portland and wyoming

It is kind of hard to talk about Portland besides saying it is the kind of place for us. Amazing coffee, some seriously good food, the largest book store in the country, homey feeling and no one really bothers you.

We went to a place called Voodoo Donuts. It seems to have a cult following that I have heard about through friends and seen on multiple TV shows. We stayed just a few blocks east of the bridge so when we found our selves on the other side, I was curious of an extremely large line. Walking around the building, following the line of people we found it was Voodoo Donuts but due to the large line, we decided to pass it up for the time being. After checking out some record shops, multiple coffee shops and a book store, we headed back towards the bridge to walk home. The line for the donut place grew and we decided to give up. After arriving back at the hotel room, we looked up some things to do on the computer and found out that their are multiple locations (one being right near where we were). We immediately walked over and luckily the line looked like it was still contained in the actual store but the surrounding of the building looking quite lonely compared to the west side, downtown location. Waiting 20 minutes in line while worrying about if they took cards and what donuts we could not miss, we arrived to the cashier. She accepted our credit card and we ordered the "voodoo dozen." And no it wasn't a dozen... it was 13. This worked out because we could not choose what we ordered but instead the lady decided what to included. Even the simple donuts were amazing but the captain crunch donut, the arnold palmer (sprinkled with iced tea mix) and the triple chocolate (chocolate donut, icing and coco puffs) were out of this world.

the next morning we, sadly, had to leave our new, wannabe home and headed out to Jackson, WY to stay with my old roommate Amanda. The drive wasn't to bad but we did have oregon-withdraw-sickness. We arrived and within minutes of calling Amanda she had planned to go kayaking with some of her friends. I forget the girls name but she worked at the boating company so we didn't have to pay a thing. She was super nice to us the entire time and we are extremely grateful to her. We were skeptical of boating considering neither of us were necessarily confident in water sports (since we haven't been exposed to a ton of it). We quickly realized it was not the time to question trying something new since we are on a 8 week wondering of the country trip. When it came down to it, we had a blast. It was amazing. We saw a golden eagle with what must of been a 5 foot wing span fly along the water in front of us. We twisted and turned in the natural current (that by the way was a really easy going river) and just had a great time.

the next day we eat thai food. We were surrounded by people who had lived in Thailand on study abroad and they all swore we had to eat their. They say that that is the closest thing they have ever had to the real thing (and that included NY). we arrived to a pretty expensive menu (which i dont believe is very authentically thai) but just ordered soups and appetizers. They were fantastic though. The flavors were simple but complex. My broth was quite spicy but found the sour of the lime and the natural sweetness of some of the veggies evened out the heat. The shrimp was cooked in the broth and blah blah blah I just decided that I dont have to get too in depth with my description. It was fantastic.

we drove through nebraska which is now voted, in my book, as the most boring state in the country. I probably see more people in red bank while walking down the street than our entire 9 hours of driving.

Now we are in Omaha NE and it really isn't much of a visiting city. We walked around one section of the city that we were told would be a good place to walk around but it was only 3 block long! the rest of the city doesn't really have store fronts. We did sit in a nice park for a while and are now retired to bed in hopes we can wake up at 5am to get early continental breakfast and hit the road to ohio. Home is, by the way, only 2 night away. We are happy and sad and relived and scared out of our wits to take up a real life and get a job. Hopefully the photographs I took will be worth the while and if not, it was a better experience than I could of hoped for, so really, screw the photos if I have too. The trip was about the experience!

designated adventure hat

be the tree

i was pretty happy to leave san francisco. we drive up to the northern coast where we set up camp. we go on many walks and many drives and we cook vegetables over an open flame. we saw no bears and i am very thankful for that.

Since we were camping right near the coast, every day this fog would roll in and cover the tops of the trees and mountains, which was very beautiful but cold. One of my favorite walks we did was a short loop through the old growth redwoods. I know this seems obvious, but they were so big, its kind of indescribable. Also it wasn't foggy there, but the trees blocked out most of the light and there seemed to be a golden glow throughout the forest. I don't really know what else I can say so I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

We left very early this morning and headed toward portland, oregon. I don't know what it is about oregon, but it just feels so good to be here. Its warmer, for one thing, like summer weather again. And it reminds me a lot of new jersey but a lot prettier and more spacious. AND they have full-service gas stations. Yeah, oregon is pretty great so far.

i will post more about portland when we explore a bit more.

roadside attractions and San Francisco

So I last left you after we finished driving California's Highway 1 and Big Sur in passing. We stayed in a nondescript hotel but indulged in a fantastic meal. It was a sushi restaurant called "Oh! Sushi" and it was easily the best rolls I have ever had. Allie got a roll that was pink for whatever reason (that I couldn't figure out) stuffed with veggie tempura that was accompanied with a sauce similar to an eel roll but with the texture of molasses. I have a spicy scallop, avocado and eel avocado. Really, really amazing.

ANYWAY

we drive up to Santa Cruz to witness the amazing, world famous Mystery Spot. It is hard to explain what it is. I'll give you a quick "history of the mystery." After researching it, the place seemed to be easily explained. It is a cabin and surrounding red woods area that apparently has some kind of warped magnetic field. We were told a man bought the house from a lumber company. He built the cabin up on a hill and the magnetic force pulled the building into the very center of the "mystery spot." We walked through that VERY cabin. Walking in has a couple side effects. First, you shrink 2 in.. Second, you get all dizzy and last of all your equilibrium is out of whack. as we walked up a steep hill the tour guide explained walking up the hill was hard because of this weird magnetic field. I think it was hard because it was really steep. I'm obviously skeptical at this point. We approach a broken down, unleveled house. This is the hard part to explain, walking through the building was wild. I'm sorry, there is no way to explain the experience. It was obviously a hoax but something put everyone at a 17 degree incline despite the floor being flat. It was so strong, you could walk up a vertical wall. Pretty wild. Without pictures this description is pointless so lets just say it was a ton of fun.

the next day we went somewhere called the Winchester Mansion. A woman a century ago inherited all the Winchester trust fund (the gun company). She went crazy thinking the ghosts of everyone who had died from the winchester rifle were haunting her. She went to a some sort of whacko that told her she wouldn't have any problems if she kept her house in constant construction. The weird thing was the construction plans were given to her by the ghosts. She had doorways that would drop to the ground 20 ft below or a cabinet that doesn't have any holding space. Totally weird.

We hide out in Fremont, Ca for two nights. We needed a break and the hotel was only $45 a night. We watched tv and ate indian food for two days. It was a waste but a well deserved waste. Driving this much can ware on you.

but we are back from our little sleepy time and in San Francisco. We went to the San Francisco MOMA first thing and it was pretty great. They had everything we learned about in collage but never had the ability to see. They had an impressive collection. Now today we went to Fisherman's wharf which is the touristy area. Road a cable car (trolley) went through china town, walked around the shopping areas of Union Square to get warm cloths (By the way, it is amazingly cold here!). Went to a FANTASTIC dum sum place and now we are planning our trip to portland in a couple days!

heading to camp in the northern red woods tomorrow so that is why I'm posting! we will not be able to until we get to Portland on the 30.

We are safe, having fun and far from home!

we met a lot of really cool people today