This past weekend I went on a simple trip with my husband and a family friend. It was one of those last minute trips to visit Portland but also to see my sisters in law and brother in law perform with other 80's group. Lets just say this trip was worth the scary winter storms and crazy drivers.

 
We left on Thursday, March 1 in the morning and traveled throughout the day into the evening. Our good friend Mike drove first for about 2 hours, than my husband drove for another 3 hours.
While we were getting into Oregon, a winter storm hit pretty hard on the Interstate 84 highway which cause 3 major accidents. Thank goodness we stopped at a gas station off of La grande where we were just an exit away from now of the accidents. It took about 2 hours to clear the roads, which put us back on arriving on time to our hotel in Portland. We made sure to take our bathroom breaks and stock up on any other snacks that will help us on the road. Soon we started back onto the road to our destination. The highway was still a bit scary to drive through but our driver Mike was able to get us out of the winter storm that still lingered as we got on higher elevations. The moon was out that night and boy was it a beautiful scene driving through Oregon. It look like a winter romance movie, seriously it did. I was waiting for some werewolf to jump out and get me. heheheh Just kidding. So the journey continued and we made one more pit stop about 2 hours away from Portland to get something to eat and I would be the next driver. The weather was a typical Oregon weather, rain. I didn't mind it at all, but my visibility was a bit hazy because of the foggy windows and weather causing my windows to be covered in water or snow. Dont worry I drove carefully and I was pretty safe whenever I take the wheel. Soon we were getting closer to Portland and even though it was dark outside, I was able to see some of the scenic views thanks to the weather clearing up and the moon shinning. One part of the drive was just amazing and beautiful. It reminded me of the movie Twilight,  starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. Forest trees on both sides of the roads, the moon shinning really bright and the misty fog covering the roads. Both my husband and I thought how the scenic views was like a movie My husband said that we were the main characters in this movie, about to experience something romantic. I started laughing because he had a serious face while saying that to me. Honestly it was romanic in a erie kind of way. I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff! The drive came to an end as we entered into the city of Portland and I was so excited to see a new city that I haven't been before. Lets just say it was a simple yet a bit ghetto looking at some locations we've passed. Our hotel was nice but still had a bit of an old feel to it. We checked in and finally we got to unwind and relaxed after 12 1/2 hours of driving. Time to wash up and sleep!
 
The 80's concert was awesome but extremely loud to my ears. We had great seats and the crowd was hilarious. When you put a bunch of 40's-50 year old people in a room playing their high school jams while drinking alcohol, lets just say it was a crazy mix environment. The show was fun and pretty cool to see different artist that I grew up listening too. My sisters and brother in law performed beautifully and everyone was in heaven. I would feel the same way too, listening to my favorite teen idol's music that brought me back to my good ole day. After their show we watch a few more artist and hanged out with my in laws back stage, where we meet a few other 80's artist. We took a few photos and ended our night eating out together at iHOP. Fun times, good company and yummy food!
Next day, it was Saturday, March 3 and I was really tired still from the fun late night fun and hang out with the family. We were getting ready to check out of our hotel and hitting the road back to Utah. As usual, I would always pack up all out things the night before(thats why I was extremely tired), also to double check around the room to grab any other items that I may have missed and pack it up. Everything was packed and we were dressed ready to go. Snacked on a few of the Voodoo doughnut and started driving to Idaho. I do love going on road trips, because you get to see some wonderful scenic views and enjoy reflecting what God has created and to think about life it self. I know I did a ton of reflecting on this trip. So many things happened in my life these past few months that I sometimes need that moment away from the normal things and recollect my thoughts. Honestly, this simple quick trip was a nice breath of fresh air. Thanks Lord for making things possible for me to enjoy life and get away from the negativity. We drove through Oregon, seen many wonderful historic spots and ate as we go. The funny part of our trip going back to Utah was that we stopped at a casino in the middle of no where and played a few slots. No one won anything big but it was a nice little break. We continue on our journey and after hours of driving, we stopped in Boise, Idaho to check into a hotel for the night. There was another big winter storm coming in and we didn't want to drive through it in the dark. Which I was happy that we didn't drove on that night. We relaxed, freshened up and rested til the next day.
 
 
It's Sunday morning, March 4 and its time to finish our drive to Salt Lake. We got everything ready, packed and drove onwards on a cold, rainy Sabbath morning. I'm glad that we drove during the day, because I like to see the views and I feel that everyone is more awake. We were about 4 hours away from Utah and the day was getting brighter and sunnier. Oh happy day for me! I gave thanks to the Lord for watching over us during this trip and blessing us as we traveled to Oregon back to Utah safely. The drive was nice and we finally made it home safely. I'm so happy that everything went well and I didn't over indulge on food, since I'm trying to lose weight. Overall, this was a fun trip and I can't wait to go on another one in the near future! Thanks Mike and Mika!!