May 28, 2016: Honolulu --> Malibu
In 10 days, Bill and I took 5 plane rides, visited 3 states, slept in 6 locations, went on 7 hikes, saw both of our families, and visited 8 friends.
Our whirlwind trip of the west coat started with us taking an overnight flight to attend Haley's (Bill's cousin) extravagant wedding in Malibu. Bill and I always come up with superlatives for the weddings we attend, and the ones we came up for this one were: most sexy wedding dress, most beautiful bridesmaids dresses, most joyful dancing (they had that cool Jewish chair dancing), and best live music.
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| Bill & Me |
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| Haley & Bubba |
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| Dancing with Pep-Pep |
May 29, 2016: LA --> Seattle
We mingled with the family at Haley and Bubba's post-wedding brunch and spent the afternoon in LA. In the evening, we flew to Seattle and stayed with Abby (my pen pal of 14 years) and her boyfriend Tad.
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| Me, Abby, and Tad |
May 30, 2016: North Bend --> Edmonds --> Seattle
Bill and I arose early to hike in North Bend. Bill favored Mount Si, which had a scramble at the end, a 3,900 foot
rocky summit, and a 360 degree view that included Mount Rainier. I preferred Rattlesnake Ledge, which ended on a 2,000 foot sheer cliff overlooking a clear bright turquoise lake.
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| Bill scrambling on the top of Mount Si |
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| Me on Mount Si, with a view of Mount Rainier |
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| Rattlesnake Ledge - love that water color! |
Bill and I took a quick detour to Edmonds to visit my extended family: Aunt Mary, Uncle Dave,
Uncle Steve, Aunt Myla, cousin Maddie, and Grandma & Grandpa. It was Bill's first time meeting the aunts and uncles. Then we headed back to West Seattle to spend another evening with Abby and Tad.
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| Uncle Dave, Aunt Mary, Grandpa, and Bill |
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May 31, 2016: Seattle --> Portland
Abby and Tad took us to Pike Place Market in the morning, and then all four of us went on a road trip to Portland.
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| Pike Place. They still have the monkfish prank, which made me scream when I was a kid. |
We spent the day walking through Portland, a city surrounded by hiking trails and
full of parks, roses, dogs, living libraries, arts, and bicycles. I immediately fell in love with it.
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| Abby, Tad, and Bill at Laurelhurst Park. The stairs say "It pays to have perspective." |
June 1st, 2016: Columbia River Gorge --> Portland
My favorite part of the entire trip was hiking Eagle Creek Trail in
the Columbia River Gorge, which included a gorge (of course), 5
waterfalls, lots of snakes, and the 120 foot tall High Bridge.
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| The hiking trail |
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| Tish Creek Bridge, which was destroyed by a fallen tree. |
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| Loowit Falls |
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| Me at Lower Punchbowl Falls |
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| Skoonichuck Falls. Can you spot Bill, Abby, and Tad? |
Following the hike, we visited Portland's magnificent rose garden.
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| La vie en rose |
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| Let's get a close up on that food! |
June 2, 2016 San Francisco --> Mill Valley
Bill
and I flew to San Francisco and met up with Chun (a friend from residency) and Eric (a friend from Hawaii) for some incredible dim sum.
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| Eric, me, Bill, and Chun |
Bill and I spent a little more time in San Francisco hiking Land's End and visiting the Golden Gate Park, before we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge to Mill Valley.
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| Me in the Labyrinth at Land's End |
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| Golden Gate Park. Two rose gardens in two days! |
We met up with Logan (my neighbor during medical school) and slept overnight in her super cool Westfalia.
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| Logan's son Huddy, Logan, Logan's stepdaughter Dahlia, and me |
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| Bill with our fantastic sleeping accommodations |
June 3, 2016 Mill Valley --> Oakland
Yet again, Bill and I woke up way too early so we could go hiking. We did the Dipsea Hike, which had several terrain changes that alternated between magnificent redwood forests and ridges with an ocean view.
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| Me with redwood trees |
Logan joined us in the afternoon, and we drove to the top of Mount Tam to take in more views.
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| Logan and Bill on Mount Tam |
The three of us hiked through more bea
utiful redwoods on the Steep Ravine trail, and picnicked by a
small waterfall for lunch.
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| More redwoods! |
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| Picnic with Bill and Logan |
Then Bill and I drove to Oakland to visit
Vanessa and Dain (my friends during residency).
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| Bill, Dain, and Vanessa |
June 4, 2016 Oakland --> Point Reyes --> San Francisco
Bill and I got a kick out of feeding Vanessa's and Dain's chickens in the morning.
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| Bill feeding chickens |
The four of us stopped at a creamery for some fresh cheese, and made our way to Point Reyes. We hiked and picnicked at Tomales Point, and we saw lots of birds, elk, and seals along the way.
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| Bill, me, Vanessa, and Dain hiking Tomales Point |
We returned to San Francisco, where we spent the night at Vanessa's parent's second house. We visited Erik (my friend from Hawaii who joined us for dim sum earlier in the week) and his wife Lillian. Lillian was 35 weeks pregnant and we enjoyed feeling the baby kicking.
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| Baby kicks! |
June 5, 2016 San Francisco --> Oakland
Vanessa, Dain, Bill, and I met up with my college theater friend Lisa Sun for some delicious croissants, followed by a day of walking through San Francisco.
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| Dolores Park: Lisa-Sun and me |
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| Pier 7: Lisa-Sun, Bill, Dain, and Vanessa |
Bill and I met up with Jamie (my friend from residency
) for tea, and I had a terrific tamarind latte.
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| Jamie's wearing the same dress she wore as my bridesmaid. |
We considered staying in San Francisco for dinner, but Bill and I were exhausted and instead opted to head back to Oakland to relax, eat Indian food, and watch
Zootopia.
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| Bill excited about our fancy TV dinner |
June 6, 2016 Oakland --> Honolulu
Back in Oakland, Bill and I both had a chance to each collect (and eat) a fresh chicken egg before we headed home to Honolulu.
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| Me excited about collecting an egg |
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| My egg |
After a fun-filled and exhausting 10 days, it felt good to ditch the suitcases and snuggle up with our pets.
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| No place like home |
I love the picture of the 2 of you at the top. Nice write-up. Your vacation was packed and must be so exhausting but so much fun.
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