WELCOME TO LORNA AND APRIL'S
ADVENTURE TO THE
PACIFIC NORTHWEST
ABOUT THE TRIP
FRIENDS & FAMILY
Don and I met Lorna and her husband, Ben a few years ago when they moved into my neighborhood. Ben's brother, Steve, and sister-in-law, Jaime are some of our closest and dearest friends. It didn't take long after Steve and Jaime introduced us to Ben and Lorna for us to see that Ben and Lorna were, "Our People!" Ben, Lorna, Steve, and Jaime are our family. Don and I feel so blessed to have them in our lives.
Around March, Lorna, Jaime, and I started talking about going on a girls' trip together. A Girls' Trip was actually an item on my bucket list. I'd never been on a trip with just the girls and really didn't know how Don would feel about it at first. When he heard us "fantasizing" about it one night, he was the one who said, "Let's make this happen!" So the planning begun. Being a school teacher, the summers are the only times I can really go on trips like this. Jaime has two sons in travel ball, who were in tournaments all summer, so she was unable to come with us. We were so sad she wasn't with us, but looking on the bright side of things.... her absence just gives us a reason to do another girls' trip when Jaime can come.
So, I mentioned that this crew was like family to Don and I. I knew this without a doubt when I reluctantly suggested my idea for where to go and what to do on our trip. Another item on my bucket list was see the Pacific Northwest. I had always wanted to hike in the temperate rainforests of Olympic National Park and the waterfall trails in the Columbia River Gorge. Most women would not describe seeing forests and hiking as their, "ideal girls' get-away," but when I suggested it, Lorna was all in and actually excited about it!
THE TRIP MAP
At this point, the true planning began. We planned way more than we would ever be able to get done, but the main plan was fly into Seattle, Washington on a Tuesday, spend Wednesday in Olympic National Park, Thursday in the Columbia River Gorge, Friday in the Willamette Valley Wine Country, Saturday on the Coast, Sunday in Portland, and fly out of Portland, Oregon on Monday. We went into this trip with the best possible outlook. We created a flexible plan that allowed us to do all the things we wanted to do, but also allowed for spontaneity. Our goal was to enjoy every moment of this time! Spoiler alert: We did just that and Lorna was the perfect travel buddy!
BOOKING THE TRIP
Packed and ready to go.
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The plan book...It's a teacher thing!
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Lorna works in the finance industry and is very knowledgeable in how to book flights and have the best possible experiences on those flights. I was willing to book red eye flights to save us money. Lorna, showed me that just by booking trips that start on Tuesday, you can save almost the same amount as flying on a redeye without having, "redeyes" when you reach your destination. One thing I did know was that Southwest would have the best rates for our destination. I have flown several airlines, but for me, Southwest has always been the best value for the most services, and most accommodating.
ADVENTURES CHRONICLED BY DAY
To make it easier to read stories and view photo galleries of our adventures on mobile devices, we have a different webpage for each day. Click on an icon below to read about and view photos of our adventures in different parts of the Pacific Northwest.
