We left on Wednesday and flew to Oakland, CA (I know scary). We got there way late - picked up our rental car Mitzi (short for Mitsubishi) - found our hotel and ate at a nearby Dennys. Welcome to Oakland....basically chased by a homeless guy wanting money.
On the plane ride, I sat next to a robotics engineer who had been at the U Med center fixing a robot - he lived on a sail boat in Oakland Bay and suggested we take the Oakland Ferry to San Francisco to avoid traffic. We took his advice - it was great - taking us right to Fishermans Warf.
We gave money to a guy that gave us a sticker that said "Are we having fun yet?" Walked around the Warf - got some clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl - took a Harbor boat tour around the bay, including under the Golden Gate Bridge - walked to Ghiradelli square for ice cream and chocolate - met the "bush" man - and even with Parker warning me about him - he did jump out and scare me. We took the cable car to Union Square - riding with a mixed bag of Russians, Americans, Germans, Asians, etc. Went to the biggest mall ever - the Westfield Mall - where the strange people sightings heated up - a guy in a spandex outfit with high black patent leather boots - a scarf - and pink lipstick. We then headed down Market Street to the Ferry Building to catch a ride back to Oakland. Glad to be going back to Oakland. Then ventured to Berkley to see Cal's campus and get something to eat. Also, stopped by the Oakland Temple - it was dark - the temple was pretty - not sure how the surrounding neighborhood was.
The next day we headed towards Oregon...we decided to take the 101 inland and saw beautiful vineyards - stopped at the absolute worse Walmart we have ever been to - drove through places I had never heard of - like Willits, California - a bit sketchy -major SQUATCHY- stopped at a Big Foot tourist trap - drove through the Redwoods - stopped at an Oregon Beach - went through an area with "ELK" signs everywhere - even seeing a small herd off the road - brought back bad memories - stayed in Brookings, Oregon - it was late - dark and rainy - ate at The Onion Grill - interesting!.
Saturday we got up and still headed north - beautiful scenery - trees and more trees, lakes, rivers, fisherman, more trees lakes - sea lions - headed to Eugene to see the University of Oregon Campus - not too impressed - then headed up the road towards Portland - stopped at the Portland Temple (a BEAUTIFUL TEMPLE) - a sister missionary in the Visitor's Center gave us a lead on a burger joint downtown - "The Little Big Burger" - it was good - downtown Portland was cool - headed East to get some miles/times behind us so the 13 hour drive wasn't so daunting - made it to Pendleton, Oregon and watched BYU lose their Football game.
Sunday headed out for home stopping in Boise - visited Boise State Campus (I might be a bit partial - but the University of Utah Campus is so much nicer than the 3 we stopped at) - the Boise Temple - the State Capitol and then back on the road stopping in Twin Falls to eat at Jakers - a good prime rib/steak house - then homeward bound......
It was a good trip. Oregon is interesting. The people that live there are a bit quirky. Their road signs are limited to one word such as "ELK" "SLOW" "STOP" "SPEED" "TURN" "BUMP", etc...... Whereas Northern California is a bit more descriptive - maybe TMI..... Also - Oregon speed limits are ridiculous - sometimes the speed on the freeway (45 mph) was slower than the exit ramp - Parker happened to be driving at that time and I thought he was going to lose his mind!
We didn't make it to Astoria, Seattle, Vancouver...and I can't believe I thought we could. That will have to be for another trip. Mitzi the rental car ended up being okay - just major ugly. We only had a couple of melt downs...and when we went home we all darted to our separate areas...24/7 together time was awesome and I can't wait for the next roady!!!!!
2 comments:
So glad that "Mitzi" didn't end up with the same fate as the Durango. Sounds like a very fun and interesting vacation. Sometimes the people watching is the best part.
Sounds like fun. I forgot to tell you about "Huber's Cafe" in Portland!
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