#cant wait to read more whenever i have downtime

[milkbreadtoast]

guys i started reading this recently and let me tell you. You have to read this one.... ITS SO GODDAMN FUNNY. im having the time of my life... wholeheartedly rec

[sarakuper]

Mt. Hood & Portland, Oregon

Stops #10 & #11, Aug 9-13

For the fourth morning in a row we packed up and hit the road. We’ve been on the go go go ever since I got back from NY and we have been looking forward to settling into a spot and having some downtime.

I’ve noticed our travel days can be rough and Sean and I often get hangry (anger caused by hunger). I also learned that I really dislike shopping at Walmart, but damn it’s so cheap. Either way, we decided after this stop that we will no longer food shop there. With their low prices and ample space for parking a trailer we will see if we actually stick to that.

While en route to Mt. hood we also had to stop at an auto parts store because Sean wants to fix something that’s leaking in the truck. After several stops along the road we finally hit the last hour of our drive and a storm rolled in. We saw Mt. Hood in the distance hiding behind dark clouds. All of the sudden the sky is raging with lighting and thunder. It too another 10 minutes before the rain reached us, but when it did it hit hard. The lightning was far in the distance, but we had a clear view of it. And damn, there were some epic lighting strikes. Jaxon was hiding in the back seat as best as he could, squeezing himself behind the bottom of his dad’s seat as much as possible. He’s such a daddy’s boy 😝

When we arrived at our camp spot we nestled ourselves in between the trees and scoped out the rest of the grounds. This camping spot is beautiful, but sadly there are signs warning of closures because too many people leave trash behind and don’t dispose of their waste properly. You have to bury your poops 6 inches deep, at least! And always pack out your trash. It’s a shame that people don’t follow these protocols. Anyway, I made quesadillas on the first night and they actually came out so yummy! One of the things we bought was a rotisserie chicken and we spent 5 minutes shredding it to keep in a container so we could add it to any meal. Why didn’t we think of this earlier? It’s so convenient and also so tasty!

The next morning Alexis and Dou (Mamadou) arrived to camp with us for the next three nights. I spent the morning cleaning the camper and Sean worked on the car. We are so excited to have company to be able to socialize with people other than each other. Unfortunately, just before they came, water fell off the awning of our trailer and right into my lap as I was working on my laptop. I put rice on the keyboard and as per google’s suggestion, leave it off for 48 hours. For this reason I’m super happy we have internet at this campsite... Once Alexis and Dou arrived I taught them how to play kaluche while Sean worked on the truck. Man, I forgot how slow this game moves when you play with people just learning. It reminded me how much I sometimes hate this game 😂.

Later in the evening we hiked over to Trillium Lake, about 1 mile from our campsite, to fish and relax on the water. Dou had never fished before and was so pumped to, even though him and Sean got no bites. I guess the Kuper curse follows me around! Everyone else around us was catching fish left and right...

The night ended with lots of food, snacks, and kaluche until we all fell asleep. We planned to spend the next day in Portland, and that’s exactly what we did.

Portland is such a cool city! We were all impressed and fantasized about moving there. It was way more diverse than I expected and while I could tell it’s similar to Denver in that it’s changed a lot in the last 5 years while several more people were moving there, it was also clear that it’s managed to keep its originality. After a very fattening brunch we headed to the weekend market where we shopped, people watched, and ate some more. I accidentally left my camera in the trailer back at our campsite, so I was only able to capture some moments with my phone.

At the market I got a henna tattoo from an awesome lady named Aisha. I chose an elephant because I cant get those majestic creatures off my mind ever since Africa!

We watched some live music, drank smoothies, and even ate ice cream stuffed donuts. Alexis kept saying how full she was but would then eat more. Preggo life.

Coincidentally my cousin Jesse from NY was also in Portland with his wife Kristen and kid Owen! We met up with them in the late afternoon to catch up.

That night Alexis and Dou made us some quesadillas as we hung out and just laughed a lot.

The next morning we did not wake up early like we said we would for a hike. Instead of setting an alarm like we planned we woke up whenever our bodies felt like getting up and slowly made our way to the trailhead. Tom Dick and Harry Mountain trail was 9 miles out and back with 1,700 feet elevation gain, and the views were beautiful!

If you haven’t noticed yet, Alexis and Dou are expecting a baby in Jan and so I encouraged us to feel her belly in pictures. Sean opted out 😅

When we got back to our site it had finally been over 48 hours since I started letting my MacBook dry out, and so I tried turning it in. Big mistake. I learned later that only fried more parts inside. That time it turned on, but the display was busted. After that it did not turn on again. I’m not going to lie, I’ve been super bummed about this ever since it happened. I feel like my computer is my outlet for so many things. It holds about 20,000 photos currently, at least half of those are from my childhood. It’s my way to download my photos in the highest quality now that I finally bought a DSLR camera, and using tumblr has been like writing a journal- reflecting on everything and showing everyone makes me feel good. And now I don’t have my laptop to do that with. It’s not the same from my phone for so many reasons. So yeah, I’ve been pretty moody. At this point I made the plan to bring my computer into a tech company that could fix it in Portland. We planned to drive through Portland to head to the coast anyway, but instead of heading north along the coast into Washington, we will now have to go back to Portland to pick my laptop back up, and hopefully fixed. 

Anyway, it was so great to have Alexis and Dou with us, the four of us got along great... but also Sean and Dou have the cutest bromance. Anyway, they loved the camper trailer living and are thinking about getting one for their little fam. I can’t wait until that baby comes too!! They will have such beautiful mixed babies, me and Sam (our other bestie) have been waiting for this to happen for a while! Also I cannot get over Alexis pregnant. She is so small and yet so large. I even took a selfie with her belly 😍

Thanks for reading, love you all. 

[she-rules-her-own-world]

Crazy

It has been a whirlwind of a week. I flew into Frankfurt and to Rome, spent 3 and a half days there studying the renaissance and the ancient ruins of Rome. Its crazy how much is still standing from like 20 BCE. I loved seeing the statues and buildings still standing. I loved messaging you and seeing how you were doing in the evening/morning. Whenever you sent something heartfelt, or something you were thinking about made my heart flutter, i loved reading the messages you sent when i was asleep. I love you so much. You make me feel so happy and hole.

We then moved to Florence. Which is a beautiful city in and of its self. This city was different though. We were not looking at statues as much and we were looking at painting of the renaissance more. I dont really care for the paintings, they are still wonderful pieces but i dont see what the teacher sees in them. I do to some aspect but not entirely. We were in the central part of the city, so when we had free time we were able to leave and explore without the fear of getting lost. I loved this city so much more. It definitely seemed like it could be a second home to be.. im not just saying that either. I loved the walking around to get to places. The street performers who would terrify somebody in the group who didnt know they were not a statue (actually happened...no it wasnt me...), the marvelous buildings around, the history of the city. Everything mesmerised me about this city. I loved it so much. I didnt so much like the haggling.... i think i still could have gotten a better deal on the bag i got you... but i think what i got it for was good enough..

I am so thankful that Florence had city wifi, and i would be able to get out and receive some messages from you. Almost no matter what the message said from you, it was going to make me smile. I love you so much. This week was rough without constant communication but i think it made me love you even more. You are such a wonderful human and i cant wait to spend forever with you.

I loved everything about this trip. Minus the stress of the public transportation in Rome. But italy is such a beautiful place. I cant want to travel back there with you.

I cannot wait to travel with you. (i will probably be super anal about our trips and they will need to be planned out to a T because downtime means im going to be lazy and a vacation isnt always entirely that lol) I want to explore places. But i want some structure to it, but also some flexibility.

I cannot wait to sleep with you in the same bed. i love being curled into you. 

I miss you so much, i am glad to be back in the states <3