Kellie Parr

Hi y’all… Well, I think Oregon has to be one of the most beautiful states we’ve visited so far. We decided to head inland (the coast is amazing, but after traveling up the coast of California, we thought a change of scenery would be nice) and visit the towns of Bend, Hood River and, of course, Portland. Bend was really cool…we paddleboarded down the Deschutes River and had a blast at their downtown music fest. Hood River was totally awesome with the hundreds (no exaggeration!) of windsurfers and kiteboarders competing for space on the Columbia River. Wow…I could watch them for hours!! We paddleboarded there as well, and took a trip over to Trillium Lake near Mount Hood and went kayaking (see pic). I think Hood River is probably my favorite town so far. I could easily live there… windsurf and paddle all day, and play music all night. Well… not planning on moving just yet. 🙂

Next up was Portland, along with a visit to Brooks Winery. If you haven’t seen it already, you should check out “American Wine Story”. It’s a documentary about the Oregon wine industry and focuses on Brooks Winery and founder Jimmy Brooks. He passed away several years ago, but his legacy lives on in his incredible wines. I saw the film last year and was looking forward to visiting and, of course, tasting! We really enjoyed being there… such a warm and welcoming place. Here’s Fisher admiring the view from the tasting deck…

Next stop… Washington and Seattle! Coffee and music, 2 of my favorite things.

Peace, KP

 

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Redwoods!! Everywhere! We had a really fun time roaming through the trees in northern Cal. This pic is from our hike of the Drury-Cheney trail just north of Redcrest, CA…we found a fallen Redwood and “walked the plank”. So beautiful…felt like we were on a movie set, but it was the real thing. Check out the scale of these creatures (I couldn’t get the whole tree in one shot)…even my Jeep and kayaks look tiny! Driving through the “Avenue of the Giants” (a street built right through a Redwood forest) was quite daunting, especially with a 31 foot motorhome and a Jeep in tow!

The trees weren’t the only beautiful scenery in the area… We camped on the Klamath River. I mean right on it! Of course, we were close to the coast and Crescent City…a cute town, right on the ocean, but the river was the most relaxing place to hang out. See… aahhh… 

 

Next stop… OREGON!

Love & Peace, KP

 

 

 

email: [email protected]

website: www.kellieparr.com

instagram: kellieparrmusic

 

Hey y’all! We just spent a jam-packed week in the big city! San Francisco and the beautiful bay area… We were fortunate enough to be there for the 50th anniversary of the “Summer of Love” – how cool is that? The city had lots of groovy events to commemorate the occasion, including a concert in Golden Gate Park. So fun! Of course, I enjoyed just hanging out with Jerry in Haight-Ashbury (see pic). Peace & love! I was also able to take a few sound healing classes at the world-renowned, Globe Institute. I learned a lot of amazing stuff, so don’t be surprised if you find some original “meditation ” MP3s in your inbox in a few months. More on that later…

Then there’s….Wine Country!! Yes…we visited Napa and tasted some fantastic wines. Fisher’s grandmother (AKA, “Bana”) joined us for the week, so we had to go drink some wine! My favorite by far was Rombauer Vineyards. I met Colonel Rombauer at a Sea Island wine tasting back in the 90s, and he gave me a quick lesson on wine-making. I always knew I’d visit his vinyards one day. And I was not disappointed! Spectacular views, beautiful gardens and, of course, the wines were delicious. If I had it to do all over again, I think I might have been a wine-maker. Hmmm…maybe it’s not too late??

We also went to Sonoma, but not so much for wine…for NASCAR! Fisher and I had a blast watching the “road-course” race, cheering on his favorite driver, Dale Jr (he didn’t win…bummer).  We had great seats right behind the pits, so we could see all the action. And we were able to walk the track after the race. Well, it was 2 1/2 miles and very hilly, so we walked some of it. Whew!

Finally, we drove over to Berkeley to see the University of Callifornia. Fun fact… my great, great, great grand-uncles, Joseph & John LeConte were professors/founders of Cal back in the late 1800s. Joseph was a geologist and a close friend of John Muir (we visited Muir Woods, north of San Fran…gorgeous trees!) and John was a doctor, scientist and physics professor. They were both very important to the newly established university…in fact, a street in Berkeley is named after them and one of their physics buildings is named after John (see pic). Hard to believe I have such intellectual ancestry. Ha!

Next stop… northern California. This tree hugger can’t wait to see more big Redwoods!

Love, KP

 

email: [email protected]

website: www.kellieparr.com

instagram: kellieparrmusic