Where should I go next?

So I am going a little stir-crazy. This is the first time in a long time I do not already have a plane ticket booked for my next vacation. I am working a lot, trying to get my lab stuff worked out, and am almost done with school....any suggestions?

Before the end of the year I would love to visit Austin, Chicago and Denver - I know people in all of those cities, but have never had a real chance to go. Who knows? Maybe by the time I pick a lab at the end of June I can actually schedule a summer vacation!!

If anyone wants to give to the Kristyn-cannot-currently-afford-a-plane-ticket Fund, I am accepting donations! :D

~Kristyn

Day 11: Maritime Museum, more market, and HOME!!

Hey everyone,

Today we officially have to go home...it's been a long trip, but we had a few spare hours this morning in Seattle so we went to the Odyssey Maritime Discovery Center. I guess we didn't really realize it, but it was more a learning museum for kids to discover how important the ocean is than a Maritime Museum for adults.

Either way, we had fun running around like kids through the museum. We learned how they fish for salmon, halibut and crabs in the Northwest. We also got lessons on the shipping industry, how to operate a crane, and how to steer a tanker....very exciting, haha!

My favorite part was the dress up room, where they had full size suits for various water related professions, like Naval officer uniforms and Coast Guard cold water rescue suits. Taylor was a pretty good sport and got all the way into the cold water suit. He had a little trouble, but we eventually zipped him up - I think he looks like a giant, silly lobster :D

After all the oceanic education we could take, we went back to Pike's Market one last time and then back to the hostel to gather all our bags. After a quick shuttle ride to the airport we got on an earlier flight home than expected! The only downside to this was that I guess our bags missed the flight, so once we got home to San Diego (safe and sound) we had to wait for our bags to arrive.

Anyway - we are home and all-in-all had an amazing trip!
In case you are interested here are a few stats for our trip:

Miles traveled: 1657.6 miles
Average MPG in the Hybrid: 38 mpg
Approximate time in the car: 42 hours
Number of new states visited: 2 (Kristyn has now been to 23 and Taylor has been to 31)
Amount of beef jerky consumed: 3/4 of a pound
Number of times I have now seen snow: 4!
Number of new animal species encountered: 4 (elephant seals, Roosevelt elk, grey whales, sea otters!)
Number of times Taylor was severely disappointed due to my iPod selection of music: 3 (not enough Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, and Skynyrd)

Day 10: The Space Needle, Experience Music Project and more food :)

Well guys,

Today was our last full day of vacation, so we were a little sad. We woke up and got our free breakfast at the hostel (I really like hostels that do that) and headed off to stroll through Pike's Place Market again. We had so much fun yesterday that we decided to walk through the market again before we headed out for the real sight-seeing.

We sampled all the foods again, and even got to see them really chucking some fish around today. They are pretty comical about it, and they even trick the tourists that are watching. If someone demands that they throw a fish (which they usually do only once somebody orders one to be packed up and bought) one of the men behind the counter will pull out a huge fish and say "Your turn to catch!" and throw it into the crowd. We quickly learned that they really just throw a giant stuffed animal fish - but its pretty funny watching the women scurry out of the way to avoid getting "fish" on them!

After the market we found the first, original Starbucks. Even though it wasn't that impressive I did have to take a picture. The logo for the original store it a little more scandalous than their now PC symbol!

We took our time since it was actually a really nice day (for Seattle) and walked to the Space Needle. I couldn't resist going to the top of it, so we bought our tickets and rode the elevator up the 520 feet! It only takes 41 seconds in their high-speed elevators, and the view of the city is neat. There is of course a very expensive revolving restaurant at the top as well, but I don't think we could afford it on our grad student budget.

Right next to the Space Needle is a cool museum devoted to music and its history (The Experience Music Project) so we spent some time wandering through the exhibits. There were even little sound proof rooms with instruments in them where you could learn to play the guitar, the drums or the keyboard. It was fun to pretend to be rockstars for a little while....but we aren't going to be getting record deals anytime soon.

We rode the Seattle Monorail back to our hostel and relaxed for a little while. For dinner we found a little Thai place and had a great meal and for dessert, we went to the Pike Place Pub and Brewery and had a "beer float." I was a bit skeptical, but it was Belgian gelatto floating in a raspberry Belgian beer, and it was yummy!

We have all morning tomorrow to explore, too, so we will be going to the Maritime Museum.

~Kristyn

Day 9: Last Day in the car!!! Washington, and flying fish!

Hello!

Today I was excited because it is officially our LAST DAY OF DRIVING!! It has been really fun so far...but now matter how fun the trip, its never a bad thing to end 10 days of living out of a Honda Civic. We packed up and got ready to go sight seeing a little more in Portland, but when we headed out it was super cold and raining/sleeting. I was being a wuss, so we decided to do a brief drive-through tour of a couple of the places Taylor wanted to see. We went down to the courthouse and the main square and decided to park and walk around since it had almost stopped raining.

We took a look around the area, but it was pretty dead and still really cold, so we figured it would be just as well if we called it quits and just headed to Seattle for the rest of the day. Today was our first and only day taking the highway, so we got on and drove north for the last time. About halfway there it started raining pretty hard (ugh, the northwest!!) so we got off the road and drove through a little town that was still covered in snow (still not old to me yet).

After the brief detour, we made it to the Seattle area. We hunted out the rental car place and had to say goodbye to our trusty little car. Oddly, we got a phone call a few days ago from the rental agency begging us not to take the car out of California. Apparently the agent was not supposed to rent Hybrid vehicles to people leaving the state, and wanted us to switch the car out in San Fran. We were already a good 10 hours away, so we politely refused. When we turned it in today they were a little shocked to see it, and they said all they can do is put it on a truck and ship it back to CA since they are not legally allowed to rent hybrids in WA. Weird. But it was a great car and we put 1657.6 miles on it for the trip!!

With the car gone, we hopped a shuttle to the airport, then got on a bus to downtown Seattle (creepy!). We made it to our hostel, which is RIGHT above the market at Pike's Place. We can practically see them throwing fish from our window! We walked over to the market and wandered through it for a good 2 hours. There is so much to see! We sampled cheeses, roasted nuts, smoked salmon, donuts, fresh fruits, pickles, jams, syrups, honey, and breads with dipping oil. There are vendors with flowers, and crafts and souvenirs. And of course there are fish!!

We had to stand and watch the boisterous men heckling and throwing fish. They are pretty good at it! And as they throw they yell, chant, and poke fun at the tourists. But they were all really friendly, and it was entertaining to see how fast they can have a fish cleaned, filleted and packed for shipping.

For dinner we picked a place in the market (it was featured in Sleepless in Seattle) and had steamed mussels, seafood bisque and fresh halibut as we watched the storms roll in over Puget Sound. Since it is ugly, rainy and cold, we are going to rest up and get ready for a full day of Seattle sightseeing tomorrow. I want to see the Space Needle and the rest of the city!

~Kristyn

Day 8: Hail, snow, and Portland!

Hey everyone,

I woke up to a somewhat now-unfamiliar sound: rain pouring down on the roof of the hotel! It was storming pretty hard when we packed up the car, and we quickly realized why we never considered moving to the northwest. We got on our way anyhow, and drove up the coast. After about an hour and a half of driving we hit even worse weather – it started hailing pea-sized hail! I thought it was pretty cool since I don’t often get to see any kind of frozen precipitation.

It didn’t last for too long, and we safely made it to our lunch destination. We picked the Rogue Brewery in Newport, OR to eat at since Taylor is a fan of their beers. It was a good lunch, and some good beer, but it was time to get moving and get on to Portland.

As we were driving we came over a hill and I saw a mountain covered in SNOW! Again I was amazed because at one time I could see both snow AND the beach. I was driving so I made an executive decision to go on a Snow Mission. We drove closer and closer until we finally got high enough that we were where the snow had fallen. I got out of the car and ran around in it for a few minutes before my hands got too cold from making snowballs to throw at Taylor. I made a silly little snowman and we got back on our way.

We said goodbye to the Coastal Scenic Highway that we had driven the whole way up and finally turned inland and towards the city, and the snowy scenery actually continued about half the way to Portland. There were whole forests of Douglas firs lightly dusted in white for me to stare at as we crossed over some low "mountains." I was pretty ecstatic and just tried not to run us of the road while staring at the snow for the rest of the drive ;)

Anyway, nobody else thinks snow is as exciting as I do, so on to Portland! We got there and checked in to our hostel. We were again in a fun shared room with 8 people and a shared bathroom, and oddly enough a troop of Girl Scouts were staying at the hostel too....it was a little weird to have them running around the place at all hours of the night, and I am beginning to notice some distinct differences between European and America hostels (namely just the age range!). We ditched our car and our stuff and headed out while it wasn't raining, sleeting or snowing.

We took a great tour of the Chinese Gardens. It was quiet and tranquil inside, and everything was still dripping from the rain an hour earlier. It was really pretty, but I bet its absolutely amazing in the spring or summer when everything is in bloom. After the gardens we wandered the waterfront and found a monument to the Japanese-Americans affected by WWII. They have planted cherry blossoms along the river, and unlike the Chinese Garden, these were in full bloom!

After the chilly stroll along the water we headed to the USA's biggest bookstore, Powell's Books. This place was HUGE!! You have to get a map at the front door just to be able to find your way out! I parked it in the Travel section and daydreamed about the next possible trip ;) and after a while of reading we decided to find dinner.

We went back to Portland's Chinatown and had some great Chinese food for dinner. It was absolutely freezing, so once we were done we decided to turn in. It seems like a cute little town, and we're excited to see a little more of it before we head out to Seattle tomorrow!

~Kristyn

Day 7: Oregon, dunes and Sandboarding!

HEY!

This morning we woke up to the typical rustlings of a 30-bed hostel. Those silly people were up and cooking breakfast at 7am, so we were awake and out early again. The hostel’s kitchen looked out over a rocky cliff and straight to the Pacific Ocean, which was a pretty nice view to have while making our pancakes. It was a clear and beautiful day, which is nice since apparently they had hail and some snow here yesterday before we arrived!

We said goodbye to the quaint little farmhouse and our bunk beds and headed out for our last day of driving in California. The road took us through a few more Redwood Forests before we approached the border of California and Oregon. After an hour or two we realized that there isn’t a whole lot in Oregon beside trees…a lot of trees. The scenery was just as dramatic as any we encountered in California, and the cliffs and points continued for mile after mile

It wasn’t too long of a drive, and after a few picture breaks we had arrived at our town (Winchester Bay, OR). We dumped or stuff and headed out for the day’s adventure: sandboarding! Just north of town is the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. It has the largest sand dunes in North America, and it makes for some interesting outdoor activities. Since we are cheap and didn’t want to spend a bunch of money renting a 4-wheeler, I found an interesting alternative. It is just like snowboarding, except you do it on the sand. You climb up a sand dune, strap into the board barefoot (or with socks, it’s cold in Oregon!!),and glide down….sounds easy, right?

Well anyone who knows me also knows my track record for things that involve coordination, and I wasn’t an expert at this sport by any means. But it was a really good time, and Taylor and I had a good laugh at our lack of dune shredding abilities. We explored some of the dunes, and then went back to our little town to get the sand out of our ears and have dinner. On the way home we found an awesome place to view elk, so we got a few really good pictures of them. They were pretty close to the road, so we kept our distance, snapped a few pics and got back in the car.

When we were hungry and ready to go we went out in search of food – we were a little surprised when we couldn’t find ANY restaurants in our town open at 8pm. We really were out in the middle of nowhere! Eventually we found a pizza place open one town over, so we ordered a pie and then went home. Tomorrow we drive to Portland, and hopefully tour some of the city!

~Kristyn

Day 6: Whales, water and HUGE TREES ;)

Hi guys,

We woke up bright and early (again!) so we could pack up, eat breakfast and be down at the docks by quarter to 9. It was a nice change of pace to have breakfast (baked eggs on a bed of artichoke hearts, toast, and potatoes) served to us in our room! By the time we were done scarfing it down it was time to head out for whale watching. I realized that we really were up north when it started raining. It was cold, wet and windy, but I was completely undeterred and we headed to the harbor. At this time of year the California grey whale is migrating from it’s calving grounds in Baja back up to Alaska to eat and spend the summer.

There are about 26,000 grey whales parading by the coast, and I have been told that you can stand at just about any point on the coast and watch them parade by…let me tell you: I have been watching. They are not parading. I have seen NO whales. Anyway, with a 95% sighting success and Captain Randy at the helm we set out on our little charter boat to search for the somewhat elusive (to me) whales.

It didn’t take us long to spot a few whales, and the first whale we approached ended up breaching right in front of us!! He was clear out of the water before I realized what was happening and I only caught the tail end (no pun intended) of his magnificent swan dive. We found at least 5 or 6 other whales slowly meandering north and followed their movements for another hour or so. They gracefully spouted, took deep breaths and then disappeared under the water for 3-5 minutes at a time, so patience was required. Since this is not one of my strong suits I spent a lot of the time mentally encouraging the whales to re-surface, or jump, or roll over...none of which happened. (And they are also kind of camera shy, so sorry, no good pictures!)

Either way, I got to see a new animal, and we saw plenty of harbor seals trailing behind the boat on the way to and from the ocean. We returned safely to shore, gassed up the little hybrid and pointed it north. I didn’t realize how far north we were until a little while later when we approached the first National Forest with the GIGANTIC coastal redwood trees. Before we could even enter the park we came across a novel roadside attraction: The Drive Thru Tree. This humongous tree had a 6 feet wide by 7 feet tall hole carved right through its still alive and growing trunk.

We couldn’t resist! We paid our $5 along with every other sucker in line and made our way to the tree. It was, just as it promised, a drive through tree! I was skeptical, but the car slid right through it and we got the requisite million pictures of the car, and me in it, going through the tree. $5 well spent – where else can you drive through something living??

We ate lunch next to the tourist trap (mistake) and then got back to driving. There are 4 or 5 parks with trails through the giant redwood groves, and we wanted to see at least two of them before ending the day. One of the parks has what’s called the “Avenue of the Giants” which is a 32-mile scenic road through the Redwood forests that runs parallel to the highway. We wound through mile after mile of GIANT trees.

I really can’t describe this is any sort of way that would truly capture the experience, but I’ll give it a try. First of all, when you’re on the highway it’s sunny and clear and normal, but as soon as you begin to enter the forest it gets completely dark and the monstrous trees block out all traces of the outside weather. Also, the forests are at a high elevation and on the coast, so it gets pretty foggy, and they are well adapted to condense and capture the fog, so it’s basically raining down on you the entire time. In essence it goes from bright and open to dark, wet, and surrounded by trees that are taller than skyscrapers.

These trees can get as tall as of 380 feet (huge... really, really huge), the trunks can be up to 20 feet in diameter and they can live up to 2000 years. It is daunting and astounding trying to just take them in. And the silence is amazing. The rain trickles down through the needles, and falls onto the ferns and litter on the floor of the forest and it just sounds like peace. The Redwoods are just an absolutely fantastic place to visit and you should all go. And take me.

Anyway, we finally got back to (semi-)civilization and found the roadside attraction I had most been looking forward to – Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. They are 50 foot tall statues and just sitting in a parking lot on the side of the road. But the only catch was Babe’s head had fallen off. I was pretty disappointed. We got our pictures anyway and headed to find our hostel. On the way we accidentally stumbled upon some massive Roosevelt Elk grazing by the side of the road. Two new animals in one day! They looked pretty cranky, and I didn’t need to explain to the rental car agency how a crazed elk flipped the car, so we took off.

We did eventually find the hostel which is located in the Redwood National park. This is Taylor’s first official hostel experience (co-ed dorms, bunk beds, community kitchen, etc) so its fun watching him figure this all out. The hostel itself is a farmhouse built in 1908 that sits on a bluff looking over the ocean. We had to get food 40 minutes away just to cook it ourselves in the kitchen (very isolated!), but it was a great meal.

There isn’t a whole lot to do here since there is no internet, no town to go to, and its surrounded by national forest. I have caught up on my blogs, watched the sunset, uploaded all my pictures, made dinner, and it’s only 10pm.

Bed time! Tomorrow we are finally leaving California and entering Oregon.

~Kristyn

Day Five: The Bridge, Many more Hills, and Horses!!

Hello everyone!!
Today we left San Fran by way of the Golden Gate Bridge. I was entirely too enthusiastic to wake up at the crack of dawn and get ready for the day, so by the time we got to the bridge I think Taylor might have been about ready to throw me off ;)

It really is a beautiful structure. They say the designer picked the color to contrast with the hills and the grey clouds and fog that often occlude the bridge from view, and it really is a magnificent sight. As we came around the corner and went over the bridge I tried to snap pictures to give you an idea of what it was like, but you just have to see it!

We got out of the car once we had crossed it and walked halfway back. It is just soooo big!! The two towers stand 750 feet over the water, and when you walk across the spans you can really appreciate their enormity. Once I was finally done frolicing on the bridge and staring at it, we got back into the car and made our way further north. Today’s destination was a little town named Fort Bragg about 178 miles from San Fran – we were staying here just to break up the drive from SF to the Redwoods in the northernmost part of Cali.

The drive was insane – it took us over 5 hours to get here since the road just winds up and down the cliffs. It weaves in and out of lagoons, bays, and fjords that start at sea level and rocket up to bluffs and overlooks that tower over the ocean. The views from each point are amazing and I am really not getting tired of this drive since the scenery is just so spectacular.

We had lunch in a tiny little nowhere town on the side of the road and got back on our way in order to get to our horseback riding appointment!! I took over the driving and we passed a whole lot of nothing. We were both pretty amazed at how deserted it is just a few miles from San Fran – there are really no major cities/towns anywhere near it. Just ocean, the cliffs and a whole lot of trees.

We arrived in our town an were surprised to see a brewery whose beer we were familiar with, so we stopped and had a quick tasting before heading off to the horseback riding.

I got us to our ranch in time, and we got all geared up and ready to ride our horses down to the beach. We were with a big group (about 12 all together) which made it a little difficult (annoying). Either way, we got to ride horses through a state park, through a pine forest, and down the dunes to a black sand beach on the Northern California coast. It was chilly and a bit windy, but our horses led us along the beach for about an hour. It was really peaceful and a gorgeous beach, and even though my derrière was sore and my feet were frozen, I was a little sad we were going home.

I was forced to leave the horsies after feeding them entirely too many carrots, and we went to check in to our B&B. We stayed in the County Inn, which has 8 rooms and is a pretty, quaint place run by an adorable woman. She made a dinner recommendation, so after we quickly brought all our bags to the room we hurried out to dinner in time to catch the sunset at the restaurant. We had dinner on the harbor and got to enjoy some well made American style food (I had chicken and dumplings and Taylor had some fresh locally caught salmon).

Thanks to the driving, the horses, and a nice stick-to-your-ribs sort of dinner, I was tired and when we got back to the B&B I was ready to pass out. But we couldn’t go to bed without using the hot tub (which Taylor found hilarious and hoped to meet some people like the ones in the Will Ferrell SNL sketch!). So we got in the tub for about 10 minutes before the novelty wore off and we were both ready to turn in.

I think I fell asleep around 10pm, but I was glad because whale watching is happening first thing tomorrow!! It was a great day – so much more still to come :D

~Kristyn