July 11 - August 15, 2019

Since moving abroad, we’ve tried to ensure that every summer has been packed with interesting travels. The summer of 2018 was particularly full of bucket list trips: hut hiking in the alps, exploring the fjords of Norway, and driving a camper van around Iceland. Visiting some of the most beautiful places on earth was exhilarating, but it also unexpectedly served as something of a reminder. The place we come from - the west coast of the USA - is stunning enough that it deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as any of the incredible places we’ve seen while traveling. When it came time to plan for the summer of 2019, we both decided that the place we wanted to go more than any other was home.

Road Trip to the Redwoods

In choosing to come home in July, Kirb lucked out in that five of his best friends were already planning to take a road trip from Washington to the Redwoods in Northern California during that time, and all he had to do was ask if he could tag along and jump in the back of a van. They already had the logistics figured out, so Kirb was free to just sit back and enjoy the company of some of his favorite people while they goofed off, ate diner food, had beach fires, and went hiking and camping. The trip would span two nights on the Oregon Coast, four nights at a campground in Del Norte Redwoods State Park, and then one more night in Oregon on the way back to Washington. Uncle Sean had just finished building his own custom chopper, so he traveled separate and met up with the rest of the group in Yachats on the first night. For the rest of the trip, he’d lead out front on his bike and everyone else would follow behind in the van, eating an endless amount of taffy and singing impromptu songs about Conestoga wagons.

Roadside sunset pull-off en route to Yachats

Agate Point, across the street from the beach house we rented in Yachats

Moments later, the tide came all the way in and almost soaked everyone’s shoes. This photo and all similarly-colored ones by Gleg

Nothing says Oregon Coast like a bowl of chowder at a restaurant called “Gracie’s Sea Hag”

Between Kirb, M’gags, Cream, and Uncle Sean, roughly $700 was spent on saltwater taffy on this trip

Since her dad was a firefighter, Peebs knocked on the door of the Yachats fire station and asked them whether or not she could have a beach fire. They said “of course” and told her the best spots to do so

Beach fire on the ocean at sunset with your besties: A+++

Cream ensures his wife’s face will not be visible in the photograph

Uncle Sean tinkers with his bike; M’gags picks wildflowers to dry out in the van

Diner pit stop. Kirb undoubtedly ate chicken fried steak

Uncle Sean sets the pace and we follow behind, acting as a buffer between him and any road hosers

Our compound at Del Norte Redwoods Campground, California

Kirb was hesitant at first of the sheer volume of glamping supplies brought in the van, but once everything was set up and we basically had a full living room and kitchen and camp fire to cook with, he was fully on board

The rumors are true: these trees are very tall

Meanwhile, in Southern California

Mazz didn’t come along on this roadie because she was off on her own California adventure, sitting around a swimming pool in Palm Springs drinking wine for her friend D’s bachelorette party. She was there for almost a week and took three whole pictures. Here are two of them.

Mazz, not in a van full of farts and taffy

Sunset by the pool with your besties is also A+++

Peebs and M’gags make themselves comfortable at Trees of Mystery

Cream was being a sourpuss so we took a selfie laughing in his glasses

The Cathedral Trees, a popular place to have weddings apparently

On our first hike in the Redwoods, we came across this river and decided we should figure out how to access the beach on the other side by car. The locals were surprised that we were able to find it; the boyscouts in the area take the signs down so … — On our first hike in the Redwoods, we came across this river and decided we should figure out how to access the beach on the other side by car. The locals were surprised that we were able to find it; the boyscouts in the area take the signs down so tourists like us won’t blow up their favorite spot

We spent an afternoon schlazing on the beach and had such a nice time we came back the next day and did it again. Somehow, getting what we needed for these beach days required 17 trips to Big 5

Final breakfast in Lincoln City in the best diner on the whole dang trip, the Wild Flower Grill

Random tie dye merchant set up on the highway outside of Lincoln City, Oregon. He got a lot of cash out of our group

Gleg, back home and enjoying a warm cup in his new XXXXL tie dye muumuu

Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

Kirb’s family has been coming to a timeshare called Snowater near Mount Baker in Northern Washington for his entire life. Little about the complex has changed since the 1970s and the woods that surround it are lush and mossy and filled with infinite textures and hues of green. It’s his favorite place in the world. Kirb’s parents were nice enough to let us use it while we were home, so we invited some best buds up to party family-style, cooking dinners, drinking wine, and playing game after game of Catan once the baby went to sleep. What should have been a perfect trip for Kirb was complicated when he became increasingly itchy the first evening after dinner, then lifted up his shirt to find that his entire body was covered in raised red hives. Things got particularly bad when his fingers swelled up so bad that his wedding ring felt like a vice grip on his hand. Though the allergic reaction lasted the entirety of the trip, Kirb persevered by eating Benadryl like candy, trying not to be a party poop while everyone else enjoyed their non-itchy trip to the forest. Mazz contemplated going back to Bellingham to be closer to a hospital, but Kirb flat-out refused. He would not be leaving his favorite place, and he definitely wouldn’t be walking anywhere near a hospital in the United States without health insurance.

The dense, mossy woods outside Mount Baker

Kirb and Naomi, before he was so terrified of his welts that he stopped touching or being near the baby whatsoever

Mazz in the “Adult Center,” an A-frame log cabin from the 1800s still completely furnished with items from before we were born

The Horseshoe Bend trail along the Nooksack River

This spot in the river is where Kirb’s people go when they die

Ferns and thick undergrowth and Dr. Seuss trees covered in moss

Professor Fartpants and Endless Mike take an excruciatingly cold dip in the river

Naomi wasn’t quite as interested in jumping in

Kirb’s terrible, allergic body. We’re pretty sure it was something in the Trader Joe’s soy chorizo

One of many, many games of Catan. We promptly bought the game for ourselves and made our family play with us for the rest of the trip

Wedding Season

One of the driving factors that made it easy to decide to come home for such a long amount of time was the fact that several of our very good friends were getting married within a couple of weeks of each other. All three of the weddings were outdoor affairs in either a backyard or public space, with friends and family chipping in their time and energy to create something special that represented the people who were getting married more than a stuffy, rented wedding hall ever could.

Karol & Jordan

The first wedding of the bunch was a welcome, last-minute surprise. Karol and Kirb have been friends for nearly 15 years, and were neighbors for several of them. One time she drove Kirb to the hospital when he accidentally stabbed himself in the hand opening up a pack of new knives and sprayed blood all over his kitchen walls (This unreasonably expensive trip to the ER was the last time Kirb was in a hospital and the driving force behind his unwillingness to go when covered in red welts on this trip). She and her man Jordan spent weeks clearing out the massive wooded space behind their home in Olympia - with the help of their best friends, who live next door - to create an outdoor wonderland, where friends set up tents, played games, had a massive bonfire, and drank in the “secret bar” located deep at the edge of the property. Kirb had planned on taking a ferry back to his folks’ place on the island later that evening but was quickly tempted by old friends and the promise of a raging, all-night woods party to stay. It was a total blast.

Karol and Jordan conducting their own ceremony

The giant section of yard dedicated just to games had corn hole with the bride and groom’s faces

Tiki torches and a bridge leading to the secret bar

The wedding stage, hand-built for the occasion

Sarah & CB

Kirb and Sarah have never known exactly how to quantify the closeness of their relationship. Father/daughter isn’t quite right, nor brother/sister. Eventually, they settled on Donaghy/Lemon. He was honored when she asked him to officiate her wedding. Immediately after getting out of the van from the Redwoods, Kirb got in another car and drove east across Washington to the city of Spokane, where Sarah and CB had transformed Sarah’s parent’s backyard into a beautiful gathering full of family and friends.

CB and his mom take celebratory tequila shots at the rehearsal dinner

Kirb reminiscing about the old days in Seattle with his buddies Rio and Hanad

After the wedding, Kirb ended up following Sarah and CB to a Red Lion on the edge of town, where he swam in the pool, wandered the halls in his underpants, and drank beer in the room of people he had just met until 6am. When he awoke in his Airbnb a… — After the wedding, Kirb ended up following Sarah and CB to a Red Lion on the edge of town, where he swam in the pool, wandered the halls in his underpants, and drank beer in the room of people he had just met until 6am. When he awoke in his Airbnb a few hours later, he realized he left his glasses in the hotel room, and had to hazily backtrack through his evening to figure out where they were and who they were with. This was not an easy task. When he finally got them back an hour and a half later, he hit the road back to Tacoma. There were so many accidents and diversions on the way that the usual 5-hour trip took more than 10. It was a brutal day.

D & Steve Neal

Mazz and D are basically sisters. Mazz’s mom, Mommzio, is D’s “other mom.” When it was time to sign the wedding certificate, D had both of her moms be the witnesses. D and Steve Neal got married in a park in rural Oregon about an hour outside of Portland. Those closest to the couple gathered in a sunny grove for a short, simple ceremony, clinked their drinks as the paperwork was signed, and then stripped down to their skivvies to go swim in the river. What else is a wedding than an excuse to have fun with your family and friends?

Kirb and Brian lug the beer to the beach

Was your wedding reception as fun as hanging out with your best friends at the river?

Back Home with Friends and Family

We miss our friends and family. Living abroad can be hard and lonesome sometimes. Coming home means getting to spend time with the people we love most in the world, and this trip afforded us ample opportunities to do just that. The fact that the Pacific Northwest happens to be an awe-inspiringly beautiful place to hang out with those people is just an added bonus.