Journey through time: WA —> MN

‍ Planning a trip when you are at max capacity is so much more difficult.

Picture this: Two months ago I was hosting a group trip to Sri Lanka right as this nonsensical war started – impacted the trip 100%. Meanwhile I thought that would be the best time to launch two new trips. Trip ends, everyone is safe at home but on the west coast we decide to sell our house. The next weekend is the open house. Insert 6 days of panic cleaning! House sells, amazing. Buyer backs out, stupid. 2nd buyer is contacted, great. For the following 4 weeks the buyer reems us and I cannot deal with the constant requests coming in for a house that showed not a single thing on it’s inspection… We’re selling all our furniture, we’re packing what’s left in a pod, planning a going away party, grabbing coffee/lunch/dinners with friends every day all day and cry ugly cries about missing my friends. WHEW.

So, yeah, why not plan my own trip on top of the 5 I’m planning for clients and 4 I’m planning for group trips. Wheeeeee.

Needless to say, very little research was done. We booked hotels that looked incredible or were conveniently located, and then had to cancel them all when we learned that Yellowstone wasn’t going to be open yet.

Learning this little bit of information sent me into a doom spiral. Just one more thing I needed to do now - replan the road trip that was already planned and perfect. Brutal.

I offloaded the task to my husband to figure out what roads are open and which aren’t. He came back with a route through Canada – while tempting, it was just too much change for my poor little brain and nervous system to handle.

So what happened next is a little embarrassing – I searched for gorgeous hotels between my point A and point B. Looked through pictures and booked it. Don’t worry, this is NOT how I plan anyone else’s trip, this was just my last bit of sanity and I needed to get this over with.

The day finally came where we headed out on our big move! That morning all of our  neighborhood friends and dogs stopped by with gifts and lots of hugs to wish us a safe journey. It was so sweet, I could cry even thinking about it. Such a special community.

Day 1 – Breitenbush Hot Springs

Portland is exactly what you think it is and yes Portlandia was surprisingly accurate. I’m not sure if this is a legit saying or who said it but, “Los Angeles is where you go when you want to be somebody, New York is where you go when you are somebody, Portland is where you go to be yourself.” Everyone I had the pleasure of getting to know in PDX was completely themselves, and that goes from coworkers (good and bad) to businesses I interacted with. And one of the most frequently suggested places for me to go and enjoy was Breitenbush Hot Springs. I had no idea what it was other than you could be nakey in the hot springs, so we figured “what the heck?!” and booked a night.

It was only about a 2.5 hour drive south from our (old) house, and we cruised through Portland traffic no problem but with it still being ‘mountain’ time out west – we didn’t account for closed mountain roads. At about this same time I realized that dinner is only served for one hour 6-7, I gave them a call and because they are reasonable and ethical they do NOT keep food out for latecomers. So, now it became a race against time!

The drive was gorgeous, going in and out of service because the trees were so tall and the mountains so stunning. We overshot our turn and that added another 10 minutes. But we followed the winding road through the burnt trees (☹) and we finally got to the hot springs with 15 minutes to spare. Again, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.

We checked in with a super chill human who said we have nothing to worry about. But we still ran to the dining hall just to be safe! We had a delicious vegan dinner of rice, beans, roasted veggies and lots of salad options. Yum! We knew we needed to set up our cabin because they are very clear that you need to bring your own blankets and sheets. One trip to the car and back to the cabin was all we needed, we got the room set up and then got ready for the hot springs! And by ‘got ready’ – we got nakey and put on some towels. People who knew me growing up or even into my early 30’s are absolutely floored right now, I didn’t even like wearing TANK TOPS let alone walking through the woods naked with a lil towel. Well, get ready: then we popped into the hot springs with other people naked. Yup. See how much I’ve grown? Honestly, this is maybe one of the most obvious changes to me personally since the last time we lived in MN – I’ve just stopped caring what other people think. And it is GLORGIOUS!

We had a lovely cozy sleep on our own sheets and woke up early to get in another soak before breakfast. After breakfast we meandered to the labyrinth before sitting by the stream for a while. I wish we could have stayed here for at least 3 days – it was so incredibly peaceful and very much needed after all the packing stress and the emotional goodbyes.

Breitenbush has been part of the horrible horrible OR and WA fires of 2020. It absolutely devastated the region and left the skies red for days. The hot springs made it through the fire but on your drive in and out of the resort you can see the wreckage on the trees but there is plenty of regrowth happening that reminds you just how powerful our mother Earth is. Just a magical place, I cannot wait to go back. Curious? Let’s chat – I’d love to share more details!

Day 2 – A very kookie Airbnb in Baker City

I’m not really one for AirBnB, especially now knowing how much impact and destruction it can do to local economies and affordable housing. However, there were very few options between Breitenbush and Yellowstone – and wow did we hit the jackpot with our option!

Before this though, we had five hours of some of the most gorgeous landscape in the country. Our drive started off in Breitenbush and our first stop was in Sisters for some coffee and food. The skies were clear and blue and we got views of Mount Jefferson, Three Fingered Jack, Mount Washington and the Three Sisters on our drive. Wow!  Along the drive, I had gotten a notification that our house on Redfin had officially been updated to SOLD. How surreal, here we were – driving through one of the most gorgeous roads in the country with not a single cent of debt to our name and literally a wide open future ahead of us. Yahoo!

Slowly the land started to change, sparser trees and more of a foothill situation than mountains. Eventually those foothills became plateau, which was so cool. Just driving through history of our planet! The trees became sparser yet almost like pepper flakes in the distance. We spent a lot of time down in the valley, driving along a big wide river.

As we got closer to Mitchell, OR we started to feel like we’ve been here before. We had! Back in 2020, we took an adventure to the Painted Hills, and while we couldn’t see them from the road, the uniquely striped, jagged plateaus in this area were so iconic we knew exactly where we were! Then back into the trees we went until we arrived in Baker City.

Baker City, OR is an old gold rush town and it’s downtown is very well preserved. There’s an Oregon Trail Interpretive Center that we didn’t go to as well as the famous Hells Canyon, which was why we picked this spot. However, winter roads got the best of us again and they were closed at the standard viewpoint we had planned to get to. And round trip to another spot would have added an additional 3 hours onto our driving for the day. It was already 5 and I was hungry so we opted to just stay put and check out the city.

Let me tell ya, not much is open in a tiny town, off season, in the middle of nowhere on a Tuesday. But we found a bookstore and a few other spots to check out. Loved seeing all the Pride flags and window decorations for such a rural area. Ultimately, we decided our Airbnb was too cool not to hang out in, so we went back and enjoyed some wine while playing Eye Spy with the decorations before heading out to dinner.

We attempted to go to bed early knowing we had a long day of driving ahead of us. Once we were able to figure out how to turn off all the cool light up signs in the place, we crashed hard knowing our 4:50 alarm would come early.

 Day 3 – Sage Lodge

There are perks of being a travel agent – including having a long list of dreamy hotels at your beck and call. Today’s was a splurge and we were going to one of the dreamiest hotels in Montana – eeee!!!

It started though with the doom of a 12 hour drive ahead of us. That 4:50 alarm did come really early but luckily the car was mostly packed, so Erik got settled in the passenger seat, I knew he’d nap for another few hours. I put on a book and started rollin!

It wasn’t dark for too long, to my surprise. The drive from Baker City to Boise was gorgeous, driving through canyons (is it a canyon when it’s just rock walls as high as you can see on both sides?). The countryside was rolling and dry and breathtaking. I didn’t have the heart to wake up sleepy Erik but that also means I wasn’t able to capture any of it on my camera and I have the memory of a goldfish. So, I think I remember thinking it was rolling and dry and breathtaking.

We got to Boise and gosh is it hard to search for good coffee shops in places you’ve never been. We found one that was yummy and aesthetically pleasing, so win win. Then we swapped drivers and continued on our journey. We had two stops today: Craters of the Moon National Preserve and Yellowstone.

Stopping for gas in the middle of no where Idaho we decided we were getting kinda tight on time so we thought we’d skip Craters of the Moon, plus (again!!!) the road was showing as closed. So, we settled in knowing we had a huge chunk to drive to get to Yellowstone with likely no stops.

We started to approach Craters of the Moon though and there was one pull off with a lil board telling us about the land we were seeing. Apparently the earth just ripped open one random day and lava started spewing out. Wtf. Did you know that could happen?!! I didn’t!! And now I’m terrified to exist anywhere because… what?!

Continuing down the highway we realized that the directions were still taking us right past the 7 mile circle through the reserve. There was a little road construction but easy enough to get through and then there was the park – completely open to the public. I’m so glad the road still took us by the reserve and we were able to still go through the park. But, also, I’m a bit bummed if we had skipped the Hells Canyon viewpoint and maybe it had been open?

Regardless, we drove through the reserve and could NOT believe our eyes! I was basically Iceland – right here in Idaho! The lava spew had created mounds throughout the area and looking at the soil (hard lava?) it looked like it had never even been touched since it surfaced. Everything was pristine and beautiful. Hauntingly beautiful. We’ve been to Iceland 5 times and had no idea that we could get our fix right here in the US of otherworldly landscapes. WOW! If you have an opportunity to stop by this reserve, you definitely should!

It was my time to drive now and I was going to get us to Yellowstone. If you’ve come to know me over the last few years or so, you likely know how much I love naps. Well, driving in a car makes it even worse. Gosh, I was so tired from our early wake up that I only made it a couple of hours before having to switch with Erik. We pulled over at the first stop we could once we were in Yellowstone to swap and by golly, there were Bison!! Just munchin by the river and then one lil buddy decided to cross. It was so neat, they were far off but so were the mountains and it made for the most idyllic views. A perfect, unexpected stop.

We got back in the car and my napping superpower was too strong to withstand. So, yes, I did sleep through Yellowstone while Erik stopped at every sight, met people, saw all the animals. Am I embarrassed, not really, I’m more concerned about my napping and maybe I should go get that checked out.

Anyway! I woke up just in time to see a few deer, then some moose and then some more bison and all sorts of birds as we exited out the north side of the park. My first and only time in Yellowstone and I got a mediocre nap. Whatever – this just meant I was ready for our night at Sage Lodge.

We pulled up to this classic looking mountain lodge and had no idea what lay ahead for us. Walking in was basically a joke, like, how could that actually be the view?! The video I took you can hear me hysterically laughing in the background because I can’t comprehend reality and I tend to giggle when I’m uncomfortable.

The front desk service was perfect and helpful, we had made dinner reservations so I got a full itinerary printed (fancy). We lugged our stuff into the hotel and tapped into the free minibar (yes, they do exist) and got dressed up to head to dinner. There was a lot to celebrate so we had to fancy ourselves up a bit. Unfortunately, all the fancy clothes were in the Pod so we both wore tan pants and button ups (lol). Whatever, it’s the mountains!

We enjoyed some bubbles and fancy cocktails, as well as 3 full rounds of food. Woof! We gobbled up every morsel though before meandering our way to the hotel shop. Oops, should not have done that after drinks. Needless to say, we’ve got lots of yummy candles now from Montana.

We switched into our swimsuits with our bloated bellies and head out to the hot tub. It was 2 days until the full Flower moon so the whole sky was lit up by the moon. You could see the outline of the gorgeous mountain behind the lodge and hear rustling of critters in the trees not too far off. Honestly, it was perfect. I was just too full to be comfortable and decided to head to bed instead.

Day 4 – Brewhalla

Breakfast wasn’t included, I’d say this is surprising for a boogie hotel but it’s not really. Plus we needed to leave before breakfast was going to be available because we had another 12 hour day ahead of us. Unfortunately though, all but one of those hours were roads we’ve taken countless times before. Boo.

I have no recollection what we did for these 12 hours. Maybe we stopped for food, maybe we filled up on gas, maybe we listed to a book or music or a podcast. It blurred into 11 hours of endless highways through flat lands of Montana and North Dakota. At least we got to drive 80 and feel like a badass. This is the only picture I got from that day:

When we arrived in Fargo we were pretty excited – both to experience Brewhalla, but also to only have like 4 more hours of drive time ahead of us. Wahoo!!! Erik was most excited about the 6oz pour we’d get at check in. Brewhala is owned by one of Erik’s favorite Midwest breweries: Drekker. They quirky, playful and just downright silly in their naming and marketing. Study them for a fun way to stand out fellow marketing friends.

The first floor of the hotel was actually a market. With local makers and food stalls. The 2nd floor had another pouring station along with tons of space to sit and a few pinball games. Floors 3 and 4 were the actual hotel. ‘Pushing Daisies’ was the name of our room, which Erik said was one of their beers and I’m just realizing now is a metaphor for death. 😐 The room was HUGE, full kitchen, a living room space divided by a half wall (half vertical, not half horizontal – I know, weird to explain). The most unique feature of the hotel though was the active train that ran about 5 feet from the windows throughout the night. We’d deal with that feature later.

First, we needed some food! Well, and that 6oz pour still! I’m a picky beer drinker, honestly it’s hard to find some I like and no different here. I probably tried enough samples to total 6oz alone before getting my actual pour. Meanwhile, Erik couldn’t choose! Good thing we had opted into having 4 surprise beers ready for us in the room as well. We found some noodles and a sandwich and headed back up to our hotel room. It had been 3 nights of traveling and 2 in an empty house so we were in need of some comfort TV. Once we got back to the room we cracked a few beers, ate our dinner and watched Funny AF with Kevin Hart. Erik scream laughed (iykyk) louder than the train until we got sleepy and crashed.

Day 5 – Home <3

We had lots of driving still, but most importantly a stop to see my gma before heading to our new place.

We pulled up a little later than planned, but there she was: in the window waving down at us. My favorite. By the time we got in the building she was waiting outside her room for us with big hugs and cookies and coffee. We had such a great chat, I just love spending time with my grandma. Gosh!

While I was there I noticed a new piece of ‘art’ (by art I mean a piece of mail or a picture taped to another piece of framed art). This one was of a national forest that my grandpa had a tree planted in his honor in. It was from my god mother, I didn’t realize she had done that. I was curious where it was in hopes that it was close. But a quick google search showed that is was in the same forest we had been looking at two nights before. The exact forest we could see from Sage Lodge. Can you believe it?

I love coincidences like this and fully feel them when they happen – you know, the warming in your chest, maybe even a little tummy ache, a little lightheaded feeling like life has just exploded inside of you? Yeah, that happened. And I felt so lucky to have stayed there, to have spent a night close to my grandpa.

Anyway, we spent the rest of the morning at the DMV and then the afternoon celebrating my birthday. We enjoyed a fancy bottle of champagne on the new rooftop of our new home and watched the full Flower Moon rise.

Here’s to new beginnings – starting with a little magic!

Curious about Sage Lodge or Brewhala? Let me know, I can hook you up with some great perks as well as suggestions of what to do in the area.