the lodge itself.

The building is quite old and was built by the WPA (Works Progress Administration). It was completed in 1937. For more great pics, go to www.timberlinelodge.com .

The artwork and carvings in the lodge were beautiful. This is just one examble on a staircase.

When we went back to the lodge on Sunday in better weather (more pictures next post) Adam couldn't resist getting his hands on the "Here's Johnny" axe. Scary!

Wedding ~ Mazama Lodge ~ Government Camp, OR

Matt & Kelly's wedding was held at the Mazama Lodge, just outside Camp Government, OR. Located on the side of Mt. Hood, Mazama is used as a ski school in the fall/winter/spring and is also a possible launch site for hikers who aim to climb to the top. I wish I had actually taken a picture of the lodge, but it is your typical Alpine structure with porches on both sides and on both stories. The whole setting was quite beautiful. The ceremony was held outside and had the sky been clear, we would have been able to see the peak of Mt. Hood between the trees above where Matt & Kelly stood.

Adam looked surprisingly great in his brown linen pants and linen shirt. As for that Patagonia fleece...it came in as a handy lap blanket for me during the ceremony. Did I mention that each time I was at Mazama Lodge (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) the temp. was the same - 50 degrees...brrrr! My blood has definitely thinned! When we make the 5 minute trip back down to Gov't Camp, the temp would always be 5-8 degrees warmer. Note: the dress I was wearing is that somewhat blousy style that is "in" right now...imagine my embarassment when Matt's grandmother said to me, in front of 10 or so people, "Rachel..." (in that grandmotherly, knowing voice)..."You're pregnant." The first thing that flashed through my mind was me sitting and talking to Grandma the day before...WITH A BEER IN MY HAND! I cleared up the misunderstanding right away. I think she may have felt worse than I did :)

Matt and Kelly grew herbs in their apartment (tons of them!) and used those as part of the centerpieces. The tables looked beautiful. The Bartow clan (Matt's family) were forced to help Matt purchase pub glasses for each place setting by visiting multiple brewpubs in the days leading up to the wedding. What a sacrifice! Portland is well-known for its local brewpubs. One of the best parts of the wedding is that all of the food and beverages served were all from Oregon. This included wine, beer, fruits and berries for the 15+ homemade pies that Matt's mom and sister made for the reception, vegetables, etc. AMAZING! Those pies were to-die-for good!

Adam and the happy groom!

Matt & Kelly's Wedding - Portland, OR

The Newlyweds!!

Adam and I were thrilled when we (1) learned that our best man and Adam's dear friend Matt Bartow announced he had finally proposed to his girlfriend Kelly (that was 2 years ago already!) and (2) when they announced they would be hosting the wedding festivities near their new hometown of Portland, OR. In April Adam made it as far as the Rocky Mountains in Vail, CO for Matt's bachelor party/weekend. That was the furthest west Adam had ever travelled within the U.S. We were both excited to head to Oregon for Adam's first trip to the West coast. We crammed a lot of fun into our 4-day trip and best of all were blessed to share in the celebration of Matt and Kelly's marriage. I can't possibly share all of the pictures we took, but I hope the next few posts give you guys an idea of the fun and beautiful scenery we experienced.