Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Home for the Holidays

Patrick and I recently returned from spending the holidays in Portland with our families. We were there for 2 weeks and arrived the night of the giant snow storm. We were one of 4 flights allowed into Portland that night. As we were landing at the airport and I saw the runway covered in ice with snow blowing across it, I thought "Wow, I can't believe they let us fly in to this." Patrick and I have seen a lot of snow in both Colorado and Boston, but we have never seen that much snow in Portland. We were planning to go to the mountain while we were home, but there was really no need (not to mention you couldn't even get up there due to all the snow). We saw plenty of snow!!! The timing was a little inconvenient as it was right before Christmas and Patrick and I needed to get out to buy gifts, but it was still really special to have a white Christmas and be a part of the craziness.

While in Salem, visiting Patrick's grandma, we heard about a Dunkin Donuts that still existed. A little history for you... All the Dunkin Donuts on the west coast closed many years ago and at the time we never gave it a second thought. While living in Boston, however, we fell in love with Dunkin Donuts coffee. So for the last 2 years living in California we have been craving Dunkin coffee. You can buy it at the grocery store but it is just not the same as getting it from Dunkie D's. So, we were soooo excited to hear that there might still be one in Salem. Patrick's dad drove us down there in the snow to see for ourselves (we also found out that Patrick's dad worked there a long time ago making donuts). Well, it turned out to be a donut place but it was called Daynight Donuts. Every thing on the inside looked like Dunkin Donuts, so we went in to see what the deal was. Apparently they used to be one but no longer. They, however, still had all the Dunkin Donuts napkins, sugar packets, cups and coffee. So, here is a photo of us standing out side Daynight Donuts with our Dunkin Donuts coffee:

The closest we've come to a Dunkin Donuts in 2 years

While at home we visited friends and family, spent a day in Portland, froze our butts off, ate lots of cookies and gained weight. All in all, a great holiday season! Happy new year to everyone!

Here are a few more photos from our time in Oregon:

This picture doesn't do it justice. There was so much snow!

A night out in Portland

The riverfront in Portland

Festive Christmas pic

Hanging with the girls our last night in Portland. We had to take a picture with our newest addition to the group.