Oregon

Justin and I have been talking for years (YEARS) about where we would like to settle down once this whole crazy med school/residency thing is over. As the years have progressed our ideas have changed and places that we once thought were perfect for us we are now not even considering. Justin only has one year left of training (he graduates residency next month and then has one year of OB fellowship and that's all folks) so the talk around our house has been getting more and more serious.

We had decided that we'd wait until the fall before we took interviews and looked at contracts and made the really tough, important decisions but it seems that there was a different plan for us. Early this year Justin was contacted by a small Indiana town (just outside of South Bend). They want to hire him. Bad. They have made it very enticing and we're liking what we're hearing. As an added bonus, we could stay in our house for a while because the commute isn't bad (hooray for not having to move). However, Justin told them he wasn't ready to look at a contract yet. They have respected that and, while they continue to woo him, they haven't officially offered him a contract. Yet.

Fast forward a few months and Justin gets contacted again. This time by a small town in Oregon called The Dalles. Let me pause here for a minute and comment about how proud I am of Justin. Seriously, we haven't had to look for a single job because they keep coming after him. I'm impressed by him and in awe of him. He's pretty awesome. Anyway, they contacted him. He had a couple of phone interviews and made it very clear that he wasn't even available to start a job for over a year. They were undeterred. After two phone interviews they invited him (and me!) out for an in-person interview and community tour...all expenses paid. Um, yes please! So we flew out my saint of a mother to stay with our kids for the weekend (so it was a great weekend for all the Smiths - my kids always love Grammy time) and Justin and I went to Oregon!

The trip started out a little hectic. Right before we left, Sammie threw up. She seemed fine after that though and so we dropped her and Josie off with a friend (my mom got in after we left) and went to the airport. The plan was to leave our car in short term parking and then my mom would just drive it home when she got in. However, right as we pulled into short term parking we got a serious flat tire! Unfortunately, we only had 45 minutes before our flight so there was NOTHING we could do about it. Thankfully my brother was able to come pick my mom up, change my tire and then take care of things. My family is the BEST!

After that little hiccup our trip went very smoothly. We arrived in Portland and instantly fell in love. The scenery reminded us so much of our beloved Vermont that we instantly fell right at home. The first order of business - FOOD! We had done a little research and Justin had found this bbq restaurant that had been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the Food Network. It's called Podnah's and if you're ever in Portland, you need to go. It's in a place called Killingsworth which is a totally sketchy neighborhood but the food makes it totally worth it. I have been watching what I eat pretty carefully over the past few months but I had decided that there was no dieting on this trip. And, oh boy, did we eat! (This is the only picture we got in the restaurant. We were so busy chowing down that snapping a picture was the furthest thing from my mind.)

After our calorie-fest we headed out to The Dalles. The Dalles are about an hour east of Portland and the drive is gorgeous! You follow the Columbia River and it's honestly one of the prettiest drives I've ever taken. It reminds me (sort of) of the drive from Vermont to Stowe but with a river. Once in The Dalles, we checked in to our hotel (where there was swag already there waiting for us - oh how I love being wooed) and then went out to explore a little.

The Dalles is a pretty town right on the river. It's crazy though because it kind of looks like it was literally carved right out of a mountain. So hilly! We ended up down at the riverfront. It has this great, flat 8 mile running/walking/bike path that goes right along the river. I could easily see me running there in nice weather.

The weather in The Dalles is really nice. It's kind of like high desert so they get a lot of sunshine year round, it's dry, and they get four (mild) seasons. Perfect! Especially since I was expecting the weather to be like Portland where it's rainy and cloudy all year.

Unfortunately, we woke up super early on Friday (curse that 3 hour time change). So we worked out and then I took Justin to his interview. I went back to the hotel to shower, get ready, and relax before meeting Justin at the gym so we could have lunch and go on a community tour with a local realtor. The tour was very informative and helped to ease some of my concerns about living in such a hilly town. That night we had dinner at a local restaurant with some of the hospital administration. After the dinner they offered Justin a 'non-legal' contract! My baby's in demand!

The next morning (after waking up early - yet again - our bodies were so slow to adjust) we decided to explore. There was nothing scheduled for the day interview-wise (since they'd already given him their offer) so we were on our own. We headed to the gym to work out and then we got massages (heavenly) and then decided to drive up to Mt. Hood. Mt. Hood is about an hour drive from The Dalles and it's another nice drive. Twisty roads though! We had been told at dinner the night before that we needed to eat lunch at the Timberline Lodge at the base of the mountain. It did not disappoint! It was a buffet and was so delish! I ordered their signature hot chocolate (because even though it was in the 80's down by the river, Mt. Hood was covered in snow and WINDY) and it was the best hot chocolate I've ever had!
This is the view of the mountain right before you get to the lodge.

 Some info about the lodge.

You can sort of see how packed the snow is outside the window. I can only imagine how it looks in the winter!

 My hot chocolate! Heavenly!

 The view as we ate.

 The Lodge.

Us with Mt. Hood. Justin looks underwhelmed but we both really loved it. It was just so windy and chilly and we weren't dressed for that!

After Mt. Hood, we decided to drive to Multnomah Falls. There are tons of beautiful views, waterfalls, and hikes in Oregon. We were told to go see Multnomah (about 45 minutes from The Dalles). It didn't disappoint.

On our way back we also stopped at Horsetail Falls. Seriously we passed so many trailheads and little waterfalls along the way. I loved that! The only downside were the small roads with no shoulder. I'm glad Justin's a good driver! It was making me nervous at points!

That night we ate frozen yogurt for dinner (because we were still so full from lunch that we didn't really want another meal) and went to see Iron Man 3 (amazing, by the way - my favorite one so far)! Then we got back to the hotel to go to bed. Of course, on our last night there our bodies finally adjusted to the time zone so waking up at 6 the next morning so we could make our flight in Portland was really difficult. However, our trip back to Indiana went as smoothly as it could have and we arrived home to find four very happy kids and one very clean house (thanks mom - love you)!

It was a great trip and we definitely have a lot to discuss and think about now. I could certainly see us in The Dalles so we'll have to see. Hopefully in the next few months we'll have a decision made about where we're moving next! Wish us luck!