Day 15-18 Oregon & Seattle

Sunday, we got up and drove to Portland, OR.  Made a couple of stops along the way.

At Seal Rock...yeah, not paying that much and not being guaranteed that I'll even see some.

Mom took a lot of pictures of tunnels and bridges.

My favorite stop of the day was the Oregon Coast Aquarium!  Seahorses, jellies, otters, oh my!  :)

I wasn't aware Salem is the capital of OR.  Um...oops?  And to make myself look a little more silly...I thought this was where the witch trials were held.  Of course, I remembered that was actually in MA.  Lapse of memory.  It happens to the best of us.....right?

We bought some passes to ride the metro around Portland, but ended up going to the Lloyd Mall...which was closed.  So we walked around a bit before heading back to the hotel.  Later we ventured out to a Best Buy and I bought a TomTom since OR has TAX FREE shopping.  We went to a Starbucks so I could get it all updated and then went to eat at Fire On the Mountain.  We ate fried food all day.  My body is hating me for it.

Monday I planned on us exploring Portland, but it was rainy and we decided to just go on to Seattle.  We found a cheap place to stay...but didn't realize we were in the hood till it was too late.

We spent the night doing laundry.

Tuesday we spent a little time in downtown Seattle.  We went up the Space Needle, strolled around Pike Place, and went thru the EMP.

The first Starbucks.

H.A.M.

Michael Jackson's glove and jacket.

I wish I could captured how cool this was.

I don't know much about Jimi Hendrix, so this is really for Michelle.  :)

The Nirvana exhibit made me tear up a little.  Crazy how they made such an impact on the music scene.

How corny is this?

Mom left today.  It was sad to see her go...now I've got to put on my big girl pants and start interacting with people.  So starting tomorrow, I'm getting out of this sketchy hotel and going to a hostel downtown.  Hoping to meet new people and hang out with a friend if he makes it here.

Putting on my Brave face......

Day 11-14 NorCal/entering Oregon

Tuesday morning we left Carpinteria Valley...we pretty much just saw a motel from the highway the night before and decided it looked good enough.  Too tired to keep going.  Anyway, Tuesday morning we headed towards San Francisco.  Mom was nice enough to drive a bit so I could go to sleep.  Yeah, I shouldn't have been so sleepy, but I was.  Because I was asleep and didn't look at the "itinerary" we missed out on the Big Basin State Park and, later on, the Monterey Aquarium.  I found a brochure for the aquarium with the cutest freakin otter on it!  Anyway, sure we could've stopped in "wine country" but honestly, that's of little interest to me.  We stayed in a surprisingly nice Econolodge by the Oakland airport.

 Wednesday we had a long day of things to do and see in San Francisco.  First we went to Twin Peaks.  The drive thru the neighborhoods was neat, confusing, and kind of annoying.  The houses were absolutely adorable.  I hate red lights that aren't hanging, but of course these weren't because of the trolly cables.  The roads seem so congested, even without traffic.  But anyway.  We made our way up the hill to get a good view of the area.  The next 6 pictures would be a panoramic shot, but I don't know how to put pictures together on a Mac...damn you Mac for not having MSPaint!

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The fog never went away unfortunately.

Alcatraz?

Next we went to the Golden Gate Bridge.  It was SO cold and windy and FOGGY!  I'd be so disappointed if I were one of the tourists from another country.  I was only slightly disappointed, but I know I can go back some day and hopefully it'll be a clear day.  It was pretty cool to be on such a well known landmark.  While walking the bridge, I was looking over and I saw what I thought was some big fish turned out to be dolphins!  I was so excited!  It was pretty awesome to see...I wish I could've got a picture, but I never saw any more after that.

You can see the bridge slicing the fog and showing just a glimpse of blue sky.

We then headed to Lombard Street.  It is said to be the most crooked and steepest road (it's not).  Before we actually got to the there, I had to go up one street that seemed like it went up at a 90 degree angle!  I couldn't see what was on the other side of the hill...and once we got to the top, it was like going straight down.  It freaked me out.  That being said, by the time we got to Lombard Street my heart was hurting and I was too scared to go down it in my car.  Mom made fun of me because I cried a little bit from being scared.  I found a spot to park and we walked down it a little bit.  It was really pretty, but I'd get tired of all the people hanging around practically at my doorstep.  Just a small price to pay for a beautiful, unique place to live.

Looking at it from the bottom up, I shouldn't have been such a chicken and drove down it.

Part of a scaffold

We drove thru Chinatown.  I wanted to walk around and eat, but there were so many people and parking was hard to find, so we kept on going and went back to our hotel.

Clothes hanging out their windows.

I spent some time trying to find somewhere to eat.  I finally decided on a place called Homeroom where they made home-made Oreos sprinkled with sea salk.  All they serve is Mac & Cheese...in different varieties.  No, I'm serious.  We paid $26 (including tip) for Mac & Cheese and two home-made Oreos.  Crazy, but good.

Thursday, our goal was supposed to be Crescent City, CA, but we stayed in Arcata which is close to Eureka.  We ate at a place called Lost Coast...we ordered North Carolina BBQ sandwich.  Michelle has made me NCBBQ before and it was made with vinegar/hot sauce/cole slaw, not BBQ.  This one only had the coleslaw part.  But it was delicious anyway!

Not really sure what this place was about, but it was still a cute side stop.

Friday we were to see Redwoods....we got to do that and more.  We were never anywhere to name really...but we pulled over a lot and saw lots of amazing sights.

HUGE.

HUGE!!

Cheeeese.

I'll sleep anywhere.

The story behind the snake ^^ ....We pull off on some random road and walked down this little trail.  I heard Mom shrieking behind me, turned around and she started going "SNAKE! SNAKE!"  Apparently I had just stepped over it and would've never known it.  Anyone know what kind this is?

Above the clouds...

Eerie...

I can't believe people ride bikes like this as a way to travel.  I couldn't do it!

I'd rather do another entry for Oregon, but I want to keep the days together more.  We entered Oregon this afternoon with the intention of making it to Eugene.  We made so many stops today that we only made it to Gold Beach.  No big deal...as long as we're in Seattle by Tuesday, we're in good shape.

Yay!  State sign!

Finally got one with California...  ;)

One of my favorite stops today was at this beach.  I could see from the road big waves and lots of rocks. Mom agrees that it was one of the best stops today.  Here are a few pictures and you can be the judge of it's awesomeness.

I'm on a rock with rocks all around and this random dog is threatening to jump on me...STRANGER DANGER!

It's just not a complete "photo shoot" without trying to get a jumping picture.

And that about wraps it up for the past few days.  Portland in the next day or two, and definitely Seattle by Monday evening.  Pretty awesome I'm actually in/will be in these states.  I was talking about how I wanted to be here, and, well, now I am.  Crazy.  :D