This morning, Marce woke up to locally-roasted, freshly-ground organic coffee beans in the super cool grinder provided to us by our Firestone hosts. After Allen lazily rolled out of bed, we went for breakfast at the Sunny Point Cafe in West Asheville. Despite the half-hour wait, the orange corn-bread pancakes, chicken sandwich special and chipotle omelette croissant exceeded expectations and sealed the deal for a return trip. We left with full happy tummies to explore the Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center. At the door, we were greeted by happy trolley tour people and a vast collection of [View Full Entry]

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We heard so many stories, so many opinions, so many people who said, "You HAVE to go to Asheville!" When Allen asked me a week ago if I wanted to go on a road trip, I didn't hesitate. At that moment, our getaway became what we have called a "Yes Trip." Anything that comes our way, we have vowed to greet with open arms. Having left our puppy, Misma, in the warm and loving care of Guille and Cris, we set off on our adventure. During the beautiful four hour drive, Allen connected his phone to Wikipedia and we revived an [View Full Entry]

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Signs have been guiding us all along our West Coast adventure. The moment we got off the highway to enter downtown, a billboard overlooking the thoroughfare announced: Party of Two, Your City is Ready! We arrived in Seattle on the 30th and stayed in our room, gathering strength and energy for our fabulous New Year's Eve blowout at the Space Needle. Taking advantage of the break in driving and sight-seeing, the Boy dexterized on his laptop until the wee hours of the morning. It was early afternoon before we woke up. Hoping the worst of the cold was over, we ventured [View Full Entry]

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As Marce learned this morning, allergies have a funny way of turning into colds. While Marce slept in to recover as quickly as possible, Allen discussed several of his business ideas with Diego. It seems that Diego has saved his piece de resistance - homemade pancakes with real maple syrup! Tara, always the gracious host, steeped a warm cup of Gypsy's Cold Remedy tea for Marce and alleviated Marce's doubts by explaining that both she and Zoe had just gotten over a mild cold days before. What originally was scheduled to be an early morning departure, quickly turned into an early [View Full Entry]

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TravelBlog was having problems with their image server, so this entry for December 29th was a little delayed. Our morning began with a leisurely breakfast of eggs over easy and spectacular coffee, courtesy of Diego's christmas gift - an espresso maker that requires a college degree to operate! We stayed warm with Diego and Tara's wood pellet fireplace and rejoiced in the company of like-minded environmentalists. In the early afternoon, we departed to explore Downtown Portland. Our first stop - Powell's Book City, the largest used book store in the United States. Imagine an entire cit [View Full Entry]

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We woke up this morning in the Presidential Canopy Suite of Portland's White House. After receiving several birthday calls from friends and family, The Boy (and The Girl) went downstairs for a delicious birthday breakfast. Over French toast and bacon, we enjoyed the company of our fellow inn patrons. Across the table, sat a couple from Seattle, Matt and Amy, who were spending a few days in Portland on vacation. We told them about our West Coast Adventure and smiled as we discovered that Matt works at Adobe Macromedia in Seattle in the Sales and Support department. He explained that Adobe [View Full Entry]

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Please Note: The following entry was meant to be posted on the night of the 27th. We are definitely not in Kansas anymore. We began our journey in Crescent City, CA at the Comfort Inn overlooking the beach and lighthouse. Jack, our generous manager, happened to have a double queen with a view of the water available, which he gave to us for the price of a single. The sound of the enormous waves outside rocked us to sleep. In the morning, we discovered that the storm had brought with it some curious oddities. We won't go into too much detail, [View Full Entry]

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This morning Allen was reluctant to leave the warm sheets behind, but after much persistence and the promise of tree-hugging in his immediate future, he braved the cold shower and followed Marce in her quest for breakfast. We paid a brief visit to the motel lobby and found Nick, dressed in a towel, blessing the lobby area with Champa incense. We gathered our blessing-sprinkled continental breakfast and continued our drive to the town of Legget on Pacific Coast Highway 1. The Pacific Coast Highway, now more often called The Redwood Highway, meanders through spectacular vistas, following t [View Full Entry]

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Please Note: The following post was meant to be uploaded on Christmas night, but we were unable to find a signal between the ocean and the mountains. Our second morning at Hotel La Rose was as picturesque as the first. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast, with a miniature evergreen as our centerpiece. After packing our things, we bid farewell to Janet and Gustavo, who despite working Christmas Day, had a warm smile and kind words to see us off. We followed the winding Russian River through Sonoma County until it met with Pacific Highway 1. The dense fog lifted sporadically, allowing [View Full Entry]

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We awoke at Hotel La Rose to a wonderful continental breakfast. Scones and granola and OJ, Oh My! With a full tummy and a Christmas Eve smile, we climbed up the Hotel La Rose grand staircase to our room. Once we got there, Allen noticed some movement by the windowsill... upon further inspection, we discovered an entire family living in the room with us... Ladybugs! All over the place! Did you know that ladybugs cuddle at night when they sleep? Against our better sense, we went to the Santa Rosa mall on Christmas Eve. But much to our surprise, it was [View Full Entry]

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