Oregon/Washington Road Trip: Days 2 & 3

We woke up early on Day 2 and said goodbye to Medford and hit the road to Albany.

On the way, we did took a scenic road to see where it would lead.

I am in love with covered bridges!

We were getting hungry and wanted to eat by the water, so we entered a State Park and when Gary told the guy we just wanted to eat lunch and leave, he was VERY nice and let us go through.  Gary - always connecting with people through the love of food.  ;-)

Our last stop was the WAAAAAY other side of where we ate lunch!  When no one is there to take your picture, take your own!  #MoLaw

About 4pm, we made it to our hotel, Phoenix Inn.  Once again, not the Hilton, but VERY nice.  King size bed with a living area separated by a half wall.  Gary's favorite part?  Seattle's Best coffee served ALL day long!  My husband as been on a caffeine kick since the minute we checked in.

Day 3 was the day we got to sleep in {is it sad that 7:30 is sleeping in to me?}!!

After a filling breakfast, we got ready and headed out for another day of adventure.

Our first stop was Mount Angel, a cute town with Bavarian flair!

How cute is their City Hall???

Next stop was Silverton, where we wanted to check out another covered bridge.  No thanks to a horrible map we had on us, we got lost, so we stopped in the museum/help center, where the nicest lady helped us out.

I am glad we got lost, because as we were leaving the office, we heard water running, so we went to check it out.

I am so jealous that these people have a river right behind them!

AND they have this gorgeous park within walking distance.

We finally got to the bridge, which is the oldest covered bridge in Oregon and the only one you can still drive through.

One thing we saw a TON of today was CHRISTMAS TREES!!!  No joke, we couldn't go 5 minutes without seeing a christmas tree farm...am I the only one who imagined them being grown on a snowy hill??  lol

We finally made it to Silver Falls, but because of Gary's back we could only do the 

 quarter mile walk to the first waterfall.

The minute I saw these Gary told me "don't eat them!"

How amazing s this tree shot?

Hello beautiful!

Thanks to the couple from Michigan who took this picture of us!

You could tell this guy was familiar with this place.  He was running around, drinking water.  We kept thinking he was going to jump in and swim.

Our last stop, and a bit out of the way, was Oregon State University.

Makes me wish I could go back and go to college here!  

Sadly the store was closed, so I had to take a picture for one of my former students who is coming here in the fall!

After our long day, we stopped at Red Robin for some burgers and fries before heading back to the hotel.

Tomorrow we get up early so we can walk around Portland a few hours before heading to Washington to visit our families.

Voodoo Doughnut - here I come!!

Oregon/Washington Road Trip: Day 1

Who says you get to sleep in on vacation??  Our alarm went off at 4:30 this morning...yikes!  


We got up, grabbed a cup {or 6} of coffee, had breakfast and did all sort of last minute things, so we could leave by 7am.


Then we realized that our car is tiny and may not hold all of our luggage.  After some strategic planning, we packed the car {even the back seat}.

Yeah, we didn't actually hit the road until closer to 8.


But I was on vacation, so NO STRESSING {hubby told me that was a new rule...I never agreed to it, but I am playing along for now}.

About 2 hours in we stopped at Starbucks to get some caffeine in our systems.  Since I am determined to be healthy, even on vacation, I opted for an passion iced tea, and added my own Stevia.  


Yes.....


I am now one of those people that carry around their own sweetener.  Thanks for still being my friend!


It was delicious.  It had a spicy kick to it that I LOVED!!  


After another hour we were halfway there but Gary needed some more caffeine, so we stopped off at an AM/PM to buy him "cheapy" coffee.  Ummm...it was freaking yummy!  He got an XL cookies 'n' cream cappuccino for under $2.00.  We know where we are going when we want flavored coffee now.  It has the same crap in it that Starbucks has, and for half the price!!


We stopped at a rest area a little after noon and had the lunch I had packed for us - tri tip wraps.  I also made homemade mayo the day before for us to enjoy with the wraps....I'm such a domestic goddess...I know!  ;-)

See what happens when I take the wheel??  Gangsta Gary comes out!

After that, we made one more rest stop before heading to our hotel in Medford, Or. We stayed at Rodeway Inn, which is a smaller hotel chain for the frugal traveler {such as myself}, and the last time we stayed at one, it was horrible!  But, if you check it out on Trip Advisor it's rated #2 out of 30 hotels in Medford and gets 4.5 stars out of 169 reviews.  The room is somewhat small, but we are only staying here one night, and it is clean and quiet.


We checked into the hotel after 4 and wanted to have an early dinner, so I check out Yelp for some ideas.  We decided on Jaspers Cafe, where they make these gourmet burgers....yum!  I had the Hotel California with blue cheese in a lettuce wrap and split an order of sweet potato fries with Gary.

It's time to change into my sweats and go relax with my hubby a bit while it rains outside!

~~What's the best burger you ever had?~~

All My Bags Are Packed....

...I'm ready to go!  


{Anyone else having flashback to Armageddon?  Ben Affleck in his prime....yum!} 


Tomorrow morning, Gary & I leave for our 2 week long road trip along the Pacific Northwest!  Can you believe it was in January that I started talking about this trip?

Well, it's here!  I'm excited and nervous at the same time...I look forward to our time away together {we really need this getaway} but I'm such a homebody that sometimes 2 weeks seems like ages.


I am so excited about the adventures that await us {fingers crossed they are mostly good}!


As for Organically Mo, I might stop in here and there to post some pictures and update you on our trip...or I may not....I really don't have a plan {my husband would be THRILLED to hear this}.


Hopefully you'll check in with me on Twitter, where I know I'll be tweeting and posting lots of pictures!

Keeping It In Check On The Road

Gary & I leave for our road trip this Saturday!  While I want to enjoy myself tremendously {especially when it comes to food - Oregon has soooo many cheese shops & wineries} I do NOT want to undo all the hard work I've put toward my health the past 7 weeks!

To accomplish this, I've come up with some guidelines for me to follow while on vacation.

• Stay active.  Sightseeing can burn lots of calories when you are doing a majority of it on foot!  On the days we will be doing more driving than exploring I will either hit up the hotel gym or do some cardio in our hotel room {I am bringing my workout clothes and some easy workout equipment}.  Even 20-30 minutes is better than nothing!
• Eat a hearty breakfast.  Personally, I do better throughout the day once I've eaten a good breakfast.  All the hotels we're staying at offer a free breakfast, hopefully offering more than just waffles & pastries.  Which leads to.....
• Bring our own food. All our hotels offer mini fridges & microwaves, so we are loading up a cooler full of healthy snacks to bring with us.  If all else fails and the breakfast sucks, we can enjoy a waffle with our own boiled eggs and kale chips.
• Limit Indulgences.  Yes, I want to try VooDoo Doughnut.  But I don't need to load the cooler full of them, so I can enjoy one for breakfast, lunch AND dinner!
• At times, just IGNORE my guidelines. I think this is the one I will struggle with the most because I tend to have a "do or die" attitude.  I need to remember that we are on vacation for 2 weeks.  I don't need to have a salad or a side of steamed broccoli for every meal {even though these are 2 things I truly love}.  I can stick to my food rules 100% of the time when I get back from vacation.  

***How do you handle eating when on vacation?  Do you stick to normal eating or have the belief "I'm on vacation; I deserve to eat what I want?"***

And The Winner Is....

The winner of the OXO Good Grips Salad Dressing Shaker is:

Nancy W!

Nancy - you have 48 hours to contact me at OrganicallyMo{at}gmail{dot}com with your address so I can send you your cool new OXO Good Grips Salad Dressing Shaker!


Thanks to all who entered!  :)

Oh, Vacation!

I know I normally get a post out first thing Monday morning, but guess what??  I completely forgot to get something together this weekend. I guess my brain is on vacation already!


I don't have any pictures from this weekend, but it was a GREAT one nonetheless! 


On Saturday my Aunt in Jackson hosted family BBQ so everyone could meet the family visiting from Holland.  It was so nice to get together with everyone that I haven't seen in ages.  We all keep up on Facebook, so that's nice, but there is nothing like seeing family face to face!  


BBQ + Family = 2 of my favorite things!


Yesterday morning I woke up before 5:30 with a very upset stomach {I think I enjoyed the BBQ a little too much - I seriously had 4-5 ribs and 2 chicken drumsticks}.  By 10:30 my stomach calmed down enough for me to run some errands.  Once I came home, I was in full cleaning mode!


I did a few loads of laundry, then I finally went through my wall closet, where I house all my pants and tried on EVERY SINGLE PAIR!  Now it is super organized by shorts, capris, jeans & dress pants.  I also have 2 shelves of pants to try on in a month or two.  They were just a bit snug to wear right now, but if I keep my weight loss up, I can fit into them soon!


This morning I woke up at 7, had breakfast, then headed for the GYM!!!  It's been a long time since I went there.  All my exercise lately has been walking and jogging on my own, but I want to get back into the habit of switching up my outside runs with some inside workouts.

Oh, fancy action shot!

 I was a bit excited and tried to do too many different things in one workout...walk/run, hills, sprints.  By 30 minutes in I was pooped, but I just kept walking.  Next time I am going to stick to one workout plan!

Not bad for my first time back!

 I packed small container of the following for a post workout snack:
1/2 cup Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup frozen organic blueberries
1/2 packet of stevia

REFUEL!

It was the perfect snack since I had to head down the street to Costco.


I LOVE shopping at Costco when it is empty...I can just explore every aisle that I want to!


So now I am home, doing more laundry and about to get my lunch ready {leftover chicken wraps} - YUM!


**What's your favorite machine at the gym?**


**Do you have a go to post workout snack?**

Top 5 Friday {Summer Loving}

Top 5 {+1} Things I LOVE about Summer:

1. Flip Flops - for home, the pool, the store....it's prefectly acceptable to wear flip flops all day long!  {Just have a cute #2 to show off}

2. Pedicures - I rarely get pedicures during the cold months, but once I start showing my piggies off to the public, you KNOW I'm going to keep them looking cute!

3. BBQ - Whether we're BBQing with friend, family or just the 2 of us, BBQing is an event for Gary & I. 

4. LIGHT - Gone are the dreary winter months.  We're enjoying the sun from 5:30am - 9:30pm for the next month!

5. Vacation - Doesn't matter if it's a day trip, a weekend trip, or a 2 week road trip {yay!}, this is THE time to hit the road and enjoy the scenery outside of your city.

6. Adult Beverages- A mo-garita at noon?  Sure!  Some wine with dinner?  Okay.  Even though we've pushed pause with alcohol recently {which I KNOW helped us lose weight}, it's still fun to indulge in a few drinks over the summer months.  Anyway, the heat burns off all alcohol calories - Mo Law.

***What's on your Summer Loving list??***