Sunday, August 7, 2011
Day 30
Day thirty, August 7, 2011
It was so nice to finally sleep in a nice clean place with beds that we almost slept right through checkout! Rob woke up at 10:45 and checkout was 11. We quickly threw everything into the car and hit the road.
The only stop we made before getting onto the interstate that would take us all the way to Minneapolis was Starbucks. While waiting in line at Starbucks I noticed that they sold the NY Times! I thought about getting so that we could catch up on things going on at home but when I took a closer look they were charging $6 for this newspaper! So I passed on that.
Our next stop was several hours later right outside of Minnesota at the Country Kitchen. This would be our last memory of North Dakota, and what a memory it was! We sat down and were quickly greeted by our very enthusiastic waiter. He seemed to be having an exceptional good day and loved his job. At first Rob thought that he may have been being over nice because he was trying to impress me, however, I ended up just being the decoy. He was really more interested in Rob!!!! He frequently came over to our table to ensure that we were doing well. After bringing us our meal, he excitedly approached the table again with a huge grin on his face! He said, "I have a question for you guys! Do you guys like ice cream?" We both shook our heads. "What about chocolate and caramel?" Rob replied, "Caramel, yes but not really chocolate." He smiled and said , "Ok great! Well save room because I'm going to make you guys a really special dessert!" We had no idea what to expect! Was he serious? Did he want to eat it with us? Were we going to be charged? We had no idea! As we were still eating he came over to us again with a piece of paper. "Here is a list of toppings, so check off the ones you like!" A few minutes later he cleared the table and took the checklist from Rob with a huge grin on his face! A few minutes later he returned with a huge ice cream sundae and placed it in the middle of our table. "So here it is! I only charged you for two scoops of ice cream, that's only 60 cents! Enjoy!!!" He did not wait very long to come back and check on us. He asked how we liked it. Rob replied by saying, it's very good, thank you. The waiter jumped up and down, clapped his hands, and yelled out a great big, "YEAHHH!!!" LoLzz. We paid the bill, and quickly escaped before Elton was able to ask Rob for his digits!
During the trip to Minneapolis Rob began asking me about the hotel we were staying in tonight, I didn't know much about it so of course I googled it! This is what I found:
1. Darren0731 review
“Book somewhere else!!!!! BED BUGS!!!!!”
Reviewed July 29, 2011
Unfortunately anything the very good staff at this hotel do for you is overshadowed by the complete lack of cleanliness in this hotel. I was bitten many times on my first night here, and found nasty crawlies under the duvet. Stay somewhere else unless you like sharing your bed with something other than your other half!!!!
Also make sure you are near the routers for the internet as it is very SLOW...
2. Rustywisconsin1 review
“Disgusting”
Reviewed June 20, 2011
This hotel was terrible!! When we arrived there, there was dried up food smeared on the floor. We were in a smoking room,but the sheets and blankets had cigarette burns all over them. The walls looked like there were boogers all over it. Possible previous fight in the room because the bathroom door had a cracked hole in it. I felt so dirty it was so gross. I brought my own blankets and sleeping bag, Thank God!! I had to wrap their pillows in bath towels couldn't tell if the pillow cases were used or not. Even the bath towels were gross. They were not white and had stains all over! Never will I stay there again.
3. CopperCar...Antioch, Illinois
“Disgusting and Dirty - and possibly BEDBUGS”
We traveled with my mother-in-law to Burnsville for the funeral of her brother, a sad occasion for all. We stayed at the Travelodge the first night after a 7-hour drive, but checked out the next morning due to the disgustingly dirty room. It smelled musty. Sleeping on plywood would be an improvement over those beds as they were so hard and uncomfortable. Half of the lights didn't work in our room. One of the bedspreads was filthy and looked as if coffee had been spilled on it - that was thrown off the bed and on the floor before we touched it.
Another couple checking out at same time in the morning had the wife complaining of red bumps all over and itching like crazy, most likely from BEDBUGS. As a precaution, clothing and bags were washed immediately when we got home. However, my mother-in-law had apparently been bitten on her back as well. She hoping that she didn't bring any of the critters home with her.
Will NEVER stay there again, or recommend to anyone. A lot of work to be done - bedbug extermination, electrical work, thorough cleaning, new mattresses would be a start. And perhaps some management and cleaning crew that cared.
I couldn't take any more! I quickly turned off my phone and felt sick to my stomach!! What did we get ourselves into? Plus we would be staying here for TWO nights!!!
We pulled into the parking and so far so good. It didn't look that bad. I checked in and the front desk attendant informed me our room was in the other building. I returned back to the car and pointed at the building adjacent to the front desk and told Rob that was where our room was. We pulled into the other parking lot and noticed the building was a bit run down and the parking lot was empty. At this point we were very concerned, thinking we would have to bring everything in from the car over night. Luckily Rob noticed another building behind the main building and we realized this was an abandoned hotel and we would not be staying there. We returned to the other parking lot and found our correct room and building. We reluctantly opened the door and were quite surprised when we looked in. It was one of the nicer places we have stayed at since Steph and her embassy suites left us. The room was very clean with what looks like a newly finished bathroom. We will be able to sleep peacefully tonight, hopefully. Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.
It was so nice to finally sleep in a nice clean place with beds that we almost slept right through checkout! Rob woke up at 10:45 and checkout was 11. We quickly threw everything into the car and hit the road.
The only stop we made before getting onto the interstate that would take us all the way to Minneapolis was Starbucks. While waiting in line at Starbucks I noticed that they sold the NY Times! I thought about getting so that we could catch up on things going on at home but when I took a closer look they were charging $6 for this newspaper! So I passed on that.
Our next stop was several hours later right outside of Minnesota at the Country Kitchen. This would be our last memory of North Dakota, and what a memory it was! We sat down and were quickly greeted by our very enthusiastic waiter. He seemed to be having an exceptional good day and loved his job. At first Rob thought that he may have been being over nice because he was trying to impress me, however, I ended up just being the decoy. He was really more interested in Rob!!!! He frequently came over to our table to ensure that we were doing well. After bringing us our meal, he excitedly approached the table again with a huge grin on his face! He said, "I have a question for you guys! Do you guys like ice cream?" We both shook our heads. "What about chocolate and caramel?" Rob replied, "Caramel, yes but not really chocolate." He smiled and said , "Ok great! Well save room because I'm going to make you guys a really special dessert!" We had no idea what to expect! Was he serious? Did he want to eat it with us? Were we going to be charged? We had no idea! As we were still eating he came over to us again with a piece of paper. "Here is a list of toppings, so check off the ones you like!" A few minutes later he cleared the table and took the checklist from Rob with a huge grin on his face! A few minutes later he returned with a huge ice cream sundae and placed it in the middle of our table. "So here it is! I only charged you for two scoops of ice cream, that's only 60 cents! Enjoy!!!" He did not wait very long to come back and check on us. He asked how we liked it. Rob replied by saying, it's very good, thank you. The waiter jumped up and down, clapped his hands, and yelled out a great big, "YEAHHH!!!" LoLzz. We paid the bill, and quickly escaped before Elton was able to ask Rob for his digits!
During the trip to Minneapolis Rob began asking me about the hotel we were staying in tonight, I didn't know much about it so of course I googled it! This is what I found:
1. Darren0731 review
“Book somewhere else!!!!! BED BUGS!!!!!”
Reviewed July 29, 2011
Unfortunately anything the very good staff at this hotel do for you is overshadowed by the complete lack of cleanliness in this hotel. I was bitten many times on my first night here, and found nasty crawlies under the duvet. Stay somewhere else unless you like sharing your bed with something other than your other half!!!!
Also make sure you are near the routers for the internet as it is very SLOW...
2. Rustywisconsin1 review
“Disgusting”
Reviewed June 20, 2011
This hotel was terrible!! When we arrived there, there was dried up food smeared on the floor. We were in a smoking room,but the sheets and blankets had cigarette burns all over them. The walls looked like there were boogers all over it. Possible previous fight in the room because the bathroom door had a cracked hole in it. I felt so dirty it was so gross. I brought my own blankets and sleeping bag, Thank God!! I had to wrap their pillows in bath towels couldn't tell if the pillow cases were used or not. Even the bath towels were gross. They were not white and had stains all over! Never will I stay there again.
3. CopperCar...Antioch, Illinois
“Disgusting and Dirty - and possibly BEDBUGS”
We traveled with my mother-in-law to Burnsville for the funeral of her brother, a sad occasion for all. We stayed at the Travelodge the first night after a 7-hour drive, but checked out the next morning due to the disgustingly dirty room. It smelled musty. Sleeping on plywood would be an improvement over those beds as they were so hard and uncomfortable. Half of the lights didn't work in our room. One of the bedspreads was filthy and looked as if coffee had been spilled on it - that was thrown off the bed and on the floor before we touched it.
Another couple checking out at same time in the morning had the wife complaining of red bumps all over and itching like crazy, most likely from BEDBUGS. As a precaution, clothing and bags were washed immediately when we got home. However, my mother-in-law had apparently been bitten on her back as well. She hoping that she didn't bring any of the critters home with her.
Will NEVER stay there again, or recommend to anyone. A lot of work to be done - bedbug extermination, electrical work, thorough cleaning, new mattresses would be a start. And perhaps some management and cleaning crew that cared.
I couldn't take any more! I quickly turned off my phone and felt sick to my stomach!! What did we get ourselves into? Plus we would be staying here for TWO nights!!!
We pulled into the parking and so far so good. It didn't look that bad. I checked in and the front desk attendant informed me our room was in the other building. I returned back to the car and pointed at the building adjacent to the front desk and told Rob that was where our room was. We pulled into the other parking lot and noticed the building was a bit run down and the parking lot was empty. At this point we were very concerned, thinking we would have to bring everything in from the car over night. Luckily Rob noticed another building behind the main building and we realized this was an abandoned hotel and we would not be staying there. We returned to the other parking lot and found our correct room and building. We reluctantly opened the door and were quite surprised when we looked in. It was one of the nicer places we have stayed at since Steph and her embassy suites left us. The room was very clean with what looks like a newly finished bathroom. We will be able to sleep peacefully tonight, hopefully. Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.
Day 29
Day twenty-nine, August 6, 2011
When we checked into Chief Motel last night, we were offered two breakfast vouchers for the Wrangler Family Cafe next door. These vouchers cost $1.50 each and included eggs; pancakes or toast; hashbrowns; bacon, sausage, or ham. Of course we added these to our tab! When we walked in all eyes were on us. We definitely just walked into a towny restaurant and clearly we did not fit! I guess it was obvious that we were not from around here. We sat down and thats when I thought I spotted a celeb! Whenever I go out to eat I usually strategically place myself in a seat where I have a good view of the rest of the restaurant so that I can people watch. This morning I don't know what I was thinking, maybe since I hadn't had any coffee yet I wasn't fully awake, but I managed to sit on the far side of the booth, meaning my back was to the whole restaurant. Of course I still took a scan of the room and this is when I spotted something strange. This person was almost directly behind me so it was hard to look without being caught. I had to clue Rob in, even though he isn't much into people watching or "over hearing" conversation. I told him to check out the person sitting in the last booth across the way. His jaw immediately dropped and he asked "what is that?" I explained that I was trying to figure that out also "man or woman?" We were baffled, and that is when compare him to Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire. This person was clearly a man, a pretty decent size one! Maybe 6 foot 4, 240 pounds? Not over weight, just a solid, big boned man. Yeah I know, pretty big right? Anyway this man was wearing a gray haired wig, pulled back in a bun. He had on a blouse, skirt, tights and heels. His finger nails were painted and he had a purse in hand, the only thing he did not have down was the walk. He still very much walked like a man. About 15 minutes after I pointed out Mrs. Doubtfire to Rob he looked at me and said, "why did you point that out to me??? I can't stop staring now!!" We tried so hard to get a picture but people were sitting at the tables in between us and the cross dresser. Rob got really excited when he realized a couple of tables were paying and getting ready to leave, he told me to get the camera ready, he thought he would be able to inconspicuously take a picture. These families took too long though, a couple moments later he said that Mrs. Doubtfire just asked for his/her check too! (I'm so proud of how his people watching skills have improved!). I told him that this was ok because I had a perfect view of the cash register and that when it got up to pay I would snap away. I told him he had to keep a really close eye on him/her because I had to get my phone ready to take a picture. Next thing I know Mrs. Doubtfire is walking right past our table!!! Rob got so into his pancakes, that he took his eyes off the prize!!! Thankfully I was able to work my magic, I quickly opened up my camera and before he/she left for good I snapped a few classic shots!
After breakfast we headed north to see Mount Rushmore. We took the long, scenic way up Needles Highway, located in the Black Hills. As we drove along Needles Highway we entered Custer State Park. The beginning of this highway, was a regular two lane road. But when we approached the first tunnel (one way, 8'4" wide and 12' tall) it turned into a wide one-lane road, with no center strip, but plenty of turnouts. This highway quickly climbs, taking you directly underneath one rocky outcropping after another. The tunnels were the most exciting part of this highway but coming in a close second was the fact that on either side of our car we were surround by tall, jagged, granite spears. Rather than taking the entire loop around to Mount Rushmore and going through Custer's wildlife loop (Yellowstone was enough wildlife for me!) we took a short cut - Black Hills Playhouse. This took us straight across to the other side of the loop. We continued around the windy road and went through a few more very narrow tunnels. About an hour later we finally approached the last tunnel. This tunnel was absolutely amazing because as you drove through the tunnel you had your first really good view of Mount Rushmore! Our photographer liked this scene so much that we had to pull over so that his shot wasn't "rushed!"
We drove up to the visitors center so that we could get a closer look at the mountain and decided to park. As we approached Mount Rushmore, we passed gift shops, food stands and memorials. The side walk that leads you to the closest point you can get to the mountain is lined with every state flag. The visitors center was packed with information about the sculptor, the process, the tools used, timelines, why the presidents were depicted in the way they are, and also information about the four presidents chosen to be on the mountain. We walked through the exhibits room, the book room, and watched a short video on the history of the mountain in the theatre room.
After leaving Mount Rushmore Rob took a quick look at the map and realized that we were very close to Sturgis, North Dakota (where the motorcycle rally will be taking place next week). He informed me that we would defineitely be getting off that exit and driving through the town because he was convinced that the town would already be getting ready for the rally. Before the mountain was totally out of sight as we rounded the bend we were able to get one more cool picture of Mount Rushmore, the profile of George Washington.
After driving for about an hour we reached Stugis. We got off the exit and were immediately bombarded by hundreds and thousands of motorcycles! They were everywhere and the town was already absolutely crazy. There were tents set up selling biker attire, helmets, bike accessories, and even some set up ready for someone to drop in and get a tattoo! The men on the streets were decked out, leather jackets or vests, Harley Davidson shirts, leather pants or chaps, and boots. The women, on the other hand were not all dressed the same. One women were hard core bike owners, big, manly, leather jackets, chaps and boots. Other were biker chicks, cute Harley tank tops, jeans and knee high boots. Then there were the group "other" girls in tiny little shorts, bras, and thigh high socks or boots, that were trying to pick up the bikers! Anyway you look at it the streets were packed! No street signs or stop lights were really being followed, it was free-for-all! Most townies were loving it! They had lawn chairs out in their front yard watching the bikes arrive. Some were even trying to take advantage of this time and make a few extra bucks. We pasted one boy holding up a sign that read, "pitch a tent in our backyard $15 a night." Another house we passed had a poster up that read, "room and tent space available."The last sign we saw said, "space available, comes with pool.". Next to this sign was a small kiddie pool so we weren't sure if there was another pool in the backyard or if it was one of those what you see is what you get things!
The rest of our trip to Bismarck, North Dakota was very uneventful. The rest of the time in South Dakota we saw many motorcycle that were most likely making their way down to Stugis for the rally but that is about it. Once we got into North Dakota we saw nothing. No homes, no cars, no towns, no buildings, NOTHING. I was looking forward to getting onto the interstate and stopping for gas and a snack, but nope we couldn't. Just about every exit was preceded with a sign that said, No Services. Until reaching Bismarck we saw just about Rob. Rob became intrigued and started to look up info on this deserted state. He found out that there were 300,000 less people living in the entire state of North Dakota than there are people living in Bergen County! Since we were unable to stop all day we made it to our campsite in Bismarck in pretty good time. Don't worry we did NOT camp! I still have not fully recovered from our Yellowstone camping trip and refused to camp again so instead we rented a log cabin in the campsite for the night. We were both so happy we did this because the log cabin was so adorable! It was a two bedroom log cabin! When you first walked in there was a queen sized bed and a small table with 2 chairs. Right off this room was the second bedroom, a room with 2 sets of bunks. So this ended up working out perfectly for us.
After checking in we needed to eat! I tried to look up restaurants in Bismarck but there was not much to choose from! I found one place that received 4 stars - Space Aliens Bar and Grill. It was only 5 miles away and the menu seemed to have everything so that was the winner. As we were driving on the highway we spotted this place from a mile away. There were aliens and spaceships everywhere, all of which were brightly lite up! We parked the car and walked in. We were greeted by. Chuckie Cheese Atmosphere, arcade games everywhere, prizes to be won, and screaming kids. I looked at Rob but already knew the answer, we weren't going anywhere else, this place has food and we were both starving. As we waited to get a table, one of the servers asked us if we were over 22 and then quickly corrected herself and said or 21 whatever. We hesitated but both shook our heads. She said, "Oh ok, then you guys can go sit in at the bar if you want." Perfect! The bar was still totally covered with outer space decor but at least it was missing the screaming children!
We headed back to the log cabin, retreated to our computers, our own rooms, and BEDS! Tomorrow is Minnesota. Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!
When we checked into Chief Motel last night, we were offered two breakfast vouchers for the Wrangler Family Cafe next door. These vouchers cost $1.50 each and included eggs; pancakes or toast; hashbrowns; bacon, sausage, or ham. Of course we added these to our tab! When we walked in all eyes were on us. We definitely just walked into a towny restaurant and clearly we did not fit! I guess it was obvious that we were not from around here. We sat down and thats when I thought I spotted a celeb! Whenever I go out to eat I usually strategically place myself in a seat where I have a good view of the rest of the restaurant so that I can people watch. This morning I don't know what I was thinking, maybe since I hadn't had any coffee yet I wasn't fully awake, but I managed to sit on the far side of the booth, meaning my back was to the whole restaurant. Of course I still took a scan of the room and this is when I spotted something strange. This person was almost directly behind me so it was hard to look without being caught. I had to clue Rob in, even though he isn't much into people watching or "over hearing" conversation. I told him to check out the person sitting in the last booth across the way. His jaw immediately dropped and he asked "what is that?" I explained that I was trying to figure that out also "man or woman?" We were baffled, and that is when compare him to Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire. This person was clearly a man, a pretty decent size one! Maybe 6 foot 4, 240 pounds? Not over weight, just a solid, big boned man. Yeah I know, pretty big right? Anyway this man was wearing a gray haired wig, pulled back in a bun. He had on a blouse, skirt, tights and heels. His finger nails were painted and he had a purse in hand, the only thing he did not have down was the walk. He still very much walked like a man. About 15 minutes after I pointed out Mrs. Doubtfire to Rob he looked at me and said, "why did you point that out to me??? I can't stop staring now!!" We tried so hard to get a picture but people were sitting at the tables in between us and the cross dresser. Rob got really excited when he realized a couple of tables were paying and getting ready to leave, he told me to get the camera ready, he thought he would be able to inconspicuously take a picture. These families took too long though, a couple moments later he said that Mrs. Doubtfire just asked for his/her check too! (I'm so proud of how his people watching skills have improved!). I told him that this was ok because I had a perfect view of the cash register and that when it got up to pay I would snap away. I told him he had to keep a really close eye on him/her because I had to get my phone ready to take a picture. Next thing I know Mrs. Doubtfire is walking right past our table!!! Rob got so into his pancakes, that he took his eyes off the prize!!! Thankfully I was able to work my magic, I quickly opened up my camera and before he/she left for good I snapped a few classic shots!
After breakfast we headed north to see Mount Rushmore. We took the long, scenic way up Needles Highway, located in the Black Hills. As we drove along Needles Highway we entered Custer State Park. The beginning of this highway, was a regular two lane road. But when we approached the first tunnel (one way, 8'4" wide and 12' tall) it turned into a wide one-lane road, with no center strip, but plenty of turnouts. This highway quickly climbs, taking you directly underneath one rocky outcropping after another. The tunnels were the most exciting part of this highway but coming in a close second was the fact that on either side of our car we were surround by tall, jagged, granite spears. Rather than taking the entire loop around to Mount Rushmore and going through Custer's wildlife loop (Yellowstone was enough wildlife for me!) we took a short cut - Black Hills Playhouse. This took us straight across to the other side of the loop. We continued around the windy road and went through a few more very narrow tunnels. About an hour later we finally approached the last tunnel. This tunnel was absolutely amazing because as you drove through the tunnel you had your first really good view of Mount Rushmore! Our photographer liked this scene so much that we had to pull over so that his shot wasn't "rushed!"
We drove up to the visitors center so that we could get a closer look at the mountain and decided to park. As we approached Mount Rushmore, we passed gift shops, food stands and memorials. The side walk that leads you to the closest point you can get to the mountain is lined with every state flag. The visitors center was packed with information about the sculptor, the process, the tools used, timelines, why the presidents were depicted in the way they are, and also information about the four presidents chosen to be on the mountain. We walked through the exhibits room, the book room, and watched a short video on the history of the mountain in the theatre room.
After leaving Mount Rushmore Rob took a quick look at the map and realized that we were very close to Sturgis, North Dakota (where the motorcycle rally will be taking place next week). He informed me that we would defineitely be getting off that exit and driving through the town because he was convinced that the town would already be getting ready for the rally. Before the mountain was totally out of sight as we rounded the bend we were able to get one more cool picture of Mount Rushmore, the profile of George Washington.
After driving for about an hour we reached Stugis. We got off the exit and were immediately bombarded by hundreds and thousands of motorcycles! They were everywhere and the town was already absolutely crazy. There were tents set up selling biker attire, helmets, bike accessories, and even some set up ready for someone to drop in and get a tattoo! The men on the streets were decked out, leather jackets or vests, Harley Davidson shirts, leather pants or chaps, and boots. The women, on the other hand were not all dressed the same. One women were hard core bike owners, big, manly, leather jackets, chaps and boots. Other were biker chicks, cute Harley tank tops, jeans and knee high boots. Then there were the group "other" girls in tiny little shorts, bras, and thigh high socks or boots, that were trying to pick up the bikers! Anyway you look at it the streets were packed! No street signs or stop lights were really being followed, it was free-for-all! Most townies were loving it! They had lawn chairs out in their front yard watching the bikes arrive. Some were even trying to take advantage of this time and make a few extra bucks. We pasted one boy holding up a sign that read, "pitch a tent in our backyard $15 a night." Another house we passed had a poster up that read, "room and tent space available."The last sign we saw said, "space available, comes with pool.". Next to this sign was a small kiddie pool so we weren't sure if there was another pool in the backyard or if it was one of those what you see is what you get things!
The rest of our trip to Bismarck, North Dakota was very uneventful. The rest of the time in South Dakota we saw many motorcycle that were most likely making their way down to Stugis for the rally but that is about it. Once we got into North Dakota we saw nothing. No homes, no cars, no towns, no buildings, NOTHING. I was looking forward to getting onto the interstate and stopping for gas and a snack, but nope we couldn't. Just about every exit was preceded with a sign that said, No Services. Until reaching Bismarck we saw just about Rob. Rob became intrigued and started to look up info on this deserted state. He found out that there were 300,000 less people living in the entire state of North Dakota than there are people living in Bergen County! Since we were unable to stop all day we made it to our campsite in Bismarck in pretty good time. Don't worry we did NOT camp! I still have not fully recovered from our Yellowstone camping trip and refused to camp again so instead we rented a log cabin in the campsite for the night. We were both so happy we did this because the log cabin was so adorable! It was a two bedroom log cabin! When you first walked in there was a queen sized bed and a small table with 2 chairs. Right off this room was the second bedroom, a room with 2 sets of bunks. So this ended up working out perfectly for us.
After checking in we needed to eat! I tried to look up restaurants in Bismarck but there was not much to choose from! I found one place that received 4 stars - Space Aliens Bar and Grill. It was only 5 miles away and the menu seemed to have everything so that was the winner. As we were driving on the highway we spotted this place from a mile away. There were aliens and spaceships everywhere, all of which were brightly lite up! We parked the car and walked in. We were greeted by. Chuckie Cheese Atmosphere, arcade games everywhere, prizes to be won, and screaming kids. I looked at Rob but already knew the answer, we weren't going anywhere else, this place has food and we were both starving. As we waited to get a table, one of the servers asked us if we were over 22 and then quickly corrected herself and said or 21 whatever. We hesitated but both shook our heads. She said, "Oh ok, then you guys can go sit in at the bar if you want." Perfect! The bar was still totally covered with outer space decor but at least it was missing the screaming children!
We headed back to the log cabin, retreated to our computers, our own rooms, and BEDS! Tomorrow is Minnesota. Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Day 28
Day twenty - eight, August 5, 2011
We decided to take our time leaving Denver and sleep in a little. However, we mistakenly slept in a little too much and missed the continental breakfast at our hotel. This was not a major problem because we once again referred to Rob's "Road Food" book. This book has been so clutch and every single place that we found in this book and went to has served delicious food! In fact Rob said that if anyone ever goes to another state or on a road trip he is going to rent out this book to them! We searched for a new breakfast place in Denver and came across Duffeyroll Cafe. Apparently Colorado is famous for their cinnamon rolls. There is actually a place in Loveland, Colorado that sells an enormous plate sized megaroll. However, the most elegant rolls are said to be at Duffeyroll. There are several Duffeyrolls available - crisp- edged swirls of dough drizzled with maple, orange, even Irish cream frosting. But the regular roll is said to be perfectly sugary and cinnamony and super- buttery! Good thing they offered mini versions of all of these because there was no way we would be able to choose. Once again point to "Road Food".
After leaving Denver, there was a point that we drove about two and a half hours and saw maybe 50 cars. We were driving through towns that had less people living in them than students in Glen Rock High School. Nebraska was a little more exciting in that we saw a show of lights in the sky. We were driving through bright blue sky's with big, white, puffy clouds. Them we saw that up ahead there was a HUGE black cloud, but in every other direction of this one very large cloud were beautiful bright blue sky's. But of course our route was taking us directly under the black sky's. As we got closer to the dark area a few rain drops hit our windshield. This soon turned into giant raindrops pouring out of the sky. Bolts of lightning were flashing in the sky ahead of us and because we were in flat open fields the wind was picking up the dirt. For a second it almost resembled small tornados. The clouds even looked like small tornados because parts were hanging down so low and they were so thin and gray that it looked like they were touching the ground in the form of a tornado. The weirdest part of this sight was that as we were driving through the storm, every other direction we looked in was still sunny and bright. We drove through the storm for a few miles and then emerged into the sunshine once again.
After we crossed the border and South Dakota welcomed us, there was once again not too much to see. During our first 25 miles into South Dakota we only saw 4 other cars on the road with us. This trend continued all the way to our exit, where out hotel should have only been a 1/2 mile further. As we got off the exit I began to think I entered the wrong address into the GPS because I did not think it was possible to have a hotel in such a small, secluded area. As we drove down the road we passed by Chief Motel and I prayed that this was not where we were staying. Five second later Matilda said "when possible please make a legal U-turn." I knew then that the the Chief Motel was where we would be residing tonight! Not only was this "motel" run down but it was filled with bikers. I began to wonder if camping was really that bad. I cautiously walked into the "lobby" and was greeted by a creepy man that appeared to have escaped the freak show at the carnival. We walked over to our room and it was exactly what a run down motel room would look like. The only positive is that were no bugs!!! We sat in the room and tried to process everything we had seen.
A little later on we had to find a place to eat. Rob was perfectly fine with his surroundings but I was quite skeptical. I felt like everyone was looking at us and watching our every move. We did stick out like sore thumbs!!! We walked through this town, it's population 1,800, and quickly decided on one of the 4 restaurants offered. We chose Buglin' Bull Sports Bar and Grill. Once again we surrounded by bikers and people who looked like they were stuck in the 80s. Rob was amazed at how many bikers there were so he decided to see if there was a special event going on. Upon further investigation he realized that next week is the beginning of the Sturgis Bike Rally. This rally is the largest bike rally in the world and takes place in South Dakota. Last year 750,000 people attended this rally! Bikers had been already showing up to prepare for the rally. Now that that was settled we were able to go on with the rest of our meal. The drinks were very cheap so we took full advantage of that and luckily the food was delicious! We stuck around to watch the end of the Rookies game on the big screen and watched some SportsCenter and then headed back to Chief Motel! Tomorrow Mount Rushmore and North Dakota! Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!
We decided to take our time leaving Denver and sleep in a little. However, we mistakenly slept in a little too much and missed the continental breakfast at our hotel. This was not a major problem because we once again referred to Rob's "Road Food" book. This book has been so clutch and every single place that we found in this book and went to has served delicious food! In fact Rob said that if anyone ever goes to another state or on a road trip he is going to rent out this book to them! We searched for a new breakfast place in Denver and came across Duffeyroll Cafe. Apparently Colorado is famous for their cinnamon rolls. There is actually a place in Loveland, Colorado that sells an enormous plate sized megaroll. However, the most elegant rolls are said to be at Duffeyroll. There are several Duffeyrolls available - crisp- edged swirls of dough drizzled with maple, orange, even Irish cream frosting. But the regular roll is said to be perfectly sugary and cinnamony and super- buttery! Good thing they offered mini versions of all of these because there was no way we would be able to choose. Once again point to "Road Food".
After leaving Denver, there was a point that we drove about two and a half hours and saw maybe 50 cars. We were driving through towns that had less people living in them than students in Glen Rock High School. Nebraska was a little more exciting in that we saw a show of lights in the sky. We were driving through bright blue sky's with big, white, puffy clouds. Them we saw that up ahead there was a HUGE black cloud, but in every other direction of this one very large cloud were beautiful bright blue sky's. But of course our route was taking us directly under the black sky's. As we got closer to the dark area a few rain drops hit our windshield. This soon turned into giant raindrops pouring out of the sky. Bolts of lightning were flashing in the sky ahead of us and because we were in flat open fields the wind was picking up the dirt. For a second it almost resembled small tornados. The clouds even looked like small tornados because parts were hanging down so low and they were so thin and gray that it looked like they were touching the ground in the form of a tornado. The weirdest part of this sight was that as we were driving through the storm, every other direction we looked in was still sunny and bright. We drove through the storm for a few miles and then emerged into the sunshine once again.
After we crossed the border and South Dakota welcomed us, there was once again not too much to see. During our first 25 miles into South Dakota we only saw 4 other cars on the road with us. This trend continued all the way to our exit, where out hotel should have only been a 1/2 mile further. As we got off the exit I began to think I entered the wrong address into the GPS because I did not think it was possible to have a hotel in such a small, secluded area. As we drove down the road we passed by Chief Motel and I prayed that this was not where we were staying. Five second later Matilda said "when possible please make a legal U-turn." I knew then that the the Chief Motel was where we would be residing tonight! Not only was this "motel" run down but it was filled with bikers. I began to wonder if camping was really that bad. I cautiously walked into the "lobby" and was greeted by a creepy man that appeared to have escaped the freak show at the carnival. We walked over to our room and it was exactly what a run down motel room would look like. The only positive is that were no bugs!!! We sat in the room and tried to process everything we had seen.
A little later on we had to find a place to eat. Rob was perfectly fine with his surroundings but I was quite skeptical. I felt like everyone was looking at us and watching our every move. We did stick out like sore thumbs!!! We walked through this town, it's population 1,800, and quickly decided on one of the 4 restaurants offered. We chose Buglin' Bull Sports Bar and Grill. Once again we surrounded by bikers and people who looked like they were stuck in the 80s. Rob was amazed at how many bikers there were so he decided to see if there was a special event going on. Upon further investigation he realized that next week is the beginning of the Sturgis Bike Rally. This rally is the largest bike rally in the world and takes place in South Dakota. Last year 750,000 people attended this rally! Bikers had been already showing up to prepare for the rally. Now that that was settled we were able to go on with the rest of our meal. The drinks were very cheap so we took full advantage of that and luckily the food was delicious! We stuck around to watch the end of the Rookies game on the big screen and watched some SportsCenter and then headed back to Chief Motel! Tomorrow Mount Rushmore and North Dakota! Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Day 27
Day twenty - seven, August 4, 2011
For the first time on our trip thus far we had nothing planned today, so we laid in bed and watched TV all morning. I was thankful for this decision because of my bed bug incident the night before. However, before I was able to relax and watch TV I did have to get up and take a very long shower because I was still a little grossed out.
Once we decided it was time to get up, we referred to Rob's "Road Food" book to find out if there were famous restaurants in Denver. We decided on a place called Buckhorn Exchange. This restaurant is holder of Colorado Liquor License No. 1 (1893). It is outfitted with a few museums' worth of antique firearms and furniture, and hung with a menagerie of some five hundred game animal trophies, all of which were shot by former owner Shorty Zietz. While the animals hanging all over the walls of this restaurant are very interesting what makes this place even more interesting is that Buffalo Bill was said to be a regular customer here! Of the course this place wasn't only about the ambiance, Rob said that his buffalo burger was the best burger he has ever had!
Somehow the topic of liquor and beer came up at lunch. Rob began talking about how Coors is the beer of the Rookie Mountains and is brewed here in Colorado. He became curious and wanted to learn more about where exactly this happened. During his online investigation at lunch he realized that the Coors brewery was only about 20 minutes away and they give free tours all day. We finished up lunch and headed to the Coors headquarters in Golden, Colorado.
The Coors Brewery in Golden is the world's largest single brewery! It was established by Adolph Coors in 1873, Coors was the third-largest brewing company, with brands that include Coors, Coors Light, Killians Red, Zima, and Keystone. They have since been bought out by Miller and are now called Miller Coors. The tour we took provided an in depth overview of the beer making process. After the tour you could visit their lounge where you could sample their products! Some of the samples we consumed included, Blue Moon Summer Honey Wheat, Colorado Native, Killians Red Logger, and Batch 19. Batch 19 was actually a market product that they were allowing people to sample. It's recipe was an original that dated back to before the time of Prohibition. So this was a popular choice by most!
While we were on the Coors bus that would bring us back to the car, a couple across from us was talking about how they were attending the Rookies game tonight. Rob and I thought that we purchased tickets in every city where a home team was playing. So we were not sure why we did not purchase tickets to the Rookies game. The game would be starting in about an hour and the stadium was rather close so we decided to take a ride down to the box office and see if there were any tickets available. While we were standing in line at the box office there were a group of men behind us yelling $5 tickets for behind home plate. I was very skeptical so I stayed in line while Rob went over to check out these $5 tickets. The game had started 5 minutes earlier but still $5 seemed a little too good to be true. Rob decided to take a gamble and trust Jeff. He bought the tickets and with fingers crossed we walked up to the ticket collector. They were legit! We were in for $5 a piece!
Once again the stadium didn't disappoint. We were both impressed by how nice Coors Field was. We especially liked the outfield. In center field there was a beautiful fountain surrounded by Evergreens and Spruces. Next to this lovely landscape were the bullpens. The unique part about these bullpens were that fans were able to stand right above them and watch pitchers as they warmed up. Every once in a while the bullpen coach or catcher would even toss up a ball or two to the fans. As we continued to walk around the entire field we were really impressed with how much there was offered for fans to do during the game. There were batting cages, speed pitch, and other games to play. There was also a lot of fan participation in between innings. For example, one time a guy stood out in left field and had 20 seconds to run to second base, put a new base in, and then run off the field past first base. Another guy was chosen to stand in left field and try to catch two fly balls. All in all we were impressed with their fan relations!
The game itself was also very exciting. The Colorado Rookies were playing the Washington Nationals. The Nationals took an early 1 0 lead after the first. It was not until the fourth inning that the Rookies tied up the game. They eventually took a 6 1 lead into the 9th inning. The Rookies closer came in and made it exciting. He gave up 2 runs and still with men on was finally able to lock down a win for his team. The Rookies won the game 6 to 3. For a day where we had nothing planned, this turned out to be a pretty great day! Now let's only hope there won't be any flys in our room and that I will finally get a good night sleep. Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!
For the first time on our trip thus far we had nothing planned today, so we laid in bed and watched TV all morning. I was thankful for this decision because of my bed bug incident the night before. However, before I was able to relax and watch TV I did have to get up and take a very long shower because I was still a little grossed out.
Once we decided it was time to get up, we referred to Rob's "Road Food" book to find out if there were famous restaurants in Denver. We decided on a place called Buckhorn Exchange. This restaurant is holder of Colorado Liquor License No. 1 (1893). It is outfitted with a few museums' worth of antique firearms and furniture, and hung with a menagerie of some five hundred game animal trophies, all of which were shot by former owner Shorty Zietz. While the animals hanging all over the walls of this restaurant are very interesting what makes this place even more interesting is that Buffalo Bill was said to be a regular customer here! Of the course this place wasn't only about the ambiance, Rob said that his buffalo burger was the best burger he has ever had!
Somehow the topic of liquor and beer came up at lunch. Rob began talking about how Coors is the beer of the Rookie Mountains and is brewed here in Colorado. He became curious and wanted to learn more about where exactly this happened. During his online investigation at lunch he realized that the Coors brewery was only about 20 minutes away and they give free tours all day. We finished up lunch and headed to the Coors headquarters in Golden, Colorado.
The Coors Brewery in Golden is the world's largest single brewery! It was established by Adolph Coors in 1873, Coors was the third-largest brewing company, with brands that include Coors, Coors Light, Killians Red, Zima, and Keystone. They have since been bought out by Miller and are now called Miller Coors. The tour we took provided an in depth overview of the beer making process. After the tour you could visit their lounge where you could sample their products! Some of the samples we consumed included, Blue Moon Summer Honey Wheat, Colorado Native, Killians Red Logger, and Batch 19. Batch 19 was actually a market product that they were allowing people to sample. It's recipe was an original that dated back to before the time of Prohibition. So this was a popular choice by most!
While we were on the Coors bus that would bring us back to the car, a couple across from us was talking about how they were attending the Rookies game tonight. Rob and I thought that we purchased tickets in every city where a home team was playing. So we were not sure why we did not purchase tickets to the Rookies game. The game would be starting in about an hour and the stadium was rather close so we decided to take a ride down to the box office and see if there were any tickets available. While we were standing in line at the box office there were a group of men behind us yelling $5 tickets for behind home plate. I was very skeptical so I stayed in line while Rob went over to check out these $5 tickets. The game had started 5 minutes earlier but still $5 seemed a little too good to be true. Rob decided to take a gamble and trust Jeff. He bought the tickets and with fingers crossed we walked up to the ticket collector. They were legit! We were in for $5 a piece!
Once again the stadium didn't disappoint. We were both impressed by how nice Coors Field was. We especially liked the outfield. In center field there was a beautiful fountain surrounded by Evergreens and Spruces. Next to this lovely landscape were the bullpens. The unique part about these bullpens were that fans were able to stand right above them and watch pitchers as they warmed up. Every once in a while the bullpen coach or catcher would even toss up a ball or two to the fans. As we continued to walk around the entire field we were really impressed with how much there was offered for fans to do during the game. There were batting cages, speed pitch, and other games to play. There was also a lot of fan participation in between innings. For example, one time a guy stood out in left field and had 20 seconds to run to second base, put a new base in, and then run off the field past first base. Another guy was chosen to stand in left field and try to catch two fly balls. All in all we were impressed with their fan relations!
The game itself was also very exciting. The Colorado Rookies were playing the Washington Nationals. The Nationals took an early 1 0 lead after the first. It was not until the fourth inning that the Rookies tied up the game. They eventually took a 6 1 lead into the 9th inning. The Rookies closer came in and made it exciting. He gave up 2 runs and still with men on was finally able to lock down a win for his team. The Rookies won the game 6 to 3. For a day where we had nothing planned, this turned out to be a pretty great day! Now let's only hope there won't be any flys in our room and that I will finally get a good night sleep. Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!
Day 26
Day twenty - six, August 3, 2011
Rather than driving directly from Salt Lake to Denver we opted to break up the trip a little and stop in Aspen, Colorado. We had nothing planned for Aspen but thought it would be a good place to stop, stretch, and grab a bite to eat. This ended up being such a great decision because we both fell in love with Aspen. In fact, we both decided that this was the nicest city we have stopped in so far. The cobblestone sidewalks were the perfect fit for all of the high end shops and boutiques. The street lamps were even elegant and everywhere you looked their were brightly colored flowers. Along with parks, fountains, and benches everywhere the food was also amazing. We waited in line at the most popular bakery in Aspen "Paradise Bakery" - definitely was worth the wait. I only wish we had more time to spend here, my credit cards were thankful though!
The rest of the drive to Denver, led us to name Colorado the most beautiful state we have driven through. The narrow curvy roads up and down the snow capped mountains provide us with incredible views and don't worry we do have lots of pictures!
We made our way to the hotel and were pleased with the looks of the hotel from the outside as well as the lobby. Our feelings about the hotel did change when we walked into our room and were greeted by a family of flys! We did our best to swat them but they seemed to either have nine lives or more kept finding their way into our room. We went to bed knowing there were still some flying around but we just couldn't get them all.
Between being totally grossed out by the flys and our air conditioner not being at 100%, I did not sleep well. I was up for good around 3:00am trying to figure out who else would be awake! Since I realized everyone was probably sleeping I caught up on Words with Friends and downloaded some more apps. After tossing and turning for a while I began to get very itchy. So itchy that I googled what could be making me itch so much. That's when I became paranoid, I convinced myself that there were bed bugs in my bed!! Now there was no way I would be able to sleep, I waited another hour or so and then texted my dad asking him for more info on bed bugs! Upon further research and investigation I was able to determine that there were no bed bugs but I still couldn't fall back to sleep! Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.
Rather than driving directly from Salt Lake to Denver we opted to break up the trip a little and stop in Aspen, Colorado. We had nothing planned for Aspen but thought it would be a good place to stop, stretch, and grab a bite to eat. This ended up being such a great decision because we both fell in love with Aspen. In fact, we both decided that this was the nicest city we have stopped in so far. The cobblestone sidewalks were the perfect fit for all of the high end shops and boutiques. The street lamps were even elegant and everywhere you looked their were brightly colored flowers. Along with parks, fountains, and benches everywhere the food was also amazing. We waited in line at the most popular bakery in Aspen "Paradise Bakery" - definitely was worth the wait. I only wish we had more time to spend here, my credit cards were thankful though!
The rest of the drive to Denver, led us to name Colorado the most beautiful state we have driven through. The narrow curvy roads up and down the snow capped mountains provide us with incredible views and don't worry we do have lots of pictures!
We made our way to the hotel and were pleased with the looks of the hotel from the outside as well as the lobby. Our feelings about the hotel did change when we walked into our room and were greeted by a family of flys! We did our best to swat them but they seemed to either have nine lives or more kept finding their way into our room. We went to bed knowing there were still some flying around but we just couldn't get them all.
Between being totally grossed out by the flys and our air conditioner not being at 100%, I did not sleep well. I was up for good around 3:00am trying to figure out who else would be awake! Since I realized everyone was probably sleeping I caught up on Words with Friends and downloaded some more apps. After tossing and turning for a while I began to get very itchy. So itchy that I googled what could be making me itch so much. That's when I became paranoid, I convinced myself that there were bed bugs in my bed!! Now there was no way I would be able to sleep, I waited another hour or so and then texted my dad asking him for more info on bed bugs! Upon further research and investigation I was able to determine that there were no bed bugs but I still couldn't fall back to sleep! Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Day 25
Day twenty-five, August 2, 2011
We wish we could say good morning, but this morning was anything but good. I knew getting into the tent last night that it was going to be cold through the night and I thought I was prepared. Leggings, sweatpants, two tank tops, a t-shirt, sweatshirt, two pairs of socks, a leopard print snuggy wrapped around me (thanks Steph!), and our newly purchased Walmart comforter draped over me. I learned quickly that this did not cut it. Between the rocks under us, the weird sounds we were hearing from outside the tent, and the freezing cold temperatures, neither Rob nor myself slept much at all. As if this part wasn't bad enough we were also rudely awakened at 6:30 this morning by a bird call that was not Rob's rooster alarm. When I first heard this deafening noise I had no idea what it could be. I was still half asleep so of course the first conclusions I jumped to were that something or someone was being attacked by a bear! After realizing that the sound was coming from a bird I calmed down a bit. But it honestly sounded like this bird was being murdered and giving out a distress call. At this point Rob couldn't go back to sleep but I couldn't imagine getting up yet. So Rob decided to leave me at the campsite and go for a drive. I don't know how but it seemed like it was even colder this morning than it had been overnight. With Rob gone, I wrapped every blanket in sight around me like a cocoon and fell back to sleep.
When Rob got back to the campsite he woke me up and asked me to guess what the thermometer in his car was reading. None of you are going to believe this...at 8:45 this morning it was 40 degrees!!!! He then went on to tell me that he barely saw any animals on his early morning cruise. In fact he only saw 3 rabbits, 1 elk, and 1 otter that ran out into the road in front of Coco.
We packed up our tent and the rest of our belongings and hit the road. We drove through the gorgeous snow capped mountains and lakes of Grand Teton. A couple hours into the trip we decided to make a last minute change with our route. Originally we were going to take a detour through Idaho to have a more scenic trip. We were also going to Salt Lake to see a National Park, but this all changed. We decided on taking the quickest route to our hotel which was right outside of Salt Lake City. This route still took us about 6 or 7 hours but at that point all we wanted to do was shower and be back in civilization. More importantly the season finale of the Bachelorette was last night and it is imperative that I find out if Ashley chose J.P. or Ben!
When we checked into the hotel we were surprisingly pleased. We almost felt like we were back at Embassy Suites! The Pavilion Inn impressed us with a nicely decorated lobby, free WiFi, pool open 24 hours, and a complimentary hot continental breakfast! We settled into the room around 5:00 and never left. We were so tired and needed to catch up on bills, news, and shows that we stayed in all night. Plus tomorrow is the longest drive left of the trip - 9 hours! Wish us luck. Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!
We wish we could say good morning, but this morning was anything but good. I knew getting into the tent last night that it was going to be cold through the night and I thought I was prepared. Leggings, sweatpants, two tank tops, a t-shirt, sweatshirt, two pairs of socks, a leopard print snuggy wrapped around me (thanks Steph!), and our newly purchased Walmart comforter draped over me. I learned quickly that this did not cut it. Between the rocks under us, the weird sounds we were hearing from outside the tent, and the freezing cold temperatures, neither Rob nor myself slept much at all. As if this part wasn't bad enough we were also rudely awakened at 6:30 this morning by a bird call that was not Rob's rooster alarm. When I first heard this deafening noise I had no idea what it could be. I was still half asleep so of course the first conclusions I jumped to were that something or someone was being attacked by a bear! After realizing that the sound was coming from a bird I calmed down a bit. But it honestly sounded like this bird was being murdered and giving out a distress call. At this point Rob couldn't go back to sleep but I couldn't imagine getting up yet. So Rob decided to leave me at the campsite and go for a drive. I don't know how but it seemed like it was even colder this morning than it had been overnight. With Rob gone, I wrapped every blanket in sight around me like a cocoon and fell back to sleep.
When Rob got back to the campsite he woke me up and asked me to guess what the thermometer in his car was reading. None of you are going to believe this...at 8:45 this morning it was 40 degrees!!!! He then went on to tell me that he barely saw any animals on his early morning cruise. In fact he only saw 3 rabbits, 1 elk, and 1 otter that ran out into the road in front of Coco.
We packed up our tent and the rest of our belongings and hit the road. We drove through the gorgeous snow capped mountains and lakes of Grand Teton. A couple hours into the trip we decided to make a last minute change with our route. Originally we were going to take a detour through Idaho to have a more scenic trip. We were also going to Salt Lake to see a National Park, but this all changed. We decided on taking the quickest route to our hotel which was right outside of Salt Lake City. This route still took us about 6 or 7 hours but at that point all we wanted to do was shower and be back in civilization. More importantly the season finale of the Bachelorette was last night and it is imperative that I find out if Ashley chose J.P. or Ben!
When we checked into the hotel we were surprisingly pleased. We almost felt like we were back at Embassy Suites! The Pavilion Inn impressed us with a nicely decorated lobby, free WiFi, pool open 24 hours, and a complimentary hot continental breakfast! We settled into the room around 5:00 and never left. We were so tired and needed to catch up on bills, news, and shows that we stayed in all night. Plus tomorrow is the longest drive left of the trip - 9 hours! Wish us luck. Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Day 24
Day twenty - four, August 1, 2011
Today's agenda was sight seeings, animal watching, and hiking. None of which can happen until I got a very large cup of coffee after last night! Granted our first night camping in the Redwood Forest was cold and in a very deserted area, however, at least sleeping on the sand was semi-comfortable. Here, not so much. Everywhere I moved there was a rock under some part of my body. It's safe to say that I did not get much sleep and when I was able to get some shut eye in it was short lived. So yes, I was in need of coffee and lots of it. Of course the only place to go was about 20 miles away at Old Faithful. Now the layout of Yellowstone is unique and in order to understand why I had to wait 2 hours for my coffe this morning you need to understand this layout. The center of the national park is shaped like a figure eight There is no way to cut through the center of the circles. You must either drive around the whole circle, or drive to your desired destination and then turn around. So if we drove right to the coffee shop, we would be driving past several attractions that we were hoping to see which would not make any sense. Soooo we stopped at each place and 2 hours later got to coffee and breakfast!
Well now let's back track to these beautiful settings we saw on the way to the coffee. Geysers can be found in other parts of the world, however, nowhere are there as many as Yellowstone. Here you can also find many hot springs, fumaroles, and mud pots. We drove to the Lower Geyser Basin where we parked the car and walked along the boardwalks to see Fountain Paint Pot and then a little further down the road to Great Fountain Geyer. Steam was rising continuously from the spewing holes in the ground. Water, mud, and bacteria were bubbling out of some these hot springs. The water surrounding them can reach up to 180 degree F and the smell of sulfur was unbearable at times! We were amazed at what we were seeing because neither one of us has even seen something like this before. We took tons of pictures and even some video clips.
Back in the car we saw steam coming up from the ground to the left and right of us. We also saw many many more elk and bison. Our next stop was the incredible Grand Prismatic Spring located in Midway Geyser Basin. We first crossed a bridge where we had an amazing view of a waterfall. This waterfall was unlike others because of it's color. Due to the heat of the water, the different kinds of bacteria, and the magma, the land the waterfall was flowing over was different shades of brown, orange, and yellow. We hiked up the stairs and saw several different hot springs and geysers. Finally we came across the most famous - Grand Prismatic Spring. In the center of this spring you were able to see bright blue water but the further away from the center (the hottest point) the colors changed. We saw shades of orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. All of which was covered by a thick steam. We asked a park ranger what causes the different colors and he said that the colors are based on types of bacteria that can grow in the spring. The center is the brightest blue because nothing can grow there due to the hot temperatures.
A few more minor stops for bison and quick photo opps we were finally headed to Old Faithful. We immediately headed straight to the cafe for breakfast/lunch and coffee. We realized that as we were eating we just missed Old Faithful erupt, so we would have to wait another 90 minutes or so. This was fine with me because this meant I would have lots of time to shop! We eventually made our way down to the famous geyser where we listened to rangers explain the history and importance of Yellowstone and Old Faithful. This geyser gets it's name from its reputation - she faithfully erupts everyday! Rangers are able to predict an eruption based on the previous eruption. On average, it erupts every 90 minutes or so. But it is based on how long the previous eruption lasted. For example the eruption before the one we saw lasted over 4 minutes and was very powerful, so they predicted the next one for 96 minutes later. Old Faithful only lasted about 3 minutes for us, so they were predicting the next one would occur 80 minutes later. After the spectacular water show we visited the visitors center where we tried to become experts on the thermal levels in the ground in Yellowstone, geysers, and wildlife.
Our next stop - West Thumb. All day we would approach congested areas on the road where people were slowing down to takes pictures, or areas where people abandoned their cars to get a closer glimpse of the landscape or wildlife. And every time we approached these areas it is always BISON. Bison are EVERYWHERE! We have see more bison in these past 2 days than we ever have or will in the future. So it began to become frustrating when we approached this slow traffic. However, there was one particular time when there seemed to be more people and cars on the side of the road than ever before. We couldn't see anything because on either side of the road were very tall trees, but we kept seeing people walking down through the trees and coming back up. We asked someone if something was down there "yeah a moose!" she responded. Other than a bear, Rob was really hoping to see a moose. So we parked the car, walked through the trees to where it opened up and a flat plain appeared. The moose was standing in the center of the plain eating grass. So cool! I just have no idea how anyone could have spotted that from the road.
The closer we got to West Thumb the more bison and elk we saw! We drove along side of Yellowstone Lake and came to Fisherman's Bridge. Rob started the scope out the streams in hopes that the one he choose would be full of hungry trout! We continued around the circle to the Yellowstone River where the weather was finally beginning to clear up and our landscape pictures were turning out much better!
Once again we approached a huge group of people, all with cameras in hand. They were all pointing in the same direction but Rob and I both saw nothing. There were a few trees along the highway and then a stream with more trees behind it. We had no idea what was causing such a big fuss! Once again we had to ask someone. They pointed into one of the trees and said " a bald eagle". We quickly joined the crowd and our photographer started snapping away. Rob was pleading with the bird to take off, he wanted to get a pic of it in flight. But it was getting late and he also wanted to have time to fish. So we headed back to the car and right when we approached Coco we heard screams of joy and saw people pointing to the eagle in flight. It flew down stream a little ways and landed on another tree even close to where we were standing. Of course we went back down in hopes that it would fly again, but it never did!
We drove to Madison River where Rob attempted to fish while I sat in the car and read Us Weekly. He gave it his best shot but it was so windy that his line kept coming right back at him. After about an hour of unlucky fishing we headed back into town for dinner. We chose a local micro brewery and grill. We sat at the bar and tried a few different locally brewed beers. The bar also provided us with several trivia questions about Yellowstone and Wyoming, so of course we quizzed each other! Disappointingly Rob did win!
The ride back through Yellowstone was thankfully uneventful, no wildlife in the middle of the streets! I bundled up and headed to the tent (fingers crossed that this will be the last time!) Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.
Today's agenda was sight seeings, animal watching, and hiking. None of which can happen until I got a very large cup of coffee after last night! Granted our first night camping in the Redwood Forest was cold and in a very deserted area, however, at least sleeping on the sand was semi-comfortable. Here, not so much. Everywhere I moved there was a rock under some part of my body. It's safe to say that I did not get much sleep and when I was able to get some shut eye in it was short lived. So yes, I was in need of coffee and lots of it. Of course the only place to go was about 20 miles away at Old Faithful. Now the layout of Yellowstone is unique and in order to understand why I had to wait 2 hours for my coffe this morning you need to understand this layout. The center of the national park is shaped like a figure eight There is no way to cut through the center of the circles. You must either drive around the whole circle, or drive to your desired destination and then turn around. So if we drove right to the coffee shop, we would be driving past several attractions that we were hoping to see which would not make any sense. Soooo we stopped at each place and 2 hours later got to coffee and breakfast!
Well now let's back track to these beautiful settings we saw on the way to the coffee. Geysers can be found in other parts of the world, however, nowhere are there as many as Yellowstone. Here you can also find many hot springs, fumaroles, and mud pots. We drove to the Lower Geyser Basin where we parked the car and walked along the boardwalks to see Fountain Paint Pot and then a little further down the road to Great Fountain Geyer. Steam was rising continuously from the spewing holes in the ground. Water, mud, and bacteria were bubbling out of some these hot springs. The water surrounding them can reach up to 180 degree F and the smell of sulfur was unbearable at times! We were amazed at what we were seeing because neither one of us has even seen something like this before. We took tons of pictures and even some video clips.
Back in the car we saw steam coming up from the ground to the left and right of us. We also saw many many more elk and bison. Our next stop was the incredible Grand Prismatic Spring located in Midway Geyser Basin. We first crossed a bridge where we had an amazing view of a waterfall. This waterfall was unlike others because of it's color. Due to the heat of the water, the different kinds of bacteria, and the magma, the land the waterfall was flowing over was different shades of brown, orange, and yellow. We hiked up the stairs and saw several different hot springs and geysers. Finally we came across the most famous - Grand Prismatic Spring. In the center of this spring you were able to see bright blue water but the further away from the center (the hottest point) the colors changed. We saw shades of orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. All of which was covered by a thick steam. We asked a park ranger what causes the different colors and he said that the colors are based on types of bacteria that can grow in the spring. The center is the brightest blue because nothing can grow there due to the hot temperatures.
A few more minor stops for bison and quick photo opps we were finally headed to Old Faithful. We immediately headed straight to the cafe for breakfast/lunch and coffee. We realized that as we were eating we just missed Old Faithful erupt, so we would have to wait another 90 minutes or so. This was fine with me because this meant I would have lots of time to shop! We eventually made our way down to the famous geyser where we listened to rangers explain the history and importance of Yellowstone and Old Faithful. This geyser gets it's name from its reputation - she faithfully erupts everyday! Rangers are able to predict an eruption based on the previous eruption. On average, it erupts every 90 minutes or so. But it is based on how long the previous eruption lasted. For example the eruption before the one we saw lasted over 4 minutes and was very powerful, so they predicted the next one for 96 minutes later. Old Faithful only lasted about 3 minutes for us, so they were predicting the next one would occur 80 minutes later. After the spectacular water show we visited the visitors center where we tried to become experts on the thermal levels in the ground in Yellowstone, geysers, and wildlife.
Our next stop - West Thumb. All day we would approach congested areas on the road where people were slowing down to takes pictures, or areas where people abandoned their cars to get a closer glimpse of the landscape or wildlife. And every time we approached these areas it is always BISON. Bison are EVERYWHERE! We have see more bison in these past 2 days than we ever have or will in the future. So it began to become frustrating when we approached this slow traffic. However, there was one particular time when there seemed to be more people and cars on the side of the road than ever before. We couldn't see anything because on either side of the road were very tall trees, but we kept seeing people walking down through the trees and coming back up. We asked someone if something was down there "yeah a moose!" she responded. Other than a bear, Rob was really hoping to see a moose. So we parked the car, walked through the trees to where it opened up and a flat plain appeared. The moose was standing in the center of the plain eating grass. So cool! I just have no idea how anyone could have spotted that from the road.
The closer we got to West Thumb the more bison and elk we saw! We drove along side of Yellowstone Lake and came to Fisherman's Bridge. Rob started the scope out the streams in hopes that the one he choose would be full of hungry trout! We continued around the circle to the Yellowstone River where the weather was finally beginning to clear up and our landscape pictures were turning out much better!
Once again we approached a huge group of people, all with cameras in hand. They were all pointing in the same direction but Rob and I both saw nothing. There were a few trees along the highway and then a stream with more trees behind it. We had no idea what was causing such a big fuss! Once again we had to ask someone. They pointed into one of the trees and said " a bald eagle". We quickly joined the crowd and our photographer started snapping away. Rob was pleading with the bird to take off, he wanted to get a pic of it in flight. But it was getting late and he also wanted to have time to fish. So we headed back to the car and right when we approached Coco we heard screams of joy and saw people pointing to the eagle in flight. It flew down stream a little ways and landed on another tree even close to where we were standing. Of course we went back down in hopes that it would fly again, but it never did!
We drove to Madison River where Rob attempted to fish while I sat in the car and read Us Weekly. He gave it his best shot but it was so windy that his line kept coming right back at him. After about an hour of unlucky fishing we headed back into town for dinner. We chose a local micro brewery and grill. We sat at the bar and tried a few different locally brewed beers. The bar also provided us with several trivia questions about Yellowstone and Wyoming, so of course we quizzed each other! Disappointingly Rob did win!
The ride back through Yellowstone was thankfully uneventful, no wildlife in the middle of the streets! I bundled up and headed to the tent (fingers crossed that this will be the last time!) Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Day 23
Day twenty-three, July 31, 2011
Before departing for Yellowstone we briefly visited the town of Missoula. As we hit the road I began to pray that the campsite in Yellowstone would be like the one we just spent the night at!
We stopped at a visitors center right before entering the park and picked up all the necessary maps, guides, and tips. Almost immediately upon entering this National Park we were greeted by a huge herd of elk. There were so many of them that some even spued out in the road blocking traffic. Park rangers had to come over and scare them off the street. Even with tons of people parking their cars and walking over to see these huge animals the elk just calmly walked across the street and sat on the grass on the opposite side of the road. They provided a great photo opp for everyone but I was a little concerned about seeing so much wildlife so soon. We still had at least an hour and a half drive to our campsite and I began to wonder just how much wildlife we would come across!
We took the long way to our campsite because we told that lots of wildlife has been spotted on the northeast side of the park near Tower Roosevelt. On our way to the spot we were told to visit, we spotted an antelope and a couple random buffalo. The landscape throughout the park was breathtaking. We stopped at a few scenic look outs where we got some wonderful pictures. We saw huge streams with water flowing quickly downstream and even came across a stunning waterfall. Without the I-phone we were not able to get ourselves in the pictures with all of this beautiful scenery! Actually now that I think about it, since Steph left with her I-phone most of our pictures only include scenery or attractions - we are no longer in the pictures! :)
Not much further down the road we came across several cars parked on the side of the road and people walking along the road with cameras. As we came closer and looked out into the open field we saw tons of bison. They ranged in size and age. There were several very large ones with their heads down chowing down on the grass. We were also able to see some babies, one in particular was nursing while their mom was eating. We followed the herd down the road watching them eat and interact with one another. After lots of amazing pictures we continued down the road where we saw tons more. Just about everywhere you looked you could see a bison. It is said that you see as many bison out here as you do squirrels at home!
We then drove through Canyon Village and Norris. Here is where we came across the next group of parked cars. We were really hoping that it would be something good and not more bison - they are really exciting to see, but at this point we have already seen so many. As we approached the group of cars parked on either side of the road I looked out my window and directly to my right was a GRIZZLY BEAR!!! It was in the middle of a hill about 15 yards from our car. Rob threw me the camera and because Matt isn't on the trip with us anymore our windows are so dirty so in order to capture a pic worthy of our photographer I had to put my window down! Snce I had the big lens on and had the camera zoomed in all the way this creature appeared much closer through my lens. This is why when it picked it's head up from eating and looked right at all of us onlookers I almost had a heart attack! Rob enjoyed this very much, we were a little too close and stayed for a little too long for me! Now that Rob's prayers were answered we once again continued down the road. Our next stop was a ranger station were Rob was able to pick up all his fishing supplies and permit, as well as get his questions answered and was given great helpful tips from the experts!
The rain was beginning to come down and it was going to be getting dark shortly so we headed directly to the campsite. With fingers crossed I was really hoping that we would not see any more wildlife because we were approaching our campsite. I didn't mind seeing them on the other side of the park but I would feel much more comfortable if we didn't come across any in the vicinity of our sleeping area. We pulled up and checked in with the ranger. The ranger handed me a piece of paper and asked me to read and sign it. It was an official document saying that I was aware I was in bear country and that I would follow all proper precautions and avoid feeding bears at all costs! Upon signing this paper I looked nervously at Rob and he asked the ranger if many bears are spotted in this area. He responded with, "Well actually, we do know of 2 cinnamon black bears that live next to this station. However, our rangers do a pretty good job of keeping them out of the camping area. If the bears ever get too close they are shot with bean bags or rubber bullets." Well now I was sure that between the rain and our 2 cinnamon friends I would be sleeping in the comforts of Coco tonight. My only saving grace was that we were staying in loop C of the campsite, so I figured that by the time we passed loops A and B we would be pretty far away from the bears. Was I wrong! Our campsite was about a 90 second drive away from the ranger station! Oh and even better, we had zero cell phone reception. If there was an emergency there were phones placed around the campsite where you could call 911. The one good part about our site was that it was right next the bathrooms. I decided to scoop them out as Rob pitched the tent. They were surprisingly very clean, but definitely missing something! SHOWERS! We would be spending two nights here and there is no place to shower?!?! This was a far cry from the site we just previously left in Montana and I was quickly starting to miss Montana very much. Once the tent was situated we got into the car, left Yellowstone and drove into the town where we would have cell phone service, Internet, and dinner!
By the time we finished up in town it was about 10 o'clock. We entered back into the park and it was pitch black. No street lights of any kind. We had about a 15 or 20 mile drive back to the site and knew we would have to keep our eyes pealed. About half way back to the site, on a narrow two lane road a car up ahead driving towards us stopped. Rob slowed down figuring that maybe something came out into the road, but because the cars lights were so bright it was hard to tell. As we got closer the car starting to drive again and passed us, as soon as it did this we were able to see the road in front of us much better. Walking in the middle of the road, in the same direction we were driving, was a huge bison. It was so big than it took up most of the lane next to us, so when Rob drove by it, he could almost stick out his hand and touch it! Of course he slowed way down in order to get a picture, however, I don't think the bison liked this too much because his enormous head turned in our direction. Rob later said that he thought the bison was heading right for the car and that is why he quickly pressed on the gas. Sadly we were not able to get a picture at that time. As soon as we got back to the campsite I bundled up and before I could think too much about all of the animals we had seen and everything that was living around us I figured my best bet was to just go right to sleep. Wish us luck in bear country! Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!
Before departing for Yellowstone we briefly visited the town of Missoula. As we hit the road I began to pray that the campsite in Yellowstone would be like the one we just spent the night at!
We stopped at a visitors center right before entering the park and picked up all the necessary maps, guides, and tips. Almost immediately upon entering this National Park we were greeted by a huge herd of elk. There were so many of them that some even spued out in the road blocking traffic. Park rangers had to come over and scare them off the street. Even with tons of people parking their cars and walking over to see these huge animals the elk just calmly walked across the street and sat on the grass on the opposite side of the road. They provided a great photo opp for everyone but I was a little concerned about seeing so much wildlife so soon. We still had at least an hour and a half drive to our campsite and I began to wonder just how much wildlife we would come across!
We took the long way to our campsite because we told that lots of wildlife has been spotted on the northeast side of the park near Tower Roosevelt. On our way to the spot we were told to visit, we spotted an antelope and a couple random buffalo. The landscape throughout the park was breathtaking. We stopped at a few scenic look outs where we got some wonderful pictures. We saw huge streams with water flowing quickly downstream and even came across a stunning waterfall. Without the I-phone we were not able to get ourselves in the pictures with all of this beautiful scenery! Actually now that I think about it, since Steph left with her I-phone most of our pictures only include scenery or attractions - we are no longer in the pictures! :)
Not much further down the road we came across several cars parked on the side of the road and people walking along the road with cameras. As we came closer and looked out into the open field we saw tons of bison. They ranged in size and age. There were several very large ones with their heads down chowing down on the grass. We were also able to see some babies, one in particular was nursing while their mom was eating. We followed the herd down the road watching them eat and interact with one another. After lots of amazing pictures we continued down the road where we saw tons more. Just about everywhere you looked you could see a bison. It is said that you see as many bison out here as you do squirrels at home!
We then drove through Canyon Village and Norris. Here is where we came across the next group of parked cars. We were really hoping that it would be something good and not more bison - they are really exciting to see, but at this point we have already seen so many. As we approached the group of cars parked on either side of the road I looked out my window and directly to my right was a GRIZZLY BEAR!!! It was in the middle of a hill about 15 yards from our car. Rob threw me the camera and because Matt isn't on the trip with us anymore our windows are so dirty so in order to capture a pic worthy of our photographer I had to put my window down! Snce I had the big lens on and had the camera zoomed in all the way this creature appeared much closer through my lens. This is why when it picked it's head up from eating and looked right at all of us onlookers I almost had a heart attack! Rob enjoyed this very much, we were a little too close and stayed for a little too long for me! Now that Rob's prayers were answered we once again continued down the road. Our next stop was a ranger station were Rob was able to pick up all his fishing supplies and permit, as well as get his questions answered and was given great helpful tips from the experts!
The rain was beginning to come down and it was going to be getting dark shortly so we headed directly to the campsite. With fingers crossed I was really hoping that we would not see any more wildlife because we were approaching our campsite. I didn't mind seeing them on the other side of the park but I would feel much more comfortable if we didn't come across any in the vicinity of our sleeping area. We pulled up and checked in with the ranger. The ranger handed me a piece of paper and asked me to read and sign it. It was an official document saying that I was aware I was in bear country and that I would follow all proper precautions and avoid feeding bears at all costs! Upon signing this paper I looked nervously at Rob and he asked the ranger if many bears are spotted in this area. He responded with, "Well actually, we do know of 2 cinnamon black bears that live next to this station. However, our rangers do a pretty good job of keeping them out of the camping area. If the bears ever get too close they are shot with bean bags or rubber bullets." Well now I was sure that between the rain and our 2 cinnamon friends I would be sleeping in the comforts of Coco tonight. My only saving grace was that we were staying in loop C of the campsite, so I figured that by the time we passed loops A and B we would be pretty far away from the bears. Was I wrong! Our campsite was about a 90 second drive away from the ranger station! Oh and even better, we had zero cell phone reception. If there was an emergency there were phones placed around the campsite where you could call 911. The one good part about our site was that it was right next the bathrooms. I decided to scoop them out as Rob pitched the tent. They were surprisingly very clean, but definitely missing something! SHOWERS! We would be spending two nights here and there is no place to shower?!?! This was a far cry from the site we just previously left in Montana and I was quickly starting to miss Montana very much. Once the tent was situated we got into the car, left Yellowstone and drove into the town where we would have cell phone service, Internet, and dinner!
By the time we finished up in town it was about 10 o'clock. We entered back into the park and it was pitch black. No street lights of any kind. We had about a 15 or 20 mile drive back to the site and knew we would have to keep our eyes pealed. About half way back to the site, on a narrow two lane road a car up ahead driving towards us stopped. Rob slowed down figuring that maybe something came out into the road, but because the cars lights were so bright it was hard to tell. As we got closer the car starting to drive again and passed us, as soon as it did this we were able to see the road in front of us much better. Walking in the middle of the road, in the same direction we were driving, was a huge bison. It was so big than it took up most of the lane next to us, so when Rob drove by it, he could almost stick out his hand and touch it! Of course he slowed way down in order to get a picture, however, I don't think the bison liked this too much because his enormous head turned in our direction. Rob later said that he thought the bison was heading right for the car and that is why he quickly pressed on the gas. Sadly we were not able to get a picture at that time. As soon as we got back to the campsite I bundled up and before I could think too much about all of the animals we had seen and everything that was living around us I figured my best bet was to just go right to sleep. Wish us luck in bear country! Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Day 22
Day twenty-two, July 30, 2011
It was quite the drive from Seattle to Missoula, Montana. Rob and I took turns driving and napping. The drive was pretty quiet and very uneventful aside from our competitions to see who could name all of the teams in the NHL, MLB, and NFL. Other than that the only thing we did was look at the amazing scenery around us. Montana, surprisingly, is an absolutely gorgeous state!
As soon as we arrived to the campsite I knew that this site was much more appropriate for me, as compared to our deserted site in The Redwood Forest. Number one, the site was plopped right smack in the middle of a large populated town. Number two, immediately under the welcome sign for the site was a sign that said FREE WiFi!!!! I was ecstatic. Then when we walked into the office to check in it got even better. There was a pool open until 10:30, free mini- golf, bathrooms and showers, an ice cream social, shops, and fire wood. We set up our tent and immediately connected to the Internet. I sat at the picnic table and caught up on the Bachelorette (I hope she picks JP!) while Rob sat on a lawn chair we purchased from Walmart and watched The Fringe. I-Pads, MACs, and smartphones in hand we looked like quite the campers! But it was a beautiful night and we have not had much down time so this was perfect. A couple hours later, our neighbors began to cook over campfires and light up grills, this was our cue to eat as well. However, instead of cooking we jumped into the car and drove to an Italian restaurant and bar. The sangria was amazing and I was a little disappointed when our food came out so quickly because I would have loved one or six more glasses! We packed up our leftovers headed back to the campsite where we jumped right back onto the computers and continued to catch up on shows and sports news! So far the first out of three straight nights of camping has gone pretty smoothly. Yellowstone National Park tomorrow! Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.
It was quite the drive from Seattle to Missoula, Montana. Rob and I took turns driving and napping. The drive was pretty quiet and very uneventful aside from our competitions to see who could name all of the teams in the NHL, MLB, and NFL. Other than that the only thing we did was look at the amazing scenery around us. Montana, surprisingly, is an absolutely gorgeous state!
As soon as we arrived to the campsite I knew that this site was much more appropriate for me, as compared to our deserted site in The Redwood Forest. Number one, the site was plopped right smack in the middle of a large populated town. Number two, immediately under the welcome sign for the site was a sign that said FREE WiFi!!!! I was ecstatic. Then when we walked into the office to check in it got even better. There was a pool open until 10:30, free mini- golf, bathrooms and showers, an ice cream social, shops, and fire wood. We set up our tent and immediately connected to the Internet. I sat at the picnic table and caught up on the Bachelorette (I hope she picks JP!) while Rob sat on a lawn chair we purchased from Walmart and watched The Fringe. I-Pads, MACs, and smartphones in hand we looked like quite the campers! But it was a beautiful night and we have not had much down time so this was perfect. A couple hours later, our neighbors began to cook over campfires and light up grills, this was our cue to eat as well. However, instead of cooking we jumped into the car and drove to an Italian restaurant and bar. The sangria was amazing and I was a little disappointed when our food came out so quickly because I would have loved one or six more glasses! We packed up our leftovers headed back to the campsite where we jumped right back onto the computers and continued to catch up on shows and sports news! So far the first out of three straight nights of camping has gone pretty smoothly. Yellowstone National Park tomorrow! Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.
Day 21
Day twenty-one,July 29, 2011
Back to the United States and more importantly to our cell phones and a GPS. Once again boarder crossing was smooth sailing. We were back in the states and our first stop was Walmart. We were determined not to look like rookie camper. What better place to prepare ourselves for our upcoming camping adventures than Walmart? We purchased some needed camping supplies and were off to Seattle.
Seattle was amazing! One of our favorite cities. There was so much to do and the folks of Seattle sure did keep us entertained. We spent most of the afternoon at the Pike Street Markets. Here the streets were lined with fresh produce vendors, who would throw samples of cherries, peaches and nectarines at you as you walked by; fresh fish market stands where fish were being thrown from the sidewalk to a man working behind the counter; souvenir shops, jewelry stands, and entertainment. For me this was the perfect scene; being right on the water, surrounded by tons of people, shops, and food! We took a lap and then our decided on our plan of attack. Rob was hooked on the sweet white cherries and was amazed at how huge the nectarines and peaches were. Now we just had to pick the vendor with the sweetest (and cleanest) fruit. We settled on one who let us try a piece of a white nectarine...super juicy and sweet. We grabbed our 2 1/2 pounds of nectarines (2 nectarines) and white cherries. Rob knew that trying the seafood at a place like this was a must. He settled on the crab cocktail (he loves him some crab!). At this point we were getting hungry and did not feel like eating and walking at the same time so we started to make our way to the park. On the way to the picnic area we passed one of the most famous parts of the market - the home of the original Starbucks. There were tons of people swarmed around this tiny coffee shop, but of course we stood on line and brought so e coffee. Rob insisted that it tasted so much different from Starbucks at home! :)
The picnic area attracted people of all kinds. Lots of tourists, some locals who were sun bathing on the open grass, local artist playing their instrument of choice for a few extra bucks, and then some less fortunate individuals who were homeless looking for something to eat or extra change. We did not stay here long at all because we had lots of shopping ahead of us but the experiences we had here were priceless. We found an opening along a wall sounding the grass where we could sit, eat our fruit and drink our Starbucks. Here is where we spotted the first two unique individuals. Two young girls were struggling to carry several huge bags across the walk way. They settled down next to a man who was playing his guitar and belting out classic 80s mixes. They began to quickly unpack their bags. They pulled 2 milk crates out of one a large black garbage jump, jumped up onto them and thats when they revealed their talent. These two girls were doing their best to drown out the man already stationed at this corner with the sweet tunes of their violins! Although, they would have made Olivia McPeek so proud, their melodies did not quite blend with the jams of the guitarist. In the middle of watching the events across the way unfold, I could not help but notice a homeless man sitting right across from us. I could not tell what he was doing but every time I looked at him he was staring at Rob and I. At first I did not pay too much attention but then I couldn't help it. This man was staring at us and every time I looked at him he quickly looked away and began to write on the notepad in his lap. Just as it started to get super creepy, I turned to Rob and told him that I think the man across the way is writing or drawing something about us. He asked "what man?" When I turned to point the man out to Rob, he was no longer sitting on the bench across from us but was about 2 steps away. He handed Rob a rolled up piece of paper and said "here you go son, this is free." We immediately unrolled the paper and sure enough it was a cartoon illustration of Rob and I. I KNEW IT! Right around this same moment, the quiet, open grass behind us became the meeting place for about 85 loud, annoying teenagers who were on some sort of summer camp trip. We were not done eating and relaxing but knew we had to move. We quickly picked up our belongings and moved to the other side of the park! And boy am I glad we did this!
We found an empty bench and once again tried to get a few minutes of relaxation in. Negative! There were so many distractions all around us. The first was yet another photo shoot that involved an AI. This girl was intent on capturing the absolute perfect shot of her and her boo. Before even getting into the shot, she positioned her bf from head to toe. She would cross his legs, then back away to see how it looked. Then rearrange his pose, back away and take a look. This poor guy just stood there, not saying a word, following her every command. Once he was situated in the perfect pose, she tried to figure out how she should position herself. To make this story even better, the entire time they were setting up for this picture she had a random person holding her camera waiting to snap away. I don't think that this man realized when he agreed to take a picture for this beautiful couple he would be standing there for 10 minutes. During this shoot, Rob spotted the next character. In the middle of the park, with his supplies spread out on the bench, an older gentleman was giving out $10 haircuts. His customers would put a towel over there shoulders and he would cut their hair right there! This was our signal. We figured the best way to get a picture of this was to get all of our stuff and snap one on our way out of the park. Needless to say we did not get our act together in time and the gentleman on the bench seemed to have been his last customer of the day. We were able to get a picture from far away but that was about it!
We took another lap through the market, bought some souvenirs and headed to Safeco field for the Seattle Mariners baseball game. The Mariners have been struggling greatly this season but just recently broke an 18 game losing streak. They were playing the Rays so we were really hoping they could pull off another win. We arrived to the game nice and early because we wanted to walk around and scope out the stadium. To our surprise, before the game there was a dedication to the late Seattle Supersonics. Which explains why there were more Supersonic jerseys than Mariner jerseys in the crowd. Famous, former players and coaches were introduced and stood out on the field to be honored by their diehard fans! The stadium was rocking during this dedication and the former players were definitely feeling the love and enjoying themselves. The game started shortly after the ceremony and the first chant that rang through the stadium was for the Supersonics! In fact, fans were more interested in the video clips of classic Supersonic moments that were played in between innings than the actual baseball game.
During the 45 minute long second inning the Rays scored 8 runs! Many fans stayed for a few more Let's Go Supersonics chants and even a "Bring Them Back" and then headed to the parking lots. People everywhere quickly began to filter out of the stadium, expect for a couple of lone rows way out in the upper deck section of right field. We were able to see them running up and down the aisles waving a Supersonic flag and hear them chanting all the way from behind home plate. In fact it seems as though most of the stadium was able to see and hear these insane fans because as the game went on, this section grew and grew. By the 7th inning the section was half full of screaming Supersonic fans who even made it up on the big screen a few times! During the 8th inning this group of crazy fans started a Congo line and started walking in and out of the rows in the upper deck. They made it past first base but then were stopped by security and forced to continue their chants through the halls. One crazy fan got confused and apparently thought the Congo line was going to meet out in center field because that is where he ended up! After a few sprints and darting away from security and cops he was brought down to the ground, arrested, and escorted off the field! What a game! After the explosion from the Rays in the second inning, the rest of the game was scoreless and ended In an 8 to 0 Rays victory. That's all for Seattle, off to Montana tomorrow. Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.
Back to the United States and more importantly to our cell phones and a GPS. Once again boarder crossing was smooth sailing. We were back in the states and our first stop was Walmart. We were determined not to look like rookie camper. What better place to prepare ourselves for our upcoming camping adventures than Walmart? We purchased some needed camping supplies and were off to Seattle.
Seattle was amazing! One of our favorite cities. There was so much to do and the folks of Seattle sure did keep us entertained. We spent most of the afternoon at the Pike Street Markets. Here the streets were lined with fresh produce vendors, who would throw samples of cherries, peaches and nectarines at you as you walked by; fresh fish market stands where fish were being thrown from the sidewalk to a man working behind the counter; souvenir shops, jewelry stands, and entertainment. For me this was the perfect scene; being right on the water, surrounded by tons of people, shops, and food! We took a lap and then our decided on our plan of attack. Rob was hooked on the sweet white cherries and was amazed at how huge the nectarines and peaches were. Now we just had to pick the vendor with the sweetest (and cleanest) fruit. We settled on one who let us try a piece of a white nectarine...super juicy and sweet. We grabbed our 2 1/2 pounds of nectarines (2 nectarines) and white cherries. Rob knew that trying the seafood at a place like this was a must. He settled on the crab cocktail (he loves him some crab!). At this point we were getting hungry and did not feel like eating and walking at the same time so we started to make our way to the park. On the way to the picnic area we passed one of the most famous parts of the market - the home of the original Starbucks. There were tons of people swarmed around this tiny coffee shop, but of course we stood on line and brought so e coffee. Rob insisted that it tasted so much different from Starbucks at home! :)
The picnic area attracted people of all kinds. Lots of tourists, some locals who were sun bathing on the open grass, local artist playing their instrument of choice for a few extra bucks, and then some less fortunate individuals who were homeless looking for something to eat or extra change. We did not stay here long at all because we had lots of shopping ahead of us but the experiences we had here were priceless. We found an opening along a wall sounding the grass where we could sit, eat our fruit and drink our Starbucks. Here is where we spotted the first two unique individuals. Two young girls were struggling to carry several huge bags across the walk way. They settled down next to a man who was playing his guitar and belting out classic 80s mixes. They began to quickly unpack their bags. They pulled 2 milk crates out of one a large black garbage jump, jumped up onto them and thats when they revealed their talent. These two girls were doing their best to drown out the man already stationed at this corner with the sweet tunes of their violins! Although, they would have made Olivia McPeek so proud, their melodies did not quite blend with the jams of the guitarist. In the middle of watching the events across the way unfold, I could not help but notice a homeless man sitting right across from us. I could not tell what he was doing but every time I looked at him he was staring at Rob and I. At first I did not pay too much attention but then I couldn't help it. This man was staring at us and every time I looked at him he quickly looked away and began to write on the notepad in his lap. Just as it started to get super creepy, I turned to Rob and told him that I think the man across the way is writing or drawing something about us. He asked "what man?" When I turned to point the man out to Rob, he was no longer sitting on the bench across from us but was about 2 steps away. He handed Rob a rolled up piece of paper and said "here you go son, this is free." We immediately unrolled the paper and sure enough it was a cartoon illustration of Rob and I. I KNEW IT! Right around this same moment, the quiet, open grass behind us became the meeting place for about 85 loud, annoying teenagers who were on some sort of summer camp trip. We were not done eating and relaxing but knew we had to move. We quickly picked up our belongings and moved to the other side of the park! And boy am I glad we did this!
We found an empty bench and once again tried to get a few minutes of relaxation in. Negative! There were so many distractions all around us. The first was yet another photo shoot that involved an AI. This girl was intent on capturing the absolute perfect shot of her and her boo. Before even getting into the shot, she positioned her bf from head to toe. She would cross his legs, then back away to see how it looked. Then rearrange his pose, back away and take a look. This poor guy just stood there, not saying a word, following her every command. Once he was situated in the perfect pose, she tried to figure out how she should position herself. To make this story even better, the entire time they were setting up for this picture she had a random person holding her camera waiting to snap away. I don't think that this man realized when he agreed to take a picture for this beautiful couple he would be standing there for 10 minutes. During this shoot, Rob spotted the next character. In the middle of the park, with his supplies spread out on the bench, an older gentleman was giving out $10 haircuts. His customers would put a towel over there shoulders and he would cut their hair right there! This was our signal. We figured the best way to get a picture of this was to get all of our stuff and snap one on our way out of the park. Needless to say we did not get our act together in time and the gentleman on the bench seemed to have been his last customer of the day. We were able to get a picture from far away but that was about it!
We took another lap through the market, bought some souvenirs and headed to Safeco field for the Seattle Mariners baseball game. The Mariners have been struggling greatly this season but just recently broke an 18 game losing streak. They were playing the Rays so we were really hoping they could pull off another win. We arrived to the game nice and early because we wanted to walk around and scope out the stadium. To our surprise, before the game there was a dedication to the late Seattle Supersonics. Which explains why there were more Supersonic jerseys than Mariner jerseys in the crowd. Famous, former players and coaches were introduced and stood out on the field to be honored by their diehard fans! The stadium was rocking during this dedication and the former players were definitely feeling the love and enjoying themselves. The game started shortly after the ceremony and the first chant that rang through the stadium was for the Supersonics! In fact, fans were more interested in the video clips of classic Supersonic moments that were played in between innings than the actual baseball game.
During the 45 minute long second inning the Rays scored 8 runs! Many fans stayed for a few more Let's Go Supersonics chants and even a "Bring Them Back" and then headed to the parking lots. People everywhere quickly began to filter out of the stadium, expect for a couple of lone rows way out in the upper deck section of right field. We were able to see them running up and down the aisles waving a Supersonic flag and hear them chanting all the way from behind home plate. In fact it seems as though most of the stadium was able to see and hear these insane fans because as the game went on, this section grew and grew. By the 7th inning the section was half full of screaming Supersonic fans who even made it up on the big screen a few times! During the 8th inning this group of crazy fans started a Congo line and started walking in and out of the rows in the upper deck. They made it past first base but then were stopped by security and forced to continue their chants through the halls. One crazy fan got confused and apparently thought the Congo line was going to meet out in center field because that is where he ended up! After a few sprints and darting away from security and cops he was brought down to the ground, arrested, and escorted off the field! What a game! After the explosion from the Rays in the second inning, the rest of the game was scoreless and ended In an 8 to 0 Rays victory. That's all for Seattle, off to Montana tomorrow. Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Day 20
Day twenty, July 28, 2011
We were finally able to get connected to the Internet so before leaving our room, we wrote down directions to every place we were going to visit today. We walked downstairs to grab something to eat from our free "continental breakfast". This when I realized yet again how much I miss Embassy Suites and Hampton Inns. The Happy Day's Inn interpretation of continental breakfast consisted of apples, 5 donuts, and water. We decided to pass on this offer.
Our first stop was Grouse Mountain. We ventured out to the peak of this massive mountain by means of a famous skyride lift. Once again we were sadly unprepared. I was the one who found this famous tourist attraction and was an advocate for stopping here but I guess I did not really think it through. I showed up to the bottom of the mountain and stood in line for the sky lift dressed in sandals and a tank top. When Rob and I scooped out the attire of the guests around us, we realized that most people were wearing jeans, sweatshirts, and sneakers. Then it hit us, we were going to be traveling to the top of a snow capped mountain...of course it will be cold up there! What can we do about it now? We boarded the sky lift and journeyed up about a mile above Vancouver. The scenery was stunning! But like I said parts of the mountain were still covered in snow!!! We were even told that there was skiing on the mountain all the way into June this year. It was about 50 degrees at the top of the mountain (once again according to Rob, I would beg to differ!).
After our 6 minute ride we reached the top. We headed directly to the grizzly bear habitat, however, they were still sleeping in their hut so instead we took the ski lift up even higher (to even colder temperatures!). From here we took an elevator up through the wind turbine to the highest point of the mountain. (Originally this was not part of the plan but when I heard the words"it's the only one in the world" I was sold. I did not even need to know the only one with what, I knew I had to do it. We paid the man and as I investigated further found out this wind turbine was the only one in the world with an elevator to the top....even more perfect!) Once at the top you were able to look down at the bay and the entire city of Vancouver. We were now 4,100 feet above sea level, what a view! And when you looked down you could see through the glass floor panels and look at what was below you. The next event, my favorite, the "world famous" and very funny lumberjack show. Through this comical performance lumberjacks took part in several competitions to see who was the strongest most experienced lumberjack. Of course our (very cute) lumberjack won. After the show the audience was given a chance to walk down and take pictures with the lumberjacks ( including our very cute one), but Rob had his mind set on our next stop! We walked to the theatre in the sky and watched a documentary on the history of this mountain and another movie on how the grizzly bears in this habitat were saved and brought to Grouse Mountain. After the movies it was time to descend down the mountain and move on to our next attraction.
We traveled only a short way down the road to one of the biggest tourist attractions in Vancouver the Capilano Suspension Bridge. Here we hiked through treetop trails and crossed the (quite wobbly) suspension bridge. My photographer and I separated for a brief moment because he saw a photo opp that he just could not pass up. At this time I walked over to a small pond and was watching the trout jump out of the water. My peaceful break was suddenly interrupted by an elaborate photo shoot (AI involved Steph). This girl took her shoes off, crossed over the sidewalk, and was standing the the rocks surrounding the pond. Her friend captured a few shots here but they did not stop. The next poses were of this young girl kneeling on the rocks. Again these shots must not have been sufficient, the girl began to lay on the rocks (only inches away from the pond). She went from legs sprawled out to laying her on stomach, then to her back, and right back to her stomach. This shoot had to have been about 10 minutes - I hope she got the shot she was looking for! Speaking of photo shoots, earlier in the trip Steph made an amazing suggestion. After the photo fiasco in Vegas ( when we asked Jeffrita to take our picture in front of the welcome to Vegas sign and she only got one small piece of the sign in the picture) she said we are only going to ask people with $600 cameras or more (another words experienced photographers) to take our pictures. Well I guess we are not the only ones who think like this because our very own photographer - Robert was asked to capture a beautiful moment of another family! I hope he did his csmeraband new fans proud!
With all of this hiking we were already starving and ready for dinner. We decided on another famous tourist attraction, the Spaghetti Factory. A great choice, still not like Mom's macaroni but it did curb the craving for homemade Italian food for the time being.
At this point we are a little more than half way done with our trip and Rob was quickly running out of clothes. We were on our feet all day, so we made it an early night and decided to go back to the hotel and take advantage of their washing machines on site. We figured that using the machines in our hotel would be easier than going to a laundry matt in another city. Of course when we arrived back to the hotel the machine was in use. Finally it was our turn. I walked down the stairs and began to follow the signs to the laundry room. It led me through a door to the first floor of guest rooms. The next door I opened looked like it led to a cellar or basement. I cautiously continued to follow the signs for the laundry room and walked down the stairs. Again there was another door marked laundry room so I walked out that door and next thing I knew I was outside in a parking garage. I tried to turn around and go back through the door but it locked behind me. I walked a few steps and saw yet another door labeled laundry room. I approached the door and tried to open it but it was locked! I walked through the small parking garage and tried to get my bearings. At this point I had no idea where the lobby was. I picked left and began to walk around the building. Sure enough after walking around the hotel I was back to the front lobby. My next trip to the laundry machine I was sure to get the key and bring Rob! Off to Seattle tomorrow! Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!
We were finally able to get connected to the Internet so before leaving our room, we wrote down directions to every place we were going to visit today. We walked downstairs to grab something to eat from our free "continental breakfast". This when I realized yet again how much I miss Embassy Suites and Hampton Inns. The Happy Day's Inn interpretation of continental breakfast consisted of apples, 5 donuts, and water. We decided to pass on this offer.
Our first stop was Grouse Mountain. We ventured out to the peak of this massive mountain by means of a famous skyride lift. Once again we were sadly unprepared. I was the one who found this famous tourist attraction and was an advocate for stopping here but I guess I did not really think it through. I showed up to the bottom of the mountain and stood in line for the sky lift dressed in sandals and a tank top. When Rob and I scooped out the attire of the guests around us, we realized that most people were wearing jeans, sweatshirts, and sneakers. Then it hit us, we were going to be traveling to the top of a snow capped mountain...of course it will be cold up there! What can we do about it now? We boarded the sky lift and journeyed up about a mile above Vancouver. The scenery was stunning! But like I said parts of the mountain were still covered in snow!!! We were even told that there was skiing on the mountain all the way into June this year. It was about 50 degrees at the top of the mountain (once again according to Rob, I would beg to differ!).
After our 6 minute ride we reached the top. We headed directly to the grizzly bear habitat, however, they were still sleeping in their hut so instead we took the ski lift up even higher (to even colder temperatures!). From here we took an elevator up through the wind turbine to the highest point of the mountain. (Originally this was not part of the plan but when I heard the words"it's the only one in the world" I was sold. I did not even need to know the only one with what, I knew I had to do it. We paid the man and as I investigated further found out this wind turbine was the only one in the world with an elevator to the top....even more perfect!) Once at the top you were able to look down at the bay and the entire city of Vancouver. We were now 4,100 feet above sea level, what a view! And when you looked down you could see through the glass floor panels and look at what was below you. The next event, my favorite, the "world famous" and very funny lumberjack show. Through this comical performance lumberjacks took part in several competitions to see who was the strongest most experienced lumberjack. Of course our (very cute) lumberjack won. After the show the audience was given a chance to walk down and take pictures with the lumberjacks ( including our very cute one), but Rob had his mind set on our next stop! We walked to the theatre in the sky and watched a documentary on the history of this mountain and another movie on how the grizzly bears in this habitat were saved and brought to Grouse Mountain. After the movies it was time to descend down the mountain and move on to our next attraction.
We traveled only a short way down the road to one of the biggest tourist attractions in Vancouver the Capilano Suspension Bridge. Here we hiked through treetop trails and crossed the (quite wobbly) suspension bridge. My photographer and I separated for a brief moment because he saw a photo opp that he just could not pass up. At this time I walked over to a small pond and was watching the trout jump out of the water. My peaceful break was suddenly interrupted by an elaborate photo shoot (AI involved Steph). This girl took her shoes off, crossed over the sidewalk, and was standing the the rocks surrounding the pond. Her friend captured a few shots here but they did not stop. The next poses were of this young girl kneeling on the rocks. Again these shots must not have been sufficient, the girl began to lay on the rocks (only inches away from the pond). She went from legs sprawled out to laying her on stomach, then to her back, and right back to her stomach. This shoot had to have been about 10 minutes - I hope she got the shot she was looking for! Speaking of photo shoots, earlier in the trip Steph made an amazing suggestion. After the photo fiasco in Vegas ( when we asked Jeffrita to take our picture in front of the welcome to Vegas sign and she only got one small piece of the sign in the picture) she said we are only going to ask people with $600 cameras or more (another words experienced photographers) to take our pictures. Well I guess we are not the only ones who think like this because our very own photographer - Robert was asked to capture a beautiful moment of another family! I hope he did his csmeraband new fans proud!
With all of this hiking we were already starving and ready for dinner. We decided on another famous tourist attraction, the Spaghetti Factory. A great choice, still not like Mom's macaroni but it did curb the craving for homemade Italian food for the time being.
At this point we are a little more than half way done with our trip and Rob was quickly running out of clothes. We were on our feet all day, so we made it an early night and decided to go back to the hotel and take advantage of their washing machines on site. We figured that using the machines in our hotel would be easier than going to a laundry matt in another city. Of course when we arrived back to the hotel the machine was in use. Finally it was our turn. I walked down the stairs and began to follow the signs to the laundry room. It led me through a door to the first floor of guest rooms. The next door I opened looked like it led to a cellar or basement. I cautiously continued to follow the signs for the laundry room and walked down the stairs. Again there was another door marked laundry room so I walked out that door and next thing I knew I was outside in a parking garage. I tried to turn around and go back through the door but it locked behind me. I walked a few steps and saw yet another door labeled laundry room. I approached the door and tried to open it but it was locked! I walked through the small parking garage and tried to get my bearings. At this point I had no idea where the lobby was. I picked left and began to walk around the building. Sure enough after walking around the hotel I was back to the front lobby. My next trip to the laundry machine I was sure to get the key and bring Rob! Off to Seattle tomorrow! Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!
Day 19
Day nineteen, July 27, 2011
Although we had a wonderful night and truly enjoyed Marshall's company, we do not know if Portland was more than a one night stop! Before getting on the road Marshall insisted that we get breakfast at a place called the Tin Shed. It is one of his favorites and assured us that we would not be disappointed. The previous night he was on top of his game with both the grilled cheese cart and then again with the Poutine so of course we took his word for it. Once again Portland did impress us with their fancy version of eggs accompanied with cheesy grits and a biscuit. After breakfast we said our goodbyes and were off to Canada.
As I was driving, Rob decided to google things that were and were not allowed to be brought into Canada, even though at this point if it was in our car it pretty much had to enter Canada with us! (I guess better late than never though!) Rob informed me that our car should get through with no problems. Our only issues, alcohol and weapons! I mean really how could anyone visit wine country and not want to take a little (10 bottles) home with them?!?!? So for the next couple of minutes we discussed whether border patrol (if they found our stash) would consider our purchases in wine country an "excessive amount" of liquor. Then it hit us - our weapon drawer! Since we are doing some camping and were not sure what wildlife we may encounter, we wanted to be prepared (oh and also for when we drove through certain southern states). Now I began to slightly panic but because we still had so much camping ahead of us, I was also not ready to discard these crucial self defense tools. So we decided to take a chance.
As we approached the boarder patrolman, I handed Rob the passports and took a deep breath. Jeffrey was a rather large man and began with a series of serious questions. Where are you coming from? How long ago did you leave for this trip? What brings you to Canada? How long will you be staying here? Suddenly his mood changed. He not only recognized but was also intrigued by the international symbol on our passport covers - the New York Yankees sign!! He asked us a couple of questions about the Yankees and MLB and we were off. We never existed the car, popped the trunk, or even opened the bubble!
Now the major challenge! Navigating Canada with no cell phones or GPS. Good thing Rob was once again thinking ahead and wrote down directions from the boarder to our hotel. So other than sitting in traffic and trying to convert all the metric units we were seeing into US Customary, it was smooth sailing.
We checked into our hotel but for some reason could not get our computers to connect to the Internet. It was still pretty early and since our stay in Vancouver will be shortly livec we decided to head right out to visit Downtown. This time we had no directions and really had no destination - totally winging it! On our way to the car we figured we would first ask our front desk employee, who we assumed would be friendly and helpful just like most we have encountered (recall Susan from Las Vegas who led us to Cappos the delicious, entertaining speak easy restaurant). Boy were we wrong, our AI friend was a far call from helpful. He told Rob that in order to get downtown "you can drive through town or get on a highway" and was unsure how long it would us to get there. We took a chance and figured our instincts would be better than anything he could offer us. After all how hard could it be, we will just head toward the huge skyscrapers Once again we were wrong, after asking a few people for directions (none being very helpful), several U-turns, a few choice words, our 20 mile drive took us a little over an hour. I was really beginning to miss Matilda (my GPS) and began to think we would have to eat at Church's Chicken next to our hotel.
We finally found our way and choose Stanley Park as our first stop. Here our photographer captured some beautiful scenic shots. The city of Vancouver is so pretty, it sits on the bay and behind the water are beautiful snow topped mountains. We arrived to a great photo spot just in time to see the sun set behind the mountains. After walking around and taking in the landscape we called it a night and headed back to the room. Hopefully to tomorrow Canada will bring us better luck. Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!
Although we had a wonderful night and truly enjoyed Marshall's company, we do not know if Portland was more than a one night stop! Before getting on the road Marshall insisted that we get breakfast at a place called the Tin Shed. It is one of his favorites and assured us that we would not be disappointed. The previous night he was on top of his game with both the grilled cheese cart and then again with the Poutine so of course we took his word for it. Once again Portland did impress us with their fancy version of eggs accompanied with cheesy grits and a biscuit. After breakfast we said our goodbyes and were off to Canada.
As I was driving, Rob decided to google things that were and were not allowed to be brought into Canada, even though at this point if it was in our car it pretty much had to enter Canada with us! (I guess better late than never though!) Rob informed me that our car should get through with no problems. Our only issues, alcohol and weapons! I mean really how could anyone visit wine country and not want to take a little (10 bottles) home with them?!?!? So for the next couple of minutes we discussed whether border patrol (if they found our stash) would consider our purchases in wine country an "excessive amount" of liquor. Then it hit us - our weapon drawer! Since we are doing some camping and were not sure what wildlife we may encounter, we wanted to be prepared (oh and also for when we drove through certain southern states). Now I began to slightly panic but because we still had so much camping ahead of us, I was also not ready to discard these crucial self defense tools. So we decided to take a chance.
As we approached the boarder patrolman, I handed Rob the passports and took a deep breath. Jeffrey was a rather large man and began with a series of serious questions. Where are you coming from? How long ago did you leave for this trip? What brings you to Canada? How long will you be staying here? Suddenly his mood changed. He not only recognized but was also intrigued by the international symbol on our passport covers - the New York Yankees sign!! He asked us a couple of questions about the Yankees and MLB and we were off. We never existed the car, popped the trunk, or even opened the bubble!
Now the major challenge! Navigating Canada with no cell phones or GPS. Good thing Rob was once again thinking ahead and wrote down directions from the boarder to our hotel. So other than sitting in traffic and trying to convert all the metric units we were seeing into US Customary, it was smooth sailing.
We checked into our hotel but for some reason could not get our computers to connect to the Internet. It was still pretty early and since our stay in Vancouver will be shortly livec we decided to head right out to visit Downtown. This time we had no directions and really had no destination - totally winging it! On our way to the car we figured we would first ask our front desk employee, who we assumed would be friendly and helpful just like most we have encountered (recall Susan from Las Vegas who led us to Cappos the delicious, entertaining speak easy restaurant). Boy were we wrong, our AI friend was a far call from helpful. He told Rob that in order to get downtown "you can drive through town or get on a highway" and was unsure how long it would us to get there. We took a chance and figured our instincts would be better than anything he could offer us. After all how hard could it be, we will just head toward the huge skyscrapers Once again we were wrong, after asking a few people for directions (none being very helpful), several U-turns, a few choice words, our 20 mile drive took us a little over an hour. I was really beginning to miss Matilda (my GPS) and began to think we would have to eat at Church's Chicken next to our hotel.
We finally found our way and choose Stanley Park as our first stop. Here our photographer captured some beautiful scenic shots. The city of Vancouver is so pretty, it sits on the bay and behind the water are beautiful snow topped mountains. We arrived to a great photo spot just in time to see the sun set behind the mountains. After walking around and taking in the landscape we called it a night and headed back to the room. Hopefully to tomorrow Canada will bring us better luck. Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Day 18
Day eighteen, July 26, 2011
After a cold, sleepless night we were back in the car headed to Portland. First we had to drive through the narrow, winding, dirt roads of the Red Wood Forest. As we existed the National Park, our surroundings did not change very much. We were in a deserted area surrounded by massive trees. Our first priority of the day was to find a gas station, we did not think this would be a huge undertaking but boy were we wrong. There was no sign of civilization anywhere. Our gas gauge was quickly closing in on E and this was definitely not a place that I would feel comfortable in being stranded. We spied a gas station off to the right and breathed a sigh of relief. But to our dismay this gas station was abandoned, similar to most places in this area. We began to feel a little uneasy and regretted talking badly about all of the hitchhikers we have been encountering because I was beginning to feel like Rob might have to become one! Thank god for him a little ways up the road had a working gas station that must have been pumping gold, due to the price they charged per gallon. But we had no other choice. Rob, always thinking, found a way to take full advantage of this pricey stop. While I visited the connivence store Rob decided to perform a self wash on his car. After all, the long dirt roads did a job on Coco. He used the free supplies offered to him - windshield squeegee, dirty, soapy water, and paper towels! Needless to say I think Coco looked better before all of the dirty streaks left from the paper towels. There was not too much we could do to fix it at that point so back on the road we went.
The trip was rather uneventful. The roads were empty and all we saw were huge Red Woods on either side of us. Our next stop was lunch. While leaving the parking lot Rob thought he noticed a machine where you could vacuum your car. As we approached this rundown shack and parking lot, sure enough for 50 cents you could use the hose to vacuum the car. Once Rob was done he jumped in the car, slammed his door, and shouted "this is great, but I think I found the holy grail!". Right behind us stood an underpass where you can park your car and for $1.25 you were given 4 minutes to wash it. When Rob dropped the coins into this machine he failed to read far enough to see this time limit. Before we could even grab the hose (which very much resembled a power washer hose) the time began to tick down. I opted to stay in the car during this wash and really did not know what was going on, so all I saw was Rob grab the hose off the wall and begin to speed around the car, quickly hosing it down. He then pressed a button on the machine and suds started spewing out. During the final rinse, he was going around the car so quickly, I thought he may break out in a jog. I did not think we were in that much of a rush to get to Portland, so I figured he was just in so much competition with himself or something and was trying to complete the fastest car wash ever. When all was said and done, he was able to finish the wash in the given time and Coco looked as good as new.
We were all set to head straight to Portland where we would be staying with Rob's friend Marshall. Portland welcomed us with very unique looking buildings and bridges everywhere. We met Marshall at his apartment and headed straight for food. Marshall insisted we eat at one of his favorite food cart (similar to a grease truck in NJ) - a grilled cheese one. Here is where we learned several interesting facts about Portland. For example, everyone is Portland rides a bike! So much so that many streets we drove on have actual bike lanes and all bikers must follow the laws automobiles have or they will be subject to tickets. We also learned that there is no sales tax in Portland and no fees to cross any of their bridges. Almost everyone is Portland is decked out with piercing all over their bodies and this is only the first thing that make the people of this city unique. The individuals that reside in this city certainly are very interesting ( to say the least) and beat to their own drum.
From here we walked to the famous donut shop - Voodoo Donuts. This place certainly did not disappoint and I am certain that this strange city is the perfect home for a place like it. You could smell the do it's from a few blocks away and when you walked in all you saw were donuts. Donuts covered in icing, coco puffs, fruit loops, peanut butter, gum, and even bacon. We did not go too crazy with the kinds we choose but they were very good. Now in order to really appreciate why this special bakery fits in perfect with this city, I will have to explain the atmosphere and scenery surrounding this famous establishment. The first shocker was when I learned that people can get married inside the walls of Voodoo. Legit wedding are held inside this donut making store. Next, because it was such a beautiful afternoon we decided to eat outside. When we approached the "eating area" I thought I was being led into an antique yard sale. One option that a customer could choose to enjoy his or her donut in was a old barber's car, if that didn't float your boat you could always walk over and buckle into the three person airplane seats, or take a seat on a couch from 1920. Everywhere you looked there was strange furniture that was all put together to form a nice seating area for paying customers!
We continued to walk around the city and make our way back to Marshall's apartment. After we relaxed and freshened up we were ready to hit the town. Marshall was a fantastic tour guide and showed us all of the good spots. We walked around the river and made our way to the other side of town. Here is where I was able to confirm everything I had been thinking about throughout the day. This next event was so strange that it will be difficult to put into words but we will do our best. The event took place in Powell's, a landmark of Portland, being that it is one of the largest book stores . Neither Rob nor myself are too into reading, however, this building was huge. Each floor was color coded and the aisles went on forever. As we were looking for a book for Rob to read while on our next camping adventure I took part in something that blew me away. It all started when Marshall recognized a man that had walked down the steps, he called out his name, said hello, and walked over to him. Rob and I continued to browse through the books in front of us when Marshall called us over to introduce us to his friends, August and Tippy. August seemed like a typical art student, friendly but a little different. Then there was Tippy. How do I begin to help you to understand the interaction of the next 5 minutes? First I'll explain Tippy's outfit to you. She had on leopard stocking covered in holes, a skirt that resembled a tutu, a stripped tank top of some shirt, topped with a blazer and shoulder pads. Her and arms and face were then covered in purple, pink, and red war paint. She was also covered in stamps and a type of homemade "jewelry" that I have never seen before. As I reached out my hand to introduce myself she awkwardly grabbed and held my hand. She continued to smile and slur some words from the English language that I had a difficult time recognizing. After a few awkward minutes, we said our goodbyes and continued on our walk. Barely 3 steps out the door we immediately asked Marshall what her deal was and he assured us she was not a very close friend, but more of an associate from school. He also informed us that Tippy is always like that and she actually went light on the face paint today, it's usually much more exquisite. He then went on to tell us where the name Tippy came from, because this is not her real name, Marshall thinks it might be Kimberly. Apparently Tippy was the name of Kimberly's imaginary childhood friend, no shock there. I'm certain she still has a group of imaginary friends, but this is why we liked Portland so much, everyone is their own person and does not try to change according to society. Or maybe all of the Portland society is this way and they do adapt to fit in, we are not sure, but we are certain we will never call Portland home. After that encounter we were on to our last food cart for the night who specialize in French fries. We were instructed to order Poutine, fries with gravy and cheddar cheese curds. We were not disappointed at all, this was a great way to end the night and see all of the local stops instead of the touristy attractions. All in all Portland was certainly an adventure and we would like to thank Marshall for his hospitality and showing us around town.
Until next time,
Peace, Love and Happiness The Nomads
After a cold, sleepless night we were back in the car headed to Portland. First we had to drive through the narrow, winding, dirt roads of the Red Wood Forest. As we existed the National Park, our surroundings did not change very much. We were in a deserted area surrounded by massive trees. Our first priority of the day was to find a gas station, we did not think this would be a huge undertaking but boy were we wrong. There was no sign of civilization anywhere. Our gas gauge was quickly closing in on E and this was definitely not a place that I would feel comfortable in being stranded. We spied a gas station off to the right and breathed a sigh of relief. But to our dismay this gas station was abandoned, similar to most places in this area. We began to feel a little uneasy and regretted talking badly about all of the hitchhikers we have been encountering because I was beginning to feel like Rob might have to become one! Thank god for him a little ways up the road had a working gas station that must have been pumping gold, due to the price they charged per gallon. But we had no other choice. Rob, always thinking, found a way to take full advantage of this pricey stop. While I visited the connivence store Rob decided to perform a self wash on his car. After all, the long dirt roads did a job on Coco. He used the free supplies offered to him - windshield squeegee, dirty, soapy water, and paper towels! Needless to say I think Coco looked better before all of the dirty streaks left from the paper towels. There was not too much we could do to fix it at that point so back on the road we went.
The trip was rather uneventful. The roads were empty and all we saw were huge Red Woods on either side of us. Our next stop was lunch. While leaving the parking lot Rob thought he noticed a machine where you could vacuum your car. As we approached this rundown shack and parking lot, sure enough for 50 cents you could use the hose to vacuum the car. Once Rob was done he jumped in the car, slammed his door, and shouted "this is great, but I think I found the holy grail!". Right behind us stood an underpass where you can park your car and for $1.25 you were given 4 minutes to wash it. When Rob dropped the coins into this machine he failed to read far enough to see this time limit. Before we could even grab the hose (which very much resembled a power washer hose) the time began to tick down. I opted to stay in the car during this wash and really did not know what was going on, so all I saw was Rob grab the hose off the wall and begin to speed around the car, quickly hosing it down. He then pressed a button on the machine and suds started spewing out. During the final rinse, he was going around the car so quickly, I thought he may break out in a jog. I did not think we were in that much of a rush to get to Portland, so I figured he was just in so much competition with himself or something and was trying to complete the fastest car wash ever. When all was said and done, he was able to finish the wash in the given time and Coco looked as good as new.
We were all set to head straight to Portland where we would be staying with Rob's friend Marshall. Portland welcomed us with very unique looking buildings and bridges everywhere. We met Marshall at his apartment and headed straight for food. Marshall insisted we eat at one of his favorite food cart (similar to a grease truck in NJ) - a grilled cheese one. Here is where we learned several interesting facts about Portland. For example, everyone is Portland rides a bike! So much so that many streets we drove on have actual bike lanes and all bikers must follow the laws automobiles have or they will be subject to tickets. We also learned that there is no sales tax in Portland and no fees to cross any of their bridges. Almost everyone is Portland is decked out with piercing all over their bodies and this is only the first thing that make the people of this city unique. The individuals that reside in this city certainly are very interesting ( to say the least) and beat to their own drum.
From here we walked to the famous donut shop - Voodoo Donuts. This place certainly did not disappoint and I am certain that this strange city is the perfect home for a place like it. You could smell the do it's from a few blocks away and when you walked in all you saw were donuts. Donuts covered in icing, coco puffs, fruit loops, peanut butter, gum, and even bacon. We did not go too crazy with the kinds we choose but they were very good. Now in order to really appreciate why this special bakery fits in perfect with this city, I will have to explain the atmosphere and scenery surrounding this famous establishment. The first shocker was when I learned that people can get married inside the walls of Voodoo. Legit wedding are held inside this donut making store. Next, because it was such a beautiful afternoon we decided to eat outside. When we approached the "eating area" I thought I was being led into an antique yard sale. One option that a customer could choose to enjoy his or her donut in was a old barber's car, if that didn't float your boat you could always walk over and buckle into the three person airplane seats, or take a seat on a couch from 1920. Everywhere you looked there was strange furniture that was all put together to form a nice seating area for paying customers!
We continued to walk around the city and make our way back to Marshall's apartment. After we relaxed and freshened up we were ready to hit the town. Marshall was a fantastic tour guide and showed us all of the good spots. We walked around the river and made our way to the other side of town. Here is where I was able to confirm everything I had been thinking about throughout the day. This next event was so strange that it will be difficult to put into words but we will do our best. The event took place in Powell's, a landmark of Portland, being that it is one of the largest book stores . Neither Rob nor myself are too into reading, however, this building was huge. Each floor was color coded and the aisles went on forever. As we were looking for a book for Rob to read while on our next camping adventure I took part in something that blew me away. It all started when Marshall recognized a man that had walked down the steps, he called out his name, said hello, and walked over to him. Rob and I continued to browse through the books in front of us when Marshall called us over to introduce us to his friends, August and Tippy. August seemed like a typical art student, friendly but a little different. Then there was Tippy. How do I begin to help you to understand the interaction of the next 5 minutes? First I'll explain Tippy's outfit to you. She had on leopard stocking covered in holes, a skirt that resembled a tutu, a stripped tank top of some shirt, topped with a blazer and shoulder pads. Her and arms and face were then covered in purple, pink, and red war paint. She was also covered in stamps and a type of homemade "jewelry" that I have never seen before. As I reached out my hand to introduce myself she awkwardly grabbed and held my hand. She continued to smile and slur some words from the English language that I had a difficult time recognizing. After a few awkward minutes, we said our goodbyes and continued on our walk. Barely 3 steps out the door we immediately asked Marshall what her deal was and he assured us she was not a very close friend, but more of an associate from school. He also informed us that Tippy is always like that and she actually went light on the face paint today, it's usually much more exquisite. He then went on to tell us where the name Tippy came from, because this is not her real name, Marshall thinks it might be Kimberly. Apparently Tippy was the name of Kimberly's imaginary childhood friend, no shock there. I'm certain she still has a group of imaginary friends, but this is why we liked Portland so much, everyone is their own person and does not try to change according to society. Or maybe all of the Portland society is this way and they do adapt to fit in, we are not sure, but we are certain we will never call Portland home. After that encounter we were on to our last food cart for the night who specialize in French fries. We were instructed to order Poutine, fries with gravy and cheddar cheese curds. We were not disappointed at all, this was a great way to end the night and see all of the local stops instead of the touristy attractions. All in all Portland was certainly an adventure and we would like to thank Marshall for his hospitality and showing us around town.
Until next time,
Peace, Love and Happiness The Nomads
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Day 17
Day seventeen, July 25, 2011
Well ladies and gentlemen here it is, the story of our first night camping! Today's destination was the Red Wood Forest in northern California. We had hopes in camping at the Gold Bluff Beach Campsite, however, it was a first come first serve basis. So in order to be sure that we would be getting a prime spot, once again we got up bright and early and began our travel north.
Today's trip was about 6 hours long. We drove up the northern coast of California through heavily forested areas lined with giant redwood trees. These trees were unlike any we have seen before, some of the trunks were as big as our little Cobalt we are driving cross country. After driving through some very unique towns we finally reached our destination. Fingers crossed in hopes there was still a campsite left for us, we made a left down the dirt road en route for the welcome center. The road was winding around giant trees and Jeff was doing his best to avoid and gaping potholes along the way. Luckily we reached the park ranger station in time for him to inform us there were still some sites available. He told us to continue down the road until we reached the campsite and choose any one we wanted. As we drove the final couple miles through the winding trees the forest began to open up and we spotted the shore. We made our way down to the campground and quickly realized we may be the least prepared campers here. As we searched for a campsite we noticed others had large tents with grills and bags of food and all we had were pretzels and potato chips, looks like we were either going to being eating chips for dinner or bartering with our new neighbors. The campsite was shaped like a circle and had 26 campsites around its perimeter. Each campsite consisted of a picnic bench, a fire pit, and room for a tent. Since we were so unprepared we realized that we only needed to use one out of these three amenities - the area for the tent. We had no food to eat at the table and nothing to burn for a fire.
After pitching the tent, that we were assured was a two person tent (it would fit 2 midgets not 2 grown adults) we decided to go for a walk on the beach. The Pacific Ocean was freezing cold but the beach was covered in cool, silky, smooth, black sand perfect for walking on. We spotted something out in the water but it was hard to tell what it might be. Every once in a while we would see a small black head pop up between the white caps. We continued walking down the beach and then spotted a dead seal washed up onto the shore :(. So we concluded that is what we may have seen out in the distance. We made our way back to the campsite and decided Sun Chips and Cheetos just would not cut it for both lunch and dinner so we got into the car and began to head 10 miles back into town to get some food.
Once in town we again had two options, an old run down store that was simply called "Restaurant" or another called "Snack Shack." We went with Snack Shack and were pleasantly surprised, the food was rather good. While waiting for our food we sat near two locals and began to wonder why any one would want to live in this one horse town. There is nothing for 15 miles in each direction. We wrapped up our food and jetted back to the car. The next mission - firewood. Like we mentioned earlier there was nothing in this run down town for miles so of course we showed up the ranger station empty handed. Luckily, the ranger station was prepared for rookie campers like ourselves and we bought a bundle of wood from him. We continued down this narrow dirt path all the way back to our site. Thank god for the bubble on the top of the Cobalt because that made us appear a little more legit. Our brown paper bags filled with a chicken sandwich, a cheeseburger, grilled cheese, and French fries from Snack Shack certainly did not!
After arriving back at our site Jen decided to take a nap in the tent and I decided to go for a little hike. Camera in hand and I was off. The trail I trekked on was called Fern Canyon Trail, named because the trail runs along a stream at the bottom of a 40 foot canyon whose walls are lined with five finger ferns. The trail was very scenic and as I arrived back to the tent Jen was passed out. So instead of waking her I decided to grab a beach towel and go take a nap on the beach. After taking an hour and a half nap on the beach I was awoken by and alarmed Jennifer who thought I was lost LoLzz.
It was now time to start a fire, luckily I grabbed a match book at the big Texas steak ranch aka 72 ounces of hell. It took a few attempts but we finally got the fire burning. While sitting around the fire off in the distance we hear a faint noise. As we listen closer we hear the sweet sound of a violin playing at the other side of the campground. Could we be so lucky to be in the presence of Olivia McPeak a second time?!?!?!?! Unfortunately not, it is just an amateur striving to be the next Olivia, good luck to him! No on can replace a great such as Olivia.
Our night concluded a little earlier than expected because our fire burned out. At first this was not too bad because some of our neighbors (again so much more prepared than us) had there sites lit up with lanterns and spot lights. Suddenly around 10pm, everyone's lights went out and it was impossible to see anything even inches away. We decided it was time to finish up Words with Friends and head to bed.
The tent really was not that bad at all. It actually looks much smaller from the outside. However, once again we (more so me) were reminded just how unprepared we were. The temperature "dipped down to about 55 degrees" (according to Rob, if you ask me I think it may have "dipped down" to 40). We had a beach quilt and an old comforter to lay on and then two small throw blankets to drape over us. Needless to say I have never been so cold in my life. I could not stop shivering and shaking. At one point I was laying directly on the bottom part of the tent because I crawled under every layer possible. Good thing this time we are only camping one night. Number one priority before our next camping adventure is to find a Walmart so that we will be better prepared! Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.
Well ladies and gentlemen here it is, the story of our first night camping! Today's destination was the Red Wood Forest in northern California. We had hopes in camping at the Gold Bluff Beach Campsite, however, it was a first come first serve basis. So in order to be sure that we would be getting a prime spot, once again we got up bright and early and began our travel north.
Today's trip was about 6 hours long. We drove up the northern coast of California through heavily forested areas lined with giant redwood trees. These trees were unlike any we have seen before, some of the trunks were as big as our little Cobalt we are driving cross country. After driving through some very unique towns we finally reached our destination. Fingers crossed in hopes there was still a campsite left for us, we made a left down the dirt road en route for the welcome center. The road was winding around giant trees and Jeff was doing his best to avoid and gaping potholes along the way. Luckily we reached the park ranger station in time for him to inform us there were still some sites available. He told us to continue down the road until we reached the campsite and choose any one we wanted. As we drove the final couple miles through the winding trees the forest began to open up and we spotted the shore. We made our way down to the campground and quickly realized we may be the least prepared campers here. As we searched for a campsite we noticed others had large tents with grills and bags of food and all we had were pretzels and potato chips, looks like we were either going to being eating chips for dinner or bartering with our new neighbors. The campsite was shaped like a circle and had 26 campsites around its perimeter. Each campsite consisted of a picnic bench, a fire pit, and room for a tent. Since we were so unprepared we realized that we only needed to use one out of these three amenities - the area for the tent. We had no food to eat at the table and nothing to burn for a fire.
After pitching the tent, that we were assured was a two person tent (it would fit 2 midgets not 2 grown adults) we decided to go for a walk on the beach. The Pacific Ocean was freezing cold but the beach was covered in cool, silky, smooth, black sand perfect for walking on. We spotted something out in the water but it was hard to tell what it might be. Every once in a while we would see a small black head pop up between the white caps. We continued walking down the beach and then spotted a dead seal washed up onto the shore :(. So we concluded that is what we may have seen out in the distance. We made our way back to the campsite and decided Sun Chips and Cheetos just would not cut it for both lunch and dinner so we got into the car and began to head 10 miles back into town to get some food.
Once in town we again had two options, an old run down store that was simply called "Restaurant" or another called "Snack Shack." We went with Snack Shack and were pleasantly surprised, the food was rather good. While waiting for our food we sat near two locals and began to wonder why any one would want to live in this one horse town. There is nothing for 15 miles in each direction. We wrapped up our food and jetted back to the car. The next mission - firewood. Like we mentioned earlier there was nothing in this run down town for miles so of course we showed up the ranger station empty handed. Luckily, the ranger station was prepared for rookie campers like ourselves and we bought a bundle of wood from him. We continued down this narrow dirt path all the way back to our site. Thank god for the bubble on the top of the Cobalt because that made us appear a little more legit. Our brown paper bags filled with a chicken sandwich, a cheeseburger, grilled cheese, and French fries from Snack Shack certainly did not!
After arriving back at our site Jen decided to take a nap in the tent and I decided to go for a little hike. Camera in hand and I was off. The trail I trekked on was called Fern Canyon Trail, named because the trail runs along a stream at the bottom of a 40 foot canyon whose walls are lined with five finger ferns. The trail was very scenic and as I arrived back to the tent Jen was passed out. So instead of waking her I decided to grab a beach towel and go take a nap on the beach. After taking an hour and a half nap on the beach I was awoken by and alarmed Jennifer who thought I was lost LoLzz.
It was now time to start a fire, luckily I grabbed a match book at the big Texas steak ranch aka 72 ounces of hell. It took a few attempts but we finally got the fire burning. While sitting around the fire off in the distance we hear a faint noise. As we listen closer we hear the sweet sound of a violin playing at the other side of the campground. Could we be so lucky to be in the presence of Olivia McPeak a second time?!?!?!?! Unfortunately not, it is just an amateur striving to be the next Olivia, good luck to him! No on can replace a great such as Olivia.
Our night concluded a little earlier than expected because our fire burned out. At first this was not too bad because some of our neighbors (again so much more prepared than us) had there sites lit up with lanterns and spot lights. Suddenly around 10pm, everyone's lights went out and it was impossible to see anything even inches away. We decided it was time to finish up Words with Friends and head to bed.
The tent really was not that bad at all. It actually looks much smaller from the outside. However, once again we (more so me) were reminded just how unprepared we were. The temperature "dipped down to about 55 degrees" (according to Rob, if you ask me I think it may have "dipped down" to 40). We had a beach quilt and an old comforter to lay on and then two small throw blankets to drape over us. Needless to say I have never been so cold in my life. I could not stop shivering and shaking. At one point I was laying directly on the bottom part of the tent because I crawled under every layer possible. Good thing this time we are only camping one night. Number one priority before our next camping adventure is to find a Walmart so that we will be better prepared! Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Day 16
Day sixteen, July 24, 2011
We did not have anything planned this morning so we were FINALLY able to sleep in! I made sure to treasure every moment spent in the hotel because I knew that the following evening would be spent on a campground in a tent. I took a nice, long, hot shower, dried my hair, organized my luggage and then Steph and I caught up on GH. Our first mission this morning was to find the famous street that was the home of one of our favorite TV families ever - the Tanner residence! We needed to find the house that became famous for it's appearance on the opening credits of Full House. Steph was able to find out the name of the street that it was located on - Broderick Street. We were only on this road for a couple of seconds when we spotted the famous front door. We had the exact address (1709) but did not need it, how can anyone not recognize this historic landmark? After posing for a few pictures we wanted to grab a bite to eat before the Giants game.
I had found a restaurant in one of the tourist guides that looked good. We ventured down to the piers again and stumbled upon it - Beach Street Grill. If anyone ever visits San Fran this is a must! Yes, it was only breakfast but it was some of the best breakfast we have ever had. Rob ordered the Crabs Benedict and Steph and I split the fresh blueberry pancakes and an omelet filled with bacon, cheese, tomatoes, avocados, and sour cream. To top it all off they also supplied us with fresh, homemade strawberry preservative. Delicious!
With stomachs full we made a quick stop at a souvenir shop and then headed to the AT&T Ballpark. The stadium is literally right on the bay. We sat in the bleachers out in center field several rows up. We admired the stadium from our seats and watched the first 5 innings, then we decided it was time for a drink, garlic fries, and to explore the beautiful stadium. First we headed back to the outfield to get a better view of the bay. Rob and I got in line for margaritas while Steph went to snap some photos. Next thing I knew, a nice black man approached me in line and began to engage in conversation. It soon became apparent that this man was not interested in me but instead in Rob (catch my drift?). Anyway, he saw my Yankee shirt and asked me where I was from. He made a discussed facial expression when said NJ and said that he was sorry to hear that. I then asked him where his Giants attire was and he responded by saying "I'm an attorney, I don't wear that s*it". I was a little taken back but hey the next thing he asked me was what I was drinking, so I figured it would be in my best interest to keep this conversation going. It was not long until he also turned to Rob to find out what he was drinking as well. By this time we were approaching the beginning of the line quickly so I tried to get Steph's attention to see if he would buy us a whole round of drinks. During the wait on line, I found out that he was dressed in his Sunday best because he actually came directly from church. He explained that he was told in church that he would be going to this baseball game. He did not seem too happy to be here but seemed to be trying to make the best of it - on the liquor line. Sure enough Steph did make it back in time and this lovely man bought us a whole round of drinks. Now at this point I'm thinking, great now we are going to have to entertain him and make nice, but was I ever wrong. He handed us our drinks, took his change and told us to enjoy San Fran. Sweet, I'm really beginning to love this city even more!
We made our way around the outfield to where the "splash zone" was located. In this area of the bay people rent kayaks and other boats and spend the afternoon here in the hopes that a ball will leave the stadium and travel into the bay. Along the right field wall there is a splash zone count...so far 57 balls were hit into the bay. We continued around the stadium and found the famous garlic fries. We circled the whole stadium taking everything in. We ended the tour by going underneath the bleachers where there were more viewing places and concession stands. Of course we could not leave before trying the famous fry bread topped with Nutella and whipped cream! The weather was perfect for a baseball game, stadium was gorgeous, food was delicious, and crowd was rocking what more could we have asked for? And then came the perfect ending to this game, the Giants were up only 2 to 1 going into the 9th so we were lucky enough to see the one and only Brian Wilson enter and close out this game!
Sadly our next stop was Oakland airport. This time we made sure to leave in plenty of time so that Steph would not have any problems catching her flight. We crossed the Bay Bridge which gave us a tremendous view of Alcatrez, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the bay. We passed the Oakland Raiders and Oakland A's stadiums on the way. Steph arrived to the airport with plenty of time to spare, we said our goodbyes and Rob and I headed back to the piers.
These piers are what caused me to fall in love with San Fran. As Rob explained it best, "there is just so much going on here and I love it all". We began at the one end and made our way all the way to the opposite side. Along the way we saw a variety of entertainment - singers, dance, clowns, balloon animal makers, and then even one man dressed up as a dog. We walked in and out of just about every shop and decided to cross the street where we saw a huge groups of people all with cameras in hand. We arrived just in time, a group of boys were about to have a dance off. It would be a dance off between the young ones and the more experienced boys. It was so intense, we saw dance moves I didn't think were possible. Break dances that looked like they hurt too much to ever want to do again and even some gymnast moves that blew us away. The older boys definitely got my vote, but I do have the entire show on video so you can be the judge.
We continued down the pier where we found our next act - a magician/ comedian. He also gave an award winning performance, too bad his voluntary assistant from the audience, Derek, was so dull. When the magician asked for audience participation, Derek quickly pointed to his friend who was standing in front of him. Unfortunately for Derek, and for all of us watching, the magician choose Derek. Rather than just being a good sport and listening to the rules of the trick, Derek, probably in an embarrassed reaction, tried to be a jokester himself, but failed miserably. Anyway, he finally got the rules down and the magician was able to continue with his final trick. He stood up on a see-saw that he had constructed and juggled 5 knives...it was rather impressive but his jokes and strip tease were even funnier. We continued walking and shopping until we turned a corner to Pier 39. We began to hear weird animal noises when we realized that out on the floating docks were tons of sea lions. They were going in and out of the water and making lots of noise.
From here we figured it was about time for dinner. We ate at the Wipeout Bar and Grill. The biggest adventure that we encountered here was the bathroom situation. Rob decided to venture back first and when it was my turn he wished me luck and said that all he could tell me was that is was back in the red and white tent. As I approached the tent all I saw was a row of sinks with both men and women standing at them. I was a little hesitant but made my way in anyway. After walking all the way in, I realized that each stall was separate and meant for both men and women and the huge trough used as a sink was meant for sharing. When I got back to the table, Rob informed me that during his experience to the bathroom when he walked into the tent the only people he saw at the sink were women so he quickly turned around and existed the area. He approached someone who worked there and again asked where the restrooms were. After being assured that he was in the right place he walked in and tried again! Once again we choose a great place, great food, great atmosphere, and excellent drinks.
Out final destination for tonight was going to be an ice cream parlor called Bi-Rite Creamery. We came across the name of this restaurant in a book that Rob had picked up before we left NJ and included famous restaurants to eat at across the country. This shop received rave reviews and when we drove past it the night before the line was out the door and down the block. Again we knew it must be good and we had to stop there. We pulled up, again the line down the block, and hopped onto it. Once again we were not disappointed. This was by far the best ice cream either if us has ever eaten.
We headed back to the room to make sure all of our belongings were together because tomorrow we will be camping for the first time. Wish us, by that I mean ME luck! Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!
We did not have anything planned this morning so we were FINALLY able to sleep in! I made sure to treasure every moment spent in the hotel because I knew that the following evening would be spent on a campground in a tent. I took a nice, long, hot shower, dried my hair, organized my luggage and then Steph and I caught up on GH. Our first mission this morning was to find the famous street that was the home of one of our favorite TV families ever - the Tanner residence! We needed to find the house that became famous for it's appearance on the opening credits of Full House. Steph was able to find out the name of the street that it was located on - Broderick Street. We were only on this road for a couple of seconds when we spotted the famous front door. We had the exact address (1709) but did not need it, how can anyone not recognize this historic landmark? After posing for a few pictures we wanted to grab a bite to eat before the Giants game.
I had found a restaurant in one of the tourist guides that looked good. We ventured down to the piers again and stumbled upon it - Beach Street Grill. If anyone ever visits San Fran this is a must! Yes, it was only breakfast but it was some of the best breakfast we have ever had. Rob ordered the Crabs Benedict and Steph and I split the fresh blueberry pancakes and an omelet filled with bacon, cheese, tomatoes, avocados, and sour cream. To top it all off they also supplied us with fresh, homemade strawberry preservative. Delicious!
With stomachs full we made a quick stop at a souvenir shop and then headed to the AT&T Ballpark. The stadium is literally right on the bay. We sat in the bleachers out in center field several rows up. We admired the stadium from our seats and watched the first 5 innings, then we decided it was time for a drink, garlic fries, and to explore the beautiful stadium. First we headed back to the outfield to get a better view of the bay. Rob and I got in line for margaritas while Steph went to snap some photos. Next thing I knew, a nice black man approached me in line and began to engage in conversation. It soon became apparent that this man was not interested in me but instead in Rob (catch my drift?). Anyway, he saw my Yankee shirt and asked me where I was from. He made a discussed facial expression when said NJ and said that he was sorry to hear that. I then asked him where his Giants attire was and he responded by saying "I'm an attorney, I don't wear that s*it". I was a little taken back but hey the next thing he asked me was what I was drinking, so I figured it would be in my best interest to keep this conversation going. It was not long until he also turned to Rob to find out what he was drinking as well. By this time we were approaching the beginning of the line quickly so I tried to get Steph's attention to see if he would buy us a whole round of drinks. During the wait on line, I found out that he was dressed in his Sunday best because he actually came directly from church. He explained that he was told in church that he would be going to this baseball game. He did not seem too happy to be here but seemed to be trying to make the best of it - on the liquor line. Sure enough Steph did make it back in time and this lovely man bought us a whole round of drinks. Now at this point I'm thinking, great now we are going to have to entertain him and make nice, but was I ever wrong. He handed us our drinks, took his change and told us to enjoy San Fran. Sweet, I'm really beginning to love this city even more!
We made our way around the outfield to where the "splash zone" was located. In this area of the bay people rent kayaks and other boats and spend the afternoon here in the hopes that a ball will leave the stadium and travel into the bay. Along the right field wall there is a splash zone count...so far 57 balls were hit into the bay. We continued around the stadium and found the famous garlic fries. We circled the whole stadium taking everything in. We ended the tour by going underneath the bleachers where there were more viewing places and concession stands. Of course we could not leave before trying the famous fry bread topped with Nutella and whipped cream! The weather was perfect for a baseball game, stadium was gorgeous, food was delicious, and crowd was rocking what more could we have asked for? And then came the perfect ending to this game, the Giants were up only 2 to 1 going into the 9th so we were lucky enough to see the one and only Brian Wilson enter and close out this game!
Sadly our next stop was Oakland airport. This time we made sure to leave in plenty of time so that Steph would not have any problems catching her flight. We crossed the Bay Bridge which gave us a tremendous view of Alcatrez, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the bay. We passed the Oakland Raiders and Oakland A's stadiums on the way. Steph arrived to the airport with plenty of time to spare, we said our goodbyes and Rob and I headed back to the piers.
These piers are what caused me to fall in love with San Fran. As Rob explained it best, "there is just so much going on here and I love it all". We began at the one end and made our way all the way to the opposite side. Along the way we saw a variety of entertainment - singers, dance, clowns, balloon animal makers, and then even one man dressed up as a dog. We walked in and out of just about every shop and decided to cross the street where we saw a huge groups of people all with cameras in hand. We arrived just in time, a group of boys were about to have a dance off. It would be a dance off between the young ones and the more experienced boys. It was so intense, we saw dance moves I didn't think were possible. Break dances that looked like they hurt too much to ever want to do again and even some gymnast moves that blew us away. The older boys definitely got my vote, but I do have the entire show on video so you can be the judge.
We continued down the pier where we found our next act - a magician/ comedian. He also gave an award winning performance, too bad his voluntary assistant from the audience, Derek, was so dull. When the magician asked for audience participation, Derek quickly pointed to his friend who was standing in front of him. Unfortunately for Derek, and for all of us watching, the magician choose Derek. Rather than just being a good sport and listening to the rules of the trick, Derek, probably in an embarrassed reaction, tried to be a jokester himself, but failed miserably. Anyway, he finally got the rules down and the magician was able to continue with his final trick. He stood up on a see-saw that he had constructed and juggled 5 knives...it was rather impressive but his jokes and strip tease were even funnier. We continued walking and shopping until we turned a corner to Pier 39. We began to hear weird animal noises when we realized that out on the floating docks were tons of sea lions. They were going in and out of the water and making lots of noise.
From here we figured it was about time for dinner. We ate at the Wipeout Bar and Grill. The biggest adventure that we encountered here was the bathroom situation. Rob decided to venture back first and when it was my turn he wished me luck and said that all he could tell me was that is was back in the red and white tent. As I approached the tent all I saw was a row of sinks with both men and women standing at them. I was a little hesitant but made my way in anyway. After walking all the way in, I realized that each stall was separate and meant for both men and women and the huge trough used as a sink was meant for sharing. When I got back to the table, Rob informed me that during his experience to the bathroom when he walked into the tent the only people he saw at the sink were women so he quickly turned around and existed the area. He approached someone who worked there and again asked where the restrooms were. After being assured that he was in the right place he walked in and tried again! Once again we choose a great place, great food, great atmosphere, and excellent drinks.
Out final destination for tonight was going to be an ice cream parlor called Bi-Rite Creamery. We came across the name of this restaurant in a book that Rob had picked up before we left NJ and included famous restaurants to eat at across the country. This shop received rave reviews and when we drove past it the night before the line was out the door and down the block. Again we knew it must be good and we had to stop there. We pulled up, again the line down the block, and hopped onto it. Once again we were not disappointed. This was by far the best ice cream either if us has ever eaten.
We headed back to the room to make sure all of our belongings were together because tomorrow we will be camping for the first time. Wish us, by that I mean ME luck! Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!
Day 15
Day fifteen, July 23, 2011
Today was going to be bitter sweet, we would be spending the entire day in wine country, but on the other hand we had to say goodbye to Matt and Steph. Our day started off bright and early, when we were picked up by John at 8:15 sharp. We were a little concerned when we met John because he was anything but friendly. We were really hoping that John was just the shuttle driver and not going to be our tour guide as well. We got to the office, checked in, and reported to the orange bus. Steph of course was on her A game and jetted off to the nearest coffee shop while we were waiting for the others to check in. After everyone boarded our bus the last person to enter was our tour guide - John. Although John does need to work on his public speaking skills and maybe even some social skills as well, he sure did know an immense amount of information about San Fran, wine country, and wine making. Steph concluded that he was probably saving his voice during the hotel pick up's for his big performance on the hour long drive to Napa Valley. John did a lot of talking but it was hard for us to recall everything that he said because the combination of John's sweet tone in his voice and the fact that it was still early put us right to sleep.
The first winery we stopped at welcomed us with a glass of white wine. We were only at this stop for about 45 minutes, we tasted several different wines, browsed the gift shop and purchased some goodies.
The next stop was Huntsville, here we were given an hour and a half to shop and grab lunch. When we exited the bus we admired our surroundings, it was absolutely beautiful. We choose to eat at Pacific Blues Cafe. This restaurant was nicely decorated and had the option of sitting outside on the porch. With this is mind and also the fact that it was one of the first restaurants we saw as we departed from the bus (we were starving we did not eat breakfast!) we were sold. This ended being up a fantastic choice, the food was delicious and the wine was excellent. On the way in to this outdoor shopping center we saw a huge line forming outside of a bakery. We did not recognize the name of this bakery and had no idea what they even sold but by the looks of the line and the amount of people surrounding this tiny bakery, we knew it had to be good. We paid for our meal and quickly walked over to where the crowd was standing in a line. It was called Bouchon Bakery, we anxiously awaited our turn and tried our hardest to sneak a peak at what was inside and what we were actually in line for. When we finally got inside, we were certainly not disappointed. The smell was incredible and there were so many different pastries to choose from. We made our decisions and began to walk back to the bus. By this point we were running a couple of minutes behind schedule, however, we saw two other people from our bus still waiting in the bakery line, "at least we won't be the last ones back" we thought. We gingerly approached the bus, only to find a full bus of faces looking our way. The bus driver did a final count, shut the door, and we were off. We realized that the people we recognized on the bakery line were ones that we had picked up earlier that morning from the hotel, however, at the office they were put on a different bus tour. Ooppss, but let me tell you those couple of minutes that everyone had to wait for us was totally worth it. This bakery can give Carlo's bakery a run for their money.
Back on the road heading into Napa Valley for our next tasting. This time we were brought outside to see the grapes growing and learn more about how the crops are grown. We were then poured a second glass of wine and headed off to the barrel room where the wine is aged. Then our favorite part, back to the main store entrance for more tasting. Rob and Steph did not waste any time, they just kept refilling those glasses. After a few minutes we looked around the room and once again realized that we were the only people from our tour left. Steph began to get a little frustrated "what the hell, didn't these people pay to go on a wine tour?? Why is everyone in such a rush?". Needless to say she was not pleased to be rushed through her tasting!
We had one more stop, we were determined to not be the last ones to get on the bus but at the same time we also wanted to be sure to get the most out of this last winery. Of course they saved the best for last. This vineyard was remarkable. It looked fancy and elegant. Once again we were greeted at the door with a glass of white wine. We were then led into a large room where Mark took over. He began talking about the wine industry as he continued to pour out more samples of wines. This is when I spotted the reason for the constant rushing through the previous wineries. Not only were we among rookie winos but also a couple nonwine drinkers! Now why on earth would one sign up for a wine tour if they were not interested in drinking wine. One woman clearly could not handle her liquor and refused Mark's offer of the second wine. She soon exited the room and was found out in the lobby ordering a pizza. There were two other women (AI's) who did not even have a glass in hand. No wonder they were able to rush out of each winery so quickly!
Back to Mark, he was very proud of the business that he was in and loved to talk about it. He was informative about how the crops were grown and the steps that must be taken in order to produce the best wine. About 10 minutes into Mark's monologue, I could not help but be distracted by the two Asian girls who choose not to partake in the wine tasting festivities. I kept my eyes on them to be sure that what I was seeing was truly happening. After confirming, I quickly leaned over to Steph and Rob and told them to check these girls out. While everyone was sitting around the outside of an oversized dining room table listening to Mark preach about how this vineyard only produces the most high quality wines, these two girls were having their own individual photo shoot. Now you may be thinking that we cannot criticize these girls too much because indeed one of the members in our group is known for her late night photo shoots. However, she did assure us that hers have never and will never occur in public like the ones that we were seeing before our very own eyes. Now okay I know that we have all taken our cameras and snapped a picture of ourselves or our group when no one else was available to capture the moment for you. These girls, one in particular was taking this to a whole new level. She was putting her sunglasses on and off, hair up and done, and showing the camera every facial expression imaginable. She even was rotating her body trying to find the best angle for lighting purposes. We were so intrigued by our new friend that we could not take our eyes off this self absorbed beauty. We weren't totally sure if Steph was staring because she was being entertained like Rob and I were or if she was holding herself back from running over and giving this poor girl some tips, or maybe she was even taking some mental notes and finding some new poses for the shoot that will inevitably happen this evening. Either way this was a great way to end the tour.
As we boarded the bus, Steph informed John that her luggage was back at the office because she was going to need to hail a cab and go directly to the airport to catch her 7:15 flight. The ride back to San Fran was a little over an hour and a gave us the perfect opportunity to sneak a quick nap in. Next thing I knew it was 5:15 and we were back at the Red Coat Motor Lodge. We quickly said goodbye to Steph and went back to our room to relax. In the mean time Rob had received a text message from Steph at 5:45 saying that she was only now arriving back to the office, where she left her luggage. Rob heard from her again a few minutes later saying that she was unable to flag down a cab and the number that she had was not working. I went online to see if her flight was on time and sure enough it was. I gave her a call around 6:00 and still she had no cab, she sounded very upset and said that cabs were refusing to drive her to the airport because the traffic to get there was too heavy. Rob and I jumped in the car to pick her up and try to get her to the airport that was about 20 miles away. We found her at the corner, where our tour had began that morning, with all of her luggage in tow. She quickly piled into the car and began making calls to the airport. It became clear only a few minutes into the trip to the airport that there would be no way she would make her flight. After calming down and composing herself, we tried to look on the bright side, she would get to spend an extra night with us!!!! Just then Rob also realized that we had an extra ticket to the baseball game the next day. Perfect! So Steph decided to change her flight and rather than catch the first flight the next morning, she decided to fly home the following evening....great 24 MORE HOURS!!
After this fiasco we went back to the room to freshen up and the made our way down to the famous Fishermen's Wharf. We window shopped and walked along the piers looking for a place to eat dinner. We passed by many street vendors who were selling fresh clam chowder soup in bread bowls and fresh crab legs. After viewing many different menus we decided on a place called Nonnative Rose Trattoria. We sat outside under ceiling heaters and watched the crowds of people walking by. Steph had her first bowl of clam chowder and fell in love! The rest of us also enjoyed our food. We walked around the piers a little more after dinner, but after such a long day we decided to head back to the room and get a good night sleep. Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!
Today was going to be bitter sweet, we would be spending the entire day in wine country, but on the other hand we had to say goodbye to Matt and Steph. Our day started off bright and early, when we were picked up by John at 8:15 sharp. We were a little concerned when we met John because he was anything but friendly. We were really hoping that John was just the shuttle driver and not going to be our tour guide as well. We got to the office, checked in, and reported to the orange bus. Steph of course was on her A game and jetted off to the nearest coffee shop while we were waiting for the others to check in. After everyone boarded our bus the last person to enter was our tour guide - John. Although John does need to work on his public speaking skills and maybe even some social skills as well, he sure did know an immense amount of information about San Fran, wine country, and wine making. Steph concluded that he was probably saving his voice during the hotel pick up's for his big performance on the hour long drive to Napa Valley. John did a lot of talking but it was hard for us to recall everything that he said because the combination of John's sweet tone in his voice and the fact that it was still early put us right to sleep.
The first winery we stopped at welcomed us with a glass of white wine. We were only at this stop for about 45 minutes, we tasted several different wines, browsed the gift shop and purchased some goodies.
The next stop was Huntsville, here we were given an hour and a half to shop and grab lunch. When we exited the bus we admired our surroundings, it was absolutely beautiful. We choose to eat at Pacific Blues Cafe. This restaurant was nicely decorated and had the option of sitting outside on the porch. With this is mind and also the fact that it was one of the first restaurants we saw as we departed from the bus (we were starving we did not eat breakfast!) we were sold. This ended being up a fantastic choice, the food was delicious and the wine was excellent. On the way in to this outdoor shopping center we saw a huge line forming outside of a bakery. We did not recognize the name of this bakery and had no idea what they even sold but by the looks of the line and the amount of people surrounding this tiny bakery, we knew it had to be good. We paid for our meal and quickly walked over to where the crowd was standing in a line. It was called Bouchon Bakery, we anxiously awaited our turn and tried our hardest to sneak a peak at what was inside and what we were actually in line for. When we finally got inside, we were certainly not disappointed. The smell was incredible and there were so many different pastries to choose from. We made our decisions and began to walk back to the bus. By this point we were running a couple of minutes behind schedule, however, we saw two other people from our bus still waiting in the bakery line, "at least we won't be the last ones back" we thought. We gingerly approached the bus, only to find a full bus of faces looking our way. The bus driver did a final count, shut the door, and we were off. We realized that the people we recognized on the bakery line were ones that we had picked up earlier that morning from the hotel, however, at the office they were put on a different bus tour. Ooppss, but let me tell you those couple of minutes that everyone had to wait for us was totally worth it. This bakery can give Carlo's bakery a run for their money.
Back on the road heading into Napa Valley for our next tasting. This time we were brought outside to see the grapes growing and learn more about how the crops are grown. We were then poured a second glass of wine and headed off to the barrel room where the wine is aged. Then our favorite part, back to the main store entrance for more tasting. Rob and Steph did not waste any time, they just kept refilling those glasses. After a few minutes we looked around the room and once again realized that we were the only people from our tour left. Steph began to get a little frustrated "what the hell, didn't these people pay to go on a wine tour?? Why is everyone in such a rush?". Needless to say she was not pleased to be rushed through her tasting!
We had one more stop, we were determined to not be the last ones to get on the bus but at the same time we also wanted to be sure to get the most out of this last winery. Of course they saved the best for last. This vineyard was remarkable. It looked fancy and elegant. Once again we were greeted at the door with a glass of white wine. We were then led into a large room where Mark took over. He began talking about the wine industry as he continued to pour out more samples of wines. This is when I spotted the reason for the constant rushing through the previous wineries. Not only were we among rookie winos but also a couple nonwine drinkers! Now why on earth would one sign up for a wine tour if they were not interested in drinking wine. One woman clearly could not handle her liquor and refused Mark's offer of the second wine. She soon exited the room and was found out in the lobby ordering a pizza. There were two other women (AI's) who did not even have a glass in hand. No wonder they were able to rush out of each winery so quickly!
Back to Mark, he was very proud of the business that he was in and loved to talk about it. He was informative about how the crops were grown and the steps that must be taken in order to produce the best wine. About 10 minutes into Mark's monologue, I could not help but be distracted by the two Asian girls who choose not to partake in the wine tasting festivities. I kept my eyes on them to be sure that what I was seeing was truly happening. After confirming, I quickly leaned over to Steph and Rob and told them to check these girls out. While everyone was sitting around the outside of an oversized dining room table listening to Mark preach about how this vineyard only produces the most high quality wines, these two girls were having their own individual photo shoot. Now you may be thinking that we cannot criticize these girls too much because indeed one of the members in our group is known for her late night photo shoots. However, she did assure us that hers have never and will never occur in public like the ones that we were seeing before our very own eyes. Now okay I know that we have all taken our cameras and snapped a picture of ourselves or our group when no one else was available to capture the moment for you. These girls, one in particular was taking this to a whole new level. She was putting her sunglasses on and off, hair up and done, and showing the camera every facial expression imaginable. She even was rotating her body trying to find the best angle for lighting purposes. We were so intrigued by our new friend that we could not take our eyes off this self absorbed beauty. We weren't totally sure if Steph was staring because she was being entertained like Rob and I were or if she was holding herself back from running over and giving this poor girl some tips, or maybe she was even taking some mental notes and finding some new poses for the shoot that will inevitably happen this evening. Either way this was a great way to end the tour.
As we boarded the bus, Steph informed John that her luggage was back at the office because she was going to need to hail a cab and go directly to the airport to catch her 7:15 flight. The ride back to San Fran was a little over an hour and a gave us the perfect opportunity to sneak a quick nap in. Next thing I knew it was 5:15 and we were back at the Red Coat Motor Lodge. We quickly said goodbye to Steph and went back to our room to relax. In the mean time Rob had received a text message from Steph at 5:45 saying that she was only now arriving back to the office, where she left her luggage. Rob heard from her again a few minutes later saying that she was unable to flag down a cab and the number that she had was not working. I went online to see if her flight was on time and sure enough it was. I gave her a call around 6:00 and still she had no cab, she sounded very upset and said that cabs were refusing to drive her to the airport because the traffic to get there was too heavy. Rob and I jumped in the car to pick her up and try to get her to the airport that was about 20 miles away. We found her at the corner, where our tour had began that morning, with all of her luggage in tow. She quickly piled into the car and began making calls to the airport. It became clear only a few minutes into the trip to the airport that there would be no way she would make her flight. After calming down and composing herself, we tried to look on the bright side, she would get to spend an extra night with us!!!! Just then Rob also realized that we had an extra ticket to the baseball game the next day. Perfect! So Steph decided to change her flight and rather than catch the first flight the next morning, she decided to fly home the following evening....great 24 MORE HOURS!!
After this fiasco we went back to the room to freshen up and the made our way down to the famous Fishermen's Wharf. We window shopped and walked along the piers looking for a place to eat dinner. We passed by many street vendors who were selling fresh clam chowder soup in bread bowls and fresh crab legs. After viewing many different menus we decided on a place called Nonnative Rose Trattoria. We sat outside under ceiling heaters and watched the crowds of people walking by. Steph had her first bowl of clam chowder and fell in love! The rest of us also enjoyed our food. We walked around the piers a little more after dinner, but after such a long day we decided to head back to the room and get a good night sleep. Peace, love, and happiness, the Nomads!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)