Before ending the trip, we got back to where we started, Portland, since we barely ‘saw’ it 🙄 when we first got into town. Our first official stop was Portland Troll Bridge, where hundreds of ‘troll’ figurines hung creepily beneath an old wooden railroad bridge on McNamee Road.
A very decadent dinner at Jacqueline – this was where we fell in love with the plump & creamy Puget Sound oysters 😌 and vowed to come back for more on future trips! 😉
…before our flight home, with a glimpse of what I wishfully 🥺 hoped was the elusive Mount Hood that we never got a chance to see 🙄 during our marvelous trip! 🥰
…ก่อนเดินทางกลับบ้าน มองลงมาจากเครื่องบินตอนเครื่องขึ้นเห็นยอดเขาปกคลุมด้วยหิมะอันนี้ ไม่แน่ใจว่าใช่ Mount Hood ชื่อดังที่ตลอดทริปนี้ไม่มีโอกาส 🙄 จะได้เห็นกันกับเค้าซักทีรึเปล่า 🥰
As if we didn’t get enough rain at the beginning of our trip 🙄, we went back again for Round 2 😅, this time on a tour along the Oregon coast. After recharging for a night at the Florentine Waterfront Hotel in Dunes City, we woke up to strong & steady streams of rain, such a great start to our coastal journey! 😓
We powered through to our first stop at Lighthouse and Sealion Beach Vantage Point. Needless to say that there was neither a lighthouse nor a single sea lion to be seen from that vantage point. 😐
We got a little better view at the next spot – Heceta Head Lighthouse. I had to step out in the full force rain storm in order to get some decent shots… 🤪
ต่อไปแวะอีกจุดที่ ประภาคาร Heceta Head อันนี้พอเห็นวิวชัดเจนขึ้นมาหน่อย แต่ต้องบุกป่าฝ่าสายฝนลงรถไปกว่าจะสามารถเก็บรูปสวยๆมาได้ 🤪
We stopped by for a cold beer and cool view at Rogue Brewery in Newport, which turned out to be just in time as we saw the announcement that they had shut down the business less than a month after our visit! 🤯
แวะมาดูปลาวาฬที่ Depoe Bay แต่เล็งตั้งนานไม่เจอซักตัว 😝
I read about this yearly event that they had in Lincoln City called Finders Keepers, where beautiful glass floats are hidden along the beach, and if you find one, you can keep it! Sounds fun, right? 😉 That’s what I thought! It wouldn’t hurt for us to try our luck, right? Wrong! 😈 Not only did we not find any floats, but this was the scene where we literally got swallowed by the Oregon sea! 😓 What started off as a very nice stroll along a beautiful beach quickly turned into a disaster when we decided to go check out the tide pools along this rock formation right near the edge. The next thing we knew, this huge wave was coming right at us, fast! 😱 Joel was able to run up much faster with his longer legs (he did still get pretty soaked nonetheless), but I took one look back and knew I wouldn’t make it. 😐 And I was right, the wave knocked me down, hard! 🤣 Fortunately, I was able to get up and made my way out, but there was water and sand in every nook and cranny, in my clothing, in my boots…everywhere! 😭 The one saving grace was that there was a large public restroom right by where we parked, and we did have our suitcases with us, so at least we were able to change into cleanish dry clothes pretty soon afterward. Needless to say, that was the end of our adventure that day! 😆
It was a great start to our trip the next day when I was finally able to grab a shot of this 12-point buck warning sign that I had been spotting this whole trip! 😎
We drove back down south to revisit some of the spots we had to skip the day before. The rain god felt bad and decided to let us have one beautiful day that day. 🤩
Over in Astoria, we checked out a few more spots from The Goonies, including (but not limited to) Oregon Film Museum aka the County Jail where the getaway Jeep still equipped with bullet holes 😳 was parked out front, Flavel House Museum where Mikey’s Dad worked as curator, and of course The Goonies House itself as well as Data’s house next door! 😉
ที่เมือง Astoria มีจุดถ่ายทำหนังเรื่อง The Goonies ให้ไปเที่ยวชมกันได้อีกหลายจุด รวมถึง Oregon Film Museum ซึ่งใช้เป็นคุกในเรื่อง เค้าอุตส่าห์มีรถจี๊ปที่ไล่ยิงกันจากในหนังมาจอดไว้ด้านหน้าให้ดูเล่น พร้อมรอยกระสุนที่ยังอยู่ครบ 😳 Flavel House Museum ที่ในหนังใช้เป็นพิพิธภัณฑ์ที่พ่อไมค์กี้ทำงานเป็นผู้ดูแล และท้ายที่สุดคือบ้านเด็กๆในเรื่องทั้งสองหลังที่ตั้งอยู่ตรงข้ามกัน 😉
And this wraps up our grand tour of the beautiful Oregon coast. From there, we made our way back into Portland to continue the last leg of our journey. 😍 Of course, by then, the rain was back to accompany us yet again! 😆
This weekend, we went to check out a new-to-us spot in Willow Springs called Beech Bluff County Park. This brand new park just opened up less than a year ago back in March of last year. It features a large modern-designed park center, and a series of interconnected trails that total about 4 miles.
อาทิตย์นี้เราไปสำรวจสวนสาธารณะแห่งใหม่ในเมือง Willow Springs ที่มีชื่อว่า Beech Bluff County Park สวนใหม่เอี่ยมแห่งนี้เพิ่งเปิดให้เยี่ยมชมได้เมื่อเดือนมีนาปีที่แล้วนี้เอง เค้ามีตึกรับรองสวยหรูตั้งตระหง่านอยู่ในอาณาบริเวณพื้นที่ที่มีเส้นทางเดินป่าให้เดินกันได้รวมๆแล้วถึง 4 ไมล์ด้วยกัน
We got there around 3:30 pm and did not have any trouble finding a spot in the parking lot, which appeared to be completely full by the time we left. We started off with Meadow Loop, which was the trail closest to the parking lot, and continued on to the other trails from there.
With it being in the middle of winter, there was not much to report in terms of views, but there were interesting tree formations everywhere if you keep your eyes peeled. 😉
All in all, it was a great day to be out in nature. The weather was perfect at 60 degrees. We clocked in at 3.39 miles, which took us about an hour and a half from start to finish. I would love to come back here to check out the mushroom activity later in the year when it gets a bit warmer. 🥰
After a couple days of rain and snow in the Gorge, we were ready for some drier conditions. 😅 The drive into the Oregon High Desert area felt like we were going through some kind of portal. One minute it was rainy and snowy, and the next thing we knew, the sky opened up and we were looking at a beautiful blue sky! The terrain changed dramatically from wet rainforest to snow covered pine 🌲 trees, then wide open spaces with rocky canyons and sagebrushes. 🤯
We checked into our cozy airBnB in Prinville, which was what we determined to be the best gateway to our adventure for the next day. While on a stock up run at a local supermarket, we happened to witness Tillamook cheese loaves on Manager’s Special – apparently they take cheese very seriously here. 😅
The next day, we set out for the destination that has long been on my wishlist. Painted Hills, also known officially as John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, first came up on my radar several years ago on Pinterest. These colorful hills were so mesmerising to me I promised myself I need to check it out one day. 🥰 When we decided to come to Oregon, I made it part of our mission to finally pay it a visit so I could check it off my bucket list. 😇
เช้าวันรุ่งขึ้นเราไปเที่ยวที่ๆอยากไปมานาน ตั้งแต่ไปเห็นรูป Painted Hills หรือที่มีชื่อเต็มๆว่า John Day Fossil Beds National Monument ครั้งแรกใน Pinterest เมื่อหลายปีมาแล้ว รู้สึกว่าสวยซึ้งตรึงใจมาก เลยตั้งใจเอาไว้ว่าต้องมาดูเองให้เห็นกับตาอย่างน้อยซักครั้งหนึ่งในชีวิต 🥰 พอตกลงกันว่าจะมารัฐโอเรกอน เลยต้องขอแทรกรายการมาแถวนี้ เพื่อที่จะได้กลับไปขีดฆ่าว่าได้มาแล้วซะที 😇
We started off with the Painted Cove Nature Trail. This short, quarter-mile loop trail was absolutely gorgeous. 😍 We learned through posted signs that the different colors came from periods of varying climates from thousands of years ago.
The Red Scar Knoll was another quarter-mile loop that featured a lavender colored hill that was a remnant of an ancient lava flow.
จากนั้นเราไปต่อกันที่เส้น Red Scar Knoll ซึ่งมีระยะทางเท่ากัน ที่นี่มีจุดเด่นคือเนินเขาสีม่วงอ่อนที่เค้าบอกว่ามาจากกระแสลาวาที่ไหลผ่านเมื่อเนิ่นนานมาแล้ว
The last trail we did there was the Painted Hills Overlook trail, which was half mile out and back. Man, I just couldn’t get enough of these wonderful views! 🥺
We stopped by for lunch at Tiger Town Brewing Co. in Mitchell. The pita salad I got didn’t look like much but it was surprisingly very delicious. 😆 This was the closest town to the Painted Hills, but it was very tiny, with one main road featuring one hotel, one restaurant, and one convenient store. 😅 I considered staying here but decided instead on Prinville, which, even though much further away, was a much larger town and also, it was located in the middle between our top two destinations in this area. Having witnessed both towns in real life, I’m pretty sure we made the right decision. ☺️
Our next stop of the day was Smith Rock State Park. This was another spot that was featured in the movie Wild. The hike here was a lot more strenuous 😅 but the view was equally breathtaking. 😍
จุดแวะต่อไปคือ Smith Rock State Park อุทยานแห่งชาติแห่งนี้เป็นอีกที่ที่ไปเห็นมาจากในหนังเรื่อง Wild เส้นทางเดินป่าที่นี่เทียบกับที่ Painted Hills แล้วยากเย็นเข็ญใจกว่าหลายเท่า 😅 แต่วิวเค้าก็สวยงามจับใจไปอีกแบบ 😍
We started off with Rim Rock Trail. The half-mile loop took us over to Canyon Trail which connected to River Trail. This led us straight downhill at the very beginning, leading us along the river. Since we didn’t have that much time, we walked along River Trail for about a mile and a half or so before turning back. Of course, we had to go uphill 😓 in order to make it back to Rim Rock Trail which eventually took us to where we parked. All in all, it was a gorgeous spot. I just wish we had more time to spend there! 🥺
เราเริ่มออกเดินทางบนเส้น Rim Rock ซึ่งเป็นวงแหวนระยะครึ่งไมล์ และพาเราไปบรรจบกับเส้นริมหุบผา ซึ่งต่อไปยังเส้นริมแม่น้ำ ทางพาลงเขาชันมากตอนต้นสาย เพื่อพาลงไปเดินเลียบตามแม่น้ำ วันนั้นที่ไปบ่ายมากแล้วเลยไม่ได้เดินให้ครบทั้งเส้น เราเดินเลียบแม่น้ำไปประมาณไมล์ครึ่ง หรือเกือบสองโลครึ่ง แล้วถึงกลับหลังเดินย้อนตามทางเดิม กลับมาถึงต้องปีนขึ้นเขากัน 😓 เพื่อที่จะกลับไปยังเส้น Rim Rock ต่อกลับไปที่ลานจอดรถ สรุปว่า เหนื่อยแต่ก็คุ้ม เสียดายไม่มีเวลาไปสำรวจให้มากกว่านี้ 🥺
Apparently, tons of people come here for rock climbing! 😳 And, looks like the park is pretty well-equipped to handle potential accidents! 😅
Afterward, we stopped by at Smith Rock Ranch, which was right across the street. This was a bit too touristy for my taste 😝, but they did have a pumpkin patch and we got some pretty pictures nonetheless.
เสร็จจากอุทยาน เราไปแวะที่ Smith Rock Ranch ซึ่งตั้งอยู่ฝั่งตรงข้าม บรรยากาศที่นี่ดูเป็นแหล่งท่องเที่ยวไปหน่อย 😝 แต่ก็ไม่ถึงกับไปเสียเที่ยว เพราะเค้ามีทุ่งฟักทองอยู่ด้านข้างให้ถ่ายรูปสวยๆ
The next day, we continued on to Bend, a hip town that sits right on the Deschutes River. We stopped by for lunch downtown before taking a stroll along Deschutes River Trail to kill some time before our airBnB became ready for check in.
วันรุ่งขึ้นเราย้ายลงใต้ไปที่เมือง Bend ซึ่งเป็นเมืองยอดฮิตติดอันดับของรัฐนี้ เพราะทำเลดีอยู่ริมแม่น้ำ Deschutes เราแวะไปทานข้าวที่ดาวน์ทาวน์ก่อนจะไปเดินย่อยชมวิวฆ่าเวลากันที่เส้นเลียบแม่น้ำ Deschutes เพราะต้องรอถึงบ่ายสามกว่าจะเช็คอินเข้าที่พักได้
Bend was home to the last Blockbuster store in the world! 😳
After settling in at the airBnB, we popped back out for an evening hike at Pilot Butte. It was a strenuous hike uphill, with almost 500 feet elevation gain 😓 but the view was more than worth it, both along the way and once up at the top. 😍 Bonus point if you made it there during sunset like we did! 😉
Then, McMenamins Old St. Francis School, a very neat spot where they turned an old school into a hotel. The highlight was this Broom Closet, a hidden bar that serves cool cocktails behind a door disguised as…drumroll…a broom closet! 😆 There were plenty of unique photo ops everywhere along the hallways. 🥰
จากนั้นเราไปแวะกันที่ McMenamins Old St. Francis School ที่นี่เมื่อก่อนเคยเป็นโรงเรียน แล้วเค้าเอามาดัดแปลงให้เป็นโรงแรม จุดเด่นคือมีบาร์ลึกลับที่รู้จักกันในนามว่า Broom Closet ซึ่งซ่อนอยู่หลังประตูที่ทำเป็นเหมือนห้องเก็บไม้กวาด 😆 ที่เราสามารถเข้าไปนั่งจิบค็อกเทลกันได้ นอกจากนี้ตามทางเดินยังมีจุดเก๋ๆให้แวะถ่ายรูปกันได้อย่างเพลิดเพลินเจริญใจ 🥰
Lunch in the Big Obsidian parking lot, picked up from Bend-O Bento before we left town, with a view of this pretty blue bird that Gemini identified as a Steller’s Jay. 😍
เดินเสร็จกลับมากินข้าวกล่องในรถที่ซื้อเตรียมมาไว้จากร้าน Bend-O Bento ก่อนออกมาจากเมือง Bend กินไปพลางมีนกสีดำฟ้าหงอนใหญ่ตัวนี้มาบินโฉบไปมาให้ชมแก้เหงา 😍
Before leaving, we stopped by to snap a couple of shots by Paulina Lake. 😍
And that wrapped up our time in the Oregon High Desert! ☺️ From there, we drove back east towards the ocean for our next round of adventure. Again, we watched the terrain changing from all pine 🌲 trees to mixed forest, and eventually back to Fall 🍁 colors, just in time before the rain started drizzling down on us again! 😓
We started off the new year in 2026 with a cool hike at Bass Lake Park. This beautiful park in Holly Springs is less than 20 minute drive from where we live.
เราไปประเดิมการเดินป่าครั้งแรกของปี 2026 กันที่ Bass Lake Park สวนสาธารณะที่สวยงามแห่งนี้ตั้งอยู่ที่เมือง Holly Springs ขับรถจากบ้านเราไปเพียงแค่ 20 นาทีเท่านั้น
There is a park office and a boat house at the beginning of the trail, right by the parking lot. Besides fishing 🪝, boat rentals 🛶 are available daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
The 1.9-mile Lake Trail goes around the picturesque lake, and is connected to Carl Dean Greenway. There is clear mileage signs posted throughout the entire route to let you know how far you have been.
เส้นวงแหวนที่นี่มีระยะทาง 1.9 ไมล์ให้เดินเลียบชมวิวริมทะเลสาบ และสามารถไปเชื่อมต่อกับเส้นทางกรีนเวย์ Carl Dean ตลอดทางมีป้ายบอกชัดเจนให้รู้ว่าเดินมาไกลเท่าไหร่แล้ว
It’s not very impressive on a sunny winter day, with mostly brown, barren trees, but I figured it would be lovely during Fall & Spring.
We finished the 1.9 loop and added a bit more for extra mileage. By the time we got back to the car, we clocked in at 2.56 miles, and it took us just under an hour. All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed this cool hike on a very nice winter day. 🥰
We managed to arrive in Portland, Oregon for our Fall trip this past year amidst the meteorological condition known as the ‘atmospheric river’ effect. 😓 Apparently, I learned a little too late that this time of the year is possibly the worst time to be in the state of Oregon 😆, since it usually rains non-stop from late October until the end of February. My intention was to go see the beautiful Fall colors 🍁 there, and hence we timed our arrival to hopefully catch the perfect window of Autumn glory. On that front, I’m happy to report that we weren’t too far off, as evident from the first glimpses off the plane during our landing in PDX. 🥰 We just didn’t account for the amount of precipitation we would encounter there… 😐
From there, we moved on to the infamous Multnomah Falls, where we were lucky enough to snag one of the very few available spots in the parking lot, very likely due to the pouring rain. 🙄 Silver lining, I suppose! 😆
For lunch, we doubled back down the I-84 to Sugarpine Drive-In, which was the most recommended spot in the area. The food there certainly lived up to the hype, I would say! 😉
After fueling up, we went back on the wet tour, continuing on to Horsetail & Ponytail Falls. Horsetail Falls is just right across the street from the parking lot. For Ponytail, we had to take a short hike up to a very cool viewing point from within a cave, with a beautiful view of the Columbia River on the way.
We grabbed a few apples and a delicious apple cider from Draper Girls Country Farm, this very pretty store on the Hood River Fruit Loop. But, we learned later that their prices did come with a premium to match the charming decor! 😆
ไปแวะซื้อแอปเปิ้ลแบบเก็บมาสดๆ กับน้ำแอปเปิ้ลไซเดอร์แสนอร่อยที่ Draper Girls Country Farm ซึ่งมีหน้าร้านเก๋ไก๋ตั้งอยู่บนเส้นวงแหวนสวนผลไม้ Hood River แต่ซื้อมาแล้วแอบมารู้ที่หลังว่าราคาเค้าตั้งไว้แบบพรีเมี่ยมสมกับความสวยงามของร้าน 😆
The next spot, Mt View Orchard, did not have all the frills and thrills like the last one, but still, they have gorgeous views all around, AND, the apples (same variety, equally good-looking) were about half the price we paid! 🤣
I originally planned to have lunch at Broder Øst, a cute Scandinavian cafe located inside Hood River Hotel, but quickly realized that we would never get there in time before they closed at 2:30 pm. 😓 Hence, the turnaround to dine at Sugarpine Drive-In earlier in the day instead. ☺️ We did still stop by to check out the historic hotel, which was the oldest in Hood River. Pro tip: If you do not want to take the creepy tiny ancient elevator up to grab the bird’s eye view of the lobby from the second floor, there are stairs around the corner that take you to the same spot! 😉
ตอนแรกตั้งใจจะไปกินกลางวันกันที่ร้าน Broder Øst ซึ่งเป็นคาเฟ่สไตล์สแกนดิเนเวียร์ที่ตั้งอยู่ในโรงแรม Hood River โรงแรมที่เก่าแก่ที่สุดของเมืองนี้ แต่ดูเวลาแล้วยังไงก็ไปไม่ทันเค้าปิดตอนบ่ายสองครึ่งแน่นอน 😓 ถึงได้ตัดสินใจย้อนรถกลับไปกินที่ร้าน Sugarpine Drive-In กันแทน ☺️ แล้วถึงมาแวะชมโรงแรมกันเฉยๆเอาตอนบ่ายแก่ๆ ถ้ามีโอกาสมาแล้วอยากขึ้นไปเก็บรูปล๊อบบี้ของโรงแรมจากชั้นสอง ขอแอบกระซิบว่า ไม่ต้องขึ้นลิฟต์เก่าแก่ที่ครืดคราดน่ากลัวไปก็ได้ เค้ามีบันไดให้เดินขึ้นไปได้อยู่ด้านหลัง 😉
Gorgeous view shot from the car ride throughout the day 🥰
วิวสวยๆถ่ายจากบนรถตามทางวันนั้น 🥰
The next morning, we spent a few minutes checking out the lush green property of our cozy airBnB. The mycelium 🍄 population in the area was definitely thriving in the rainy conditions! 😍
We were going to go check out the Overlook Hotel in The Shining, but realized the mountain was covered in several inches of snow… 😓 Since we weren’t sure if our rental car could handle the winter conditions safely, we decided to skip it and head straight to Trillium Lake instead.
จริงๆแล้วตั้งใจจะไปเยี่ยมชมโรงแรม Timberline Lodge ซึ่งเป็นที่ถ่ายทำโรงแรม Overlook ในหนังดังเรื่อง The Shining แต่ฟังจากวิทยุเค้าว่าคืนก่อนหน้าที่เราจะไปหิมะตกหนัก 😓 เลยไม่แน่ใจว่ารถจะไปไหวรึเปล่า สุดท้ายเลยตัดสินใจไม่แวะตรงไปที่ Trillium Lake เลย
This beautiful lake was supposed to be one of the best spots in the area for the view of Mount Hood, but unfortunately that wasn’t in the cards the day we were there. 🥺
ก่อนไปอ่านเจอว่าถ้าจะไปเก็บภาพ Mount Hood ให้ได้มุมสวยๆต้องไปที่ Trillium Lake ไปถึงแล้วต้องมโนเอาเองเพราะฝนฟ้าไม่เป็นใจ ทะเลสาบเค้าสวยจริงจัง เพราะภูเขาถูกเมฆบดบังซะมิดชิด ไม่มีสิทธิ์ได้เห็นกันรอบนี้ 🥺
We were back on the trail this weekend because I saw a post on the Facebook NC Mushroom Group that somebody spotted a set of beautiful flushes of oyster mushrooms at Schenck Forest. Naturally, we had to go scour the forest and see if we could witness this nature’s wonderful blessing with our own eyes. 😉
After getting several beautiful shots, we proceeded along the trail with no other expectation whatsoever, since we had seen what we came here for. 😇 The woods are littered with tons of fallen leaves but it was beautiful, in its full past Fall’s peak glory. 🥰
We trekked along in peace, until my eagle-eyed husband called out a potential mushroom 🍄 spotting on a fallen log that was laid across a dried out creek. Dutifully, I scaled down the bank to try to get a closer look. 🧐 My excitement level kept escalating the closer I got to it, until I finally called it out – Lion’s Mane! 🥳
After two big scores, I was blissfully content. 😌 It has been so dry this entire year, which made me appreciate every single mushroom find a lot more than I had the past few years. That being said, other than the two prized discoveries, there wasn’t much else to be seen fungi-wise. 😅
We finished up today’s short hike with big rewards in a good mood. 🥰
วันนั้นเราจบการเดินทางอย่างอารมณ์ดี 🥰
All in all, we covered only 1.7 miles, which took us less than an hour. The weather was just perfect, not too hot, not too cold, and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.
On the drive out, we spotted this beautiful white horse grazing in the field amidst the sun setting in the background, right next to the spot where we parked, so naturally, I had to hop out to grab a shot. ☺️
By the way, right before the hike, we made a pit stop to ‘hunt down’ another ‘mushroom treasure’ with clues obtained from the wonderful app for the NC Mushroom Quest that blessed us with two Lion’s Mane spots the last time. ☺️ It was my very first time spotting and holding a Stinkhorn mushroom in my very hand! 😳 Yes, it does have a very distinct smell, but I wouldn’t really call that a stink like the name said. In any case, it was a pretty glorious moment for me nonetheless. 😆
It all started with this ad my dear husband sent me about a month ago for NC Mushroom Quest 🍄 that was taking place this past week. I thought it was a really cool idea, and was really excited to participate. The weather hasn’t been ideal with very minimal rainfall 😓, but still, I managed to punch in a total of 45 observations for 16 different species for the weeklong duration, which I am extremely proud of. 😎
About half way in, I realized that I needed to ‘upload’ my observations in order to qualify the findings. After starting the upload, it occured to me that this would mean people can see the exact locations of all my discoveries, which included a prized Lion’s Mane from my usual spot nearby. 😬 I quickly hit ‘pause’ and decided to ‘delete’ some of the most sought-after contributions before resuming my upload. 😅
With my brain in reverse-engineering mode, I had another light-bulb moment that this actually means that I too can see the locations of other people’s findings! 🤨 A quick search revealed that there had been a few sightings of Lion’s Manes in the area for the past week. Hence, we started off on our quest to hunt down these little precious mushroom gems… 🥰
First up was Schenck Forest, near the NC State campus. Before setting out, we had completely forgotten that the NC State Fair was going on this weekend. 😓 We were already in the thick of it when the heavier-than-usual traffic made us realize our mistake, so we decided to just keep on going. 😆 Parking was a bit of a challenge with the fair crowd, but we managed to snag a spot without much trouble.
เริ่มแรกที่ Schenck Forest ใกล้กับอาณาบริเวณมหาลัย NC State ก่อนออกจากบ้านลืมกันซะสนิทว่าวีคเอนด์นี้มีงาน State Fair ประจำปี ของรัฐ North Carolina 😓 กว่าจะรู้ตัวก็ไปรถติดอยู่ท่ามกลางฝูงชนซะแล้ว ก็เลยต้องเลยตามเลย 😆 กว่าจะได้ที่จอดรถก็ทุลักทุเลเล็กน้อย แต่ก็ไม่ถึงกับลำบากลำบนจนเกินไป
With everybody busy a the fair, we had the entire forest to ourselves. We were a bit skeptical about the ‘accuracy’ of these pinned locations we had obtained from the app, and didn’t really have high hopes of actually finding the spots… However, about 20 minutes in, we hit our first jackpot 🥳, with all credit going to my dear husband’s master navigation ability! 🤩
Besides THE Lion’s Mane, there were a few other mushrooms 🍄 I managed to spot while there. Of course, they all contributed to my total observation count. ☺️
Our second quest took us to Lake Crabtree, near the boat ramp. This spot was quite a bit more crowded, with a number of bikers enjoying the nice weather on the trail. This was a very quick and easy one, as we (and by that I mean Joel 😆) spotted the Lion’s Mane almost right away, within the first 5 minutes or so! 🤩 The report I saw was for only one mushroom, but when we got there, there were two at the spot. Not that I’m complaining! 😉 And, before you ask, one was already on the ground, by the way. 🙄
Last hike of the day was the Company Mill Trail at Umstead Park. This one, we went with no clue, just to test our luck. 😉 The last time we were here, we pushed our limits and did the entire loop, but this time, we only went up the the mill and then turned back. 😅
จุดหมายสุดท้ายของวันนั้นเป็นทางเดินสาย Company Mill ที่ Umstead Park อันนี้ไปคลำเอากันแบบไม่มีโพย เพื่อลองเสี่ยงดวงดูว่าจะเป็นอย่างไร 😉 คราวก่อนที่มาเราเดินกันครบรอบวงแหวน กว่าจะเสร็จลิ้นแทบห้อย คราวนี้เลยขอเดินแค่ไปถึงโม่โบราณแล้วก็เดินกลับ ถึงค่อยยังชั่วหน่อย 😅
We spotted a few mushrooms 🍄 along the way, and a couple of cool trees. 😇
Near the very end, I hit my last unscripted jackpot 😇, with a very old Lion’s Mane on this downed log. Looking closer in, I noticed a few snails tucked deep in underneath, likely spent from feasting on the delicious fungi? 🧐
For this last hike of the day, we clocked in at 2.47 miles, which took us just a little over an hour to finish. All in all, a very satisfying day with fun & rewarding mushroom hunts and great weather – what more can a girl ask for!? 🥰
I finally stopped procrastinating and booked my round trip ticket to Houston when I got news that my dear friend, who has been inviting me over to visit her home for the past 6 years, was getting ready to move away. The original plan to take short trips out of town fell apart when the house got hit with an HVAC leakage which required extensive fixup jobs to get it ready for the upcoming sale. We improvised and instead found things to do in & around Houston, despite how everybody kept saying there was really nothing to see there! 🤪 The main theme was food centric. But we managed to fit in a good amount of eye candies as well. 😇
After a few days of gastronomic bliss while managing strings of contractors for a number of home improvement projects, we finally got to venture out to see non-food establishments for a change… Starting with Newman’s Castle, a private castle 🏰 located in Bellville, built to fulfill the dream of a man who wanted to be ‘king of his own castle’. 😆
And that wraps up my brief visit of this very expansive town. 😍 My only regret was that I didn’t come sooner 🥺, otherwise there would have been repeated visits for me to enjoy the amazing food choices this cool city has to offer! 😆
In Cartagena, we got a very unique airBnB in Getsemani. The home itself was a very eclectic jumble of artsy coolness. The best part had to be the bathroom, which was open air 😅 and about twice the size of our bedroom! 🤯
Tomillo Cevicheria y Mar set the bar quite high as our first meal in Cartagena, especially with that sumptuous coconut dessert at the end. 😉
สำหรับมื้อแรกในเมืองการ์ตาเฮนา เราเลือกไปทานกันที่ร้าน Tomillo Cevicheria y Mar จานเด็ดสุดคือของหวานปิดท้ายรายการที่ทำมาจากเนื้อมะพร้าวขูดเป็นเส้นฝอยๆ อร่อยมากกกก 😉
More strolls through the vibrant streets after lunch, this time in & around the historic Old Town area.
My most favorite thing to do in this city was spotting the various door knockers around town. 😍 Apparently, you can tell the occupation of each homeowner just by looking at the shape of his/her door knocker. Sea creatures such as fishes, octopuses, seahorses, turtles or seashells suggest a marine tradesman of some sort, whereas lions refer to people in the official capacity, and lizards represent members of the upper classes. Even the size and type of metal can indicate the social status of that household! 🤯
Night scenes gave a different vibe on Getsemani streets. 🥰
บรรยากาศช่วงค่ำคืนตามถนนแถบ Getsemani 🥰
Dinner at Celele was a very memorable experience. 😇 We had to go with the 9:30 pm slot since that was all that was left available in the reservation system by the time we booked, but it was so worth the wait! The dishes they served here were among the prettiest foods I have ever witnessed in person. And if you’re wondering, they did taste as good as they looked too. 😍
On our last full day in town, we took another stroll through the neighborhood, this time trying to explore the parts we missed the previous day. I could never get tired of seeing the lush green vines and pink bougainvilleas climbing pastel-color walls in this old city. 🥰
Since we missed out on the visit to the Gold Museum in Bogotá, when we learned there was another one right here in Cartagena, we just had to go check it out! 😆 Museo del Oro Zenú was on a much smaller scale, but it was free admission, and had a number of cool pieces on display. 😍
เนื่องจากว่าตอนอยู่เมืองโบโกตาไม่มีโอกาสได้ไปชมพิพิธภัณฑ์ทองคำที่เลื่องชื่อของเค้า พอมาเห็นว่าเมืองนี้ก็มีพิพิธภัณฑ์ทองเหมืองกัน เลยต้องไปแวะกันซักหน่อย 😆 Museo del Oro Zenú ของที่เมืองการ์ตาเฮนานี้ขนาดเล็กกว่ามาก แต่เปิดให้เข้าชมฟรี และมีงานแกะสลักทองคำสวยๆให้ชมไม่น้อย 😍
A late lunch at Candé Cocina, another highly-recommended spot that did not disappoint. 🤩
Weirdly Wonderful World 