Oh yeah, we forgot to tell you about when a bird shat on Paul's nose

Location: San Jose
Mileage: 6700
Number of times that the statement "I swear I'll write a post tomorrow" was uttered since last post: 34

Dear blog readers,

1. We are sorry.
2. We've been busy.
3. We haven't had access to the internet.
4. We were abducted by aliens who have been performing tests on us for about 11 days and finally released us back to earth after putting false memories in our heads to account for the past week and a half that we will now write about as if true.
5. Get your own life!
Directions: Feel free to choose any of the above as the statement we would use to address the fact that we have not posted in a long time. Go on, choose whichever you like best and go with it.

And so here we go. Tuesday morning (that is, September 26) had Paul and me still making last minute decisions. We had done some exploring of the city already -- did we have the time and inclination to drive all the way to Mt. Rainer and back in a day or did we want to do more (and more thorough) exploration of Seattle? *note: if we ever really got on top of things, we could start writing this blog as a "choose your own adventure" sort of reality story. We could put our options up online and let you choose what we do! What do you think?!? Okay, well, no. Perhaps not.* Anyhow, we opted for the latter option simply because there was not enough time to really appreciate the mountain if we were going to be back in time to pick up our 4th travel companion. So, Paul and I set off for a walking-intensive day, starting with the University District, where the pinnacle of the city's beauty lay: Mt. Rainer framed by trees behind a beautiful fountain, coming down the steps of the neo-Gothic architecture of the academic buildings. I tell you, that campus sure was lovely and has a knock-out library. U of Washington certainly has its appeals...

swoon worthy, eh?

From there we headed across the bridge to Volunteer Park, home of the Seattle Asian Art Museum. The SAM (the Seattle Art Museum) is presently closed for renovations and so that was our only art opportunity for the city -- which was certainly not disheartening to me, as I love Asian art. What was disheartening, however, was that the museum closed at 5 PM and we arrived at 4:52 PM. We made the best of the situation, though, by viewing the surrounding area and then bustling home. It was probably best that we did so as we were, as mentioned before, picking up a fourth passenger that evening. Senor Peter Baxter had decided that between traveling Australia and moving to Cortez, CO that he had time to spend a week and a half in the northwest US with Paul and me before settling down to a job. We were pleased and excited to have him join us and I set off the for the Seattle airport with a set of directions and plenty of time to pick him up. Twenty minutes later, however, I still had not found the entrance to I-5. A frantic phone call to Paul, who had no map in front of him to elucidate the route we figured out earlier, got passed off to Whitney, our global freeloader Seattleite hostess (remember her?) who helped me to find it as well as helped me to feel less stupid for having been unable to do so on my own: "Oh, from Verena? Yeah, you have to turn at that intersection, but not into the intersection itself but across it and into a soft curve on the side. And then once you do that, the sign for 5 is hidden behind some shrubbery so you'll have to just turn right." Anyhow, I was a little late picking up Peter, but he was kind about it and we made our way back to Jerry and Whitney's with little problem. We stopped in for greetings and introductions between Peter and our hosts and then our trio headed back out for pizza (Chubby Buddy stayed at the house -- he's had enough to eat.) We did a bit of catching up, hearing about each others' trips, and then headed home, full and happy.
The next morning we went back into downtown Seattle to show Peter Pioneer Square and Pike Market before heading up to Downtown downtown where we caught Doubletake: from Monet to Lichtenstein, an exhibit at the EMP (Experience Music Project.) This small but interesting presentation paired unexpected pieces of art next to each other and "compared and contrasted." The audio speaker had a very pleasant delivery, made intriguing comments, and pronounced the word "fantastic" with more emotion than anyone else I've ever heard. From there we grabbed a quick Greek lunch across the street from the Space Needle (which we did not pay to go up in but admired from outside) and then took a quick but fun tour of KEXP, an independent music radio station that Paul has spent his college career broadcasting via internet. He even has a bumper sticker on his car of the station (which came in handy when we first got into the city and were trying to remember what station to tune into.)

impressive, yes, but not worth $15 to go up

We moseyed back to Jerry and Whitney's house to pack up our stuff (after a stop back at Pike Market to pick up some materials for dinner, some flowers for our wonderful hosts, and to check out a Monk fish) and then bid farewell to Jerry before heading to a different part of the city for a dinner party and a sleepover (well, for us 3, anyhow) at Nicole's house, a friend of Peter. The car ride over proved unhappily eventful with the discovery of an antifreeze leak into the car. We started making back-up plans even during the dinner party. Even if tainted with worries about the car, it was a fun evening and we got to meet several of Peter's friends. The next morning brought news/realizations that our plans to depart Seattle were necessarily on hold. We made an appointment with a garage for the next morning (Friday) and called Jerry to ask, as nicely as we possibly could, if they would be so kind as to let us come back for two nights. The graciously and kindly welcomed us back (they were/are our angels of the West Coast, no doubt about it) so we again made the best of a bad situation and went out for more exploration. We spent most of Thursday at the Seattle Asian Art Museum (since we missed it the first time around) and really enjoyed that. The museum had a good mix of art and a lot of information. My favorite parts were the "Nocturnal Vision" exhibit (especially Morris Graves' art), the immense collection of Buddhist art, and a wordless film about the struggles of women through tree imagery.
We spent some time wandering around other parts of Volunteer Park -- up in the 540 degree (don't ask; I don't get it either) viewing tower -- and then headed over to the Arboretum. We had nice walk and then a rest by the water, where Peter and I played frisbee while Paul had a long phone chat. We enjoyed the day but, I think, we were all anxious about the following morning's car appointment where we were going to discover just what needed to be done. We got the car in Friday morning by 8, as expected, and then spent pretty much the entire day sitting in cafes and restaurants while waiting to hear back. The problem, which I won't even pretend to understand completely (or even mostly), seemed to be with the heating core. In order to fix this problem, which was causing anti-freeze to leak onto the floor of the front passenger seat, it would take about 8 hours of labor and cost about $1200. There was another option, though, which was to bypass it -- this would be less than an hour of labor and about $80. The decision was clear if the both options were presented, but we still had to wait to hear whether bypassing the problem was, in fact, an actual possibility. We read our books and drank our coffee and discussed philosophy (no, seriously) until we heard back from the garage -- the bypass could be performed! This was good for our schedule and our wallets. A few hours later, we were able to pick up the car, oil change and bypass completed. So now there was no anti-freeze leak! Granted, there is also now no heat. But eh! We'll just buy more fleece. We picked up some groceries and headed home to make a fajita dinner for ourselves and our hosts -- we figured we at least owed them one more good meal for letting us return to encroach on their space. Dinner and conversation were good and fun but we were mostly excited about leaving Seattle and getting back on the road the following morning.
Whitney and Jerry sent us off with bellies full of a delicious huckleberry pancake breakfast and we headed south out of the city until Olympia. We had driven long enough and digested enough of those pancakes to pause in the state's cute capitol for lunch and so we bought baguette sandwiches and took them down to the docks to eat and stretch before clambering back into the car and heading north up the peninsula. We made it to the Hoh Rainforest, in Olympic National Park, just in time to set up camp and get a fire going. I think that night also finally provided Peter with the knowledge that he was traveling with two... special people. He strummed on the guitar while Paul and I made up and belted out some "Olympic Rainforest Park blues" verses. He finally stopped playing and responded to our pleading and questions of why he stopped with a humorous but firm, "Sure, it was fun for you all, but I had to listen to it!!" It was a great evening with a nice fire, a delicious meal (Indian simmer sauce and fresh veggies,) and a nice bottle of Shiraz. No complaints to be had. Except of our singing, I guess.
We awoke the next morning, tore down camp pretty quickly, and embarked on a sweet little hike through the rainforest. It truly was magical and I don't think that any of us would have been surprised to see fairies fly by or elves scamper around. We rested by a beautiful river for stone skipping and daydreaming before heading back to the car.

rainforest verdure

waterfall and magic

Paul and me disrupting the calm of the rainforest with our feuding ways that only now are being caught in pictoral evidence, with the presence of a third party to hold the camera

lovely

Peter skipping stones. No joke, I saw some skip a dozen times.

Back to Speedy for a beautiful drive down the coast on 101, a road that you simply must drive along should you ever be out on the west coast. We headed all the way down to Portland, arriving relatively late at Jake's house (another friend of Peter's) for a dinner of takeout Lebanese that was good and filling. We proceeded to sit around, getting to know Jake's girlfriend, Leah, and his housemates that evening. Everyone was really outgoing and interesting and made us feel right at home. One of his housemates, Sabrina, was a left-wing crusader who gave Paul a high five for being a teamster at UPS. We were too ashamed to admit to her, amidst her rants about people driving their gas-guzzling SUVs, that we were road tripping in a Chevy Blazer. We set up camp that evening on their fouton and sleeping pads in their spacious living room and enjoyed a good night's sleep. That next morning we met up with Jake on his time off (he works with children before and after the school day so we hade a nice chunk of time in between to do some exploring with him.) We drove to Forrest Park for a nice walk around the trees and appreciating high-up city views. We went to the downtown area for lunch where they have a row of lunch stands which are all extremely cheap and very good. I had a delicious $4.50 Indian meal of which I couldn't even finish half!! From there, we walked past Powell's, Portland's huge and famous bookstore. We popped our heads in but didn't have much time before having to head back so Jake could get to work on time. It was tough to leave, though, and we decided to return to the bookstore after getting Jake home. Well, that we did and spent about 2 1/2 hours browsing, selecting, skimming, and essentially drooling over so so many books. We left finally, poorer but happier. I even secured a used copy of a Charles Lindbergh biography that I've been interested in since St. Louis, for all you faithful readers who may recall our intrigue.
One other noteworthy thing of that afternoon is that of a very sad case. I wracked my brain for the best way to write this on the blog as hearing news such as this is hard any time, but, I think, it is even more so in written word. Sometimes it's better to hear bad news face to face. But, alas, I am on the other side of the country and can not do that. Nor do I really have the capability to make phone calls to all of you. I suppose this forum will have to do for this news. But, please, brace yourselves. I don't want to be responsible for any harm that comes to you after reading this. Are you sitting down?





Chubby Buddy died.

We wept a little. Our foursome is no more. We are down to three. He will be missed.


We returned to Jake's and met up with Leah for a tour of Reed. Man, that school looks so cool -- it's very small and so students seem to really be able to do things the way they want them done. The UC, for example, is completely student-run, so it was a hip attic-like environment. We also checked out the library and the rooms where all the student theses are filed. Everyone at Reed must write a thesis as part of the undergrad degree requirements and so there were thousands of titles to read over and pieces to skim through. From there, we five went to dinner at a very tasty sushi place before returning to Jake's house, where his housemates were all engrossed in a viewing of Sundown: Retreat of the Vampire, which we happily jumped into. It was so so bad that it was exquisite. Friends, I highly recommend this movie. Especially for Megan.
The next morning, after Jake's first leg of work, we drove up to a higher point (some mountain/park whose name I can't remember, sorry) to get some views of the city before heading back down to town to get some veggies and freshly baked kalmata olive bread for us to take on the road, as well as a take out lunch which we took up to the Portland Children's museum, where Leah works, to meet up for lunch. This area also houses the Japanese Gardens and the Rose Garden, among others; we took a stroll through the rose garden, internationally acclaimed for its test hybrids, smelling and viewing the beautiful roses. We had to hit the road, though, so we wrapped up, took Jake home, and bid farewell to Portland.

Peter and Jake

They smelled so good I wanted to eat them

taken by Paulia O'Keefe

From Portland, we headed into Willamette Valley, one of Oregon's finest wine producing regions, to sample some goodies. Our first stop was Cooper Mountain Vineyards, an organic and biodynamic vineyard, which we sold in the store where I worked this summer. The wine was quite good and it was fun to discuss the process of transitioning to organic as well as the levels of demarcation for 'organic' from different sets of standards with the tasting room employees. I skipped right to the reds for my tasting so I don't know how their whites were, but the reds were enjoyable and we left with a bottle of their Old Vines Pinot Noir and two bottles of Faces, their table blend. We stopped at another winery a ways down 10 W, with which we were not terribly impressed. We then had to move on (partly because the tasting rooms were closing and partly because we had a lot of driving ahead of us.)

veni, vedi, veci vino

Back to 101 for more scenic driving as we headed south. We spent that evening in a little campground right on the beach. Up the next morning, we packed up for another long day of driving down the coast. It was a long -- mostly without stops -- drive, but it was so gorgeous that we didn't mind. We hit the redwoods of southern Oregon later that day and stopped for the night to camp in the Jedediah Smith Redwoods Park, where we met the friendliest park ranger who gave us all sorts of tips and advice on where to go and what to see all down the coast. We walked a little trail around some redwoods the next morning and were just blown away. You hear about how big the trees are or you see pictures of them, but there's really no comprehending it until you actually see them in person. It's almost as if you can blink and when you open your eyes, you see that it's not the trees that are so big but instead that you have shrunk.

more of our ninja fighting

Um, Peter?

We hopped back into the car and continued our drive south, driving through more spectacular arborous roads, as we weaved through the Avenue of the Giant roads. We stopped that day for lunch in Garbersville, CA's pot-head haven. It is apparently where the bulk of all of CA's marijuana farming is done. The town during our time there didn't seem very different, except for the strong sweet and bitter smell exuding from the restaurant bathroom and the flocks of teenagers singing Bob Dylan on the street corners.
Onward and Southward! We camped that evening on Mendocino Lake, which was very lovely; Peter and I even took advantage of the lake and went for a swim before the sun got too low. We all enjoyed a stroll around the lake as the moon came up to take pictures and collect more firewood before retiring to our site for a hearty meal and several ghost stories.

just one of many scenic viewpoints along 101

clouds above the lake

clouds above the lake, take 2

Paul jumping in front of the camera as I try to capture the moon

Up the next morning, we planned out a few wine stops, as we were driving right through Sonoma Valley. Our first stop, Geyser's Peak, was lovely and our wine pourer was fun (and poured us far more samples that we were supposed to get) and the wine was very good. The tawny port, however, was just great and we left with a bottle of their (numerous times) award-winning Sauvignon Blanc and a bottle of the port. On to Clos du Bois, where we were planning to go anyway but were even more inclined after being presented a coupon from our fun pourer at Geyer's Pea. Great wine, but there was a busy bustling feel which made our tasting take some time and answers to our questions take even longer. I liked their Chardonnay, though, which is a big deal for me as enjoying a CA Chardonnay is an unusual occurrence for me. Actually, I liked most of their wines but the Cab Sauv was the best. Their wine was a bit out of our price range, so we continued on with empty hands but tingling taste buds over to Dry Creek Vineyards. Again, a beautiful setting and a fun pourer but affordable wines added into the mix equals three happy wine tasters. All of the wines were pleasant but their Merlot was really good (yeah, yeah, you Sideways fans, go on and laugh all you want) so we got a bottle of that before pushing on in search of lunch. Yes, that's right, all of those tastings took place before lunch. We're giant lushes, what can I say? We found a quick meal in a nearby town and got back on the road to Berkeley, where we met up with another Peter, a friend of our traveling Peter. He gave us a tour of the campus, including the famous protest sites and the Greek Theatre. We grabbed a quick dinner (good and cheap Thai) on Telegraph St. before driving down to San Jose, where we were staying the night with Marion and Herb, the aunt and uncle of Peter (the traveling one, not the Berkeley PhD candidate.) They are a fun and lively duo! They welcomed us warmly and stayed up late chatting with us about everything from politics to travel. We enjoyed hearing about when they were young and took a trip like ours in a VW bus. Classic. Paul and I are lucky to have met such kind people, though, as we discovered that night (last night) that our two plans for places to stay in Berkeley both fell through. Marion and Herb assured us that we could stay with them while we figure out where/what to go/do next. This morning we were all up early for breakfast because Peter's flight to CO was today. We drove him to the airport, perplexed that it had already been a week and a half since he had joined us -- where has the time gone? (Aliens?!?) One thing that we are discovering about this trip is that as exciting as it is to constantly go to new places and meet new people is that it means that we are also constantly saying goodbye; those goodbyes are often sad and hard and this one was certainly not any less so.
That brings us up to date, ladies and gentlemen. I write this in Herb and Marion's living room as our laundry whirs away and we re-think our next steps. We -- again -- apologize for the monstrosity of this post as well as the long time in between entries. But hopefully the length of this post can counteract the amount of time between posts by satiating your desires to know what's going on in the world of Paul, Alina, and Speedy.
Until next time,
cheers,
Alina