“The best camera is the one that’s with you.”

- Chase Jarvis

This post is a bit belated, but I was going through old iPhone photos recently and got nostalgic for my trip to Japan last year. My family visits almost every summer, but last year was extra special as it was for my grandmother’s 88th birthday. I almost always bring my big ole SLR on trips, but there are times it gets tiring to carry it around, to make sure I’m traveling safely with it, to have it out and ready for those quiet or exciting or inspirational moments that I want to remember most. So this time around I left it at home, wanting to focus on spending time with my family and grandmother, to travel a bit lighter, to savor the moments in our home away from home.

All the images below were therefore shot (and edited) with my camera phone. It of course doesn’t have the capabilities and control of my fancier camera, but how that particular moment felt? That’s all still there. I took snapshots of things I have been seeing since I was 5 years old, but never photographed before – the bright kitchen in my grandmother’s home,
the tiny tatami room my sister and I always sleep in,
the cute houses along their street,
the yakitori stand we always visit.

My mom wanted to mix things up a bit this time, so we actually took a quick overnight trip to a cozy fishing town as well, and stayed at a family-owned bed and breakfast. They served us ridiculously fresh sashimi from fish they caught in the ocean basically outside their door, and vegetables they picked from the nearby hills, and we basically ate our weight in seafood.

Hope you enjoy this peek into our trip…

{ more iphone photos on my instagram here | see more travel photos here }

Our overnight trip to Shimoda…

This is going to sound ridiculous, but Denny’s is one of my MOST FAVORITE places to eat in Japan. Check out that menu! Those parfaits!

// see Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3 here //

This is the last of the road trip posts. I know it’s been awhile since the previous post, and even longer since the actual trip, and at this point you’re probably like didn’t this trip happen months ago, and are we on Part 15 now or something, but I’ve been thinking – perhaps I’ve been subconsciously stretching it out on purpose. Because perhaps I don’t want the reliving of this trip to end.

Our final stop was Seattle. We spent three days there and were so fortunate to find the sunny weather had followed us all the way up the coast. (Quite literally… it started raining the day we left!) We had some of the best food of the trip {most seen below}, including Via Tribunali which is — prepare yourself — quite possibly the BEST PIZZA I HAVE EVER EATEN. (Things to ponder when considering the weight of that statement: a) I’ve tried the pizzas from the birth country of pizza, b) I regularly order large pizzas, by myself, and then finish them all, I DIDN’T SAY I WAS PROUD, c) my boyfriend sometimes claims my brain is probably in the shape of a pizza.) In all seriousness, probably the best meal of the trip, and Barrie and I still compare all subsequent pizzas we’ve had to those.

The non-food highlight was most definitely our impromptu visit to the University of Washington, thanks to a tip from a Seattle-based friend. He told us that the cherry blossoms were in full bloom and were not to be missed. I’ve seen pretty amazing cherry blossom spectacles while in Japan, but I have to say, I think this might have been even more impressive. The campus was blanketed in these pink blooms and it was just at that perfect time when they were starting to fall, creating mini pink flurries everywhere we walked.

And then it was the last day of the trip. We woke up early, returned our little rental car at the Seattle airport, and flew back down to Long Beach. It’s a bit surreal how perfectly everything came together. The memories we were able to make.

10 days. 1,550 miles driven. 7 cities visited. 100,000 calories consumed.

And one person, just the one, who makes my heart very very happy.

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day 8, 9, 10 – seattle

Pike’s Place – Seattle, WA

Beecher’s, Seattle, WA – They claim to have the world’s best mac and cheese, and they’re probably right.

Piroshky Piroshky, Seattle, WA – We were supposed to get a “snack” and I ended up buying 4. Enough said.

Toulouse Petit – Seattle, WA

// see Part 1 and Part 2 here //

The Oregon coast is something pretty amazing. It is dotted with small towns all the way up, each a little different from the one before. We crossed the Cali-Oregon border when it was sunset, and got to our destination {the lovely little town of Bandon} after dark. When we awoke and peeked out our hotel balcony, that first photo is what greeted us – crisp air, beautiful weather, blue ocean, a quaint coastal town.

We wandered into the town center for brunch and fueled up on gyros and pastrami sandwiches, which would give us energy for all the running up and down sand dunes we’d be doing later. Yes! THE SAND DUNES!! They follow you for a large portion of the coast and are pretty much the coolest thing ever – they’re tall and blindingly white, and it’s just like playing in the snow, except without that whole cold and wet factor.

And then, PORTLAND! As was the plan for this entire trip, we ate some delicious things, and then ate some more. This city also always proves to be a feast for the camera – lovely bright beautiful things seriously everywhere you look. It almost makes me sad that after this there is just one more stop on the trip, and one more post after this one, but for now enjoy Oregon. She was beautiful and so very good to us :)

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day 5, 6, & 7 – bandon | portland

Driftwood Beach, OR

Tasty n Sons – Portland, OR

Ace Hotel – Portland, CA

Voodoo Donuts – Portland, OR

Multnomah Falls – Portland, OR