Home for the Holidays - Our Trip to Oregon: From Top to Bottom

All roads lead home at Christmas. Have you seen this phrase over the past few years too? Normally we do not travel for Christmas, but this year we made a big exception. We live in the Atlanta, Georgia area and flew to Oregon during Winter Break….meaning we were home for the holidays! This is the first time since 2006 that we have made the trip to Oregon for Christmas. Big Sister was a mere 3 months old at that time, and Little Sister had not been thought about.

I was born and raised in Oregon. My husband and I met in 6th grade and started dating as high school seniors in Oregon. I completed undergraduate and graduate school there. We were married in Oregon. To me…..Oregon is home. At least that is what I thought until this trip. We looked for Oregon gear at all the stores we went to.

My girls were born in Georgia. We have lived here since 2006. Somehow…in the last 9+ years, Georgia has become home.

That’s OK. Oregon can be my second home. Oregon is beautiful….and weird. In Oregon you cannot pump your own gas. There is no sales tax. But there is a bottle deposit of 5¢ per bottle or can. Which doesn’t seem bad until you buy a 12 pack of a soda and it costs 60¢ more than you expected.

Northern Oregon has Portland. Apparently Voodoo Doughnut is a popular tourist attraction, which means we went there. It is located in downtown Portland, where there are many homeless shelters and many homeless people walking around. It made me realize how sheltered we are here in the north Atlanta suburbs. Maybe sheltered isn’t so bad…as long as we talk about homelessness and how we can help others and not turning a blind eye to its existence.

We defied gravity at iFly. It was two minutes of some of the most fun I have ever had. Being in a giant wind tunnel is way more fun than you would think. Be sure to check Costco and Groupon for discounts.

Then we traveled from Portland in Northern Oregon to Klamath Falls in Southern Oregon. There was real snow there!! In Atlanta we get a few inches of snow when we are lucky. That snow melts fast and you cannot play in it for long. At my in-laws house they have snow plows, snow shovels, and more for the foot of snow at their house. We were lucky enough to have it actually snow while we were there too.

We had a blast sledding on a real hill. The Running Y Resort allows people to sled down the 9th hole. It was ah-maz-ing.

We used discs, sleds, and a tube (like this one) and each one had a distinct advantage. The tube was my favorite since it has the most shock absorption.

We had an absolute blast hanging out with friends and family. Being in the snow and outdoors was exhilarating.

But maybe Georgia is home now. I don’t feel sad saying that at all. Oregon is where I grew up, but Georgia is what I know now.

As for a normal blogging schedule at Coupons Are Great….that will follow soon. I was glad I had CoSchedule while I was gone…and need to fill it back up! Thank you for your continued patience and readership.