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Published: October 6th 2008
Wow, I have officially decided that I need to update the blog more often then I currently am. We have been seeing so many places and things it has been hard to take the time to write. We finally invested in a plug for the car so you should be hearing from us more often.
To check out the pictures go to the website below and log on to snapfish. You may have to copy and paste it.
http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=479111221151502693/l=428821215/g=3844306/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
Boulder, CO-
We were only in Boulder a short amount of time because we plan on going back after the baby is born. Brian (Joe’s brother) and Gretchen (his wife) are due mid October and we will be back mid November. They are waiting to find out the gender of the baby so that is going to be the ultimate surprise to find out if we will have a nephew or niece. How EXCITING! We arrived in Boulder very late, dirty from riding the Razors with Michael in Wyoming so we visited for only a bit before taking a shower and crashing out. The next morning we woke up and Brian had already taken “C-Bass” (that’s our car’s official name) to have her first oil change while on the road. He even checked the tires….What a good older brother…always looking out for us. Brian took off work so he could spend the day playing while we were in town. We went for a hike with Jerry the dog up a mountain where we had a good view of the Devi’s thumb on top of the Flat Irons. Jerry is like 13 years old and got really tired towards the end so Brian put him on his shoulders and kept on walking. I was already a little worn out so how Brian carried a 90 pound dog on his shoulders for even 10 minutes is beyond me. It was an awesome way to start the day off because that afternoon we hit Pearl Street and several beers at the different bars. Our first stop was the Mountain Sun. They used to have a common area table in the middle of the restaurant with a ton of board games but I guess they changed it so now they are just individual tables and board games. We had a beer and headed off. I didn’t get a chance to try the spinach salad (sorry Sharryse) but maybe when we go back. Next we went to another restaurant for happy hour and half off appetizers. We chowed down on some yummy cheese fondue and taters. Sounds healthy right…which is why we were glad to do the hike that morning. We headed to a few more places including the Sun Downer which had free pool and then ended up at a bar called, The Walrus, where our friend Stu worked. It was awesome getting to see him in Boulder because usually he comes to visit us. It was finally time to go home and meet up with Gretchen so we went back to their house. Gretchen is such a cute pregnant person…we forgot to take any video or pictures and are very disappointed because the next time we see her there will be not baby in the belly. It was awesome getting to hang out with them. We watched some of our roadtrip video which was pretty funny. Joe and I are officially big dorks so if you get a chance to watch the video when we return our disclaimer is as follows:
Disclaimer: Joe and Jess are aware that they are big dorks. Please do not make fun of them in the viewing of The Newlywed Travelers. This video was sometime taken with very limited sleep and after many hours of being in the car. Thank you and Enjoy!
Well, that’s it for Boulder. We woke up the next morning to head to the Blues and Brews festival in Telluride Colorado which was about 6 hours away from Boulder.
Telluride, CO-
We arrived in Telluride at night. It was raining a good amount of the way down there which was not fun to drive in because of all the curves. Since it was raining we decided to stop in town to get some food and see if it would let up enough to set up a camp site. We had dinner at a little pizza place which was very good. Sitting next to us was another couple that had wrist bands on so we asked them how it was with the camping in the festival. Telluride is a very small town. It is in a canyon with big beautiful mountains surrounding every side of it. You could walk from in town to where the festival was in just a matter of minutes. So, back to the couple…their names were Stacey and Cody. They drove a VW bus and were lucky enough to get a car pass (everyone else had to drop their gear off and then park in town). They gave us some insight to how the camping was set up and then we went on our own ways. Joe and I decided to go ahead and see if we could set up camp or at least get a place tonight in case the rain let up. We drove around looking for a spot when we came across Stacey and Cody so we decided to park near them for the night. I forgot to mention that it was still coming down pretty hard so the staff of the festival was allowing people to park near their camping site for the night as long as the car was out in the morning. We hung out in the tent they had attached to the bus. Two other people ended up showing up from a nearby campsite. Their names were Dickie and Jeff who became some fun friends over the weekend. Joe played guitar for an hour or so. We were hoping the rain would let up so we could set up our site but as the hours past and we all got tired, we decided just to sleep in the car. Thankfully Brian had let us borrow his coffin sleeping bags because it was freezing at night. We both bundled up and tried to get as comfortable as possible. The lightning was going off. It was so bright that at one point I actually thought someone was taking pictures of us from outside of the car.
The next morning we woke up and the sun was shining. The ground was a little wet but we were able to find a place near where we were parked to set up camp. All the rain had past. It didn’t rain one more time that whole weekend. The days were warm, sunny, and blue and the nights were very very cold. We ended up camping next to an amazing group of people (Cody and Stacey who were from Denver and then another group from Crested Butte, CO). There were probably about 20 or more of them. They had a fun set up that also included a game of “Frickets”. For those of you that don’t know there are two poles at each end (kind of like horse shoes but much taller poles) and cups on top of the poles. Using a Frisbee you try to knock the cup off. There are all sorts of rules that we don’t remember but it was fun to play and fun to watch. The guy Jeff we camped next to invented this Frisbee called the Flashflight. It’s a light up Frisbee which makes it extra cool. There was a creek running next to the site so they had a little sitting area that was so beautiful and peaceful. They reminded us of our friends back home and were so sweet to share their set up with us.
The music began that afternoon with a band called Mama’s Cookin’. It was nice that the campsite was so close to where the music was because we could walk back and forth between bands. It was such a good line up all weekend. Some of our favorites playing were: Etta James, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Dirty Dozen, G Love, Gov’t Mule, John Butler Trio, and Blind Boys of Alabama. On Saturday we got up and walked into town for a bagel and coffee. We snagged a table outside which was nice. I went inside to get something and when I came back Joe said Susan Tedeschi had asked him where the coffee shop was. He was very excited. I was actually surprised he was still sitting at the table when I got back…personally, I would have walked with her to show her where to go (but then again I probably would have killed him). That afternoon we went to the Grand Tasting also known as the “Grand Wasting”. We were given some miniature pint glasses and from 12pm-3pm all the micro brews (about 50) gave out free beer. Some of them were scrumptious but there were a few that should not be there (i.e. the Chili pepper brew…Yuck). One of the guys where we were camping had made a bunch of hula hoops which were fun to play with. He put water in them which made them super easy to do. He was so nice because he ended up giving me one. So anyone who wants to try it can come over and hang out when we get back. After the show at the festival they had some of the bands play at the local bars…”Juke Joints”. I was freezing on Saturday night so I curled up in my sleeping bag looking all too similar to a worm. Joe ended up going with the group we camped with to see Warren Haynes and even Susan Tedeschi played with him. Joe was excited because they had sold out earlier that day but he was able to get a ticket for much cheaper from one of the girls we camped with. They took a Gondola to the other side of town where the show was. They were all banging on the side of it making a beat and singing made up lyrics…..That I wish I would have been there to see. Joe got to jam out a lot that weekend on his guitar. I got to play a song or two as well but my hands were so cold I don’t think I did very well. Joe on the other hand did great.
Sunday Night we ended up walking around the campsite and heard someone else playing so we followed our ears through the woods and over a fence (I’m not making that up).We came to a group of people gathered under a blue tent with one little light in the middle and a keg of beer off to the side. A guy named Jon from a band called Stonefed was playing. He happened to be from Moab which was where we were going next but we forgot to exchange info when he left. Jon left and everyone was wanting more music so we told them we would be right back with Joe’s guitar. About 10 minutes later we showed back up (which they didn’t think we were going to return). Joe was rockin’ the tent out. Everyone was having so much fun. One of the girls grabbed a pot to bang on. She reminded me of my friend Annetta back home…tall, blond, and full of life and energy. There was also another guy there that looked like Blue from Old School, and some Navajo guys that we are going to see when we head through Arizona. One of them we referred to as the bouncer because he kept trying to make sure Joe had whatever he wanted…a full beer, enough room, a comfortable seat but mostly because there was one crazy dancer guy there that he kept telling to back up a bit. It was starting to get really cold so we decided to go to back to the tent and curl up for bed.
Monday we packed up (very slowly), said our goodbyes and headed out to Moab, Utah. The drive to Moab was by far the most beautiful Mountains, Valleys, and Rock Formations. The change in the scenery within just an hour or two was unbelievable. Just outside of Moab is a place called, The Hole in the Rock. It was 5,000 square feet of living space carved into the mountain by a sculptor. They had a little gift shop and a petting zoo with Emus and Wallabies. A bunch of other random stuff and a cool car made out of license plates and other old metal items. It had a big bone on the top and was pretty cool.
Moab, UT-
We got to Moab and found the hostel we were staying at right away. It was called, “The Lazy Lizard”. We were very hungry so we drove into town to grab some food. When we were walking around their downtown area we ended up seeing the guy, Jon in Stonefed from the festival. He was working at an Italian restaurant and happened to be on the porch when we were walking by. He invited us to his band practice that night. Even though we were pretty tired, we figured what are the chances of actually seeing him in Moab so obviously we were meant to go. We went to his house for an hour or so and listened. They were really good and played some fun stuff like Raw Hide. The next day we went to Arches National Park. The rock formations were really cool to see. We were able to drive around most of the park and we did one hike that was a lot of fun. The hike to one of the most famous arches called Delicate Arch was about 3 miles. It was a hot day (of course since we were in the desert) and on the way to the arch it was mostly uphill. We rested in the shade but finally made it and it was totally worth it. The arch was gigantic. When you stood underneath it and looked up it was pretty amazing. Joe and I had packed some PBJ’s so we found some shade from the arch and ate lunch before we headed back. Towards the end of the trail we were able to look at Petroglyphs which are pictures sketched in the rocks from the Indians. There was also a one bedroom log house from way back in the day. There were supposedly about 5 people that lived in it. If I ever think our house is too small, I will picture this image.
Pocatello, ID-
It was about a 10 hour drive to Yellowstone so we stopped half way in Idaho. We stayed at a Ramada and were able to do some laundry there. The next morning we went to a local Mexican Restaurant (which we have been eating a lot of) and headed out.
Yellowstone National Park, WY-
We drove all through Yellowstone and saw some pretty fun things. When we first got in we stopped and walked on this boardwalk around a bunch of different Geysers. Our favorite was a bright blue and orange one (and no it’s not because it’s Gator colors). We headed to see Old Faithful and had about 30 minutes so we went to the car and made some lunch to bring back to the viewing area. The park estimates the time because it goes off about every hour. This time it went off about 20 minutes early so we were glad we were there to see it. The area where it’s located starts to steam up and then shot water and steam about 120 feet. The highest it goes is 180 Feet. You always hear about it growing up so it was cool to see but there were a lot of things about the park that we liked better. We got to see this beautiful lake surrounded by Mountains. We also stopped to look over a bridge at the falls and this buffalos comes out of nowhere and caused a traffic jam. It was really funny. When we were driving out, there was a ton of people on the side of the road. We had just missed it but there were some wolves near that spot. Also on the way out we saw several Elk crossing the road. They make this funny sound like a high pitch grunt. It was becoming dark as we left the park to head towards Glacier.
Bozeman, MT-
We ended up stopping a few hours outside of Yellowstone in a city called Bozeman. We stayed at a cool hostel called Backpackers Inn. We had a private room which was nice and ended up meeting another couple from Switzerland there who were also heading towards Glacier the next day. We didn’t get much time to explore Bozeman but we did grab some dinner at Montana Ale Works. We split a yummy, tofu, pasta, pine nut, tomato and goat cheese entrée.
East Glacier, MT-(Glacier National Park)
We checked into the hostel known as: Brownies Deli, Bakery and Hostel. It had a bakery on the bottom floor and the top floor was all the rooms. We were able to get a private room again which was nice. We got there late afternoon so decided just to drive around a bit and do our hiking the next day. We were told to get some bear spray which is like pepper spray for bears because Glacier is Bear Country. We went across the street to buy some and then headed next door to a local spoon shop. Outside was a large purple spoon with a sign that said, “Worlds largest purple spoon” and in little letter it said, “maybe”. The lady who owned the shop made wooden spoons and magic wands (like Harry Potter and Merlin the Magician). The wands were made exactly how the author described them in the books. She also had spoons from famous movies on the ceiling of her shop. We went back to the hostel and treated ourselves to some ice cream before dinner (isn’t it great being able to do whatever you want to do). Joe played some guitar on the porch while I jumped on the computer. Later that night we headed to dinner at a local Mexican Restaurant (I told you we ate a lot of Mexican). The food was really good and we were getting tired so we headed back to the hostel.
The next morning we went to Glacier National Park. There was a 10 mile round trip hike that went up about 1,600 feet on the way up so we decided to give it a go. There were these beautiful lakes along the way that were the color of a deep bright bluish turquoise. It’s really hard to describe the color but it was absolutely amazing. We were headed on the trail with the bear spray in hand. We passed a few hikers that said a few bears were down by the lake but not to worry because the trail was high up away from them. We were looking near the lake for them when we ran into another lady hiking. She told us that they had crossed the path so we were a little more skeptical. Joe was leading us and when he went around this big bush that blocked his view, there was a bear right behind the bush about 5 feet from him. The bear ambushed Joe and they rolled down the hill when Joe finally got his bearings he was able to spray the bear and get away. It was scary. I’m just kidding about the ambushed part but the bear was 5 feet away and it was still really scary. What really happened was Joe backed away as calm as possible and we waited a little bit before moving forward. Just to make sure they were gone, we through a rock at the bush and nothing moved so we figured it was safe. A little bit farther ahead we saw some mule deer that were so cute. There were two little ones that were running on the trail in front of us. We saw waterfalls and mountain sheep. There were lots of huckleberries along the path but we didn’t eat any because we really weren’t sure which ones they were and if you have ever seen the movie “Into the Wild” we didn’t want to make a mistake and eat a poisonous berry. The last stretch of the hike on the way up to the glacier was probably the hardest. It was basically straight up these rock steps. When you got to the other side it was a bunch of tiny glaciers floating. It was very neat to see and a nice accomplishment to do the hike. On the way down it was of course much easier. We were at the end of the trail when we saw a moose eating off a branch. It was super close to us. At one point another hiker got too close and the moose starting making noises and walking towards her. The hiker backed up right away and the moose left her alone. We had to wait there for a minutes or so until he crossed out path. Eventually we got to the car, stretched, and grabbed some snacks for the road and headed out towards Banff, Alberta Canada. It was a really good day.
Fort Mcleod, Alberta (Canada)-
Our plan was to drive all the way to Banff that day but we were hungry and tired. We ended up stopping in this little town just over the Canadian border called, Fort McLeod. It was a really funny town. They had a lot of Chinese restaurants which we ended up eating at. Over dinner we decided to stay the night here so we looked for a cheap hotel. We were able to find a good deal at the Fort Motel. The owner who was at the desk was super nice. The slogan for the hotel was, “Where history comes to life and smiles are free”. The guy at the front desk definitely knew his history. We asked him what was up with the town and he said it was the first established city (or something like that, we can’t remember). The room was cozy it even came with a pet…a 3 legged cat that hung around the place. The next morning we headed towards Banff. We took the scenic route or at least tried to. We got a little lost but it’s a road trip, that’s all part of the fun.
Banff, Alberta (Canada)-
We arrived to Banff pretty late. It was probably about 4 or 5pm so we didn’t have anytime to hike but it was well worth the trip. We went first to Lake Marianne which was this beautiful blue sparkling lake surrounded by mountains. There was a bunch of logs laying on top of each other like the game “pick up stix”. On the other side of the logs was a huge rock pile that you could climb to the top. It was a lot of fun and gave you a great view. There were people canoeing which looked like a lot of fun but we decided not to do it. We then went to another lake called Lake Louise. This lake was even more beautiful. Glassy blue sparkling water surrounded by snowcapped mountains. It was gorgeous. If you are looking for a good vacation, there is a really nice hotel right on the lake. Joe and I decided to have dinner in the parking lot before we hit the road. We cooked beans and rice on our Coleman grille. It actually turned out pretty good and was a lot of fun making.
We headed out towards Vancouver which was about 10 hours away. We planed to stop about 4 hours outside of Banff but Joe was a road warrior on this particular day. I was taking a little nap in the car and when I woke up he was already past the place we were going to stop. We continued for another couple of hours when we decided to get off and get a hotel. Well, to our surprise there were no hotels open that late. We drove around until we could get wireless internet from the hotel parking lot. Checked our email and got confirmation that we had a place to stay in Vancouver.
Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada)-
Joe decided to continue driving and ended up driving the whole way to Vancouver. We arrived around 3 or 4am so we found a nice parking lot to park the car and sleep until morning. The car is not that comfortable but it makes for a fun story. We weren’t willing to pay $80 for a hotel when we would only be there for a few hours. Joe layed across our luggage with his upper body and his lower body hanging over the front driver’s seat. I switched between curling up on the floor board and laying my head on the front passenger seat. When my legs went numb, I would sit on the seat with my head against the window and my legs stretched out. We got about 4 hours of sleep and both felt pretty rested. We weren’t meeting our couch surfing friends at their place until later that afternoon so we took a hippie bath in the parking lot. For those of you that don’t know what that is, it’s using baby wipes and water from the cooler to freshen up. We changed clothes and brushed our teeth and headed for downtown. We were really hungry and I was craving a bagel (it’s a Jewish thing) so we walked around until we found a coffee and bagel shop. Downtown was busy with lots of restaurants and shops. There were a lot of homeless people which is of course typical for a big city. There were people playing guitar for money (known as Buskin’) and Joe had wanted to do it for fun. So, we drove to Stanley Park, which was probably not the best place to do it but we were doing it more for the fun then the money so it didn’t really matter. We set up a spot on the bay near the bike and walking path. Joe set out his case and started playing while I made a necklace. Some ladies dropped in a couple bucks and there was a two year old kid that was just standing in one place staring at Joe. It reminded me of Reid. I played a few songs and then we packed up to go to Dave and Deanna’s house. I brought the hula hoop to the park and tried to do it walking to the car. It worked for a little bit and then I dropped it.
We arrived at David and Deanna’s house about 10 minutes from downtown. We were greeted at the door by their daughters Freya (10 yrs.) and Brigid (6 yrs.) who were super cute and friendly. We had a room to ourselves which was nice. Deanna had to take Freya to gymnastics so I went with her to watch. It was pretty funny to see all the kids interacting. By the time we got home, Dave and Joe had already taken the guitars out to jam on. Deanna and I went out for some beer and wine which was very expensive. It was $25 for a 12 pack of beer. When we got back to the house Deanna made us burritos which were yummy. I made some bracelets with the girls and we met a bunch of their neighbors who came down to say hello. I was tired and dirty so I jumped in the shower and headed for bed. The next day we hiked around a rain forest, walked over a suspension bridge and climbed on big rocks near the water. It was a lot of fun. We then drove on the sea to sky highway. They were blasting some rocks along the highway so they had parts of the roads closed for an hour or so. We decided to park at this bay area with picnic tables to eat a PBJ and enjoy the view before we headed back to the house.
We wanted to walk around Vancouver a little more so we parked the car at their house and walked to what they call, “The Drive”. The street has a ton of restaurants, bars and coffee shops. We sat outside a coffee shop and shared a cinnamon roll. It was fun to people watch. We got back to the house and Deanna had made some squash soup and homemade bread. It was awesome and she was so sweet for sharing with us. The boys stayed up very late playing guitar and even wrote a new song called, “Drill baby drill” or “The drill baby drill blues” (haven’t decided which one yet). We left the next day to head towards Seattle. It took us awhile to get going though because we kept talking outside the car. In fact, Dave was sitting in the front seat of the car; I thought he was going to go in my place for a while.
Seattle, WA- We were staying with some friends of Paul and Susan’s right outside of Seattle in a town called Bellevue. Chad and Alina (the friends we stayed with) ran an art gallery so we met them there while they finished up work. The art they had was unbelievable works from many famous artists like Picasso. We followed Chad to their house along with one of their friends from work, Steve. Steve and Joe played guitar and hung out on the back porch while I hung out with Alina. It was a lot of fun hanging out with her. We were giggling like little kids most of the night. They were both so nice. We really liked staying with them. They were fun and Alina made some mean food over the few days we stayed there. She made apple pancakes and a veggie frittata for breakfast and then we made veggie kabobs and rice pilaf. She taught me how to cook with buck wheat which I will definitely making at home. Alina even made us a care package to take with us on the road, a cooler filled with Apples, string cheese, beer, and carrots.
While we were in Seattle, we walked around downtown. We got some good coffee from Seattle’s Beast and walked around Pike Place Market. They were throwing fish which was kind of gross, but one funny thing is they threw a fake fish at one of the ladies. Our friend had told us about this place called the Experience Music Project. We tried to go but it was closing so we decided to go the next morning on our way out. It was so much fun. They had a guitar gallery/museum that housed guitars from all different eras and dates. It was amazing to see the change in guitars over time. I wonder what they will be like in 20 years. Upstairs was an awesome play area. It had sound booths with guitars, keys, and drums. One was set up with a vocal room and it changed your voice with all these different effects. It was fun to play around with it. There were also tutorials and jam sessions in the other booths. We had a blast. I was excited to try the bass and Joe was having fun on the electric guitar. We were done playing so we headed out to get some lunch and drive to Portland.
Portland, OR- We were staying at some friends from Couch Surfing while in Portland. There names were Cory and Andrea and they were so much fun to hang out with. We were greeted at the door by Cory and their frisky dog named Kingston. He was so cute and could do some really good tricks. We got a bunch on video, but my favorite is when you say put em’ up holding your hands like two guns and when you say bang he falls to the ground. It was a good trick. We happened to arrive on the last Thursday of the month so there was this fun art walk off Alberta Street so Cory and Andrea took us there. The art walk had a ton of art and music along the street. The art was from all local artists and was really good stuff. There were paintings, hats, jewelry, hula hoops, and so much more. The musicians in the street were so good. Several houses on the street had bands and djs. There was a dj in the street and an artist spray painting right next to him. There were jugglers, fire throwers and even a robot. At one point there was this dj playing rap and there was this little girl no older than 4 year old, dancing and working the crowd. It was really cute. After the art walk we headed to a couple of bars where we met their friend Guiness He was fun and good at pool so that’s what the guys did most of the time while Andrea and I hung out. After a bit, we decided to head home and call it a night.
The next day we walked to a local shop to get a bagel sandwich and then headed for downtown. Cory and Andrea were awesome tour guides. We walked down Pearl Street, went to Powell’s books, ate at a good brew house, saw the fountain and walked along the river. We decided to head towards the Shangai Bar and on the way we saw some fire dancers in the street. We watched for a bit and then continued to the Shanghai. For those of you that don’t know the story, back in the early 1900’s the Chinese would come over and drug the men drinking at the bars in Portland. There was a trap door that would be used to get them to this basement area. They would take there shoes because there was glass placed on the floor so they couldn’t get away. The Chinese would take them out to sea to work on their ships. I’m not sure if they ever returned them back home. We decided not to take the complete tour because it was basically set up now for tourists but we did go to the Shanghai Tunnel. You entered the bar on street level but then walked down stairs to the basement. This is supposedly where the Shanghai sometimes occurred. After we saw the bar, we all wanted to go to Voodoo Doughnuts. Andrea had been talking about his doughnut shop the day before. Their doughnuts have random things on them like fruit loops, captain crunch and bacon but they also have fun shapes like a voodoo doll and blunts. We split the voodoo doll which was filled with jelly. We don’t normally eat doughnuts but we had to for the novelty of it. We were all pretty tired so we headed home. Andrea had to go to work so Cory, Joe and I hung out for a bit at the house. Guiness and Cory’s brother came over for a little while as well. We had so much fun in Portland. It was probably our favorite spot for a big city. Andrea and Cory were really fun to stay with. We hope they will come see us in Florida. They both surf so we know they will have fun. The next day we heated up some of the pilaf that Alina gave us in our care package and headed for Eugene.
Eugene, OR-
We were staying with another couple we met on Couch Surfing, Dan and Margarita. We stopped by Margarita’s work in downtown Eugene to say hi before we headed to the Saturday Market. The market is pretty big and has all sorts of crafts, food, and music. They had a stage set up where a band played and then a ton of vendors on all sides. We walked around for a bit and saw hula hoops, paintings, jewelry and of course tie dye shirts. There was another group in the town center selling necklaces and other art in the street. Also a church was there preaching about Homelessness and how it needed to change. It was very interesting and a good welcoming into Eugene. Margarita was performing in a Middle Eastern Dance Crew that night at Cozmic Pizza. We had a few hours before it started so we went back to their house to drop our stuff off. When she showed us our room, we were excited to have a bed. It was a really cool set up, we basically had the whole downstairs to ourselves. We were getting hungry so we went out to eat at a thai restaurant. We split tofu pad thai and fresh spring rolls which are our favorite. They also had a $20 bottle of wine that Lauren always drinks so we decided to splurge for the wine. It was a really good meal. Next, we went to Cozmic Pizza to watch the show. It was really interesting and fun to watch. Margarita and her team did very well. The teacher also performed and she was really good. She balanced swords on her head which was pretty neat but overall it was very sensual and beautiful. We left before the show ended to go experience other parts of Eugene. It was kind of funny because we were there on a Saturday but it didn’t seem like there was much going on…at least we couldn’t find it. We ended up stumbling across a bar called, “Rock and Rodeo”. We told the guy at the door that we were traveling across country on our honeymoon and he let us in for free. This bar was hilarious…it was like Shades meets Masquerades and has a baby like Bourbon Street (quite interesting none the less). Joe and I had a lot of fun though people watching and hanging out together. Over all it was a really good stop.
Crescent City, CA- We decided last minute to head to the northern coast of California so we went to Crescent City. We stayed at an awesome hostel called the Red Wood Hostel. It was a really great hostel right across the street from the ocean. Everyone there was so nice and friendly. We ended up sharing the bottom bunk in the coed dorm because there were no private rooms. It felt like we were at camp and was actually pretty comfortable. For a while we sat on the porch and played our guitars while we watched the sunset but then decided to go walk. We walked on the beach and saw a beautiful sunset. It was the most beautiful and vibrant reds I have seen. There were these two huge rocks in the ocean as well which made for a really good backdrop. After sunset we headed back to the hostel to cook some food. We took our shoes off at the door which is something they requested and then headed for the kitchen for dinner. Joe made us soup which was actually pretty good for coming out of a can. We sat at the table with some other travelers. It is so much fun to meet people and hear there stories. Two people we met were visiting each other but they had met on a commune. Another guy, Mike, was moving to Portland and another guy from Wisconsin flew to southern California bought a bike and was driving up the coast to Portland where he plans to sell the bike and move back. It was a really good hostel. In the living room area there were all sorts of instruments, piano, guitar, triangle, djembe, bongos, maracas, and many more. We had a good jam session in the living room. Joe played guitar, Mike played the mandolin and switched off with the djembe, I had the maracas, and there were about 5 other people there that picked up random instruments for the jam session. It was so much fun. We really had a good time playing with everyone. It was 10pm which meant quiet hours so most everyone went to bed. Joe and I stayed up for a little longer before we crawled into our tiny bottom bunk bed.
The next morning we were the last to wake up. There were about 5 bunk beds (10 beds) in the room. We showered and gathered all our stuff to leave. Before heading out we bought some oatmeal from the front desk to make for breakfast. We said our goodbyes and headed off to Redwood National Forest to do some hiking. Driving around these trees is just unbelievable. They are so tall and wide. We stood under one right off the highway which was a cool but kind of gave me a creepy feeling. I think when you stand inside a tree trunk of that size you are just amazed at how powerful nature can be. We found a good trail to take, called James Irvine. It led us to the Fern Canyon which Andrea had told us about. The total hike was 10 miles and was so much fun. We got to see all sorts of trees, even walked across one to the other side of the path. We saw a ton of streams. It was damp, cool, peaceful, and absolutely beautiful. During most of the trail, there was no one around. Fern Canyon was also really nice. It was this gigantic canyon with this beautiful lush green fern on every side of it. We then headed off towards the beach which was right near fern canyon. We had brought some peanut butter and apples for a snack to eat before heading back on the trail. We were walking towards the beach when we saw this huge elk lying in the sand. There were two of them and it was really cool to see. I hopped up on this stump to take a break and watch them. We didn’t know they liked the beach so it was pretty interesting. Joe and I then headed to the picnic table to eat our snack, which was quite yummy and then headed back for the trail. This was a really good hike. It was not as hard as the one in Glacier National Park, but we still really enjoyed it.
Colusa, CA-
We were headed towards Colusa which is where my friend Jeremy (Cali) lives. I knew him in High School and haven’t seen him in about 7 years so I was excited. We stopped in Eureka at this brewery called Lost Coast. We had one beer, a yummy salad with BBQ ranch and a tofu burger. I love all the veggie options. Gas was around $4.20 so we thought we would wait to get to I5 for something cheaper. I told Joe I was going to will it (using the Secret of course) to be under $4.00. It’s always fun to see if it works. To our surprise, the road to get back to I5 from the coast was pretty hairy. It had a lot of curves and turns and took much longer then we thought. We were starting to play needle chicken which wasn’t like us at all. We typically filled up when it hit a half of a tank, but this time was different. We passed several small towns, but no gas stations that were open. For a little bit, I thought we were going to have to pull into a gas station and wait for morning but we ended up finding an open gas station. Just as we were pulling in to pump gas, the guy was changing the gas prices on the sign from $4.13 to $3.99. I thought it was funny because it was right under $4.00 which is what I had said. We were happy to have gas and be back on the road. We arrived in Colusa around 11pm. We visited for a bit with Jeremy. His Jack Russell just had puppies. There are 4 of them and they are so adorable. As tempting as it is to bring one home, we still have two months on the road. Some of them are white and others have a little spot around their eye. The mama dog is super cute as well. We were getting tired and Jeremy had to work the next day so we headed for bed.
To be continued…
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Nate
non-member comment
mmmmm.... Brown Dog Pizza...
mmmmm...