Birthday Trip!

Mike surprised me with a birthday trip this weekend. I was completely surprised as it was the weekend before my actual birthday. He did good. He didn't tell me where we were going just to pack a bag.

He first took me to Mount St. Helens. This place is seriously unreal. We camped the first night. I don't love camping as much as Mike and was a little surprised he took me camping. After exploring the beautiful place, I was so happy to be there. It is kinda crazy that this whole area had been covered by volcanic ash about 30 years ago.

In front of Mount St. Helen. We even hiked around a few paths :)

On Friday, Mike surprised me again by making our next stop Portland. I was so happy to be back in the city. I am definitely a city girl. It was especially awesome to be back in Portland since my marathon. We didn't get to explore as much as we would have liked so it was lovely to go back. Mike first took me to the batting cages. It was a blast! I hit the slow softball one and was surprised at how well I did. I am hoping when we move we will be able to join a co-ed softball team 

The ice cream place we went to is called Salt and Straw. They have the craziest combinations of flavors. We ordered: Strawberry with Cilantro Lime Cheesecake, Birthday Cake and Blackberries, Freckled Woodblock Chocolate, & Chocolate with Gooey Brownies. They were all divine. After ice cream we walked around the area (Richmond) and enjoyed the neighborhood. It is the new hip neighborhood of Portland with so many fun restaurants and cool homes.

Mike fulfilled one of my dreams on Saturday: sensory deprivation tank. I went here and I cannot say enough good things about them. They are so wonderful for first time floaters. It was definitely a unique experience and I hope to go back again.

One of our favorite things is tea. We found one of the top tea shops in Portland and went. It was so much fun because they had so many different teas to choose from. We ended up going with a strawberry green tea that was delicious. Wish we could go back. 

Enjoying tea on the balcony on the perfect summer morning. 

I also really enjoy arcades. (Sometimes I think I am a five year old trapped in a 23 year old body). He surprised me with a stop at this really unique arcade. All of the games are super old and only cost 25 cents. We of course sucked at them all but it was fun to play together. We were definitely not dressed well enough to play there though. Many of the other players were dressed in costumes and matching team t-shirts. It was fun to be around an environment that I had not much knowledge about. Many people there seemed so passionate about gaming. It was really cool.

We hate to admit it, but we fell into the tourist trap of Voodoo doughnuts. As we were walking back from the arcade, we saw voodoo doughnut. We had heard about them but didn't plan on making a stop as we both don't really like doughnuts. The line was about 5 minutes long so we decided to get a few. 

Best decision ever. The doughnuts were amazing. My favorite was the Dirt, an Oreo doughnut. It was out of this world good. I really enjoy Oreos but never thought of combing the two. Mike loved his Portland Cream doughnut. 

We ended our trip with a bike tour around Portland and pizza. Of course it had to pour on us during the ride. Here I am after being rained on.

Thanks for the best birthday trip. I like exploring new cities with you babe. Have a great trip in San Francisco. Wish I was there!