We got to Oregon just a couple days before Mike started his new job. Settled down and made sure he was all ready to go. Mike’s first week of work was slow and steady, great news is he’s enjoying the culture and the people there so far! I’m so happy for him. I still had another week off and was so happy so spend most of that time with the Shen’s! We’ve had a pretty busy schedule between family and friends in Oregon and Washington and it’s been a fun packed time here so far.
The very first weekend in Oregon I got to spend some intimate time with the Shen’s helping Pat and Naomi out with 1.5 month old Faye. She is so darling. I spent a few nights and days babysitting her and had such an experience. Definitely one I will cherish always. Thank you Naomi & Pat for trusting me with your little angel. I was also so lucky to have grandma Shen around to help feed and take care of me while I cared for a Faye. Thank you grandma Shen for spoiling me and making me feel so at home. We celebrated little miss Faye, for her one month celebration while Grandma Shen was in town. She was so darling in her new outfit.
The following weekend we celebrated Mike’s brother, Carl and his wife, Colleen on their marriage! Carl & Colleen eloped in 2020 in such a fun way, and then decided to have a little gathering to share and introduce the families. Meeting Colleen for the first time and all her family was such a treat. We connected instantly and all of her family were so loving and sweet. So happy to know Carl has married into such a loving family. Welcome to the Lourenço family, Colleen! Love you Sister!! ❤️
Aunt Kathleen, Uncle Henry, Dan and Christina were also in town to celebrate Carl & Colleeen. So awesome to get to see them again on our travels! We spent an evening at their hotel suite playing a few games of Suecca where of course the ladies won all night, I’m lucky I had such a great partner! Aunt Kathleen is the queen of Suecca! Always a great time when there is great company. Love you guys, can’t wait to see you all again soon!
Our friend, Kathleen came to visit us and the Shen’s! We did a half day tour with her and it took us to so many beautiful waterfalls. The tour first takes you to Multnomah Falls, then went over to Horsetail Falls, Wankeena Falls and ended at Latourell Falls. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and taught us a lot of the the nature that surrounded us. At each of these waterfalls they have trails that you can take to hike all the way up to the waterfalls, but because we were on a tour, we were limited with time and didn’t do much hiking at all.
Shen’s took us to eat a lot when Kathleen was in town. We went to Hawthorn food trucks twice, this was a great suggestion. We had dinner at Screen Door, went to Dim Sum, coffee, bagels, toadstool cupcakes, a couple doughnut shops and so much more. Needless to say, Portland has good eats! Naomi, Kathleen and I had our long awaited girl time and got to catch up, relax, eat and explore together. Thanks Kathleen for coming to visit! Can’t wait to see you again soon. And thank you Naomi and Pat for sharing all the goodies that Portland has to offer to us. Dim sum and cupcakes were my favorite! Appreciate you guys making sure we had a good time.
After being spoiled by the Shen’s and Kathleen, Mike had a nice dinner reservation at Saltys, on the Columbia to celebrate my birthday. Beautiful sunset view with delicious seafood dinner! I can’t ask for much more than that. Every year for our birthdays we usually go on a vacation, now that life is a vacation we don’t have to go far to make them feel special. This year for my birthday, Mike spoiled me with a Sony Mirrorless A6600 camera! I can’t wait to learn all about photography and editing to share our adventures in a more glamorous way! I’ve always loved taking pictures but since being on this journey, a nice camera is a must have! So excited to see what this camera can do!
Mike’s dad is also only about a half hour drive north from where we are staying. We drove up for dinner one night and got to see their beautiful home. Yolanda made a delicious dinner and we ended the night with some pound cake for dessert. Spending time with family while we are on the road is definitely one of the best perks of traveling. We have plans to see them again soon, I’m looking forward to seeing Yolanda’s grandson Cruz, one more time before we have to leave to our next destination.
We went out on a Friday night for some dinner and live music at Southland Whiskey Kitchen. Dinner always taste better when it’s accompanied with some good live music. The musician Robby was pretty impressive. He pre-recorded some melodies, then he would play the guitar and sing as he played different parts of the recorded melodies to make the song sound complete. He has a beautiful voice, amazing talent. We saw a biscuit restaurant as we walked around Slab Town that we decided to come back to the following morning for breakfast. Pine Street Biscuits are delicious! They have a build your own biscuit option and their sausage gravy is probably the best I’ve had. We are really enjoying all these good eats here! In fact, we enjoyed our seafood dinner from a previous night so much, we wanted to take Carl and Colleen to celebrate their marriage! That night we met them at The Cove in Vancouver WA. We are really enjoying our time with them and plan to see them as much as we can before we leave.
Sunday morning we had coffee with Will, Emily and their twins. It was so nice to finally meet Emily. Mike and I worked with Will previously and through working together, Will and I became good friends. I really enjoyed spending some time with both Amelia & Thomas. It was so nice to get together and catch up for a bit before the kiddos had to get back home for their nap. We plan to see them again next week for a fun little adventure!
We only have less than one week left here and we still have so much we want to do! Shane & Mimi will be coming this Friday! They are traveling with us to our next destination, this will be a first and I’m so happy it’s with them! We hope to see everyone again before the week is over!
Mily Lourenço Adventures 