The day started off with disappointment: all of the campgrounds between SF and Monterey were full (all but one were first-come first-serve, so this time it was not due to our lack of planning regardless of an inability to do so). Scrambling to find somewhere to sleep, we found the library in Monterey had free wireless internet and located a campground called Laguna Seca 10 minutes away near Salinas, CA. As we pull up to the campground with fingers and toes crossed, we were greeted by a very nice ranger who must have had a very strong prescription for medical marijuana [View Full Entry]

---

---

Perhaps the most anticipated event of the trip was the midnight premier of the new Harry Potter movie. The lads ventured into the outskirts of San Francisco (Daly City to be precise) and arrived at the theatre around 1030pm for the midnight showing after some delicious Indian food and a quick refresher of the previous movie on DVD in the hotel room. The movie was very entertaining. Those fans with a more dedicated novel-based Harry Potter rather than a novel to big screen adaptation may have been a tad bit miffed at the liberties taken by the director, but none found [View Full Entry]

---

---

In an effort to take full advantage of our adventure, we headed to Napa and Sonoma crossing possibly the worst road in California, Mountain View Road. Arriving safely at the Good Nite Inn (hey, we are poor grad students) 20 minutes outside of Sonoma, we were afforded a pool day and a chance to remedy our cycling clothes/farmer tan. The next day, bright and early at 11am, we headed to Napa Valley, CA to see what destiny had in store for us. We had decided to cycle in Sonoma not Napa due to the crowds and less than ideal roads. Napa, [View Full Entry]

---

---

On July 6th, Eric and Caleb crossed the border, stopping briefly at Lady Bird Johnson Grove (in the Redwood National Forrest) en route to pick up the Third Amigo, Alex! The trees are simply astonishing, and we even saw a Banana Slug! The pictures tell the story more poetically than these words. Notice the diameter greater than Eric's height (insert poorly worded and inappropriate eric = midget joke here) and the fire sculpted shell of a tree. Quite suddenly, Alex called the duo informing them that weather in Atlanta would delay his arrival by another day. He was stuck in Salt [View Full Entry]

---

---

After a restful two nights and a bike fitting and tune-up in Portland, we continued our trek southward. Portland did include a trip to the Rogue Brewery, but no beers are worthy of mention. We left Washington with a sense of excitement as we had cycled the entire route and were beginning to really feel comfortable on our bikes. Oregon, however, proved to challenge us in a way that we had not really expected. The Oregon coast is littered with amazing ocean views scattered with jetting pillars of rock. In cycling terms, this equates to, at best, rolling hills and on [View Full Entry]

---

---

So rather than a normal entry of our adventures, I decided while laundry was going to be more blog-ish in today's entry and just float from topic to topic. First, laundry. Wow. Never have I been happier about laundry than on this trip. My entire wardrobe can fit soundly in my ADIDAS soccer bag (about 18"x9"x9") with my towel and jacket. All of my and Caleb's clothes (sometimes including towels, jackets, and bedding) fit into one super-washer. Although we are traveling light (ok very heavy compared to die-hard cyclist who carry it all on a bike), we arent really lacking for [View Full Entry]

---

---

Feeling a little guilty after seeing British Columbia with a highly modified and shortened cycling route, we vowed to cycle every mile in Washington. After catching our ferry off of San Juan Island, we spent the night in Washington State Park and caught the new Transformers movie (opening day with literally only 5 other people in the small movie theatre). Our cycling southward through Washington state was very smooth with few items worthy of mention. This section of our trip is kind of out of order as we both are beginning to feel it was the first time we were really [View Full Entry]

---

---

Once upon a time on a small island in the San Juan islands in upper Washington state, the British and the Americans lived very peacefully. One gloomy day (which are apparently common in the area, but we did not experience any), a pig from an American farm snuck into a potato patch of a British farm and ate the potatoes. The inflamed British farmer grabbed his rifle and quickly shot the intruder. Up in 'arms' over the incident, the American and British farmers erupted into words and reinforcements were sent by both countries. The Pig War had begun. The two factions [View Full Entry]

---

---

On this session of the Amazing Voyage (no relation to CBS's Amazing Race), our travelers had a quick overnight pitstop in Seattle, Washington on their way to British Columbia. They raced around Seattle on foot to see the traditional sights of the Space Needle, Pike's Place Fish Market, and the Sculpture Park. Pike's Place is a very large open-air market where the famous FISH management/work philosophy was based. These men seem to very much enjoy their jobs, throwing fish, yelling, and exciting the crowd with their antics (including a monkfish that they use to scare unsuspecting children(/me [View Full Entry]

---

---

Each trip has ups and downs. Leaving Yellowstone, we were on quite a high (pun intended, our elevation at camp was 7700ft) heading towards Glacier National. We had seen much wildlife, and had a great hike. Both of us were excited about Glacier thinking it would be even more impressive, less populated, and more dramatic in the scenery. We were a little unsure of the weather however, as it was already cold at Yellowstone and not sure how much colder Glacier would be. The drive was fairly unremarkable (8hours of sameness) until you reach Browning, MT. Now Browning, MT is either [View Full Entry]

---

---