Saturday, March 10, 2007

Here’s what I woke up to (Not much to see, but be sure to turn up your volume!):



Don't be fooled by Peter's appearance, that's ALL Adam.

After waking up in our absolutely funky-smelling fogged-up car, we ate a delicious and healthy breakfast at the rest area.




Since we drove a lot last night, we were able to take our time today.

We drove through the Avenue of Giants and came across this quaint looking tourist stop called “Trees of Mysteries”. Lo and behold, we recognized some of the landmarks from one of our favorite commercials.






We made a quick stop in Eureka (We found it!). Had some good lunch at Hurricane Kate’s, walked around downtown a little bit, and left for our campsite.

Some scenic shots:







We arrived at Redwood Forest around 5pm and got to explore a lot. We skipped stones for awhile and walked along the Smith River. Then, Peter came up with the brilliant idea of going INTO the river. Adam was game, and after lots of convincing, I decided to go too. We all got in and wanted to cry.




After climbing up back to our campsite without shoes, we set up our tent, dinner, and our campfire. We had some personal conversations, played some cards, and then got cozy in our tent.

Friday, March 9, 2007

“This is How We Do Spring Break”

For some, that quote might be a prelude to heavy binge drinking or lounging on a beach of an island, for three of us…it translates to chasing birds and sleeping at rest areas.

Our spring break started off with relative ease. We hopped into our snack-filled Kia Sorento, and after a few obligatory stops (our apartments, McDonald’s) we were on our way around 7:45am.

We traversed the 5 quickly making our way outside of Los Angeles. PCH had practically any traffic, and while our morning had started off with muggy weather, the coastline drive was gorgeous for a majority of the way up. Here are some scenic shots:






We also got to check out the Hearst Castle visitor center (didn’t have time for the castle itself). Our trip hit an exciting note when we took the 17-mile drive near Monterey. We got to hang out on the beaches, Peter made a new friend, and we even got to see the 18th hole for the Pebble Beach golf course!







Afterwards, we breezed through Cannery Row (the inspiration for Steinbeck’s novel of the same name), and eventually made it up to San Francisco.

We were a little later than we had hoped and would not make it to our planned campsite of China Beach. So, while trying to contact all of our native SF friends, we ate some calamari, chowder, and fish and chips (I ate a shrimp pasta which was inevitably a bad decision). Afterwards, while Peter was fruitlessly trying to find us a place to stay, Adam was cautiously watching over me as I was so close to vomiting so many times (pretty, I know).

Since we couldn’t find anywhere, we decided to get some of our driving done at night (since the closest rest area was about 2 hours away). In addition to telling embarrassing stories, we traversed the foggy mountains and ended up at a rest area around 2am. We got situated and tried going to sleep, for which Adam apparently had a talent. Instead of Peter and I being the loudest snorers (as accustomed to being), Adam shuck the entire car. (It probably didn’t help that we were all within 6 feet of each other in an enclosed space. Peter and I got some sleep, but most of our night was spent giggling about Adam’s narcolepsy. He would be talking to us, laughing at jokes with us, and then literally TWO SECONDS later, within the same breath, he would be snoring up a storm!!!




Great first day of our long-awaited spring break road trip.

And just so you know, THIS, is how we do spring break.