I'm Back!

Hello lovelies! I am back from my super-awesome road trip.  Seeing as I got in around 1am last night, and am back at work this morning (sooooo tired) I am going to put off Musical Mondays this week.  Just too exhausted to try and put it together, hope you're not too upset. 

I haven't uploaded pictures yet, so when I get the chance expect lots of them! :) For now, here's a rundown of the trip.

Saturday: Luckily my check came a day early so I was able to cash it and we were on the road before noon.  We made amazing time and made it into Sacramento around 10pm.  We had Jack in the Box (we don't have them here in Utah) and then crashed at the hotel.

Sunday: Got to see our good friend David who moved out there a few months ago, and he took us to breakfast at this awesome English Pub! It was really good, and I got to try a proper English scone and a Crumpet.  When asking the waiter what a Crumpet was, she said "A Pancake and an English Muffin made a baby."  That's exactly what it was.

The breaky with bangers to the right, the left is a proper scone with Devonshire Cream! YUM!

After breakfast we convinced David to make the hour drive into San Francisco with us.  We checked into our hostel, parked the car (and didn't have to deal with it for two days-so nice!), and then we hit the town.  We walked 1.6miles to Japantown where we had lunch and did a little shopping.

Traditional Raman in Japantown.

Then we walked about 2.6 miles to Castro Street and wandered it.  Apparently there was a large gay sex festival going on, and a very nice leather daddy and his submissives stopped to talk to us and take our picture.  (You'll see when I post photos!) We managed to meet up with Josh's friend Mike and his man Marco there, and they mentioned that we should walk to Church Street and take the subway back to the hostel instead of walking all the way back through sketchy neighborhoods.  So we did. 

One of the coolest things about the Hostel was that they offered Free Beer. It was a huge party Hostel, so they came through the halls with a blow horn yelling "Free Beer!" and then everyone who wanted some went to the basement where they had a keg, a poker table, a dance floor, and a beer pong table.  It was really fun to get to socialize that way, and Sunday night we met a girl from Germany and one from Sweden! :)

Monday:  We woke up and made our way to the Fishermans Warf for breakfast.  It was 2.1 miles, and about 75% of it was on the steepest hill I've ever walked up.  I was DYING! But man, did my legs and butt get a good workout!  We had clam chowder on the warf, and had coffee, then walked to Ghiardelli square (about half a mile) and asked the Concierge the best way to take a bus to the Golden Gate Bridge.  We walked to The Marina (almost a mile) and caught the 28 bus up to the golden gate bridge, wandered about, and rode the 28 back.  Then we walked back into town through Fort Mason and caught the 30 bus to Chinatown where we met up with Mike again and had dinner.  We walked the last mile back to the hostel through Chinatown and downtown.   It was nice!

Along the way we found this adorable little Pelican.  He looked like a baby and was separated from his mama, and he kept trying to eat this kids kite.  I felt so bad for him!

That night we went down again for free beer, and this time we made friends with Micha from France, and Guga from Brazil.  Guga taught us a few words in Portuguese.  Thank You = Obrigado, You're Welcome = Ge Nada, F*ck (you have to learn the swears) = Fugas!  He also didn't know the word sticky, so we taught him that! Good old Google Translate on my iPhone helped us tell him it should be like Pegajoso.   It was so much fun! 

Tuesday: We woke up and had breakfast at a local diner, then hit the road to head up towards the Red Woods Forrest in search of some camping.  We made it to the forest at dusk, and all the camping was full.  We were sad we couldn't stay there, but the forest was so beautiful.  Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures in the forest due to trying to hurry to find another campsite.  

Driving towards the redwoods. So gorgeous!

We ended up giving up on camping and made our way into Crecent City CA where we got a cheap motel and crashed for the night.  

Headed out of the redwoods.  Sunset over the ocean.

Wednesday: We got up and grabbed coffee and donuts from a little bakery, and were on our way up the coast.  This time we were determined to make it to a campground early enough.  We found our way up to Cape Blanco on the Oregon Coast where we set up camp.  This was probably my favorite day of the trip.  We camped in a gorgeous forest, and went up to the Cape Blanco Lighthouse (what a neat experience!) and we walked down and spent a few hours hanging out on the beach.  The night was ended with us making hot dogs on the campfire and sitting up talking until we finally crashed.  It was lovely.

The beach at Cape Blanco.  So lovely.

Thursday: Woke up and packed up to head into Portland.  It was a gorgeous drive along the coast (I'm so in love with the OR coast) and we got a cheap hotel in Portland.  I have to say, Portland was not my favorite city on the trip.  We walked down from the hotel to Hobos, where we met up for the Shanghai Tunnel tours.  I LOVED the shanghai tunnels, it was so much fun! :) After that we went to Darcelle XV which was an awesome drag show, and after that we walked to Voodoo Doughnuts-which were pretty good.  

Josh's Voodoo Doughnut, half eaten.

Portland is just such a dingy city, and that night we were not impressed.  There were fun things to do there, but wading through miles of homeless people is one thing (I mean I am a compassionate person)-wading through miles of homeless people who are beyond drunk and begging you for money-and even when you say no wont leave you alone is another.  Josh has been to London in the worst parts and said he never felt as nervous around any of them as Portland made us feel.  

Friday: We got up early and trekked back into downtown Portland to hit up Powell's books.  I love that store, it's HUGE and full of lovely books both new and used.  I wish we had one here.  We then went over to the food carts and got lunch,and sat in a nice little square with a bunch of other people who were eating their lunch.  This part of Portland is the part for me that makes me think maybe I could like parts of the city, it was nice then.  

The square in Portland.

Once we were done eating, we hopped in the car and drove into Seattle.  I have to say, Washington is a gorgeous state, so there was a lot to see as we drove along.  We made it into Seattle, checked into our Hostel there-it had a lot higher security than the other, and the walls were all painted beautifully.  It also had a hot tub downstairs, which was nice.  The car was the hardest part in Seattle.  Having no place to cheaply park it for 24 hour periods, we parked it on the street during the free parking time, then in a paid parking lot during the day, and then back to the street at night.  So we had to keep moving it.

That night we walked down to the street and got Turkish Food for dinner (amazing!) and had a look about.  Then we went out and looked for something to do on the town that night, but everything was much too expensive.

Saturday: We got up early and had breakfast (free at the Hostel!) then walked down to the Aquarium (1 mile) where we saw lots of really neat things!

This little HUGE guy was fascinated with Josh.  And he only had 1 eyeball!

After the Aquarium we went to the Pirate store and had a look around, and then another 1.5 miles up to Pike Place Market where we met Beth! I'm really sad-because we got so caught up with eating yummy food, and walking and talking that I forgot to get a picture of or with her! Bummer!  Then after the market she was sweet enough to drive us to the EMP where we went in and looked at the Sci Fi Museum and the Music museum.  It was pretty cool. 

After that we walked back to the Hostel and rested a bit, and then went to the Seattle Underground tour.  That was another 2 miles of walking there, and 1.5 miles back to the Hostel.  That night was kind of a bust, we had some personal stuff that kept us from going out and dancing like we wanted, but oh well.  Maybe next time.

Sunday was spent driving back home, it took us about 14 hours straight to get back home.  It was a good drive, we talked, and laughed and had an all around good time.   I was so glad my friends came with me, I love them to pieces. 

Pictures coming soon, I promise! :)