Road Trip to Salem!

Here are some photos of the trip Paige and I took to see my Grandma in Oregon last weekend! It was so much fun. We spent most of our time in Salem, and then popped down to see my other grandparents, in Sweet Home.

I have to warn you that these are not my best photos; taking a trip like this with a three year-old and trying to document it is not the easiest task! I didn't get nearly as many as I would have liked, but that's ok. We had fun!


And thanks everyone for the warning about the rain! It did rain the first day, but we made sure to bring our pink rain coats and a "lella", as Paige likes to call it.


My dad drove us, and he must have stopped at every park in the Washington/Oregon territory during our trip. Paige loved it!

We also hit this adorable Diner in a tiny town along the way. It was so picturesque! Right down to the gingham curtains and cowboy hat-wearing locals.

And, of course, there were many of these stops:
:o)

Here is a park that we visited in Salem. It was tucked away in a forest area, and completely empty and quiet. It felt like we had gone back in time!
Align Center

The second day was beautifully sunny.
We spent lots of time on the deck visiting and enjoying this view:
And also enjoying the. worlds. best. pizza. from Walery's.
We've eaten it during every visit since I was a little girl. It still tastes the same. It is seriously life-changingly delicious. Try it!

We also took your advice and visited this place:

I have to thank you for the recommendation! It was amazing!
It's a child's total wonderland.

This was my favorite room.
I love the ocean and sailboats, I could redo my whole house in this style!


Paige's favorite room was the bubble room. Here she is in the giant bubble-maker!

And I had to get a photo of her in the asian room. Hehe :o)


But the highlight for Paige was definitely the outdoor play area:

Talk about stinking amazing! It was like the New York City of playgrounds.




It was very fun, but definitely educational, too. And A.C. Gilbert accomplished so much. He was an amazing man!


But my favorite part was the architecture of the houses and grounds! They were breathtaking!



There was so much beautiful scenery, I couldn't possibly have documented it all. Unfortunately I didn't get many photos of western OR, but here are some views of eastern OR (through the car window....sorry). Not nearly as green, but still lovely!



But my favorite part of the trip?
(other than visiting family)

Visiting a Nordstrom and finally finding the perfect coral lipstick.
Ahhh. :o)

(the shade is Vegas Volt by mac)
(P.S. I got bangs!)

So there is our trip. I wish I had taken more pictures of me and Paige together, but at least I got photos of the cuter one. :o)

Have a great day!!
-Dis

Comments

  1. Oh my goodness, you drove right by my house! My kiddos love the Gilbert House. :) We like to call Sweet Home "sweat home". Ha! :)

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  2. Looks like a great place to visit! My kids would love that Discovery Village! How neat! Great photos of a great trip! Love your new lip color too...it suits u! :) Happy Tuesday!

    Hana
    MomTog Diaries

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  3. Yeah, if you come down again, let me know! I live in Salem, too! :)

    (if you have time, that is... I know how trips to grandparents are!)

    -Heather

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  4. Disney!! Good Gracious it was good to see Oregon again... I love the Gilbert house. Amazingly, we're headed there (Salem ) in a couple of weeks. My husband grew up there and his folks live there.... and hrere's the small world bit... they grew up in Sweet Home and my dh's grandparents live there, too. So I know BOTH of those areas! Did you go to the carousel while in Salem? One of my favorite things. Got to get more pix of my kiddles on the horses, without getting vertigo. Thanks for the reminder of the Gilbert house... must add as must go to while in Salem... Find any other must sees there for small folk? Trying to pack years of visiting with grandparents into one week.....

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  5. Great photos! It shows how much you guys had a great road trip. Thanks for sharing them! :)

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  6. Super awesome, I am looking for coral lipstick I need for a photograph I am planning. I made a carnival dress and it needs coral lipstick. Your bangs are fabulous.

    Too bad you didn't stop by Olympia on your way :)

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  7. I love the discovery museum! My favorite was the bubble room when I was a kid!

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  8. The Gilbert House looks amazing, how fun! Love your new lipstick, wish I could wear color, Im such a gloss girl.

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  9. It looks like you guys had a ton of fun! If I were Paige, I would have LOVED the playgrounds. :)

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  10. You are just adorable. May I ask what the color is? It probably wouldn't work on me but I'd love to try. It's truly perfect!

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  11. I noticed your bangs, and I love them! And that IS a great coral!

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  12. I love everything about this post! That coral really is perfect!

    And the kids' place looks like a wonderland. I remember playing in something exactly like that bubble machine at a museum in (I think) Virginia when I was very small.

    A Curious Fox

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  13. totally love all these pictures...just looks like a great old-fashioned family trip. :)

    bangs=cool.

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  14. I'm an Oregon girl. Definitely try the Carousel in Salem next time. My kiddos love it! Lived in the Albany area most of my life but now am an Eastern OR girl. I love our state!

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  15. Yay for Oregon! You drove right by me and my hubbies old stomping grounds :) Love the lipstick

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  16. I love the Gilbert House so much. We go there every visit to Salem!!! Yay!

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  17. I have to agree that "Wallery's" is the best pizza ever. I live in Dallas and go there every once in a while. It is a great treat.

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  18. So glad you made it and had a fabulous time! I am sad I missed you at Nordstrom, but I love the color you picked out. MAC can do no wrong! Great pictures! Looks like there are quite a few readers from my area!

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  19. My mother-in-law was from Sweet Home Oregon. I've never been there; so I really enjoyed seeing the photos. I loved the one of you and Paige in the big rocker. That was so cute. And the playground is to die for. Your bangs are awesome. Thanks for sharing your pics.

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  20. Looks like a super family trip! & wow, a giant bubble maker! I am sooo jealous!

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  21. It looks like you had a great trip! I must say, I always adore your photography skills. And I love that lipstick, I might have to steal that look :)

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  22. Thanks for sharing with us! You look like you really enjoyed yourself. The pictures are incredible!

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  23. Love your blog! I'm glad you had a fun time on your trip. Would you share the name of your lipstick?

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  24. i work at MAC, so it is sooo fun to see you found your "perfect" coral from us!!!!! Which color is it??? :) looks like fun.

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  25. Gilbert House is quite fun (my hubs' family lives in Salem.) I'm wondering if Paige went down that gigantic slide. My girls and I crawled in to go down and chickened out...way too dark!

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  26. The lipstick shade is "Vegas Volt"-sorry I forgot to share that in the post! I'll have to add it now. :o)

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  27. Great pics! Isn't Oregon the gorgeous-est? ;) The weather has been totally bipolar--sunny one day, pouring the next (my basketball court flooded Sunday!), the sunny...
    Looks like a fun place you visited; have you ever taken Paige to Enchanted Forest on I-5?

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  28. Your Grandma must live VERY close to my parents because that is almost the identical view from the deck at my parents house in West Salem. I know that park in the woods you played in I use to play softball there when I was little. I agree Walery's is the best and I often crave their little round pepperoni that curls up and collects the grease as it cooks. Only 2 more months until I can get some myself.

    Make me curious who your grandma is and if I know her.

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  29. Fergy: that's amazing! My grandma's name is Zoe Johnson, and she lives on Landaggard (sp?). How neat that your parents live so close!

    Aren't those round pepperoni slices perfect?? I've never seen another pizza with those one it. Oh my goodness, I want some so badly now!!

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  30. Although I now live in Indiana, I grew up in Sweet Home. (My family lives in Portland now.) What a shock to read that you visited FAMILY in Oregon... and Sweet Home no less! Even more shocking is realizing how many of your readers are from there or have heard of it. It's barely on the map to Oregonians! My favorite Sweet Home restaurant was the local Dairy Queen. You couldn't go inside--they would come out the back door to take your order for the drive-thru. Their burgers and fries were simply out of this world--not usual DQ fare. I've never found another DQ like it. I also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE The Enchanted Forest. It's sort of like Disneyland, but without the hype, the cost, and the lines. =)

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  31. Love all pictures (Paige is such a cute baby girl!), but... I adore the colour of lipstick (yay, red lipstick rules) and your t-shirt!!!! Oh Gush, stripes with red buttons- perfection!! Where did you buy it?

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  32. Walleries is one of our favorites, too! Paddington's has really similiar pizza and has one in North Salem and South Salem. We go there a lot after church for their personal sized lunch pizzas! :) Glad you had so much fun! I was looking for you hoping to be able to say hi and give you a hug! :) Bummer!!! Have a good day!

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  33. Ivana: The shirt came from Sears, about 6 years ago :o) I added the three red buttons myself!

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  34. You got bangs- 'you're so NOW'

    I love your lipstick and the picture of paige on the chess board. Cute, cute, cute.

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  35. Thanks for sharing these, Disney, what a great family you have, such an inspiration. And Paige is getting so big now!!

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  36. We just moved down to West Salem a couple of weeks ago from Wilsonville. And we had Wallery's last night for dinner. It was pretty good. Where is that park at? My daughter and I will have to get out and explore all the parks around here once the rain stops again. We haven't taken Lilith to the Gilbert house, yet, but we will be soon.

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  37. It's kind of neat to see my own back yard through the eyes of a non-Oregonian... :) I haven't actually been to Discovery Village yet, but now it's on my list! I actually grew up in Eastern Oregon and have spent the last few years on the west side... I love the painted hills of Eastern Oregon. It's home! :)

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  38. OK, I've lived in Salem now for six years, and never heard of that pizza place. Guess where we'll be going on our next family date? :)

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  39. I'm a college student in Pennsylvania and new to your blog (reading back entries, haha), but I couldn't help recognizing my home of the Columbia River Gorge in your road trip pictures!!!

    Love the blog, keep it up ^_^ I need more ruffles in my life...

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