On the Road Again

Wow this is finally it, we’ve come to the end of an era. The last installment of the Party in the USA series, I now present to you “On the Road Again”. 

Now as many of you know, originally this three-week trip wasn’t even supposed to happen. For an entire year the boys and I had planned and saved to explore Europe for eight weeks, crossing over ten countries. Of course, after COVID happened nothing would ever be the same, for no one could’ve perceived how severe the outcome would be. Still, with all uncertainties and all aspirations suddenly put on hold I like to think I learned something along my journey. The world will continue to spin, and time will only pass on. Although I’d been wanting, working, and dreaming of this trip since high school there was nothing I could do to make my dreams come any closer. This left me with two options, one would be to waste the time as the three of us already scheduled the days off of work, or make the best out of my situation. I decided to make a new path, to choose life and travel, and actually make something out of all of it. My friends, family, and supporters stood by me and this is what made “Party in the USA” and “OnBrand” possible today. I really just wanted to take a second to express my gratitude and appreciation for all who do follow, subscribe and support our brand, for this blog series is very special to me because six months ago none of this existed. Thank you so much and always remember, cheers to you and cheers to our twenty-somethings, so without further ado let’s finish this one together. 

On the morning of August 12th, 2020 I remember waking up to the sound of, “Hi what can I get you?”. The boys had driven the first half of our trip up from home to Oregon and stopped at a Dutch Bros Coffee, there seemed to be one upon every exit. As someone who drinks iced coffee pretty often, all I can say is their Vanilla iced coffee is the bomb!! After driving a few more hours to get to Oregon City we finally reached what our new home would be for the next two days, the loveliest Airbnb centrally in the middle of the town. The Downtown Depot- Modern flat off of Main St. (for the amazing price of around $360 for two nights), was incredible it was a large studio living space with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a fully functioning kitchen, a large living room and a fun side balcony. The first day we all stayed in and ordered food, watched movies and just enjoyed the first day of the last vacation. The next day we did a bit of exploring, as I said the location was killer, so everything in town was either a five-minute walk, or five-minute drive away. The Airbnb had really good lighting the morning of, so we decided to do a quick photoshoot and then carry on with our day. We wanted to partake in Portland’s “No Sales Tax” advantage so we went to the mall since many excursions were still closed, and Brandon and I decided to do some anniversary shopping. Some of my favorite pieces I picked up included the best fitting Madewell Jeans, perfectly ready for fall booties, and a luxurious silk Louis Vuitton scarf. At the end of the second day we ate at a homegrown Italian place called Mi Famiglia, which was super close to our airbnb and was absolutely delicious! We came home, repacked all our Away’s, loaded the car and got ready to set sail to Seattle in the morning for part two of the trip. 

The next morning, I was super excited, I love Seattle and haven’t been since our first road trip back in 2018. We made it in ample time to our hotel that was located (I’m not even joking) right next to Seahawk Stadium and it was awesome! The hotel is called Embassy Suites by Hilton Seattle Pioneer Square and we stayed for 2 nights which costed us about $550. We checked in, rested up, and walked the streets around sunset to truly take in Seattle’s city vibe. Driving to a new destination or checking into a new location can be quite draining so don’t feel bad if all you do is hang out in your hotel room and relax. I for one am always trying to get the most out of my time or money so I feel a weird guilt staying in and just eating, however I have been teaching myself to rethink things differently. We found pizza and beer down the street from our hotel, ordered carry-out and went back to hang out as we knew the next day would be busy (and boy it was). The next day was just what the doctor ordered, an all-day excursion filled with friendly faces, great food, tons of photos and a home away from home. We wanted to revisit Pikes Place as it was only a fifteen-minute walk. When we arrived we bought a beautiful bouquet of flowers (they have my favorite flower bouquets of all time), picked up Mac and Cheese at Beecher’s, and sandwiches at Michou, and shopped around all the stores and boutiques. We wanted to celebrate the city a bit more, so we stopped for drinks and oysters’ shots at every bar leading up the strip, and having the best time. By the time we reached the hotel I could sleep for a week, but eighteen hours works just the same so there’s that! After enjoying the festivities of the city, and waking up refreshed we realized it was time to be one with nature and move onto the last part of the trip.

We drove from the heart of the city deeper into Seattle and reached our last Airbnb. We stayed in eye view of Lake Washington as our place of housing was imbedded in a more secluded, quiet, lake house environment. Our Airbnb was the opposite of our hotel which was an incredible change and felt needed. Our Airbnb was the Big Comfy house with a Lake, WA views and it was around $750 for three nights. There’s something in a change of environment that makes different attributes and values come out in a person. I for example, love to shop, eat and be social when I am in a city, however I also love peace, tranquility, and an ocean close by, so a lake house certainly does the trick. The first day we went grocery shopping and did a little research of the area we were, this was the home stretch of our whole vacation and we wanted to make every moment count. We cooked dinner and spent the whole night on the balcony thinking of what life would look like when we came back home. After staying up all night strategizing and brainstorming, I felt a certain sense of peace, and decided I wanted to just enjoy what was left of the vacation and I knew everything would fall into place once we got back home.

On the second to last day we went kayaking, which was so exciting because I wanted to do at least one water sport while we were on vacation. It was an activity the three of us have never done before so why not? We drove to Lake Washington and rented two kayaks for a couple hours, and we were just lost with the waves. It was a truly blissful experience and that’s when we knew we had to share our adventures with the world. We sat in our kayaks laughing, joking, and feeling excited about what was next to come. We finished up our day and headed back to our Airbnb to watch a breathe taking sunset. We only had one day left, and I was so sad yet so hopeful. I knew even though this journey was ending, and we would eventually have to return home, that didn’t mean all our travels and ideas had to. For our last day we were so excited about coming home and launching our brand/website, that we just relaxed, worked, and hung out all day. We also watched our favorite movies, hung out on our awesome balcony, and knew that our current chapter was coming to a close. I was excited to further my life along even though this wasn’t the original plan, but everything ended up working out the way it was suppose to. I was with my fiancé and my best friend and no matter where we lay our heads or where we take a drive, plane, or train too what’s important is that we’re together.

We came home the next day pretty saddened yet excited about our plans and began working. It has now been about seven weeks since we have returned, and honestly it feels like its been seven months. The past almost two months have been so fulfilling, scary, and honestly life changing. I remember coming back home from our vacation thinking about how someday I would love to write a blog post about our adventures, and here I am flash forward seven weeks later finishing my blog series. I would just love to say thank you to everyone who has followed along this series, and my blogs in general. Your kind words, continual interest, and overwhelming support has been my favorite part of this entire journey. I hope my travels and adventures inspire or help you in some way to get out there and live your best twenty-somethings lives. Can’t wait to see you on my next blog post. 

Cheers to our Twenty-Somethings. 

Rayna