Visiting Oregon

At the beginning of November my family spent a little time in the U.S. Austin had some doctors appointments so him and my parents flew up to California first. About a week later, Nicole and I followed, but flew into Oregon to meet up with my parents. They had scheduled some services there and in Washington and along with seeing my friends, they were also going to be going new places - I couldn't miss out. 

Nicole and I flew out of Mexico City. It was an extremely exhausting day. Because of a delay in the bus schedules that shuttle people back and forth from the airport, we had to leave Puebla at 10pm. Our flight wasn't until 5:30am. We spent the night in the airport food court because all gates were closed until 4am. This meant no stretching out, no sleeping, no getting comfortable. Just sitting in the food court staring at each other, on the verge of exhausted tears :) By the time we got to Portland, went to the service scheduled for that night, and got to bed, we'd been awake for 43 hours.

This guy had the right idea. We were too paranoid to fall asleep, though, worried someone might steal our luggage LOL.

We shared a sandwich...yum. :-/

This is an altar that was set up in the perfume shop in the Mexico City airport. Halloween...things get crazy here.

We had a 5-hour layover in San Francisco. Nicole had a book to read, but I had nothing. I did a little bit of restless sleeping, we ate a burrito, googled if there was a Rocky Mtn Chocolate Factory in the airport (there wasn't) and managed to barely make it to our gate in time. (In our haze of sleepiness and boredom, we didn't realize they had changed our gate until about 2 minutes before boarding - it was a little comical.)

Helloooo, PDX!! We meet again!

We had a service with the Hearns in Keizer the night we flew in. I was super excited about this! A few years ago Nicole had the opportunity to travel around Oregon and Washington with my dad. She got to go to a bunch of churches that I'd never been to and meet a ton of new people. She came back with fun stories of things they did and people she'd met. I was so bummed I couldn't go! Finally, I got my chance a few weeks ago :)

I got to meet a bunch of the Keizer girls, but only have this picture with Saundra and Jessica. These are sweet girls!

While traveling, I try to stay in touch with my grandma in Mexico. She likes to know what we are up to, and we both enjoy talking so it works out great! I kept sending her pictures and saying, "You just wouldn't believe the colors - everything is so beautiful, despite the rain." Then my dad reminded me that they all lived in Roseburg, OR for years...

Well! I got pictures for her, anyways so here they are!

 

Fall time here in Puebla looks nothing like these pictures. Puebla is beautiful and we have the best climate year-round, but every morning I'd walk outside and just be astounded by the colors and beauty.

We rented a Ford Edge - technically an SUV, but seriously. We were crammed in there like sardines. 

We left Keizer the next morning and drove to Portland.

We did a little shopping at Washington Square...

Picked up one of these...haha.

The best boba I've ever had is found right here in Puebla. No other has ever compared, until I tasted this stuff from Braganza Tea a few weeks ago. I got a chai tea smoothie. It was so good - I was surprised. If you're ever in Washington Square...or see a Braganza Tea...you've got to try one of these. I'm not sure if it has caffeine in it, but reeeally....does that even matter?! Just try it.

(Stop arguing and just go taste it.)

After shopping around Portland, we headed to McMinnville to meet up with friends. I was very much looking forward to this on account of a very delicious and long-awaited treat. Shari's pumpkin pie shake! They blend up a slice of pumpkin pie with ice cream and who knows what else and it makes for the most delicious fall treat. As you sip on the shake, you get bits of crust - it's an ingenious idea.

Austin sat beside Joe and talked constantly. Joe was the perfect listener and even looked entertained. It was hilarious to watch!

Psalm 78:24 held a revelation for us on behalf of the newest young person of Abundant Life Pentecostal Church "...and had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.""Throw some butter on it!!" I got to meet Tyler (right) - he gave a great first impression. This guy is hilarious!

I love this picture - Lindsey looks so happy!

I got to meet baby Jaxon and Brenden! Muuuch awaited. And it was sooo good to see Kim!

Lindsey, Brenden, me, and Austin

After visiting and drinking our shakes, the guys got it into their head that they wanted to wrestle. Actually, they wanted to see arm wrestling matches between the girls, but honestly?! Who does that?? Not me - ha!

Instead, Jacob and Austin had a short little match where Jacob immediately put Austin down.

He then moved on to Dad...turns out they have exactly the same amount of strength because neither could put the other down (at least that's what they pretended LOL). However, they did cause raucous laughter and cheering. People on the other side of Shari's were probably wondering what in the world was going on. 

I was super excited about surprising Lindsey. She knew I was going to West Coast Conference, but didn't know I was coming to see her beforehand in Mac. I called her earlier in that day and said, "Lindsey! Let's go to Shari's after church tonight!" She sounded veryyy confused, then incredulous, then excited - it was great!

The guys insisted on making sure I hadn't forgotten how to drive a stick. I drove the mandatory loop around the Shari's parking lot in Caleb's little Toyota Corolla. We obviously survived since I am here to tell the story.

Caleb forgot to take the emergency brake off and that caused a little hiccup, but I think that in the event of an emergency, I would be able to conduct a car with a stick shift and be able to escape with my life. I'd just hear the boys screaming at me, "Clutch out slow! CLUTCH OUT SLOW!"

 

 I had such a fun time, I'm so thankful to everybody that decided to come to Shari's to visit! It was nice to see everyone again. I left very, very content with everyone that cared enough to stay out a little late to visit with us. It was really sweet.

After Shari's we drove a little ways to our hotel. Austin and Nicole were exhausted and fell asleep on me. I couldn't sleep, but got these cute pictures instead - haha.

 The next day, before leaving Portland, we ate at Burgerville USA. According to Yelp, this was the place to go.

We were not disappointed - the food was delicious! We all shared yet another pumpkin shake. We were gearing up for Thanksgiving, American style! 

The adventure continues! I'll try to have the next part up on Friday.

~Bethany~