What teachers do in the summer...

We go on vacation.

In a very short while, I will be headed to the beautiful Pacific Northwest. My home state of Oregon. I hail from the Portland area, and I'm so excited to be back.

I won't bore you with the details of my family, including extended that I haven't seen for some time. Or my beautiful niece, or my best friend of...gosh...12 years...and her beautiful family. Rest assured, those are some of the highlights of my trip.

What I will be sharing with you is the bounty available in the summer.

Picture it, Willamette Valley, Oregon, 1999 (whooo..Golden Girls flashback there):

It's a beautiful summer day. My Dad just whipped up a batch of sourdough pancakes, and we break out the bounty of fruit in the fridge. We slice peaches, top that with Marionberries, and some strawberries. Just a dash of sugar sprinkled on the top. That would be a typical Saturday morning breakfast in my home growing up. Of course, that was after a fantastic run at a local lake. For dinner, fresh, wild, Pacific Northwest salmon with a soy-ginger glaze. Probably some corn on the side.

Heaven for a foodie. Really, I never appreciated the freshness and quality of the food up there until I moved away. Don't even get me started on the plethora of outstanding restaurants, beautiful sites, and countless other Oregon specialties. Oh, and it is SO easy to be a vegetarian out there.

I could go on and on. But I won't.

What I will do is post a picture of the day. Now, I can't promise that there will be a new picture EVERY day...but, I will have an aggregate for the entire time that I am there. I'm so excited to share this beautiful country that so many miss out on.

I hope you're ready to see it.