aka Roslyn, Washington

Awhile ago, Mike got me watching Northern Exposure. Remember it from the 90s? The young doctor from New York is sent to work off his school loans in the wilderness of Alaska. It didn’t hook me right away… but now I can say, I’m a fan. Probably a bigger fan than Mike. Whenever we settle in for some screen time, my vote is always for the little town of Cicely, Alaska.

Turns out… Cicely, Alaska is actually Roslyn, Washington. On our way back from Vancouver, BC we visited friends in Seattle, then headed an hour or so east to Roslyn. We couldn’t resist.

Even though Northern Exposure went off the air in 1995, Roslyn still looks pretty much the same.

The main filming locations are easy to spot, but we stopped in at Joel’s office (now a gift shop) and picked up a handwritten map of other points of interest.

We laughed at how many other tourists were out doing the same thing. The woman in the gift shop told us that people still come from all over the world to get a glimpse of Cicely/Roslyn.

It was definitely a fun way to spend an afternoon and worth the little detour.

xo, jill

Mike’s first time.

Finally it was time for Mike to visit my little corner of the country. I was so excited to show him around that I don’t think my smile left my face the entire two weeks. I definitely annoyed him by saying, “Look at that! Isn’t it pretty?! You’re not looking!!” about a million times.

One of the first things we did was head to the Oregon Coast. 

First, we played on the beach near Haystack Rock. Mike wanted to surf but I suggested he go feel the water before making any decisions. Just as I suspected… he decided to forego surfing in favor of enjoying the sun. That water is chilly!

That evening we camped at Nehalem Bay campground.  We had a little picnic on the beach and watched the sun go down through the mist. There’s something really special about sleeping just yards away from the ocean.

The next morning we headed down to the Tillamook Cheese Factory because, I mean… it’s a cheese factory!

Then we hiked Neahkahnie Mountain hoping for a gorgeous view of the coastline. Instead, we got clouds! But it is a pretty neat feeling to be above the cloud line. Plus, the wind was blowing so the clouds were moving quickly all around us.

At the end of it all, Mike agreed that the Oregon Coast is a pretty amazing place. (Because it is!)

xo, jill

And our last.

On our fourth day in L.A., Molly, Mike, and I met up with the newly weds for breakfast. It was nice to get one last hour with them. Who knows when our paths will cross again?!

After breakfast, we hit the beach!

We headed down to the Santa Monica pier, enjoyed the waves, and braved the urine smell (icky!). What’s with famous public places always smelling like pee?

Mike gave Molly some body surfing lessons while I napped in the sand. So relaxing!

Next we rented bikes and rode down to Venice Beach. The ride there was quite nice… but the ride back made my thighs burn. I finally realized that we were riding against the wind. Molly and Mike didn’t seem to notice the extra challenge. Just me. Of course.

Later that day we returned the rental car and prepared to fly home early the next morning. It just might have been my favorite day of the trip.

xo, jill

Déjà vu.Our third day in L.A. we picked up Molly and Shera (and some Mexican food), and headed straight for… the Hollywood sign! Molly and Shera hadn’t seen it yet, so we figured we might as well go up in the hills for round two. I’m glad we did because I really love a few of these photos.

Next we took a nice drive along Mulholland Drive. We tried to use our star map to find celebrity homes, but it’s tricky! Mostly, it was just good silly fun.

And speaking of silly fun… our next stop was Randy’s Donuts! Of course you should drive miles out of your way for an .89 cent donut. It’s a classic!

We followed Randy’s with a visit to the Coca-Cola bottling factory. No one else seemed excited about the idea of a giant Coke bottle. But that’s ok. Totally worth it. (Not).

Finally, we ended up in a slightly more sophisticated tourist destination: El Pueblo de Los Angeles. This is the oldest and most historic part of Los Angeles. It’s really quite lovely. The buildings themselves are gorgeous and the atmosphere was relaxed.

Union Station, also gorgeous, was nearby so we had a look at that too.

Our last outing as a group of four was a stop at In N Out. This time I remembered to order off the “secret menu,” which I highly recommend.

We said goodbye to Shera at the station and then called it a day.

xo, jill

Happy wedding.

Our second morning in L.A. we were up early. We went to check out the iconic Hollywood sign. I had seen it before, but never as close as this. It’s hard to believe that originally the sign was only meant to stand for 18 months. Today it’s one of the most famous landmarks in the world!

Next we met up with a friend of mine from college for breakfast at The Black Cow Cafe. I had read about their cornflake crusted French toast and for some reason felt compelled to try it. I’m not usually a French toast person (it’s the egg), but this was amazing. I need to recreate it. Of course, it was great to catch up with Monique too!

We planned to do a bit of sightseeing after that… but… well, Mike lost his wallet. Instead we did a lot of searching, visiting police/sheriff stations, and cancelling bank cards.

At that point it was time to race off to the real reason we went to Los Angeles, Hannah and Allan’s wedding.

I don’t have many pictures to show, but it was a beautiful ceremony and a fun reception. Not only was it my first exposure to Gangam Style, there was also an ice cream truck!

After the reception we headed to a karaoke bar and were delighted to discover another celebrity… Mr. Belding!

xo, jill