This was taken when I was 8 (I think)  years old in Victoria, B.C. My mom is in the picture with me. This is the only picture of us together from when I was a kid because she was always the one doing the picture taking.

This would be the last vacation we took together as a family. My parents would divorce not long after this. I remember bits and pieces of this vacation. We went on a road trip from our home in Spokane.

Our first stay was in Kelowna B.C. I remember swimming in the motel swimming pool and I vaguely remember visiting Flintstone City. I rode a scary rollercoaster in Vancouver in which I screamed the entire time.

Victoria was beautiful. I loved the Buchart Gardens. This photo was taken on the ferry ride from Victoria to Seattle.

We stay overnight in a hotel on the ocean. I remember waking up to a foggy morning and walking on the rocky beach.

We drove to Portland to visit my Uncle Will. This might have been the trip where my mom’s suitcase flew off of the top of the car in the middle of the Interstate 5 bridge (crossing the Columbia River), which scattered all of her clothes all over the highway.

We stayed at our friend’s cabin in Rhododendron on Mt. Hood. This is the part of the trip that I don’t have any memory of. And this is weird because I live near Rhododendron now and have been there many times yet my memories of being there are still locked away somewhere in my head.

However, Mt. Hood and Oregon in general had a huge impact on me.  I came home from that trip with a love for this place that is still there.