Portland... one big commune.

Today was a really long day. After trying to find a good place in the Redwoods with the biggest, most lush trees I didn't leave until almost 4 o'clock. I was one mile away from the Oregon/California state line when I got a speeding ticket. Of course I sped thru Oregon anyway, some people never learn their lesson. I was ready to get to Portland and see my friends, Aaron and Kelly. It's always nice to see a familiar face when you've been traveling this long. When I arrived, it was almost nine and me and Aaron went and had a beer, (Hamm's beer  is Portland's PBR, and is quite delicious), and a bite to eat. He showed me around a little and the next morning I did a four mile stroll around the city. Meeting up with Amber at this coffee shop called Fine Grinds, I met Luke and Ruby. Ohhh Ruby, he was a true joy to be around and I was a little disappointed that I only got to hang out with these two for about three minutes. We ate raspberries and sunbathed in his back yard for a couple of hours then I walked back to my friends place where I was staying.  Aaron and Kelly moved here last year and he had the opportunity to open his own piercing studio called, The Velvet Elvis. Well, I had planned on getting my yearly tattoo at some point on this trip, so this was probably as good of a time if any. Of course Aaron would know who to recommend, and Dan, was a terrific artist. He gave me a great deal and did a superb job. Very pleased. So far every time we roll in town people want to take us out on the town, but me and Kelly my last evening here did face masks and polished our toes. They were in the process of moving so I helped them pack up the kitchen and tried to reduce some stress on their part. Portland to me has it figured out. Everything here just makes sense. People literally take their yards out and put gardens in. Growing food, always leaving unwanted items on the corners for others and walking down the street in the middle of the night was not the least bit intimidating.  Portland is like  one big commune. Fantastic! 

Redwoods

Got off to a late start, left my jacket, went back, ate breakfast, then finally got moving.  Today was trying. Liver failing, over exposed to strangers and no alone time was taking a toll. Sunburned, wind-chapped and over all just exhausted, I was ready to get to the wilderness. It seemed like 300 miles was never going to end. Patrick Point was our campground for the evening, and the next morning we made our coffee/tea and walked this trail that took us to the rocky edge overlooking the ocean. Later we drove thru the Redwoods and it seemed like there was just not enough time to see everything that there was to see. On a trip like this you get 3 minutes in everyplace. Off to Portland late in the afternoon again, one mile before leaving the California state line I got a speeding ticket. LAME.

San Francisco...Haight-Ashbury

The ride up the Pacific Coast was really fun. It got a little intense at times, and the wind was pretty heavy, but weather comes and goes, and after awhile, the moments that suck don't even matter anymore because the whole journey has been rockin'. Everyday is a new adventure. It was only a 75 mile ride today, which was nice. Once I got to San Francisco, I got a little turned around and asked how to get to Haight-Ashbury, the man I asked says, " You mean where all the hippies are?"  This made me laugh. Anyway, once again the people we stayed with were absolutely amazing. We stayed with a friend of a friend. Ben, and his two roommates, Aaron and Kaley. They were great hosts and were so kind to show us around the city. We went to meet Ben at his work so we could at least meet the person who was giving up his room for us, and Aaron, who was a bartender there, gave us a few Russian and French glasses of wine. Ambers' friend Jim managed another wine bar, did the same.  I saw Twin Peaks, went shopping (which was a little out of control)and drove over the Golden Gate bridge three times (leaving items behind have been frequent). Conquering one town at a time, indeed.    

Santa Cruz

I made it the coast during sunset, and I'm not gonna lie, I had another emotional moment. I have finally reach the other side. 3000 miles I've driven. I called Amber and tried to meet up with her and as I lapped the downtown area three times, these guys that gave me directions earlier, just made me stop. They were like, where in world are you trying to get to? Well, Mike, Chad, Joe and Munchkin :D, ended up taking me in for a beer at the El Palomar Restaurant, and Amber found me. They were the greatest group of fellas. Mike let us stay on his futon and the next day we all went to Brighton Beach. My friend Abby and John just so happen to be here from Knoxville, so that made it even better. We will be meeting in San Francisco in a couple days. Mike has been surfing his whole life and had a great set up for himself. He even had two goats, Luke and Layla. Layla had a cute little pink collar. So after a few hours at the beach, I took off on hwy 1 to go to San Francisco where Amber met me a few hours later. Thank you so much Santa Cruz fellas for taking care of us. 

Death Valley/ Yosemite Park

Well I knew we would be renting a trailer, because adding the Southwest added almost 1000 extra miles, so 400 miles thru Death Valley was not something I cared to do. Its usually 103 degrees and gas is pretty rare, but as our luck would have it, it was 89 degrees and some summer showers. Which was nice on Amber's car (Toyota Matrix), pulling a trailer up a mountain. We didn't arrive to the east side of Yosemite National Park until 10 o'clock at night and decided to drive thru Tioga pass (rt 120) so in the morning we could get rid of the trailer. Well, at 13000 ft elevation pulling a trailer had us doing the top speed of 30mph so it was 1:00 am before we got to this little town of Mariposa.  Amber and I decided to stay in the only hotel room within a 75 mile radius, and the campsites were all full. Pure exhaustion, Amber smashed her finger so bad under the trailer and blacked out twice. We finally got her to the room and we both  just died in are sleep.  The next day we tossed a coin trying to decide if we wanted to backtrack 65 miles back into Yosemite to go to Glacier Point or head to the California coast, it landed on heads, so we went to Glacier Point. Thats why we came here in the first place. Warriors.  Yosemite Falls is 2400 ft elevation and Half Dome is a 17 mile hike that was pretty intense. I met a women that tried to hike it last year and only made it halfway. She said that she would like to make it to the top before she turned 40 next year and was going to try it the following day. I hope you made it and I'm glad we went back in, even if it was only for a few hours.

Girls just want to have fun..... until somebody gets hurt.

When I finally made it to Vegas it was 7 0'clock. We met at the Ihop on the strip and decide to stay at the Mirage, we deserved it. Got there and decide two nights would do even better. Dehydrated and starving we decided to get gussied up and go make a night of it, went straight to this bar and never ate dinner. Needless to say, I now have a loose tooth, a small shiner/scrape on my left eye, endless amounts of bruises and Amber was bleeding by the time we made it to the nice sidewalk that we laid on. Always ladylike and nothing exciting happens. Well it was just plain pitiful. But don't judge us, girls just want to have fun. However this morning we were warriors to get out of bed to brush our teeth (which is when I discovered all my wounds). After hours went by of rolling around wishing for a shot of morphine or a bomb to put us out of our misery we went to lay by the pool and everything was perfect again. We laid by the pool and moaned instead and had bloody marys. Life really sucks. LOL Las Vegas is fun, but I am laid up in bed right now, because I am too old to be sport drinking like that and not feel pain for dayS. Really ready for the wilderness again. On the road to Yosemite tomorrow, 410 miles. Peace and Love. 

The Best Day

June 14, 2009 was one of the best days of my life. I learned so much about the Grand Canyons. Only 5% of the visitors go below the rim and I am so glad me and Amber got the chance to be in this percentile. Every step you take down the canyon is 20,000 years. The sunset will never be the same after viewing it from Grandview Point. Our friend Tank was absolutely amazing, the perfect soul. He showed us the way. I am a little scared of heights, so this was pretty intense for the first little bit until I finally pushed the fear aside of the great unknown. I crawled up a boulder that was at 9000 elevation and made a rock stack. It was as if God kissed me on the cheek. Being there was very spiritual and I can't wait to get back to it. It was a very different kind of hiking than I am use to. I had no idea that crawling around like a monkey on rocks would make me so happy. I hope to learn much more about boulder climbing. It defininetly kicks your butt, but is so worth it. We didn't really go to far, just straight down. No words could ever describe what it is like here in the Grand Canyons. We all went to see the Imax movie on the Canyons the next morning and then we left for Las Vegas. It is so wonderful to find people like Tank (aka Jason) to bring a smile to your face and knowledge to your door, not to forget awesome breakfast too. Thank you! 

Sooo, off to Las Vegas we go! We were ready to shave our legs and get fancied up. We were starting to smell like Dodge City. :D  Anyway, the miles for the day were suppose to be around 300, but for me it turned out to be 400. Well done on my part. After getting to Kingman and a bite to eat, we decided to meet at the Hoover Dam so we could follow each other into Las Vegas, but I decided to stay on 40 west and forgot to take hwy 93 north and ended up going thru the Mojave Valley Desert in 100 degree weather longer than I needed to. This was a little scary and there is some shifty situations going on out in the middle of nowhere. Very interesting. However, what could I do, just keep going until I got to 95 north. I thought from looking at the map that I would just need to ride 65 more miles and this ended up being 95 miles, so yeah for me. I had to try really hard not to be irritated with myself. Besides, I did get to see a Joshua tree and the Mojave lands and you dont see this everyday. Which is fine.