michigan | Our Oregon Trail

PDX in the Rearview

November 6, 2014 by kristikrass

I can’t believe it’s been five months since Jeff, Cooper and I pulled away from our empty Portland apartment and drove across the country to our new home in Grand Rapids, Mich. What?! Five months! That’s almost half of a year! Time flies by achingly fast. It’s so strange to flip from one life — apartment living in a big(ish) city, hanging out with the loveliest mix of friends, both working at Nike, super liberal environment — to another life entirely, with […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: Cooper, michigan, mountains, vacation

A Christmas Scrapbook

January 3, 2014 by kristikrass

Ah, Christmas. My favorite time of year. It darts by far too quickly. We welcomed the season with some festive times in Portland, before heading back to Michigan to split a healthy chunk of time between Jeff’s Brighton-based Krass family and my Linwood-based Redick family. I sure love these people.

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: holidays, Krasses, michigan, Redicks

Miss You, Mich.

September 7, 2013 by kristikrass

It’s been waaaay too long since Jeff and I visited Michigan. We had an eight-month gap, last visiting at Christmas. I don’t know where the time went this year, but here we are, facing fall and coming off our first visit to our home state in 2013. We had one week in Michigan, and we quickly got down to business. We took the latest (or earliest?) red-eye I’ve ever taken – 12:55 a.m. – to Detroit to kick things off with […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: Krasses, michigan, Redicks, vacation

Ho-ho-home

December 31, 2012 by kristikrass

It’s amazing how quickly Christmas comes and goes as the years go on. Maybe it feels even faster since our holiday centers on a speedy-yet-satisfying trip back home – the norm for my last seven Christmases (and more for Jeff). Whatever the case, I’m always super giddy to board the late-December flight east to Detroit to celebrate with the families and friends we’ve known and loved our whole lives. Disclaimer: My camera didn’t make as many appearances as it should […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: holidays, Krasses, market, michigan, Redicks, restaurants

From the Golden to the Garden State

August 19, 2012 by kristikrass

July and August have been crammed with loads of travel and loads of work, which means a long drought in blog posts. And now the fall is shaping up similarly, with probable trips to Vancouver, Arizona, Hawaii and Michigan on the horizon – I think Jeff and I wouldn’t know how to operate without trips to look forward to! In mid-July, Jeff jetted off to San Diego for a men’s soccer tournament with his high school and college buddies. Jeff’s […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: california, concerts, festivals, michigan, new jersey, Redicks, vacation, wedding

13 Miles, 13 Revelations

May 27, 2012 by kristikrass

We did it! My sister Shelly and I tackled The Qualifier Half Marathon together, in Mid-Michigan’s scorching 90-degree weather, no less. Of course, we did some walking, but ended up sticking together the whole time and notching a respectable 2:33:12. While the race was the main reason Jeff and I flew home to Michigan for the long weekend, we had plenty of other activities to keep us busy. And plenty of time to realize a few things… Shelly is a […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: babies, michigan, Nike product, race, vacation

The whole Redick clan at Leelanau Cellars on Lake Michigan

It’s a Wonderful Life

January 2, 2012 by kristikrass

It’s difficult writing about our Christmas trip back to Michigan – there was so much fun, love and activities squeezed into the week that I can’t adequately capture it. We started our journey home the Thursday night before Christmas, taking the redeye through Vegas (our second visit that week) and arriving in Detroit at 6:30 a.m. Friday morning – kicking off some major family and friend quality time over the next seven days before heading to Chicago to ring in […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: holidays, Krasses, market, michigan, Redicks, restaurants, wineries

Spending time with Grandpa Redick before we head to Saginaw Zoo Boo

Love You, Grandpa!

October 23, 2011 by kristikrass

Just returned from an impromptu trip back to Michigan – actually, I’m writing this in the Delta Sky Lounge in the Minneapolis airport, thanks to my generous seatmate who had an extra pass. I was dreading my 2.5-hour layover here, but now I get to relax, eat free food and use free Wi-Fi. Good lesson to be nice to fellow passengers! My weekend trip – which I booked on Tuesday, flew on Thursday – was a bittersweet one. Grandpa Redick […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: babies, holidays, michigan, Redicks, zoo

Ava and me at the Gerstacker Spraypark in Midland

New Niece = Hello, Michigan!

June 13, 2011 by kristikrass

Today’s my first full day back in Portland after a much-needed, lengthier-than-usual trip home to Mid-Michigan. My sister Lori and her husband Cory recently had a perfect little baby girl named Macy, and they decided Jeff and I were fit to be godparents. And godparents = special duties at Macy’s baptism = perfect excuse for a trip! I took a three-leg, red-eye flight to arrive on Tuesday, while Jeff took a two-leg, red-eye flight to join me on Friday. (Getting […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: babies, michigan, Redicks, vacation

Our Oregon Trail

Portland through the eyes of a festival-loving, dessert-feasting, travel-addicted Midwesterner.

Tag: michigan