#letsgovisitTJ

So it's been a very long time since I posted anything, and I'm sorry.

(Unless you really don't enjoy reading my nonsense, in that case, I'm sorry that I am blogging again.)

Apologies aside, this weekend I got to do something that Hailey and I have been talking about for 2 years.

We went and visited our friend TJ in Oregon after he got home from his mission!

I blogged about TJ getting his mission call in my second public post ever wayyyyyy back in January 2011.

Bonus of the trip? Our super-awesome friend Ryan came with us.

(he lived across the hall from TJ freshman year)

So,(after some fruit bars and a quick trip to In-N-Out)
we set off on our 12 hour drive from Provo to Portland.

After driving awhile, we needed to get gas.  But we were in Idaho, so there was NOTHING.

The gas gauge was past E when we finally found this gas station:

They had alpacas/llamas (whatever they were) in the back.

It was one of the most random places I'd ever seen. It was ridiculous(ly awesome).

 After about 6 hours, we reached Ontario, Oregon (just a mile over the border with Idaho) where we stayed the night.
We left early Saturday morning to drive the last 6 hours to Portland.

We arranged to meet up with TJ and his family at the Portland Temple:

(this is a picture from google - I was lame and didn't take any while we were there)

After we met up with them, we walked around the visitor's center and the grounds for a couple minutes, and then left to go down to Eugene, OR, where TJ's brother Josh was running in states for track.
(which is kind of a big deal since track is huge in Oregon)

The Tracktown USA title is quite accurate.

After we had dinner at a Mongolian stir fry place (delicious),

TJ, Ryan, Hailey and I left to go spend some time in downtown Portland.

Ryan flirted a little bit with the seal statue. Don't tell his girlfriend.

These are Voodoo doughnuts. 

Not only are the doughnuts themselves delicious, but they put the coolest and craziest things on them.

Some notable toppings: cereal, maple and bacon, oreos and peanut butter, and tang (you know, that orange-y drink mix that was cool in the 90's?)

And Portland does have its own special collection of weird.

There was this one shirtless guy walking around with his walkman (apparently those do still exist in working condition) singing super loudly as he walked - and we managed to run into him several times despite turning the opposite way at a few different street corners.

It was so fun! Carrying over from my trip to NYC a year ago, I do still love big cities.

On Sunday after church, we went to the beach.

And you know what that means? I went in the Pacific Ocean - even if it was just up to my knees and it was cold and windy - and got to cross another thing off my bucket list! 

After we got back from the beach, we had another delicious dinner at TJ's house, played some games, went for a walk, and stayed up ridiculously late talking.

On Monday, we left to go home.

It was sad, because we liked Portland and hanging out with TJ and his family, and we were going back to Provo and the reality of school.

At least I'm still taking my last final ever in 22 days!

P.S. #letsgovisitTJ (the title of this post) is the tag I used on the 2 instagram pictures I posted from the trip.
Just in case you were curious.
(I wouldn't blame you if you weren't.)