I don't know of a more beautiful place, and when I find one I will let you know. Labor day weekend, Reedman, Stephonovich, Moon, his friend Patrick and I (Becca and the boys- the usual) went to the Prineville Reservoir to camp and wakeboard for the 3 day weekend and get out of the city life for a change. It started at the LB Airport where Stephen and I had already checked out mentally for the weekend.
Reed on the other hand was pacing 10 minutes before takeoff talking to his boss and other people that couldn't handle life without him for 3 days. We laughed while walking up to the plane while Reed acted like a duck- calm and cool on top, but paddling like crazy underneath. You'd never know he was a stress case because he never shows it.
Two hours, 3 cocktails, and 3 episodes of Jersey Shore later, we landed in Portland. Moon and Patrick pick us up with the boat and caused quite the scene while taking up 2 lanes and causing a line 10 cars deep. We were on our way, but not after we had a hot mama (Pickled sausage- seriously gross).
Oregon just has a very peaceful vibe about it and I could live here. I've always thought that Austin would be my choice if I had to leave Southern California, but I think Oregon has it beat. Plus I could still surf in Oregon. This is the only place I've seen so far that has more trees than houses and relaxed people that aren't attached to their blackberries and iphones.
We stopped to fix the trailer lights just before dark, and of course our battery dies. While the boys tried to figure out that situation, I wondered around Skibowl, ultimately to hold a sign on the side of the road that read "Got Jumper Cables?" The boys got smart and switched the batteries from boat to car which worked--temporarily.
Four hours later we get to camp at about midnight and Reed and I go to set up the tent (Patrick and Moon packed everything). We layed out the Hyatt of tents to sleep all 5 of us except Patrick forgot to bring the polls for the tent. Option 2- smaller tent that sleeps 3 while Moon and Patrick sleep in the truck. It worked, though it was literally freezing outside. The temperature dropped to about 30 at night and got to a max of 70 during the day. It was just like fall though, sunny and cool. It's my favorite weather so I was happy, plus I got a new sleeping bag that I was excited to try out in low temperatures.
Next day comes and we are ready to get on the boat and uh-oh... Moon had put the battery in backwards which burnt out almost all the fuses. Town is about 20 minutes away so Moon and Pat jump in the truck to fix the problem while Reed, Stephen and I do what we know best- Nothing. We hung out all day at the campsite and enjoyed doing absolutely nothing. Five trips to town later, the boys finally figured it out but by that time, it was dark.
Sunday, we get on the water and of course the weather is about as bad as it ever got all weekend. It was about 60 degrees and windy but we made the best of it and recruited our neighbors to add more weight to the boat for bigger wake. One of the girls was Hannah and she was from Montana so of course the boys got a kick out of that and called her Hannah Montana all weekend.
We got one full day of wakeboarding and wake surfing in and an awesome trail run which I did twice because it was so beautiful. If I lived there I would run/cycle/swim just because it is GORGEOUS. I'm training for a half marathon next month so I ran up this road to Jasper Point that overlooked the entire lake. It was so pretty that it looked fake. Something about running in clean air and higher elevation that just makes me feel good too.
My favorite times were when the sun went down. We had our group and the other 2 surrounding campsites around a big bonfire to eat chili out of a can, hot dogs and bean/cheese burritos, while drinking choffee (hot chocolate and coffee- thank you sugar shack for that incredible idea.) Patrick was the best story teller and he won for best angry girlfriend voicemail - "you and your stupid friend, and his stupid boat and your stupid beer in your hand." She was mad, but we got a kick out of it.
The last day we woke and it was the coldest morning ever, probably upper 20's. Reed, Stephen and I go for a run to warm up. Stephen ran barefoot because he had no running shoes and the park ranger couldn't put together what was going on. At the top of the hill we notice it's glassy with no trace of wind and no boats because everyone was going home. We had an hour to leave so we decided to take advantage of the weather and get one last run in before going back to reality. Reed had cut his ankle the day before on the binding and it was giving him a hard time but he ended up having the best ride he'd every had. Stephen finally stood up and actually enjoyed wakeboarding- He was a natural at the surfing. 
We kept justifying that we had plenty of time to get to the airport. It felt as if I were waking up for work and I wanted to snooze for just 10 more minutes and I would play it back in my head like "well I just won't put on makeup." We procrastinated as much as possible until we literally gave ourselves JUST enough time to get to the airport that was 3 1/2 hours away.
That was dangerous not only because it was a holiday weekend, but also because everything that could have gone wrong that weekend, did go wrong. We made it though in enough time for the boys to have a beer and get on the plane just to watch more Jersey Shores. I swear the show is like a train wreck- It's so horrible yet you can't stop watching it.
In a nutshell, I had the best birthday I've ever had. I've never liked to make a big deal about my birthday so this was perfect. I actually forgot my birthday on the actual day until Reed said "Oh yeah, happy birthday!" It was simple, relaxing and so beautiful. I think we'll make this an annual event, hopefully with less malfunctions. Here's a great video of Reed eating it on his last ride of the day. :-)
