12 Days and Home

Well, we made it...what a whirlwind of a family trip we've had. 

I literally don't even know what day it is. Tuesday, I believe? Yes. Tuesday. My goodness.

My trip started July 19th when I flew out to Atlanta to visit family.

It was sort of a retreat for me as only my youngest, Grayson, accompanied me. 

Along the way I hoped to visit family in Alabama also but with only three days to pack it all in, that didn't really happen.

I also hoped to have coffee with my new friend Kelli from Restore Interiors and, unfortunately, we had to plan for next time.

I WAS able, however, to squeeze in a few fun things while I was in Atlanta.

This was one of them...Lewis & Sheron Textiles,.

When I say this place was PACKED full of every textile to fulfill a designer's dream, it doesn't even begin to describe how excited I was to enter the doors of this place. Ahhhhh-mazing!



And, before I really begin sharing here...may I please ask forgiveness for the horrible pics?
In my scurry to get everything packed and out of the house for our trip, I neglected to pack my nice camera. Luckily, as usual, my handy dandy phone came to the rescue.

This guy really enjoyed shopping with me that day...

And by the end of the day, he was pooped. Way too much fun...

This was his posture on our way back to the ATL Airport. He must have known he would need rest as we were hitting the road with the entire family after our five hour flight back home for what would be the family vaction on steroids. Literally.

We returned from Atlanta on Monday at 11:50p.m. and hit the road to California with the whole fam at 11:30a.m. Tuesday morning. Yes, you read that correctly. I barely had time to "repack" and shower before we hit the road for a summer family vaca. 

My awesome hubby had the whole trip planned. 

We would drive down to Cali from WA, to Black Butte, OR and back to Seattle. All in 7 days. Did we do it? You bet we did!

This is Mr. RHI. He was pretty serious about the schedule and driving. Can you tell?


It took us a total of 16 hours to drive from WA to CA. We split up our time driving 8 hours each day and arrived in Cali. But the reward was great!

We reached our destination.

And these guys couldn't have been more beside themselves...

And this guy had his first mint julep (non-alcoholic, of course)...and he actually drank it straight from the straw. Ladies and gentlemen...I think we have a genius on our hands! Hee,hee!

And he decided to drive us back North to Oregon. 

Just kidding...but he did make for a sweet photo. 

We had a 12 hour drive ahead of us. After a stop in Bakersfield, CA to visit friends that we haven't seen in over a year since our move from Hawaii, we made our way up to Black Butte,OR. 

Boy, were we ever in for a treat. Unbeknownst to us, Black Butte is one of the Pacific Northwest's best kept secrets. I guess it's not now though since I just let the cat out of the bag! 

We would only be there for two days but those two days literally changed our lives. Forever. 

We arrived shortly after midnight the same day that we left California so we were pooped and took no time to look around at what surrounded us. 

To our surprise the next morning, this is what did...

We spent our time equally between Sisters, OR and Black Butte Ranch, OR...both are only a few miles away from one another. 

Sisters was full of quaint little shops and recreational activties. Black Butte is a town within itself that boasts activties from golfing, to horseback riding, canoeing...the list goes on.

 It was absolutely amazing. 

We had some really close friends of ours who were staying at the Ranch. We are now committed to a family trip, every summer, at Black Butte Ranch. It's just that good. 

Of course, I found time to do a little junkin' with my older two and my mother in law who was so brave and traveled with us on our marathon of a trip! 

But not before I spent some time with the hubs.

We went for a bike ride on Monday morning together. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking. 

This stream literally sprang "out of nowhere".

And the birchwood trees were everywhere. I found these especially appealing. 

I named them "Friends". Don't know if you can tell from the pic but it seemed as thought they all grew from one root. Pretty amazing. 

They also seemed to carry a bit of memories and history with them. I liked that. 

After our morning ride around the ranch we spent some time at the pool and then...

I got to go junkin! For an hour! Whooo, hoo! While I didn't get to fully experience all that Sisters had to offer in this area I did make it to Sage Antiques where I saw a few lovlies...

Some of the vendors had sweet little vignettes in their spaces.

And glasses and bottles. My weakness. Some of them had to come home with me.

And I thought this naval pillow was so cool.

So, there you have it! The past 12 days of my life. And now we're home.

Thanks for traveling with me!