Hello from Oregon

Hello from Jacksonville, Oregon!

It feels good to be on the ground in this incredibly beautiful state after a long day of travel.

My alarm went off at 5 a.m. and I caught a flight out of the Jacksonville airport bright and early.

Coffee fuel!

Today’s travels included three flights – from Jacksonville to Charlotte, Charlotte to Denver (Hi Michaela!) and Denver to Medford. My layovers were never more than an hour, so I didn’t have much time to walk around airports and move too much. It has been a day of sitting! I’m feeling antsy and am really looking forward to tomorrow’s adventures.

On the docket for tomorrow? Exploring Harry & David’s orchards. Yes, the Harry & David. To say I’m excited would be a huge understatement.

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from Sandy, the blogger behind The Reluctant Entertainer, about a blogger trip to Oregon to tour Harry & David’s facilities and learn more about the company. My mind started spinning. Harry & David!? They have the best pears in the universe. I compulsively buy their Moose Munch whenever I’m lucky enough to find it in the gourmet foods section of the TJMaxx in Ocala. My family uses their pepper jelly to make my favorite dip over the holidays. Sign me up!

The fact that the trip would allow me to visit Oregon also excited me.  I’ve never been to Oregon and am so grateful for the opportunity to visit, especially during the fall. Traveling is something I adore. I am naturally an incredibly curious person (Ryan says I’m like a summer camp kid everywhere we go because I want to SEE and DO everything) and traveling lights me up inside. Sandy’s follow up email said we’ll get a chance to explore Medford and Jacksonville, Oregon a bit on the trip and I am really looking forward to taking in the sights and bringing you guys along for the ride.

I used my travel time today to catch up on reading – both for pleasure and knowledge. I packed my NASM textbook and continued to type up the study guide I’m making for myself as I study for my personal training certification. (My study guide is currently 19 pages long. Ah!)

Aside from studying, I took some time to read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks that I began a few weeks ago.

I haven’t read it as regularly as I would’ve liked, so it was nice to have some time to read today. I ended up finishing the book on my flight from Charlotte to Denver and definitely recommend it to anyone even slightly interested in learning more about the history surrounding a woman whose cells became so incredibly important to medicine, aiding in the development of the polio vaccine, cloning and more. The author did a great job making the science-heavy portions of the book both understandable and interesting. The stories about Henrietta Lacks and her family were captivating. Thank you to those of you who recommended this book to me!

I also packed this month’s book club selection, Thirteen Reasons Why, to  start reading just in case I finished the book about Henrietta Lacks. I’m hoping to get started on my flights back to Florida on Saturday! Have any of you guys started reading it yet?  Thoughts?

Now I’m off to grab a glass of wine with the other bloggers before dinner this evening!