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Published: July 30th 2009
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These past few days have been a blast! We got my dad and Vanessa from the airport in San Francisco. We drove around and saw Fisherman's Wharf, and we drive down Lombard Street. To get to Lombard Street (a.k.a. the most crooked road in the U.S) we had to drive up a really steep hill at about a 45 or greater degree angle. As a family we ate at this burrito place called La Corneta and there was live Mariachi music in the restaurant. I thought my burrito was pretty good maybe around a 9.3 because I don't remember the details of that particular burrito.
Paulo wrote: Ellie gave me the opportunity to write a bit about my impressions about northern California and Oregon. The drive up from San Francisco to the redwoods area is wonderful: there was a blanket of fog around the Golden Gate bridge. Temps were in the 70s. Starting north from San Francisco, rolling yellow hills dotted with small trees are followed by lots of vineyards in wine country. We stopped for some refreshments in a little town and the thermometer read 102. After a couple of hours from San Francisco, the mountains get bigger, the
vegetation becomes greener and grander until very large redwoods start to appear from time to time. We camped at the heart of redwood country and within a few miles of trees that are indescribably massive. Some of them can be over 13 feet in diameter and 360 feet tall. For perspective, a midsize car is about 15 feet long and a 30 story building can be about 360 feet tall! Some of the bigger trees are over a thousand years old. For their size, redwoods have a small root system, so from time to time they fall to the ground. Imagine something the size of a 30 story building falling over! Statistics aside, redwoods have a soft bark. That is, if you push on the bark, it gives a bit. They have a wonderful smell that is hard to describe. What most impressed me about those giants, though, was how dignified, still, permanent they are. A grove of really old redwoods feels more like a gigantic chapel.
Now a few lines about our campground: Albee Creek is surrounded by redwoods. Within a few feet of our campsite, there were two stumps of redwoods cut down probably several decades ago
that were over 10 feet in diameter. From our campsite, we could see a meadow and beyond a grove of apple trees from a time when a small village and even a saw mill existed there. Blackberry bushes abound. We saw adult and baby deer all around the campsite, and according to the rangers, black bears are seen frequently feasting on the apples that grow wild in the groves. Here ends Paulo's contribution.... I'm falling asleep.
We also went camping at the Albee Creek Campground which was nice, because it was quiet, and it was very pretty. We picked blackberries to eat at meals. We ate Italian food in a town called Arcata. It was a very cool town. But, we didn't love the food very much though. Dad actually had one of his worst meals ever at that restaurant. And last night we stayed at the Crater Lake Campground and we had this very friendly family next to us with two adorable children who were running around our campsite and kicking up volcanic dust. We saw the actual Crater Lake. It was beautiful, and I thought that it was super cool that we saw this volcano in the
middle of the crater that had a campsite on it. Today we ate dinner at the Laughing Planet in Oregon. I really enjoyed my burrito. It's rated a 9.5 because it was a bit too spicy. We have a lot of fun together.
Paulo writing a couple more paragraphs:
Crater lake was formed 7000 years ago when a volcano blew up and formed a several-mile diameter caldera that filled up with crystal clear water over the centuries. The water is a very deep blue.
From Crater Lake, we drove to Bend, OR, a very cool city of 50000 that resembles Amherst, but it is not a college town. We toyed with the idea of moving there someday.
We then drove to Portland, a 170 mile drive. During the entire trip, enormous mountains can be seen -- first, Mount Bachelor and then, 50 or so miles from Portland, Mt Hood. For people who are impressed with the size of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, Mt. Hood is a mind bender. First, it is so massive. Second, although the temperature was in the high nineties, the mountain is covered with snow.
Last night we walked around the Pearl
District in Portland, the most happening part of town!
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Anne
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Yeah, you made it to the Laughing Planet. Do they have the interesting burrito combinations the Planet has here?? Isn't Mt. Hood incredible. You are lucky to have seen it, because many times it is shrouded in mist and fog. Glad you are having such a wonderful time.