Travel

[Travel Guide] 48 Hours in Bellingham

July 10, 2018 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

If you had just 48 hours to explore a new city what would you do and see? We recently spent (just over) 48 hours in Bellingham, WA and it’s amazing how much you can get up to in such a short time. From hiking to relaxing at the beach to donuts to coffee to breweries.

Saturday

9am – Smoothies, juice and epic gluten free pancakes at Electric Beet Juice Co. Electric Beet is a little hidden gem that has the most incredible GF Chocolate Pancakes that are topped with a luscious cashew coconut cream; I think these were one of the highlights of our trip. I also highly recommend The Punch Bowl green juice to wash down those delectable pancakes. It was located inside of the Bellingham Public Market sharing a large grocery store with several other local vendors.

10:00am – Grab coffee at Camber. See below for more details.

10:15am – Visit the Bellingham Downtown Farmers Market. Saturdays in April-December from 10am-3pm you can find Bellingham locals at the downtown farmers market picking up local produce and goods. You’ll also find talented performers, mushroom beer and incredible ceramics and other goods.

11:30am – Grab wraps and sandwiches from Leaf and Ladle (to-go). If you don’t find yourself with a pile of food treats from the farmers market head up the hill just above it and you’ll find Leaf and Ladle, a small shop selling soups, sandwiches and salads. I recommend grabbing a Vegan Caesar Wrap to take with you on your next adventure – the beach!

12:30pm – Head to Larrabee State Park for a picnic, hike and beach swim. This spot was recommended to me by Autumn (if you don’t follow her go now). She is local to the area and gave us the the low-down on where we should visit and this was one of the places she suggested. I have to say she couldn’t have recommended a more perfect place. There is hiking, a beautiful beach to swim and relax at and it was so incredibly peaceful.

4:30pm – Happy Hour at Boundary Bay Brewing. If I am being completely honest the beer was just fine but we loved the outdoor back patio/picnic table area. It was so relaxing and if you have little ones like us you will appreciate the play structure that will (hopefully) occupy your child until you finish you beer.

8pm – Dinner at Pepper Sisters. Pepper Sisters is a Southwestern inspired restaurant that has clearly marked vegan options. In a city that doesn’t have the same selection of vegetarian and vegan restaurants as Portland does, this was a nice touch! Neil and I shared the Roasted Potato and Garlic Enchilada and an appetizer special. We both love the enchilada, especially the filling. The kids kept it simple with a mound of guacamole, chips, beans and rice – all of which was also delicious.

If you’re young and/or childless you may find yourself heading out for drinks or other night life but since we are old and have a pack of children we headed to bed at this point.

Sunday

9am – Breakfast at Camber + head across the street to Rocket Donuts for a post hike snack. I fell in love with Camber in Portland at our neighborhood coffee shop and Neil and I have been dying to visit their shop. Little did we know how much we would love it. We came for the coffee and stayed for the avocado toast, cashew cream toast, vegan blueberry muffins and incredible breakfast potatoes. Also yes Rocket Donuts has a vegan selection just make sure to ask when you go in as they are not on display!

10:45am – Hike at Whatcom Falls. A beautiful easy spot to get to that has amazing waterfalls and a great easy hiking path. If you have older children or are without children and are looking for more challenging hikes I have been told that Oyster Dome and Fragrance Lake are both fantastic hikes with incredible views.

1:30pm – Lunch at Big Love Juice. You may be seeing a trend now… We like juice bars and avocado toast. Also while we were surprised at how easily we found plant-based options in Bellingham our variety was still limited. At Big Love Juice I highly recommend the Artichoke Cream Toast and any of their green juices.

3pm – Do a little shopping and/or rest. There are a lot of cute small shops to visit downtown.

5pm – Climbing at VITAL Climbing Gym or a ride on Chuckanut Drive. I will admit I am not much of a climber but Neil is and he visited VITAL while on our trip and really enjoyed it. It’s a smaller gym but a perfect spot to visit if you are itching for a climbing session or just looking for something new to try. If climbing isn’t your thing and you’re up for a bit of time in the car take a ride on Chuckanut Drive. I promise you incredible water views and lush green forest.

7:30pm – Dinner at Aslan Brewpub. We were lucky enough to have grandparents with us on this getaway so we snuck off for dinner and beers at Aslan Brewpub. It was some seriously good food and great beer. I opted for their non-alcoholic beer which was the best non-alcoholic beer I have ever tasted.

9pm – Drinks & Games at Aslan Depot. Once you are done dinner head a few blocks down to Aslan Depot.At this former transit station, you’ll find Aslan’s barrel aging facility as well as several of their barrel aged beers on tap alongside a number of other great craft breweries and an extensive bottle list. Tip: ask the bartender for one of the games behind the bar and add a little fun to your night.

So there you have it 48 fun filled hours in Bellingham!

Tell me have you been to Bellingham? What would are you must do/see/eat/stay?

Where in the PNW should we travel next?

Find more photos from our trip as well as our Family Guide To Bellingham over on Naturally Family.

4 Easy Plant-Based Breakfast Options While Traveling

July 5, 2018 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

I sometimes forget what a privilege it is to live in Portland where the plant-based options are freely flowing. You can find an abundance of options for every meal, at every price point and in every neighborhood. Unfortunately when it comes to traveling finding food options, especially breakfast options, is often a huge challenge.

Breakfast is often a meal that is centered around meats, eggs and a whole lot of dairy. So finding options that don’t include any of these things can be a struggle. On our recent trip to Seattle and Bellingham I struggled to find good plant-based breakfast options for us however there are a few things that helped us work around the obstacle.

Stock Hotel or Airbnb with breakfast options. Depending on your accommodations you may be able to out fit yourself with a complete breakfast but even if you aren’t there are a number of great options that don’t require anything more than hot water. Stock up on things like instant oats, fruit that doesn’t need refrigerating such as apples and bananas, and nut butter – put these all together you have a filling and delicious loaded oatmeal. Bonus: if you have a hotel with a breakfast take advantage of things such as fruit, toast, bagels and dry cereals.

Seek Out Coffee Shops. Many coffee shops these days have come to also serve food such as avocado and nut butter toasts. Some even sell vegan baked goods or bagels. Bonus: good coffee, shorter wait time and often less expensive.

Order Sides. One of my favorite ways to put together a plant-based breakfast at a restaurant is by piecing together a selection of sides. You will often find fruit, toasts, greens, beans and potatoes offered as side dishes and you can easily put together a satisfying breakfast. Tip 1: remember to as for dry toast and either carry a bit of vegan butter with your or as for jam and/or nut butter. Tip 2: It’s often a good idea to inquire about how they prepare their potatoes because some places use butter.

Visit Co-ops, Natural Food Stores and Farmers Markets. These are all great spots to find plant-based options. Co-ops and Natural Food Stores often will have a prepared food section or even a small cafe that have plant-based options. Farmers Markets are filled with food options from breads, to fruits to vendors selling their amazing foods.

Honestly, these tips work whether you are plant-based or not. My favorite is to hit up coffee shops or food markets because I always want coffee in the morning anyways and I am obsessed with food shopping. However if we have an Airbnb I will prepare as many meals as I can at it because I am always looking for ways to reduce our spending while traveling.

What are you tips for eating plant-based in not-so-plant-based-friendly places?

What I Eat In A Day | Camping Edition

May 28, 2018 by Lindsay Ingalls 2 Comments

We recently went on our first camping trip of the year and I thought I would share what I ate on this trip. We only went away for one night and since our old camp stove is no longer working we ended up doing a cooking free camping trip. Looking back on things now I wish we had just bought our new camp stove because an entire day of basically sandwiches and snacks just wasn’t that much fun for me. Anyways here I what I ate while camping at L.L. Stub State Park.

When we arrived I was feeling snack-y so I had a handful of these Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Squares that are so incredibly addictive.

Still feeling a bit hungry I opted for a slightly better and new to me protein bar the Square Organics Vanilla Cashew Crisp. This bar was so delicious! It was just sweet enough, a bit chewy, a bit crunchy and not at all chalky.

After a short hike I worked on getting the fire started and things set up for dinner. I brought a spread of fruit, olives, dips and spreads, cut up veggies, tofurky and bread for sandwiches and pita chips for dipping. While I would like to say that I filled up on tons of veggies it was more like a few veggies, lots of pita chips dipped in my green goddess cashew dup and Toby’s Tofu Dip and half eaten tofurky sandwiches. I also enjoyed a beer and a half with Neil.
The next morning we broke out our backpacking stove aka thing we use to boil water and we made oats for the kids. I ended up having this Paleo Muesli from Bob’s Red Mill and it was meh. I also enjoyed a hot mug of Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee with Coconut Cloud Vanilla Creamer.

Not pictured is the sandwich I had for lunch before our hike, the two sips of terrible coffee I bought at a random coffee shop and all the water I drank.

We are headed out camping again this weekend but this time we have a camp stove so things we surely be more fun! If you’d like to see an What I Eat While Camping – Camp Stove Edition let me know in the comments below!

What are your favorite things to eat while camping?

Find my Travel Guide to L.L. Stub Stewart State Park.

2018 Travel Guide: Birthday Celebrations in Long Beach Peninsula

January 16, 2018 by Lindsay Ingalls 6 Comments

Happy New Year!

My blog vacation ended up being a little longer than I had planned due to some changes at home but I’m back! While my blog vacation was on the longer side I have to say our family getaway far too short.

We kicked our New Year off with a surprise birthday trip for Neil to the Adrift Hotel in Long Beach, Washington and a visit to our favorite Oregon city – Astoria.

This wasn’t our first trip to the Long Beach Peninsula and it certainly won’t be our last. The first time we ever visited Long Beach was nearly five years ago when we first moved here. A friend from Vermont who had lived in the Portland area told us how they would head up to Long Beach, Washington and drive on the beach. We had never driven on the beach before so on our first trip to Astoria we crossed the bridge and headed to the beach. This was our first trip to Washington state, first trip to Astoria, first time driving on the beach and it was also the first time we came across the Adrift hotel. It would be almost 2 years later before we would stay at the Adrift but once we did we knew we would stay there again…. even if it took 3 years.

So why the Adrift Hotel?

First, location, location, location. The Adrift Hotel is located just across the bridge from Astoria, it is located on the beach which means some rooms have a beach view and you can easily walk or borrow a bike and head to the beach. Secondly, it’s incredibly family friendly with it’s suites but it is also fun and modern for friends and couples are looking for a little getaway. One of my favorite features is the style which is a mix of modern, vintage and nautical. Also there are bikes, movies and games to borrow as well as a game area on the second floor which was a favorite of my littles.

Lastly, the food. Pickled Fish is a located in the Adrift Hotel and it offers some really great food. They also are great about accommodating vegan, vegetarian and gluten free diets which is hard time find on the peninsula. On this visit we enjoyed brunch for Neil’s birthday which included this tofu rice bowl, the hash sub tofu for the eggs and crispy potatoes. If you’d rather bring your own food you’ll find a mini fridge and microwave in your room and down in the lobby there is complimentary tea, coffee and flavored water. You can also find lots of snacks, drinks and treats like these amazing coconut caramels that I had and wish I could remember the name of because they were amazing.

After brunch we took a quick visit down to the Discovery Trail to check out the ocean but this was short lived as the rain quickly came.

We checked out of the Adrift Hotel and Astoria to take the kids to the Astoria Column, out to lunch at Buoy Brewing and to my favorite Scandinavian store Finnware.

Check out this post from our 2016 visit to Astoria for what to see and eat as well as our stay Adrift’s sister hotel Ashore. Also this post from our first stay at the Adrift Hotel for Neil’s birthday a few years ago.

Thank you to Adrift Hotel for our stay. We enjoyed ourselves and can’t wait to return. While this stay was complimentary as always all opinions are my own.

Weekend Adventure to Trillium Lake and The Power of Nature

August 15, 2017 by Lindsay Ingalls 4 Comments

This weekend felt like something out of a dream. For the first time in 9 months I felt good enough to get out with my family and get back to nature. We started our Saturday running a bit behind schedule, that was until I reminded myself that we had nowhere to be so schedules were unnecessary. After gathering ourselves and the kids we headed to Trillium Lake not without a quick stop to Target to pick up a pair of shoes because apparently pregnancy makes my feet grow.

Once we made it to Trillium Lake we spent the day wandering slowly walking the loop around the lake. Letting the kids set the pace and stopping for long playing (and nursing) sessions in the woods. We completed the loop, ate our packed lunch and then let the kids splash around in the lake until it was time to head out.

We decided that the thought of heading straight home sounded awful and we made a detour to Hood River for dinner and playtime at the waterfront park. We enjoyed a great meal, the kids while tired were in great spirits and despite the awful sewage smell at the park we all had a nice time soaking up the last bits of sun and watching the kite boarders.

As I drove home I couldn’t help but feel so full of love and happiness. It felt amazing to get out, explore and go back to our normal routine after months of sickness due to pregnancy, feeling so anxious about birth because our baby girl was breech up until 36+ weeks and then all that time I spent healing and not leaving the house. I am slow moving still and everything takes extra effort but I am reminded how much nature can heal the heart, the soul and fill us up.
So here is my request to all of you – spend more time in nature and let nature nurture your soul and heal your heart.

Coffee Talk | VT & Cross Country Travel with Kids

February 9, 2017 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

Coffee shop dates are some of my favorite and I wish I could sit and have a coffee with all of you. If we were sitting down to a cup of coffee it would likely be something single origin and African. I would also want a bagel with tofutti to go with it. While we are sitting enjoying our coffee I’d ask about your day, what’s been going on in your life and how your family is doing. I would then share with you about our most recent family adventure to Vermont.

Our last trip to Vermont was nearly three years ago, in April 2014. Edith was 21 months at the time of our last visit so she didn’t remember much of it and this would be Alder’s first trip to Vermont and first plane ride. We don’t often make the trip to Vermont because the cost for all of us to travel there is expensive and trying to coordinate time off for Neil and traveling with kids is always complicated. Plus my parents are both retired and are able to visit us regularly.

Our flight out to Vermont went really well. I was nervous that Alder’s weak stomach would get the best of him especially after the Blue Star Doughnuts that we had right before our flight but I came prepared with a roller bottle of DigestZen that I applied before the flight and a towel and barf bags ready just in case we did have an accident. We lucked out though and Alder’s stomach was fine and both kids did amazing on our very long day of flying.

Most of our trip was spent with my grandmother and parents. We spent hours upon hours playing Hand and Foot – a variation of canasta. The kids also got to take advantage of the snowy weather and play outside for a bit – although I will say they weren’t quite as enthusiastic about the snow after all the snow we had here in Portland just before our trip.

We spent the last few nights of our trip in Burlington where we visited a few of our favorite places and got to spend an evening chatting and laughing with friends. We tried to find some fun activities for the kids and ended up taking Edith and Alder to see their very first big screen movie – Moana. We also took them to ECHO where they had a blast.

I will say after our visit to Vermont that I still love Vermont and will always be a Vermonter but I right now Portland has my heart. I love the community we have here in Portland, how family friendly Portland is and of course the food and coffee scene is far superior here – with the exception of TOMGIRL Juice which had the best juice and fresh rolls – we need a TOMGIRL in PDX.

By the end of the trip we were already to get back home and doing so was kind of a big mess. Our flight out of Burlington ended up departing late because they had to defrost the plane before we could leave. Combine our late departure with a far too short layover we ended up finding ourselves running through the Chicago airport to make it to our flight. We made it though and finally arrived home late Monday night.

Now that we are home we are attempting to catch up on a few weeks worth of laundry and I’m trying to get over the jetlag. So happy to be back home in Portland though.

Coffee of the Week: Holderness Hunkute -Ethiopian. I have to thank Holderness Coffee for sending over this bag and I am hoping they will make their way out of Corvallis and up to Portland coffee shops and stores because this was one good cup of coffee.

[PNW Adventures] Yurting at Tumalo State Park

August 18, 2016 by Lindsay Ingalls Leave a Comment

As a family with thrive on adventure. We love to get outside and explore the world around us whether it be city or stream, mountain or museum, we just love to explore. One of our most memorable adventures this summer was yurting at Tumalo State Park.

A few things to note about Tumalo while it is a really nice park those falls that share the name are unfortunately not located at the park but don’t worry they are close by so you can make a morning or day out of visiting them. Other than that I thought the park was pretty great. The yurts are on the newer side and while you need to bring all of your linens and cooking supplies there is a table with 2 chairs, a futon and a bunk bed (double, single) inside the yurt as well as electricity and heat! Outside you’ll find a covered entry way with a bench, a fire ring and a picnic table. It’s a pretty great setup. One of the features of the camp that I loved was the outdoor sinks for washing your dishes – such a nice feature! Also if you are more into tenting or have a camper there really aren’t any bad sites for you!

If you head across the street from the camping area you’ll find the day use area that has trails, lots of picnic areas and nice green area with a great spot to wade in the water. Also located at the park is a playground and there are nature paths that you can access right from the camping area. Bonus you’re only 15 minutes from downtown Bend and 20 minutes from Sisters so there certainly isn’t a shortage of things to do!

Now getting a yurt or a cabin in Oregon can be tricky because they seem to the minute that reservations are open. That being said go in see when you can make your reservation and set a calendar alert so you can jump at it. That being said I need to go do ours right now for next summer!

Where are your favorites places to go on adventures? Do you prefer the city or the mountains or maybe the beach?

Naturally Lindsay