5000 Miles of Freedom

Home Sweet Home

2009-03-09T22:12:00.004-06:00

March 9, 2009 - HOME SWEET HOME!!!!!! Tomorrow will be my last post but in the mean time I wanted to let all the faithful know that the trip is officially OVER!!!!!

So here goes a quick overview/best of....

54 days, 6,561 miles, 11 states, 2 countries, 7 days skiing, 35 different types of fish eaten, 9 family members, 7 friends we stayed with, 24 koozies, 1 crazy girlfriend, 29 different places we stayed, the entire west coast of the United States, 1 Super Bowl, 2 museums, 3 wine tastings, no flat tires, many PTI episodes, 1 tree house slept in, 4 laundry days, 1 zoo, 2 NBA games attended, 1 atlas, 1 GPS, Sirius Radio, 6 items Sarah stole, 2 bike rides, 1 Golden Gate bridge, 3 ferry rides, 1 broken muffler, 15+ different beers drunk, 1 time pulled out of a ditch, too many lessons learned, 1 sports wagon, 2 snow shoes, 1 roller blade along the strand, first jog since knee surgery, 1 Madri Gras celebration, 3 of the top public golf courses in the country, 1 bump into Jimmy Kimel, 1 crazy boyfriend, 5 wild animals, 1 southern couple we snow mobiled with, 20+ bald eagles, 44 blog posts, 25 blog followers, 1 Mrs. Semel, 4 BIG fights, and.........

We still love each other

PRICESLESS

(thank you EC for the sign and the welcome home!)

Grand Canyon & Four Corners

2009-03-04T22:44:00.007-07:00

March 5, 2009 - Yesterday was a day of driving and sightseeing. We left Flagstaff early and headed back west to pick up the highway that would take us north to Grand Canyon. The drive is through a large Hopi Indian reservation and is pretty boring.

I am going to take you through the pictures of the day. Below is the main visitor center at the East rim lookout point. I love taking pictures of flags blowing in the wind especially when they are American flags.

Sarah pointing the way to our destination. The day was beautiful but we had 30mph+ winds.

Our first view into the canyon. The first thing that popped into my head was "wow that canyon sure is grand!" The next three pictures are a panoramic series. I took each picture and then turned left just enough to capture the right edge of the previous picture on the left edge of the new shot. The view was spectacular.

The "couples shot" of course. I used my trick again to get some lady to take our picture.

Look I found the canyon!!!!

This tower is called the watchtower and was built in 1933. It was built as one of the first tourist attractions in the canyon. It has a wood burning fire place inside and they use the native mesquite wood so the entire place smells like a bbq joint, it was amazing. The building is built from steel and clad in native rocks. Everything was hand built and looks like it is hundreds of years.

A few quick thoughts on the Grand Canyon. 1. It is very big 2. The visitor center is very helpful 3. Go in the summer time so you can safely hike down 4. Plan your trip so that you can stay for a few days either hiking or rafting.

After the Canyon we headed North East to the Four Corners. Along the way we drove through some desolate land. It was low 70's in early March so I can only imagine what it must be like in the summer. One thing I can say for sure is I would NEVER EVER settle here.

Along the way we broke a milestone I didn't think we would hit, the 6,000 mile mark. Regardless the trip is still called 5,000 Miles Of Freedom.

The Four Corners! This place is really not exciting. There is a plaque on the ground signifying the border and some flags. I am happy we went and saw it but don't expect much when you are there.

"Couples picture"

Taking a nap in four states at once, so relaxing.

For those who don't know about the Four Corners the states involved are New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado.

In the process of our days drive we crossed over two new state lines which gave us an opportunity to take a few more state line shots.

Now that we are back in Colorado it is appropriate to take a look back at where we have been. Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Canada, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado. It took 6,194 Miles to get back to the great state of Colorado and now we have 4 days left of the road trip. Last stop Telluride, CO to get reacclimated to the altitude. The trip has been amazing and the wrap up blog will be even better. Thanks for reading and joining our adventures. I am sure I will blog in from Telluride so stay tuned.

Hope all are well!

Vegas Strip & Hoover Dam

2009-03-04T06:23:00.006-07:00

March 4, 2009 - Las Vegas is an interesting stop on the road trip for two reasons: 1. No way is one prepared for Vegas after being on the road for 48 straight days 2. All your nice clothes are pretty wrinkled by this point in the trip. Sarah and I still managed to have a good time for the 15 hours that we were in town. On the way out we drove down the strip from the Venetian to the famous Las Vegas sign. Notable pictorial omissions are Wynn & Encore, Mirage, and whatever else is on that end of the strip. Now on to the pictures.

I had to put this picture first because any other place it wouldn't make any sense. In reality I took this picture as we left town.

I don't think I will provide running commentary on each picture but rather throw in a few words where I feel it is necessary. To begin with my first thought is, and I always feel this way in Vegas, this place is RIDICULOUS!!!!

Yes those are tower cranes you see in the picture. Las Vegas is one of the few places in America STILL building hotels. I was blown away by all the new construction since I was last here (18 months).

Someone correct me but I believe the Eiffel Tower "replica" at the Paris is actually life size.

We didn't get a good shot of the front of New York New York but they have a Brooklyn Bridge and a really cool NYC facade out front. Sarah told me they have all the famous NYC neighborhoods in the hotel too (Chinatown, Little Italy, LES). I hope they represent the UES with all the employees dressed in ultra preppy clothes and talking about their weekend homes in CT.

It is great to see the older hotels and how much they have aged compared to the "new" Vegas. I don't think there is a place on earth where buildings age faster than Las Vegas. Sarah and I were saying how the Venetian (9 years old) is even out dated.

The parting shot. It should read "Thanks For All Your Money"

After the strip we headed SE on HWY 93 for the Hoover Dam. Truthfully neither Sarah nor I expected what we saw. The Hoover Dam is a HUGE tourist draw and they know it. They charge you for everything there. On our trip this has been the ONLY national monument/park/forest where you need to pay to get into the visitor center and to park. We said FU to the visitor center and did our own tour.

The dam is for sure more impressive than the Coulee Dam we say in Washington but it is much small in width. The reason the Hoover Dam is so famous is because of its height and its proximity to Las Vegas.

The two states that the dam straddles (Arizona & Nevada) are building a new freeway that will by pass the dam allowing cars and trucks to miss the tourist show. I am not sure if this means they will discontinue allowing cars to drive over the top of the dam but in this post 9/11 world we live in I wouldn't be surprised (they did this in Coulee). Anyway the bridge they are building over the gorge is amazing. Look closely at the picture and you will see the arches of the bridge growing closer together.

Here is another great shot of the new bridge.

These are the water intake terminals on the upper end of the dam. Water passes through these terminals down through the dam into the turbines that create the power and then out the bottom. Each tower is over 420 feet tall.

No visit would be complete without the "couples shot". I have a new trick where I find two people taking singles shots of one another and I go tell them I will take their picture and then when I hand them the camera I ask for a little reciprocation. 60% of the time it works all the time.

As I said the dam straddle the boarder between Nevada and Arizona so we were able to get another state line picture. So far we have only missed Washington and Nevada and that was because we were driving on interstates when we crossed the border.

Hope all are well.

Fill In The Blanks

2009-03-04T05:52:00.004-07:00

March 4, 2009 - I can't sleep this morning so I got up and looked back at the blog and the trip pictures and realized that I forgot to blog about some things that happened while in Hermosa. After waking up Sunday and getting breakfast with Sarah's parents we headed back down to Hermosa for half a beach day. The weather had been very good that weekend (mid 70's and sunny) so we wanted to try and get some beach time in. UT had told me that in each of the last 4 years he has been in LA that at some point between Feb 1 and Mar 30 the Santa Anna winds blow west (I assume it is west/south) out of the desert and deliver hot air to the LA area. Unfortunately we didn't get the high 80's - 90's weather that comes with the Santa Anna winds but we did get enough warm air for me to decide it was time to go swimming in the ocean. I don't think the trip would have been complete without the dip.

The next sequence of pictures is pretty goofy but you have to remember that the water is about 54 degrees and the air temperature is about 72 and breezy.

Thinking about it.....

Going for it.....

Getting the hell out of it....

We last about 15 seconds in the water. Sarah and Mark had both said that the water is so cold at first that it knocks the air right out of you, I did not believe them. Most of the nights we stayed in Hermosa we walked down to the pier at sunset with beers to enjoy the view. I said that I would like to jump off the end of the pier and swim in. Sarah told me that I would almost certainly drown from the cold water sucking the air out of me. Honestly I thought I could do it until I ran into the water with Mark and realized how right she was. I was completely zapped form the shock to my system and DEFINITELY would have drowned had I tried to swim any where. All that said the dip was amazing and totally worth it. It is pretty cool that on this trip I have snowshoed, skied, hiked, biked, roller bladed, swam, and driven over 5,000 miles.

That Sunday night we tried to get ticket to the Comedy and Magic Show. This place is pretty famous because Jay Leno got his start as a comedian there. He made a promise to the owner of the club that if he made it big he would come back EVERY Sunday night and perform stand up and he was true to his word. Typically the tickets sell out weeks in advance so we went down to the club at 4:30 to put our names on the wait list. We were the 3rd party in line and thought we had a pretty good chance. They tell you to come back at 6:30 when they start calling off names form the wait list. Obviously only the first two parties got let in because the club was over sold due to GQ Magazine doing a special on Jay and his continued loyalty to the club.

Regardless I got a few pictures of Jay and his buddy pulling up to the club. As I am sure most of you know Leno is a car and motorcycles collector. His collection is supposedly very large and ranges across all era's. On this night he showed up in his 1955 Buick and the car was in PERFECT condition. It was pretty cool and Jay was really good to all the people who wanted to take photographs and get his autograph. I respect the guy a lot more after seeing him do what he did.

After the comedy show thing didn't work out we went back to Mark and Megan's and they made us a fantastic send off dinner and we hung out. Megan took this last picture. The Three Musketeers.

Hope all are well.

LA Add ons

2009-03-02T20:26:00.002-07:00

March 2, 2009 - I completely forgot to tell you all about dinner Saturday night. After a great day of seeing the LA sights (see last blog post) we went back to Andaz for a few cocktails before dinner. We had the hotel guest services make a reservation for us at BLT Steak. For all the NYC blog followers out there you will recognize the name since BLT has over 7 locations in New York. The dinner was ridiculously good and totally worth it if you are in LA.

As I said guest services had made the reservation for us and somewhere along the way there was a misunderstanding in the chain of communication and BLT thought that Sarah's Dad owned Andaz. As some of you know Sarah's father works with the family that owns the Hyatt Hotel chain (Andaz is the Hyatt version of the W) and at one point in his career was an executive with the firm. The people at Andaz obviously told BLT that we were VIP's (I love being a VIP) and they should take care of us. In the end we got the best table in the restaurant (in my opinion) and we got a whole bunch of food comped. To top off the night Eric Dickerson walked in about half way through the night and sat down right in front of us.

Sarah and I are not huge fans of LA but our weekend with her parents and all the great food we ate was a highlight of 500o Miles Of Freedom.

We are now in Vegas for the night and then continuing back east tomorrow. We are staying at the Venetian hotel and got a great room rate. Tonight we ate at B&B Mario Batali restaurant on the property. The place was fantastic and well worth the bill. After dinner we did some gambling (not me) and didn't fair as well as Tahoe. Oh well maybe next time.

The trip is over within the week so we are dealing with that. 48 days on the road is a bit tiring...

Hope all are well.

LA Funday

2009-03-01T21:06:00.004-07:00

March 1, 2009 - After a great dinner at the Ivy and a night out on the town LA style we woke up and saw the sights of the city. The day started with us saying goodbye to Mark and Megan and then organizing a car to take us around to see what we wanted to see. We started the day by visiting the Grove on 3rd and Fairfax. The place is an enormous shopping mall now but the real attraction is the old farmers market out back in the parking lot. I was told that the market dates pretty far back into history so it is kind of cool to visit something with some historical significance in a city that values the "new thing".

I didn't get many good shots of the market because we were focused on breakfast but this is one I thought was worth sharing. The entire store is for hot sauce!!! We think the store is called Light Your Fire but regardless of the name the store had EVER kind of hot sauce one would ever want.

After the Grove we headed out to Santa Monica to see the pier and most importantly to have a caricature done of Sarah and me to memorialize the trip. The Santa Monica pier is world famous and is definitely worth stopping by on a nice day.

Sarah and her parents at the end of the pier, nothing between them and Hawaii.

What a great picture!!!

After the Santa Monica pier we headed up to Ocean Blvd to find some oysters for lunch and low and behold we sat down at Ocean on Ocean. The restaurant was great, the seafood platter for two was truly satisfying, and the roasted beat salad was great. We then headed back inland to so Sarah and her Mom could walk down Rodeo Dr.

When in LA this is a MUST do. The people, stores, and cars you see while walking down the famous strip are amazing. No joke I think we saw 10 Ferrari's and 7 Rolls Royce's in a 4 block span. Not buying anything didn't even matter the experience was still very cool.

We took this picture at the very north end of Rodeo on what I call the Spanish Step of Rodeo. Sarah's Dad was telling me about the RE deal that ended up building this side shoot off Rodeo. It is a pedestrian mall now with tons of stores and these steps at the end. Once you walk down the steps you are at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, another famous LA landmark. One thing I found hysterical was that Jose Eber, the hair stylist from the late 80's mid 90's, has a store on this little off shoot of Rodeo. If you ever watched info-mercials in the 1990's you for sure saw this guys and his products. When I lived in Germany I used to watch all these info-mercials because it was some of the only English speaking TV on at that time.

This is Jose Eber if you don't know/remember who I am talking about. Totally and completely classic!!! Funny what you remember from your childhood.

After Rodeo we were beginning to tire a bit so we got the car to take us up to the hills over looking the city, the Hollywood sign, and the Hollywood Bowl. I had not been up to this lookout point before, mainly because UT is a bad friend and host, so it was pretty cool to see it now. The views of the city, the south bay, Santa Monica (sort of), and the rest of the neighborhood was fantastic. Maybe we caught it on a light smog day.

If you look carefully over Sarah's left shoulder you can see the Hollywood sign up on the hill. It looked way better in person.

Of course we had to stop by the Kodak Theater and Grauman's Chinese Theater. The people that hangout on Hollywood Ave are really weird. There are a bunch of desperate actors looking for work that dress up in famous movie characters outfits and charge you a dollar to take a picture with them. I would have to be pretty desperate to do that...

The mandatory "couples picture". When I make the album from this trip we are going to have some really good "couples" shots.

Hope all are well.

PS - I am done editing these posts. I want to go have a few last beers with Mark and Megan before LaLa is gone.

Spelling Errors

2009-03-01T21:05:00.002-07:00

March 1, 2009 - I know they exist I was tired last night when I was blogging. I am too lazy to go back and fix them, deal with it.

Video Bar

2009-03-01T01:40:00.002-07:00

March 1, 2009 - The Youtube clips on the side of the blog have absolutely no significance other than I liked the song and/or video. The new one is from a video Sarah and I saw in the bar on Fat Tuesday down in San Diego. Only need to watch one of the videos so don't click on all four links because it is the same thing.

Why is Jay Culter's name being floated in trade talks???

Handels-Clan Arrives

2009-03-01T01:15:00.004-07:00

March 1, 2009 - On Friday morning Sarah and I packed a small bag and headed up to LA. I was working off a wicked hangover from the night before when UT took me out to the shed a.k.a the Barnacle after the Lakers game (local bar in Hermosa). Since we were going to be staying at the new Hyatt hotel on Sunset called the Andaz I thought it was appropriate to get my car washed. Doesn't the Saab look amazing when it is clean? It's a sports wagon!!!

The problem with a clean car is that all the dents, paint chips, and scratches are visible. Lets just say my car took a BEATING on this road trip. I wish I had a roof rack and better shoes (rims) for the car.

Sarah's parents got into LA around 6pm and met us at the hotel. Mark and Megan drove up from Hermosa to join us for dinner and stay the night with us in LA. We got reservations at the Ivy in West Hollywood and ended up having a fabulous dinner. There were no stars seen at the Ivy worth mentioning but when we got out of the cab the head of the restaurants security did yell and announce to anyone who was listening that Paris Hilton was coming and that they needed to boost security. What this girl does to deserve her so called fame is beyond me and frankly is a complete joke. She never showed up to the Ivy anyway so the whole thing was hubbub worthless.

After dinner the Udis's took us out on the town for a LA night along Sunset. We jumped a cab over to Hotel Marmont, very famous in the LA world both past and current, only to be denied at the Cafe and bar entrance. We made our way into the main hotel lobby for a few drinks but the whole seen was pretty lame. I am not one to get all caught up in the "LA" scene and the place didn't serve Coors Lights. We made out way over to another bar called Saddleranch closer to the Andaz Hotel and had a much better time there. There is a mechanical bull in this bar which made for pretty good entertainment.

There was a large group of very overweight black girls in the bar all who wanted to ride the bull. I took about 5 or 6 pictures of the group but most came out blurry. Lucky for me the following pictures showed the unintentional comedy that we stumbled into, Stoop you would have been in heaven.

A few random observations I have of LA and Southern California that I have been meaning to share with the group:

1. SoCal (LA - San Diego) has the best drivers I have encountered on the trip 2. People drive REALLY fast here (85 mph +) in the left lane and have NO problem passing you in the right lane 3. No one picks up after their dogs here so watch your step 4. The restaurants in LA area are unbelievable 5. There are a lot of really nice cars in LA of which no one owns, they rent them or "borrow" them for the day 6. NO ONE WORKS HERE 7. The traffic is way worse than you would expect.

Hope all are well.

Lakers/Suns Game

2009-03-01T00:49:00.003-07:00

February 28, 2009 - UT and I went on Thursday night to the Lakers Suns game as I said in my last post. So the seats were not quite "floor" seats but 17 rows back of the Suns bench is not too shabby. A few thoughts of from the game: The Staples Center is a very cool venue and should be a must stop for every NBA fan. The food at the Staples Center, and at all LA sports venues so I am told, is fantastic. Sushi, pastrami sandwiches, pasta, burritos and much more. UT and I got there an hour early to get some food and have a few drinks in the Royal Room before the game. The Royal Room was a club in the stadium for people with club level tickets. The whole thing was pretty "LA" and really not worth it at all. On the way to the food stand where we got great pastrami sandwiches I bumped into Mateen Cleeves. He has the largest mouth I have ever seen, too bad his NBA career never panned out. Below is a great shot of the Staples Center as we walked from the car.

Lakers players during the National Anthem. The Air Force choir sung and they were not very good, that and the fact that the volume was not turned up high enough.

Shaq being announced. He received a mixed amount of boos and cheers which was surprising to me. Kobe has been made out to be the bad guy all these years but it seems LA is not that fond of Shaq anymore. One this that is pretty amazing though is how large Shaq is. In person it is a whole new ballgame. I wouldn't want to try and defend him because he throws is elbows around like none other.

Right before the Lakers players were announced they dropped this white curtain down from the top of the scoreboard and displayed this pretty cool team video 360 degrees around the sheet. The picture doesn't do a good job showing you how cool it was but this is the best one I got.

Over all the game was a lot of fun and I glad I went. The Lakers beat the Suns pretty easily but Nash was not playing in their defense. That being said the Lakers look like the best team in the NBA and Kobe is hands down the most dominate/unstoppable scorer in the league. A few weeks back when I compared Brandon Roy to Kobe and DWade I said Brandon Roy could be as good as Kobe and I was wrong. Kobe is like no other player in the league. His final stats were not impressive but he played less than half the game and still scored 25 pts without breaking a sweat. The Lakers look like they are in cruise control until the final 10 games when they ramp up to take the West again. I can't wait for playoff basketball...

Hope all are well.

San Diego Zoo

2009-02-26T16:54:00.002-07:00

February 26, 2009 - After getting through the morning fog of the previous nights Madri Gras celebration Sarah and I put ourselves together and headed over to the zoo. My Dad had taken me to the SD zoo about 12 years ago so I had some recollection of the place but for those who haven't visited it is a pretty neat place, probably the best zoo in America. With Sarah being the HUGE animal lover that she is it was a no brainer that we would go to the zoo over any other activity in SD with the one day we had to spend in the city.

Quick side note - I am sitting on UT's sun deck drinking a Pacifico watching the sun as it begins to set in 65 degree weather as I write this blog. Just thought I would point that out. That and UT and I have floor seats to tonight's Lakers/Suns game.

Back to the zoo pictures. I don't think I need to provide a whole lot of commentary since the animals really are the show so here goes.

This next guy deserves a little description. He is a cloudy leopards from SE Asia. He lives primarily in the jungle and up in tree, hence the very long tail (1/3 his body weight is in the tail). The San Diego Zoo is the only place in America to have one of these guys and it was pretty much the most beautiful cat I have ever seen. If you have a moment google cloudy leopard and look at the pictures, amazing!

The "couples shot"! To further show how lame the two of us can be we attempted to stand like the flamingos in the background, on one leg, in this picture. I was too embarrassed to ask someone to take the shot so I did a timer pic from a trash can, hence the shitty angle.

Not much needs to be said about this picture. I will add it to the goofy/embarrassing pictures of myself from this trip.

For the Top Chef fans out there I would like to go on record for Sarah and I when I say that Hoshea did NOT deserve to win. We both liked him very much at the beginning of the season but as the show went on we began disliking him because he seemed like a prick. Stefan is a better chef, facts are facts. Too bad for Carla because she could have won had she stuck to her guns.

Hope all are well.

Fat Tuesday San Diego

2009-02-26T16:27:00.004-07:00

February 26, 2009 - After two relaxing nights in Hermosa Sarah and I woke up Tuesday morning and headed south for San Diego. This last 120 mile stretch was really important for us since it would complete the drive of the entire west coast of the United States. For a long time I have wanted to do this drive and to finally say it is done and complete is a pretty cool feeling. Along the way we crossed over the 5000 mile mark but we unfortunately fell asleep on the picture and didn't realize we had broken 5000 miles until 5,025 oops.

As we pulled into San Diego we saw signs all over the streets for the Fat Tuesday celebration in the Gaslamp Quarter. We were staying just down the street so we figured this would be a great opportunity to see this cool/hip neighborhood and party a little bit. Little did we know that we stumbled into the 2nd largest Madri Gras party in the country...

I have been to the real thing in NO and seen the craziness that Bourbon St is but this was not too far off. The city shut down 5th Ave for the length of the Gaslamp Quarter, about 10 blocks, and allowed the party to spill out into the streets. We got there right as the gates opened at 6pm and quickly situated ourselves at a great bar right where the parade and floats went by. I was a little disappointed by the lack of flashing for beads but the whole scene was still pretty fun.

The token picture with one of the showgirls, classic. She actually asked to see the picture after Sarah took it so she could judge herself.

The "couples shot" no blog post would be complete without one.

If you find yourself in SD on Fat Tuesday you won't be disappointed.

How do you like this banana boat?

Hope all are well.

Biking to Venice - Not Italy

2009-02-23T22:37:00.002-07:00

February 23, 2009 - I am finally caught up and current again so here goes today's blog. We woke up this morning with two goals - 1. Fix my car (accomplished) 2. Bike to Venice Beach (accomplished).

We borrowed Mark and Megan's beach cruisers and hit the strand north towards L.A. Little did we know the trip was 15 - 16 miles one way...

Being the HUGE road biker that I am I was able to quickly adapt and take pictures and ride at the same time, I am the man! I LOVE this picture of Sarah.

The funny thing about these two pictures is that I am riding the woman's bike and Sarah is riding the man's bike. I look like an overgrown gorilla on a circus bike. I can tell you that my tush HURTS from riding 30 something miles on a woman's bike.

So we rode up the coast and made it to Venice Beach. If you have not yet visited Venice Beach it needs to go on your "short list" of things to do. When I went abroad to Australia I had a 6 - 8 hour layover in LA and my Dad said should take a cab to Venice and see the place. I was too nervous at the time and totally wimped out, today was my redemption. Venice Beach is like no other place I have ever been. It is filled with drunks, drug addicts, police, muscle heads, weird LA people, tourists, and people on a bike ride. The stores range from head shops to tattoo parlors to frozen yogurt shops. It really is a unique place that is slightly scary in the sense that you feel like you need to be on your toes because you might get shived for your wallet but at the same time totally peaceful because you are in a major tourist area. It is a place like non other. GO!

Here is a great picture of the famous recreational area. Muscle beach is the next picture. Unfortunately the weather was not good enough for all the muscle heads to come out. It was only 68 and sunny, and yes I got a sun burn.

Once we got back to Hermosa I sat down to write my blog updating you all on our weekend adventures at the Hearst Castle and Santa Barbara. Sarah had gone to the store to get supplies for dinner and I had some time to blog in. I went out on the patio to write and wait for UT to come home. The sunset was magnificent and I got this picture once UT got home.

Hope all are well! San Diego tomorrow.....

Weekend Update

2009-02-23T12:01:00.007-07:00

February 23, 2009 - We are in Hermosa Beach with Mark and Megan Udis and I finally have a minute to update you all on the weekend. As you know we left Tahoe last Thursday after 3 very successful days of skiing with my Dad and drove back out to the coast. We stayed our first night in Monterey and then headed south Friday through Big Sur down towards the Hearst Castle. The driving was a little slower going than we had hoped so we ended up staying the night in Cambria, close to the Hearst Castle. On Saturday morning we woke up pretty early and tried to make one of the first tours of the castle. If you have never been to visit this place I would say that the experience is pretty overwhelming. To begin with there are 5 different tours of the castle so right off the bat you feel the pressure to pick the right tour. We opted for the "safe bet" and took tour 1 which is an overview of the property, a snapshot of the inside, and a stop by the two pools in the house. Unfortunately for us and every other visitor of the castle one must deal with the tour bus loads of camera happy Asians that get transported in every hour. I don't mean to be stereotypical but at times these pushy crowds can make the entire experience pretty lousy. Without harping on the Asian factor Sarah and I both really enjoyed the Hearst Castle and we both HIGHLY recommend it if you have the time and the appreciation for historical buildings. We both want to come back and take the private tour (6 - 8 people for $700) which is 4 - 5 hours in length and gives you access to the entire property or pretty much anything you want to see. Next time.

This first picture was taken from one of the patios overlooking the drive up to the castle. The Hearst family owned 250,000 acres of land dating back to the 1860's. When WR Hearst inherited the land from his parents in 1919 he almost immediately began construction. The castle was never finished, meaning it was always under construction and hence he never had to pay RE tax on the property (old California law). The last work on the property was done in 1947 when Hearst had to permanently move to Beverley Hills due to failing health. He died in 1951 and "suggested" in his will that his five sons donate the castle to the state for a state park, which they did in 1957.

This is the main house that makes up the castle. It is 137ft tall and has 115 rooms. There are 3 guest houses surrounding the castle ranging in size but all over 3,500 sq/ft. My crappy little camera coupled with the bad lighting really does this building a disservice. I can not express enough how magnificent/intricate/grandiose this place is. Hearst was a huge antique & art collector. He was such a power player that later in life he could not show up to auctions because the very sight of him would drive up all the prices in the auction no matter what he wanted. While alive he was the single largest private owner in the world and from walking around the property and a few rooms in the house it was pretty obvious that he displayed most of it in his homes.

Here is a great example of how amazing this place is. The picture below is of one of the guest houses. One cool factoid of the property is that every bed has its own private bathroom with shower and toilet. This is not amazing by today's standards but in the 1920's and 1930's when the place was built almost no home had this luxury.

The pool below is called the Neptune pool and is the property's lone outdoor swimming pool. It was rebuilt three times (each time enlarged) and was/is still the largest private heated swimming pool in America. Being there and see the pool felt like being at a movie set, it was beautiful. The tiles used in the pool floor are all hand cut Italian marble.

The goddess was too cold for a dip on this day but she agreed to have her picture taken.

To give you an idea of the caliber of Hearst's collection this room is the dinning room and everything you see is an art collectible. The ceiling is from a 15th century Italian church, the wood pews lining the walls are from the 16th century from churches in England and Spain, the flags hanging on the walls are the original flags used in horse races of Siena and are 800 years old, the candle sticks are PURE silver!!!!!! Everything about this room was over the top.

This is the indoor Roman Pool fashioned after the the famous bathhouses of Rivena. There are 1.5 million Murrano glass tiles all hand blown and hand laid. The gold is pure 22 - 24 karat gold. This is the one picture that truly does not do the room justice. This swimming pool took a crew of six skilled masons 3.5 years to lay. TOTALLY AMAZING.

After the Hearst Castle we drove to Santa Barbara wine country and then to the the Danish town of Solvang. The entire town is a bit Disney World but it was fun and kind of cool to see an entire town built in Danish architectural style here in America. The pastries were unreal.

We stayed in Santa Barbara Saturday night. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures worth posting because the weather was overcast and we were really only there for one night. We did go to the best sushi place either of us have ever been to and HIGHLY recommend anyone go there if in Santa Barbara. The place is called Arigato and is on the 1200 block of State Street. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go if you are a sushi lover and in Santa Barbara. Shoutout for the Miller's who made the recommendation.

On Sunday we drove down the coast to LA to stay with the MUDIS' (Mark & Megan). As we were driving past Pepperdine University my car began to make a funny noise and we soon discovered that my exhaust pipe had come undone at a joint and essentially turned my car into a rice burner. It sounded as if I had a gutted muffler on my car and was pretty annoying (I got it fixed today). We made it to Hermosa safely and got out to the pier into for a beer and a few pictures. Don't be jealous of my CT country club style.

Hope all are well!

17 Mile Drive/Pebble Beach/Coast Drive

2009-02-20T21:46:00.004-07:00

February 20, 2009 - Sarah and I drove one of California's not so hidden gems today. We left Monterey and headed for the 17 Mile Drive around the south peninsula of Monterey Bay. Little did I know that there are four world class golf courses right there all open to the public. The drive was highlighted by the 5 - 7 miles that stretch between Spanish Bay and the Pebble Beach Links Course. Before I move into the picture section let me say that the town of Monterey is nice but is passable if driving through on a limited time basis. Cannery Row highlights the town but it is very touristy. On to the pictures.

The picture below is from stop 6 on the drive called Restless Seas. The waves are off the coast and caused by under water rocks and canyons. The weather was absolutely gorgeous/perfect/amazing. I wish everyday of my life was like today, 65 and sunny with an ocean breeze. I now understand why people retire here.

Catherine Sarah pointed out this sign to me and I just thought it was too fitting. I think I am going to get this made into a t-shirt for you.

The icon of the Del Monte Forest and the Pebble Beach resort is the Lone Cypress Tree over my left shoulder. It is estimated to be over 200 years old and stands alone at the end of this point. The tree is very cool and the view is even better, Carmel is in the background.

Pebble Beach... The place is amazing and if you are a golfer you NEED to go here before you kick the bucket. The draw back - $440 for a round of golf. In my opinion Bandon Dunes rivals this place and is not nearly as expensive.

The requisite "couples" picture down by the 18th Green. Amazing finishing hole. We ate lunch at the grille over looking the 18th hole. The meal was EXTREMELY expensive but in the end it was worth it.

The drive south from Pebble was spectacular!!!! This stretch between Carmel and the Hearst Castle (San Simeon) is amazing. I love this picture, the worlds end! The sunset into the pacific is something everyone needs to see once in their lifetime.

Hope all are well!.

South Bound

2009-02-20T10:19:00.004-07:00

February 20, 2009 - With Tahoe clearly in our rear view mirror Sarah and I made a push for the coast. Driving through San Jose and out to Monterey we crossed over our most significant threshold of the trip, 70 degrees!

A nice easy drive down the coast this weekend and then on to LA just in time for the Oscars.

Hope all are well.

Tahoe - It Better Be Sunny

2009-02-18T22:05:00.003-07:00

February 18, 2009 - After three pretty pedestrian days at Heavenly we finally got the goods, a sunny day. This was my second trip to Tahoe and I was not leaving without a view of the lake from the mountain. Having lived in Colorado the last two seasons and having the ability to ski Vail, Beaver, A-Basin, Keystone, and Breckenridge I can safely say Heavenly is the dog in the Vail Resorts portfolio. The "myth" of sierra cement is not necessarily untrue. Without a doubt the snow is heavier than what we get in CO but it is not bad by any means. Unfortunately no matter how good the snow is the mountain will always fall short. The people who laid out the lifts were most likely not ever on skis. There are more uphill traverses and awkward pole plants than you would ever expect for a mountain that charges $86/day. Sarah has called me the lift snob but I feel that 2 and 3 person chairs have no place on modern mountains anymore. They have a lift at Heavenly (Galaxy) that takes minimum 15 minutes to get to the top.

In my opinion there are three reasons to visit Heavenly - 1. To teach you wife/girlfriend/kids how to ski 2. Gamble 3. See the lake on a sunny day. I am done talking trash about Heavenly so here are the pictures from the day.

The man the myth the legend makes it out to ski with Sarah and me.

Yes this was the best smile my Dad could manage at this lookout point. We had three pictures taken and this was the best result.

I took this picture from the top of Sky Express. It is the highest point accessible from a chair. The lake was spectacular.

My Dad pointed out this tree and I had to take a picture of it. The wood looked wind blown and burnt but the tree was still alive.

That is all from Tahoe. Tomorrow we are headed back to the coast and will start our journey to LA.

Hope all is well.

6 Degrees of Bacon

2009-02-18T01:53:00.001-07:00

February 18, 2009 - Just got home from the casino, Sarah won $110 I didn't play.

Lustig - Sean Connery to Bacon. Post your answer.

Travels With Chins

2009-02-17T18:03:00.011-07:00

February 17, 2009 - As I said in my last post we are now in Tahoe with my Dad. In response to some "nice" emails that have been floating around I am posting the following picture. The disclaimer is that I am about 15 coors lights deep and Ace coxed me into posing for this shot. The other night Sarah had made the joke that my new Indian name was Travels With Chins and Ace and Katie obviously loved it. I obliged and let this picture be taken. Miller go to town. When I see the picture I just see Chris Farley in Tommy Boy asking for wings. It is a less then flattering picture but it goes well with the new trend of posting really embarrassing pictures to the blog. I mean I will have an entire album of these types of shots when it is all said and done.

Outside of the east coast this is the single best sandwich shop in America. As I said to Ace no trip to SF is complete without a visit to this place. I am sure most of you are aware of Seinfeld and the classic episode of the Soup Nazi. The man who owns and runs this place is Asian in descent and is not messing around. Next time you are in SF don't miss this place, Union and Steiner. Ace I dare you to get Marina Sub's to cater your wedding...

Friday night out in SF turned into quite a night. Two ice cold COOOOOOORS LIGHTS bartender!

The SF crew. Thanks again to Ace and Katie for putting us up for so many nights. If California wasn't a crazy state I think I could maybe even more there, MAYBE.

The two love birds standing near the border of California and Nevada (look at the sign in the background).

Sarah showing off her world class form! Although there are clouds in the sky in this picture we had a near blue bird day today. The snow was great and hardly the "sierra cement" all have warmed about. Without a doubt Colorado has better snow but California has to be respected.

68 years old and he still has perfect form. Although he might no longer be the fastest man on the hill I challenge any other to look this good. I am so happy to be able to ski with my Dad yet again. If only the rest of the fam was out here too.

Quirky thing about Heavenly is that you are constantly moving back and forth between states. I wish that Sarah had been with us still to take this picture but she retired back to the hotel to relax and have a drink. New boots and high winds don't normally add up to a long day of skiing.

Dad actually made me take this picture to make my brother jealous. He is in the process of leaving him a VM saying that I am a better skier. The VM was not necessary but it is nice to have my Dad acknowledge the fact, sorry Christopher.

This picture is for Beatrice and Christopher. Until today I didn't even know your sign.

Hope all are well.

Alcatraz & Warriors Game

2009-02-16T22:22:00.006-07:00

February 16, 2009 - It has been a few days since I "blogged in" so here is a brief synopsis of the highlights of SF (at least the tourist highlights). Sarah and I arrived in SF on Tuesday pretty worn out from the drive south from Seattle but more importantly worn out from just being on the road. We used the days in SF to relax, do laundry, catch up on Top Chef (Hoshea is no longer our favorite), and to pretty much do nothing if that is what we wanted. With all that said I told Sarah that Alcatraz is a must if visiting SF so we booked a ferry and jumped aboard.

Many people will tell you that SF weather is crappy and if you really want "good" weather you need to go to southern California. As you will see from the upcoming pictures this just is not true. Not only did we have 53 degrees and perfect sun but it didn't rain once the Thursday we went out to Alcatraz. I have been to SF 5 or 6 times now to visit Warren and Katie, mostly in the winter, and each time the weather has been great. On to the pictures.
I made sure to post this picture rather than the pictures I took of the Golden Gate because the Bay Bridge does not get nearly the amount of credit that the Golden Gate does. Granted the Bay Bridge was built after the Golden Gate and it only links Oakland to SF (no one likes Oakland in SF) it still should get some respect. I am not an engineer but in my opinion the Bay Bridge is a more impressive feet of engineering than the Golden Gate and caught on the right day it is equally as beautiful. SF is on the right and Oakland is on the left.

Pulling up to the island of Alcatraz really is an impressive experience. It was first built by the Union army as a third fort to defend against Confederate raiders on ships leaving SF harbor filled with California gold. Soon after the Civil War the fort was converted into an army prison for poor soldiers, deserters, war criminals, POW's, and Indians. It was not until 1934 when the Bureau of Prisons opened the doors of Alcatraz to be used as a Federal Penitentiary. The first inmates were predominantly bank robbers and other existing prison inmates deemed too dangerous to be kept in their current facility.

I have said before in my blog, and many of you know this about me, that I really REALLY like lighthouses. I thought this picture turned out beautifully.

The following picture was taken from the area overlooking the parade grounds. This area was not accessible to the inmates but rather the guards and Warden. It is a pretty spectacular view of the city. It is almost surreal that one is standing in a prison and has this view.

There are four major corridors that run the length of the prison cell block, C/D St, Broadway, Michigan Ave, and I forget the last one. I love this picture and thought it was really great for the girl from Chicago.

This cell was a recreation of one of the famous inmates that participated in the Great Escape from Alcatraz. They dug through their ventilator grill to gain access to the utility corridor. From there the inmates scaled up the 3 story building go through a fan intake and climbed over the roof and down the cell block. They had made rafts and life preservers to assist in their swim. No bodies were ever found and to this day it is debated if it was the only successful escape from Alcatraz. Clint Eastwood starred in a great movie about the story called Escape From Alcatraz.

After we got back from Alcatraz island we walked over to pier 39 to see the sea lions. It is one of the great tourist things to do while in SF. Unfortunately for us the sea lions were rather docile on this day. Usually they are pretty playful and are barking a lot.

The old street car that runs along the Embarcadero. This picture reminds me of that Dockers commercial that came out a few years ago.

On Thursday night we the four of us all took the train (BART) over to Oakland to see the Warriors play the Trailblazers. Face value = $80.00; We paid = $60.00 - please call me the master negotiator. I am like Kevin Spacey in the negotiator I am so good. "Get me Sabien!!!"

Our seats. I wish they were not behind the basket but they worked out just fine. Everyone really enjoyed the game and it actually turned out to be really competitive. The Warriors won after nearly giving up a 15 point lead. Take away from the game for all the NBA fans out there, Brandon Roy could be as good as D-Wade or Kobe if he wanted to be. By that I mean he has the pure athletic skills, physical size, and flashes the same killer instinct. It just seems he sometimes lacks the confidence in himself to take over the game. Greg Oden is at least 3 years away from being an NBA ready player let alone a star. Looks like Portland blew another historic draft with the way Durrant is playing in OKC. Finally the Warriors are one of the more entertaining teams in the NBA to go see play. They are undersized, don't run set offenses, and play absolutely NO defense. They are super athletic and they don't listen to Nelly (their coach) at all. This all adds up to a real life video game team playing night in and night out. Go see them play if you can.

Katie needed a little face time on the blog and this picture is setting up a not too distant post called "Travels with Chins" or my new Indian name. Move over Christopher their is a new double chin in the family.

We drove up to Tahoe on Sunday afternoon and will be up here until Thursday. My Dad flew out to meet us and to make use of his Epic Pass. The snow forecast called for multiple feet of snow in the South Lake region beginning Saturday night and continuing into Tuesday. After one day of skiing I can safely say that Heavenly got 5 - 7 inches at best and the weather people out here are full of shit.

Hope all are well.

Ace In The Hole

2009-02-13T12:10:00.002-07:00

February 13, 2009 - I was getting too much grief from my gracious host so here is a picture to settle him down. Sarah and I are heading to a Dim Sum lunch and then I am picking up a Marina's Sub and will blog in.

Happy Ace?

If You're Going to San Francisco

2009-02-11T16:13:00.006-07:00

February 11, 2009 - So we left Eureka and headed south through the final bit of the redwood forest. The drive is through the last great stand of old growth redwoods in America. The old highway 101 winds 18 miles through 200ft + tall trees and is totally humbling. When you think that some of these trees have been standing/growing/surviving for over 600/700/800 years it truly is amazing. In the hopes of not standing up on my soap box too much and pontificating I will simply post some of our best pictures and give a few simple captions.

The last bit of the redwood forest snakes through Humboldt county, the home of meth heads and weed growers. When Sarah and I stopped in the town of Arcata we were truly "weirded" out but the people. I am guilty of sometimes painting the brush stroke too broad but this place is different. If it was not for the natural beauty of the surrounding area I don't think there would ever be a reason to go there.

As I said, 200ft + tall trees with a little highway cutting through the forest. Only bad part of the drive was that the sirius radio didn't get reception in the forest.

At this point in the trip we were looking forward to getting to SF, hence the picture. We were very lucky to get a sunny day while driving through the forest. Quick side note, we drove with the windows open most of the way and to describe this smell is simply put as fresh. For those that grew up outdoors the smell is unforgettable. think your childhood mixed with early spring practice mixed with fresh rain. Highlight of the trip without a doubt.

The tree that Sarah is standing in here is over 500 years old. It used to stand about 35 feet to the left of this picture. She is crouching down here but probably could have stood up straight had she wanted to. The point is these trees are HUGE!!!

About 14 miles into the Avenue of Giants drive you come upon the visitor center and this tree. I don't have a strong enough camera to take a picture that would capture both the size of this trunk and the name plates clearly so I will just tell you what some of them say. The tree began growing in 1148AD, the inner most tag says 1215AD the signing of the Magna Carta, and some of the more interesting tags highlight Columbus discovering America (1492), the Pilgrims land on Plymouth Rock (1620), and the declaration of Independence is signed (1776). What I am trying to say is that this tree is OLD and it was very cool that they had the tags posted on the cross section.

We are like any other tourist who drives the Avenue of the Giants so we drove through a tree. Enough said.

So after the Avenue of the Giants we put the pedal to the metal and cruised out to the original California highway, Highway 1. As soon as we hit the coast we pulled off the road for lunch and a little sun. I wish we had driven a little further but this spot was not bad. It sure beats every single lunch spot that the blog readers have. PS lunch was avocados and tuna, so good.

Just a few shots we took of Highway 1 as we drove down to Mendocino from Eureka. The road really does live up to its reputation.

California - The land of happy cows. This picture was too perfect not to put up. Just an FYI the reason this cow is so happy is because she lives directly on the ocean. Million dollar real estate for cows, what a world.

We finally got to Mendocino and when we pulled into town this rainbow burst out. We had been experiencing sun showers most of the afternoon and this was the leftover result. Simply amazing.

The afternoon we arrived in Mendocino we found a little pub along main street and sat down for a few beers/cocktails. We have found that this is the best method to find a place to sleep when we come into a new town. We go to the visitor/information center get some information on places to stay then head down to the pub to make calls and pick a place. We have been using this method for some time and it has proved to be successful.

While at the bar we found a dart board and Sarah played her first game. She put a great fight but in the end I prevailed. Here is the result from the game, it needed to be memorialized.

Our little Inn. Alegria, if you are in Mendocino we both highly recommend it.

The treehouse. Look how cute Sarah is up there on our private deck!

Yes that is a real wood burning fire in our room. I am the best fire maker, thanks Dad.

Sunset from our deck.

If you are in the bay area and you have a good weather day (anything other than rain/clouds) you have to get into a car and drive over the bridge and up to this lookout point. Make sure you take the road ALL the way up to get the best view. Alcatraz is in the background on the left, Oakland in the center background, the city in the center right background, and the red bridge across the center of the picture is the Golden Gate.

Looking back at this picture I really should have positioned my car better so the bridge was more visible. Next time I guess.

I think the new trend on the blog is posting really embarrassing pictures of myself like the one below. In my defense I have to say the picture taker (Sarah) could have told me I looked like a total tool in my pose.

I have shared the state line pictures with you all so here is our coozy collection to date. My favorite is the Beverage Babe coozy (red & white coozy stuck in the blue flag coozy). Sarah's doesn't have a favorite coozy yet but I am sure we will find her one.

5000 lbs of Mac & Cheese

2009-02-11T00:20:00.002-07:00

February 10, 2009 - I need to catch you all up on a few days of travel but not tonight because I ate the largest bowl of mac & cheese in SF. I will post lots of pictures and anecdotes tomorrow morning.

Hope all are well.

California Dreaming

2009-02-08T23:34:00.008-07:00

February 8, 2009 - In response to Baron Von Chaos' comment I would like to clarify that I was NOT comparing my loss of employment to Pearl Harbor but simply taking a famous quote and applying it to something that happened in my own life. No disrespect intended and I apologize for any pain I may have caused, now Baron go pound sand. On to tonight's blog.

Sarah and I woke up yesterday at Bandon Dunes resort to a beautiful spring morning. By midday it was 63 degrees, perfect blue skies, and a slight breeze. Since I was not playing golf at the resort we did the next best thing and that was walk the different trails they have running throughout the 3 courses and down to the beach. The first picture was taken from the ridge line right above the main lodge/restaurant looking over the first tee (right) and 18th green (left). As you can see the day was absolutely perfect.

Alternative tee box, I think it was the championship tee box, for a hole heading out to the ocean on the Bandon Dunes course. The golf pro told me that the Dunes course has 6 holes on the water.

After we walked the Dunes and Pacific course trail we headed down to the beach. The resort has over 8 miles of beach front property that can never be developed. While Sarah and I were down there we were literally ALONE. I felt like a sea explorer who found land after months out at sea, it really was a unique experience to be out there all by ourselves. The picture really doesn't make sense since I am on land pointing out to sea but it is kind of a trademark move that JM and I came up with (credit to Pat Bateman).

I love this shot. Since it is just the two of us on this trip we often find ourselves in the situation where the other has to take a picture of one when we are somewhere unique. Lucky for us the sun cooperated and gave me the chance to capture this picture.

Once we were done with our hikes we hit the road heading south to finish the Oregon coast. The last 80 - 100 miles of the Oregon coast between Bandon and the California/Oregon border is bar far the most scenic and was the highlight of the drive in Oregon. I am sure the weather played a big part in that but it was undeniable beauty. The following picture is of the coastal highway sign that has lined the 101. I made sure NOT to pull of the road near any ditches.

This picture is dedicated to my good friend EC Hoffman who helped inspire me on this trip. When we came upon this sign I quickly pulled off to take the shot. EC, I hope you like the picture.

The "Ocean View" from just over the hill.

Some great shots of the drive south. I have been taking video of some of our stops but can't figure out how to upload them to youtube and then post the link. If anyone has experience with uploading videos please send me an email with directions. Every time I try and upload the file I get an error message. It is an AVI file FYI.

As I said Sarah and I are trying to get "couples" pictures in front of every state sign that we pass. We missed Washington and Oregon because we crossed the border on an interstate. Yesterday we crossed into California for about 30 minutes before we headed back up into Oregon to stay at the tree house resort (pictures to follow). We were able to get Oregon and California crossed off. I really like the California shot.

As I said we stayed in a tree house last night. It was a pretty strange place run by a bunch of Oregon hippies. Our drive to the place took us through an old growth forest and Sarah got the following pictures as I was driving.

This is a picture of the treeloon, our house last night. It is supposed to modeled after an old west saloon. The actually room was nice with an old brass bed and a working sink. The facility is really set up for large groups of kids or families. There are ropes courses and zip lines all over the property. We got up early thanks to the rooster crowing at 6:15am and hit the road. It was a cool experience but not worth the $100 it cost to stay there. Note to self - don't spend $100 on hotel room without a bathroom.

We passed a German Shepherd breeding kennel today and decided to pull into look at the puppies, we were quite surprised at what we found. the breeder specialized in hybrid German/wolves. Yes that is a male wolf Sarah is standing with. He was 13 years old weighed about 140lbs+ and was one of the more intimindating/impressive animals I have ever seen. The picture is not great but when he stood up he was significantly taller than Sarah.

Just a few road side loungers. Animals seen on the trip so far - 1. Gray fox 2. Moose 3. Elk 4. Wolf (caged) 5. lots of Dungenous Crabs

Hope all are well!

Oregon Coast - Two Day Wrap Up

2009-02-06T20:06:00.010-07:00

February 6, 2009 - Portland overall was a nice city but as I said in my last post there wasn't much to it. Obviously that is not entirely true but if you have one day to explore the city there really isn't that much that one NEEDS to do. That being said one spot that is worth stopping by is Voodoo Donuts on the skirts of Old Town (Chinatown). The store has been featured on the Travel Channel and the Food Network for those who watch shows on those channels. The donuts are solid and definitely worth getting.

We quickly shot out to the coast to start our drive south along the pacific beaches. The drive from Portland is approx 50 minutes. Most of the drive is through cow country and is very reminiscent of upstate NY or Vermont. Every once in a while you will pass a wine vineyard but it is pretty much pasture and forest until you get to Cannon Beach.

Cannon Beach was a really cool little surf town right on the ocean. Driving through the town one from my neck of the woods would think they were on the Jersey Shore (Bayhead) or on the Cape. All the houses were little cottages made of wood shingle and many with widow walks. The beach was your classic style New England beach with a large dune rolling down to a very flat fairly wide beach with a decent break. After a quick stop for an americano (new coffee drink of choice) we headed to Tillamook for the cheese factory.

Tillamook was founded in the 1880's and quickly rose to prominence for the butter and cheese from the region. Dairy cows were introduced to the fertile pastures by the early settlers and the rest was history. Today 10 million pounds of cheddar are produced each week. I still think Vermont has better cheddar.

Assembly line. I have never seen this much cheese at once. It was like the Coors brewery but instead of 30 packs it was all cheese. I think most of the people who work there are inbred but that is a whole different story.

After the cheese factory we headed back out on HWY 101 south towards the Three Capes Scenic Route. Directly south of Tillamook there is a beautiful drive that takes you by three lighthouses from the late 1800's. I love the Tsunami Evacuation sign under the mileage. These signs are lining the Oregon coast, our tax dollars hard at work! I am not sure what is more annoying, the money spent on these signs or the fact that people in our country need direction to run to high ground in the case of a tsunami. Call me cynical but if you are slow enough to stick around to see what happens when the ocean sucks out to sea in a fashion like you have never seen before than maybe you deserve what is coming your way.

Here is another shot of that Tsunami Hazard Zone sign. What a total joke. Lowest common denominator.

This is the first of the three lighthouses on the route, how classic is the sign?!? Sarah and I thought we were back in Montana all over again. Kind of the running joke of the trip, closed for the winter season.

The walk down to the lighthouse was along a wooded path about 1/4 of mile long. If you look closely you can see the top of the lighthouse.

Cape Mears lighthouse. I love these buildings!

Soon after leaving Cape Mears we crossed the 3,000 miles driven threshold and this time I hit the picture right on the nose. (Thank you Sarah)

Our first night on the coast was spent in this great little condo complex down on a private beach cove. We were able to talk our way into a relatively cheap nights stay and were handsomely rewarded. We arrived at the condo just as the sun was setting. We quickly dropped our bags ran down the street to grab a 6-pack and jumped down to the beach to catch the end of the sunset. I took the following picture of the condo complex we were staying at. The pictures that follow speak for themselves.

Striking the pose DG style. Look at those boots, so hot right now.

Even I have a hard time looking at this picture and you all know how much I love myself. What a total dork!

This is the view from our condo unit this morning. Yes the sky looks very ominous but it looks darker than it actually was. The best way to describe the weather was typical. As the lady at checkout said Oregon winters are gray.

This morning we woke up and drove down to the Newport historic harbor because we heard that sea lions liked to sun themselves by the fishing boats. When I took this picture all I could think of was the Sebastian Junger's Perfect Storm. The harbor was exactly the mental picture I have/had of Gloucester and I am sure the smell was not far off.

Lucky for us the sea lions were still out even though there was no sun. This guy was about 10 feet below me. I thought it was interesting that he/she had a huge brand on their back.

I took the subtle and not so subtle hints that my car needed a good cleaning. I find few things in life more therapeutic than self-wash car washes so this was actually a pleasure, that and I was getting pretty annoyed that every time I packed the car my pants got filthy.

Here are a few shots of I took at different turnouts along the 101. On a clear day I can only imagine how beautiful this drive must be. From my experience the closest thing I can compare it to is the south island of New Zealand. Dramatic cliffs, windy roads, and small surfer towns. If you have some time and have ever been interested in visiting Oregon this drive is well worth it. This brings me to another random thought/conversation Sarah and I had while driving. Beach is probably not the first thing that would jump into your head if one was to say Oregon but from now having been here I think it is fitting. The coastal area of the state is filled with beach towns and the people who live here have that surfer mentality. It really is a pretty cool to experience. As we have been driving the past two days we will pass cars pulled off the side of the road and people running down to the beach in full wetsuits and booties to get some surfing in. I guess if you are a surfer you need to experience Oregon before you die.

This last picture is a little tongue and cheek but this mulch pile must have been the largest in the world! I mean it was 500 feet long about 300 feet deep and easily 35 feet tall! Amazing what you see on the road.

Honestly how great does my car look when clean? It's a sports wagon and it fits into all the compact parking spaces so don't worry.

So the highlight of today's drive was the sea lion caves just north of Florence, OR. This sea cave is the self proclaimed largest sea cave in North America. It was discovered in the 1880's and is the largest winter home to the Steller sea lion.

After you pay your admission fee you walk out along the bluff to the elevator that takes you down to the view area. The elevator shaft is 208ft long and was cut into the rock in 1961. Once we got down to the cave we were blown away by two things. 1. The noise these animals make, the males bark like crazy 2. The smell. The best way to describe it was a combination of death, rotting fish and death. We seriously almost passed out from the smell. I am not sure what caused the smell but it was horrendous.

After the sea lion cave we continued our drive south looking for a place to stay. I knew that Bandon Dunes (http://www.bandondunesgolf.com/) was along the way so I figured we could stop into the club house for a drink and maybe to buy a golf shirt. 15 minutes after getting on the property we had a room in the club house and are staying the night. The property is absolutely amazing and we can't wait to get up in the morning to walk the different courses and the 30 or so miles of untouched beach. There are 4 golf courses here on the property along with 5 restaurants, 3 or 4 club houses and many different cottages. If I was playing golf I could play 2 of the top 4 2008 rated public golf courses for $90, but I am not playing golf on this trip so let's move on. It is supposed to be 52 and mostly sunny tomorrow so I should have some great pictures to share with you all in my next blog.

Hope all are well.

Portland - What A Day

2009-02-05T00:32:00.007-07:00

February 4, 2009 - Today we walked Portland. The city is very manageable and we covered most, if not all, of downtown. The Willamette River runs through the city bisecting the east and west part of downtown. From our walk we can safely say the west side of the city is the more interesting/vibrant part of downtown. We were very lucky in with the weather today with a beautiful sunny and 60 degree day. Our hotel is right downtown and made everything very accessible. To start off the day we walked through Old Town (Chinatown) to the Chinese Gardens. The city formed a public/private partnership with local oil & gas firm converting a city block parking lot into a traditional walled Chinese garden. The results were beautiful and definitely worth visiting on a nice day. Venti, I am posting most of these pictures for you so I hope you enjoy.

After the garden we walked down the river to the university district (Portland State) and then walked back up through the financial district. As I said Portland is a very manageable city and can been seen in a day. Here are a few more pictures of some of the better buildings we passed throughout the day. All in all the city is decent. Our advice would be to have something specific to do when you come to Portland.

Last picture for the night. Most of the city electric transformers are covered with this metal cover, I thought it was pretty cool.

Hope all are well.

Groundhog Day and What a Day It Was

2009-02-03T00:15:00.003-07:00

February 2, 2009 - The little guy saw his shadow today so we are all in for another 6 weeks of winter. My copilot has asked me to inform you all that of she rules. By that I mean we made a series of bets last night on the Superbowl and I lost the over all pot to her - payday $3 for Sarah. Like Rick James, she is rich! On to better things.

We took the Seattle - Bainbridge Ferry out of downtown this morning and then drove up to Port Angeles to visit the Olympic National Park Ranger Station. I took this shot from the ferry looking back at Seattle, too bad it the sun was glaring up the picture.

Th ranger in Port Angeles was able to give us some great information on things to do in Olympic if you only have a short time to visit. First we drove up what seemingly was a logging road to Observation Point for our lunch stop. As we passed through the forest and climbed further away from sea level the clouds parted and left us with a beautiful sunny 45 minutes to eat our lunch. Here was our lunch view.

After lunch we jetted down the hill and got back on HWY 101 and headed west for the coast. We were debating of going up to the northwestern most point of the 48 states to Neah Bay for the night but we couldn't find get comfortable with driving 2 hours up there on roads that can be washed out and they staying on an Indian reservation. Instead we drove to Storm King Ranger Station and took a 1.5 hrs hike to Marymane Falls. The hike was through old growth forest with trees reaching well over 100ft +. As I said earlier the sun was glaring up all the pictures so the shots I took looking up at the trees didn't come out so great. If my internet service wasn't so shoddy I would have posted the pictures but instead you get this shot to prove how big these trees are.

We made it up to Marymane Falls in about 35/40 minutes. The hike was not hard at all and we passed over a beautiful blue/green running river. The park rangers had built a bridge using a downed tree. Again I would love to share the pictures but my internet connection stinks and I am not staying up all night doing this blog. Here is a picture of the "team" at the lower lookout point.

As I said before we decided to skip Neah Bay and instead drive around the park and head out to the ocean. We are staying in Forks, WA tonight at this little RV park that also has cabins. Our place is a one bedroom cabin with a tiny little bathroom and kitchen. The two ladies who run the operation, Ruby & Hope, couldn't have been any nicer. Sarah and I stopped at the Trading Post to ask for directions and pick up a bottle of wine for sunset. After about 15 minutes of talking to the ladies we were staying at their place and they had corked our bottle. Sometimes the nicest people show up in the strangest places, it is funny how things work out.

So we are about 5 miles inland from Rialto Beach where we sat and watched the sunset. We drove down to the beach found a little spot all to ourselves and shared a bottle of wine and a side of smoked salmon. There wasn't another sole down on the beach and it was probably one of the more romantic moments of my life. The mist/haze had blown in from the sea to cover the small off shore islands, the clouds broke ever so slightly and the sunset burned orange. I wish I had the pictures to share with you all the amazing moment Sarah and I had today, but I guess some things are better left to the imagination. As hard as losing my job has been, without it I would have never been able to see what I saw today. Here is my favorite picture of the trip so far.

Hope all are well.

Words Of The Wise

2009-02-02T00:27:00.003-07:00

February 1, 2009 - Pinch punch first day of the month, got you first. I will make this post short and sweet. To begin with WHAT A SUPER BOWL!!! Last year was obviously better for us Giants fans but this game sure did come around into an instant classic. I think we all can agree the first half was a disappointment but the second half was amazing. Too bad the Cardinals didn't throw to Larry Fitzgerald earlier and more often.

Sarah and I finished our three day tour of Seattle and will be heading out to the coast and Olympic National Park tomorrow. From there we start the trip south to San Diego. Highlights from Seattle - 1. Pike's Market: Jack's Crab Pot; FANTASTIC chowder $4.29/bowl. 2. Elliot's Oyster House: Pier 56 down on Elliot Bay $100/2 people alcohol included. 3. Underground walking tour: worth taking, great history of the founding of the city $15/person 4. Music/Science Fiction Museum: great way to spend a slow day in Seattle.

Final thoughts - As Sarah and I are planning out the next few days of the trip we continue to run into the same snag: "Closed for Winter" or "Winter Hours". My advice to you, if you plan on taking a road trip in the great north west do it in the summer months.

I am going to leave you with this picture, I took it in Spokane, WA. I forgot my camera today and don't have any pictures from today's underground walking tour.

Catch Post - Victoria to Seattle in Three Days

2009-01-31T17:39:00.021-07:00

January 31, 2009 - It is hard to believe but we are already done with month one in 2009. To that end I am going to wrap up the last three days in one post. As you all saw from my last post on Wednesday Sarah and I ventured across the boarder to Canada to visit my cousins and my Grandma. To get to Victoria, where my Grandma lives, one has to take the BC ferries.

This was a shot I took from the car deck as we passed through the different islands on our way out to Vancouver Island.

I call this shot the "double espresso". It really captures my figure. I am so hot right now!

Once we got to Victoria we zipped over to my Uncle's house where we stayed for the next few nights. My Mom had flown in to spend the week with my Grandma (her mom), it was really nice having her in town with us. The next morning the three of us walked down to the harbor for some exercise and to see some of the houses along the way. If you didn't know where I was when I took this shot you would think it was New England/Greenwich, what a house!

The Parliament building is the the building with the green roof. I liked this particular picture because of the "Welcome to Victoria" flower beds cut into the grass hill. Later that afternoon Sarah and I walked by the flower beds and the spring flowers were just starting to pop. The climate in Victoria is very mild. My Mom told us that spring comes about mid February and she couldn't be far off because buds were beginning to pop through the beds. Vancouver Island has become a bit like Florida in the sense that many of the country's older citizens have moved there because of the climate. I would love to come back in the summer time to see everything in bloom.

Frontal and side shot of the Parliament building. The stone work on the building was amazing.

The Empress Hotel was the western most stop for the Canadian Pacific Steamship line (CPR). Around the turn of the century (1880's - 1900) many wealthy English families undertook world tours. Beginning in London with a cruise across the ocean passengers would board a train in eastern Canada and begin the long trek west. Along the way beautiful rail stations, like the Empress, were built to house the passengers. After the CPR stopped service for rail passengers in the 1920's the hotel was re-branded as a destination spot and became purely a hotel. Walking through the lobby was like going back in a time machine, very cool.

We spent the afternoon in the Royal Museum of BC. Out front was this funny picture opportunity, try and find me.

This car was built in 1942 by a local resident. It could reach speeds of 140mph and looked like a rocket ship. The same guy also built his house on a rotating platform so the view never was the same. Kind of crazy if you ask me, but cool nonetheless.

Inside the museum they had their largest exhibit focused on the native cultures of British Columbia. I like the totem pole room the best, hence the picture.

Three generations of the Goldsworthy family. Unfortunately the Goldsworthy clan is not good at smiling for pictures, oh well.

This picture is really all about SP's (self props). I am a master packer. One thing I will not miss from this trip is having to pack, re-pack, and then pack the car again. It is my least favorite chore of the day.

Our trip back home was much less eventful than our trip to Canada. We crossed the border in about 10 minutes only having to answer one question, why were we in Canada. Sarah and I both looked at each other and said thank god we are home. As the post says "Canada - It's Just a Little Different". The drive to Seattle took about 2:30 hours from the ferry port in South Vancouver. We are staying in the Grand Hyatt right downtown. Our room is overlooking Elliot Bay form the 28th floor. I took the following picture as I was uploading all of these pictures to the blog. As far as weather goes we couldn't have been more lucky. We pulled into Seattle not having seen the sun for nearly 12 days and low and behold the sun was shinning. We walked all around the city today and it was near picture perfect. As far as I am concerned the weather in Seattle is great!

Our first night in Seattle we walked down from the hotel to Pier 57 to a great restaurant called Elliot's Oyster House. To date this was by far the best meal of the trip, it even beat our all you can eat crab feast at The Lodge in Whitefish (MT). On the walk back to the hotel we stopped into this local blues bar to listen to some local music. The act's were decent but the venue was great. If you are in Seattle and you don't have anything better to do go check out Highway 99 Blues Bar.

We woke up this morning to blue sky's and 50 degree weather. We were going to head down to Pike's Market first but the weather was so nice we bee lined it over to the space needle (15 minute walk from hotel) and climbed/elevatored right up.

There were some clouds in the sky but for winter Seattle we were told today was pretty special.

The requisite "couples" shot. Too bad our photographer was a french girl who didn't understand lighting.

The old home of the Super Sonics, Key Arena. It looked as crappy as people said it was. Too bad the city of Seattle couldn't figure out a way to build a new stadium. Go OK City Thunder! What a load of crap.

After the Space Needle we walked across the street to the Museum of Music and Science Fiction. The building was designed by Frank Gehry and is as cool as some of his other work. As you walk along the building it changes colors and tones in different light. I really liked it.

Very cool!

The entrance to the Science Fiction Museum wing. That is a monorail track above and to the left.

If you are in Seattle and you are a music fan then this museum is a MUST. They have a few permanent exhibits (Hendrix, History of the Guitar) and some traveling (Hatch Show Printing). The following picture is of this electronic guitar sculpture. It actually plays the different guitars electronically with robot arms that pick the instruments. It was VERY cool.

The featured traveling exhibit was the Hatch Show Printing exhibit. It traced the history of American movie/music posters. This was one of the coolest museum exhibits I have ever seen. Modern art in the rawest form. Each of the posters is made using the movable type printing technique invented by Johannes Gutenbery. http://www.empsfm.org/exhibitions/index.asp?categoryID=164&ccID=245

I would have loved to have some pictures from the Hendrix exhibit but photography was not allowed. If you are a music fan you will enjoy this museum, if you are a Hendrix fan you will LOVE this museum. I wish I could have spent all day there listening to the different interviews with musicians who played with him and watched all the concert/studio footage.

Once we finished up in the music section of the museum we walked over to the Science Fiction exhibit. There was all kinds of cool movie memorabilia in the museum that was worth seeing like this RJD2 that Sarah loved.

I like so many guys my age was a HUGE fan of the Teenage Mutant Turtles and guess what they had the original movie robot used for my favorite turtle. Which one is he is the trivia of the day?

The original T-800 form T2. Much smaller in real life, I could take this thing down.

After we were done with the museum we walked along the water past all the piers. As you can see the weather was fantastic today.

After the stroll along Elliot Bay we made our way up to Pike's Market. I was surprised by the steep hills that the city is built upon. When you walk up to the market from the bay you have to climb the equivalent of 4 flights of stairs. Food for thought.

This picture is of the main corner in the market. The famous fish throwing stand is just to the left of the Farmers Market sign.

Tourists!

Just another beautiful fish stand with every kind of seafood under the sun for sale. Prices were decent even for being such a tourist trap esq place.

These King Salmon were about 36+ inches long.

Caught in the act. Contrary to what you may think these guys don't stand around all day throwing fish back and forth. To get a "flying" fish one needs to purchase the product. This is obviously the most "tourist" of all destinations but a must if you go to the market.

The first Starbucks ever. There was a great duop group standing out front singing songs. When we walked by they were singing one of my favorite Jackie Wilson songs, it was really great.

This guy was totally amazing. Four hoolahoops around the waste, four hoops on his chin, playing the guitar, and singing all at the same time. All in all the market was a great experience. It was different from Granville Island (Vancouver) in that it was more about the experience than the food. That being said we did find a great little lunch spot tucked away deep in the market that had some of the best seafood we have eaten so far and the best part was that it was cheap. Great deals to be had.

That's it for now. Hoped you enjoyed the pictures and stories. Hope all are well.

More From The North Country

2009-01-28T22:54:00.016-07:00

January 28th, 2009 - I would like to set the record straight on three issues that faithful readers have pointed out.

1. The last picture of my last post is not just of the IMAX but actually the Pan Pacific building. The IMAX is one single component of the building.

2. The reason for the post date discrepancy is because I started to write today's blog post on Monday but did not post it until today when I had time to finish the written sections. I adjusted the date in the body of the text but Blogger (website) still posted it as if it was written Monday.

3. The spelling mistakes have been fixed. I apologize.

Onto better things now. I will not subject you all to another rant filled blog, just pictures and short descriptions the rest of the way. Picture comments come above each picture. Enjoy!

Find Sarah!

This picture does not do justice to the beauty of this woman's fruit counter. She stacked each of her berry trays 12 - 14 inches high in perfect pyramids. The colors were so vibrant, I wish it showed through better in the picture. Sarah and I got blood oranges (might be my new favorite fruit), figs, and passion fruit. They just do not have these markets in the US.

If you are a beef jerky fan and you like wild salmon then you NEED to get your hands on Indian Candy.

What I would do for a meat counter like this in my home town!

Enough said - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_cheese

Recently I was turned onto the Travel Channel show Weird Eats with Andrew Zimmern. This market was EXACTLY the kind of place he would have visited and below are EXACTLY the kinds of foods he would have tasted/bought. I passed on the feet but I had to take a picture. Above is a container of chicken hearts.

Since moving to Denver I have fallen in love with west coast oysters. I found a fantastic fish house/restaurant in Denver called Jax Fish House. If you ever visited me in Denver there is a 100% chance we went at least one night you were with me. Sarah and I indulged!!!

I loved the flower stands they had. Again I wish the picture showed the true colors better.

Max (BHBA) I am sorry but when I saw the following picture the first thing that popped into my head was you! If there were no horns I think you two would pass for brothers. I love you man.

The real Slim Shady - Cool & Calm

Finally I had to share some pictures of Liane, Pete and the boys. Liane I am sorry I know I said I wouldn't post this picture but it was the only one of the five of us. The boys were great!

Hope you all enjoyed!

Canada - Things Are Just A Little "Different"

2009-01-26T20:32:00.011-07:00

January 28, 2009 - I am back!!!!!!!!!! I apologize for the tardiness with my posts but I have been staying with my cousin Liane and her husband Pete and their two little boys Aden and Dylan. After spending the days out exploring Vancouver I found it more fun to mess around with the boys then sit down and blog. Now I am sitting in line at the Tsawwassen ferry port waiting to catch a boat to Vancouver Island to visit my grandma. The past few days has been filled with more than a few interesting stories. 5000 Miles of Freedom Tour learned its second life lesson and that is don't try and cross the border in a car full of stuff when no one in the car has a job or a permanent mailing address. The "first line of defense" border guard looked at Sarah and I like we were crazy when we explained to him why we were visiting Canada (to visit family). We were soon ushered into a parking port where we were told to go see the officers inside. After quickly checking in with officer "Bacon"(that is what I am calling him) he took my keys and searched my car without my permission (they don't need your permission once you have been detained). Bacon completely tossed my car, went through all of our stuff, searched my glove and even went through my GPS and made a call from my cell phone to American Communications my cable company. Once Bacon came back inside he called each one of us up separately and proceeded to ask us questions. His first question/statement to me was that I had not been honest with him regarding my reasons for coming to Canada and that if I told him anything but the truth I was committing a felony. At this point I was getting a little nervous because I had no idea what Bacon was talking about. He had found our storage unit's lease agreement that I keep in my glove and been convinced that since neither of us had jobs or mailing addresses in the US and recently moved all of our things into storage that we were now trying to move to Canada illegally. Once he presented this theory to me I pretty much laughed in his face and said I have no intention of living here in Canada. He asked a few more questions like how much money I have since I only had $1 in my wallet, yes he went through that as well. Sarah was next up with the interrogation. He pretty much did the same spiel with her that he did with me but when she was done he said that in his years of experience our story seemed rehearsed and "convenient". In the end Bacon let us through into Canada but he stapled a permission slip into our passports that stated we needed to leave the country by Saturday, which we were both fine with by this point.

Just a few more random thoughts before I move onto the pictures. Driving in Canada is different. The first and most confusing thing is the flashing green light. Once a traffic light turns green it begins to flash. We still haven't figured this one out. In the bars pints of beer are called flights and bloody mary's are called ceasers. Canada can at times feel more strange than traveling to some far off country because of the little differences. When you are here everything feels so similar but at the same time so different. The cars are exactly the same but the way in which people drive is just a little different. All the retail stores are the same (or close) but the things they sell are just a little different. The people all speak English but with a slightly different accent. So much of it is home but just when you begin to feel comfortable something pops up to remind you that you are in a different country.

Enough jabbering I know most of you are checking the blog to see pictures not here me go on about my inner observations. Below is our first view of the Pacific. Sarah and I got to Bellingham, WA about 3pm Sunday and had lunch at this little pull off. We decided here that we would push on through and drive up to Vancouver that night rather then stay in the states another night. Soon after we took this picture we broke 2000 miles driving on the trip.

Pete and Liane's house is in N. Vancouver. On our first night in town we went out for a few drinks down the road at their local pub the Rusty Gull. From N. Vancouver one has a pretty spectacular view of the city. We were staying 2 blocks up from the water.

I took this picture mainly for the Lehigh crew that always has made fun of my car. As you can see from the sign hanging on the wall my car is a "small car". To tell you the truth that status has come in handy more than once on this trip. Yes MWD I know my car needs to be washed, thanks for pointing that out.
On our first day in Vancouver Sarah and I went down to Granville Island to the local farmers/fish market. Right down on the point there is a concrete factory and I saw this truck and had to take a picture. The Mountains Hawks reign supreme even north of the border.

This is the building that the market is housed in. Unfortunately for us every Monday in January the market is closed. We ended up coming back on Tuesday so it was ok but it was frustrating when we were there. Although the market was closed we ended up having lunch right next door and the seafood was fantastic.

After the market we ventured into downtown Vancouver to walk around and see the city. Vancouver is a really nice city that is both manageable and clean. There are tons of little stores, restaurants, malls and museums to see downtown. The Hudson's Bay Company is the oldest retailer in North America and has a beautiful building right in the center of downtown Vancouver. Richard I thought you would like the picture.

We finished up our first day with climb up the Harbour Center which is Vancouver's own space needle. I took a bunch of different pictures from atop the observation deck but I liked this one the most. The white building in the foreground is the IMAX, Stanley Park point is to the left and N. Vancouver is in the background. The views were pretty clear that day and we could see all the way to Washington's Mt. Baker.

I will post some more pictures from inside the Granville Island Market later today. I should have some fantastic shots from Victoria to share over the next few days so keep checking for those. Hope all are well!

Luxury In A Cave

2009-01-25T11:23:00.012-07:00

January 25, 2009 - We are in Central Washington in the town of Quincy. Lucky for us we stumbled onto our hotel via a google search and as it turns out it is our most memorable night of the trip so far. The place is called Cave B Inn at Sagecliff and doubles as a vineyard & spa retreat. http://www.sagecliffe.com/Inn.htm Our hotel room is literally built into the cliff walls of the Columbia River Valley. Here is our view from the room. Once we settled in to the room we took a walk through the vineyards and then went and tasted their home grown estate wines. The have about 15 different varietals that they grow here on the property. All of their wine is made from grapes grown right here and bottled right here. They have two different distribution labels, Cave B & Sagecliff. Because of the size of their property no single wine has a greater than 200 case per year output with many only having around 100 case output. The wine is very affordable at $16 - $35 per bottle and from what we tasted very good. Their out of state distribution is limited but can be ordered online if you join their wine club (free of charge). I know I sound like an informercial but the wine was very good and VERY well made. Here are some pictures of Sarah and I walking through the vineyards with the house dog Couvee.

Here is a picture of main building/restaurant looking up the hill from our room. You can see the different cliff houses along the walk up through the vineyard.

Here is the same shot taken last night after dinner on our walk home.

As you can see the place is amazing! The icing on the cake is that the owners of the vineyard are also the developers and former owners of the Gorge Amphitheater. If you are not familiar with this venue the best way to describe it is the most beautiful natural outdoor theater in America. Having lived in Denver and seen shows at Red Rocks one could probably argue that Red Rocks is the most unique or beautiful but if you have never seen the Gorge than you can't really have an informed opinion. I took this next picture from the fence line in the vineyard.

Here is a picture of the Gorge during a concert. AMAZING!!!

On the way to Cave B yesterday Sarah and I drove to Grand Coulee to see the Coulee Dam. The dam was part of Roosevelt's "New Deal" and was built from 1932 - 1941. It is the largest concrete structure in North America and the single largest hydro-electric producer in North America. Check out the website if you want to learn more. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Coulee_Dam

Here are a few pictures we took.

That's all for now. Check in again when we are north of the boarder.

Ladies...It's a Sports Wagon

2009-01-23T19:16:00.021-07:00

January 23, 2009 - Tonight will be a quick blog update of the past two days. On Thursday morning Sarah and I said goodbye to The Lodge at Whitefish and Montana and headed from Sandpoint, ID. On the way to Idaho we got another great state line picture (GO YANKS!)

We broke the 1,500 mile mark. Weird how we missed the 1,000 mile mark by exactly the same distance (see previous picture if you don't believe me).

We drove through an inversion cloud (picture 1) on our way up to Schweitzer Ski Resort (picture 2).

Once up at the mountain we found our new mascot. He is a little big but still a puppy. The lifties were trying to find a home for him so we decided to take him in. We haven't finalized his name but we are leaning towards Meat. He is half Alaskan Malamute and half wild wolf. It is a bit tight in the car now with Meat around but we will manage.

Here is a picture from the top of Schweitzer taken this morning. I went skiing while Sarah hung in the lodge and took care of Meat.

Which now brings me to the subject line of this blog. I think the picture speaks louder than words. "If you have the means I highly recommend you pick one up."

We are in Spokane, WA tonight and off to wine country tomorrow. Unfortunately for us we crossed over the state line on I-90 so we didn't get a state line timer pic. Maybe when we cross into Oregon we can run down the street and take a picture looking back into Washington. Hope all is well!

PS - We didn't adopt Meat, even though he was beautiful and amazing.

Montana - It's a Summer Thing

2009-01-21T20:48:00.006-07:00

January 21, 2009 - On the eve of our departure from the great state of Montana I feel it is my duty to share some parting thoughts. One - Montana is a summer state. I say this with the utmost respect for the place but facts are facts and this state is asleep in the winter time. From our drive from Bozeman all the way up to Whitefish Lake we have past numerous restaurants, bars, and shops all closed for "winter hours". The place looks like an absolute paradise, and I can't wait to get back here in the summertime, but I feel like I need some kind of refund for all the missed opportunities. Two - Montana has a berry called the Huckleberry that grows exclusively here in the state above 4000ft altitude (so I have been told). They make jams, preserves, ice cream, tea, chocolates, syrup, pies, vodka, etc... out of it. The closest berry that can compare to the huckleberry is the blueberry but it is not nearly as tart. This berry might be the best of all the berrys out there so get your hands on some if you can. Three - Skiers at Big Mountain ski like they are GS skiing. It is really weird but it needs to be experienced to understand what I am talking about. The GS style skiing and the fact that they where the butt flaps. Supposedly a ski patrol invented this butt flap to protect skiers legs and butts from the cold when sitting in the chairlift. It straps around the waist like a fannypack and hangs down past the knees. Having been a skier for 24 years and skiing all around the world I can honestly say this is one of the dumbest slash softest inventions ever. My only regret is not having a picture to share with all of you so you too can understand how soft this invention is. This is the closest thing I could find on the Internet to what it actually is. http://www.snowshack.com/detail/SNW+HB-01257+ML_Hot+Buns+Butt+Warmers The only difference is the flap is a single piece of fabric that hangs loosely off the back of the waist. I have said my piece. Montana is a great state but I just think it would be a better place to visit in the summer time since more stuff is open and you don't have inversions to deal with.

So on our last day Sarah and I went for a quick snowshoe in Glacier National Park. Due to the inversion we were unable to get any sun and hence we froze our a$$'s off (it was 18 degrees). We really didn't take any good pictures because there was no sun but we did walk along a river and in the river a beaver must have lived because there were a bunch of downed trees. I have seen this before but I thought I would share the picture with you all in case you haven't seen a downed beaver tree.

On the way home we saw this ranch with this HUGE eagle sculpture on top of the entrance. We both thought it was pretty cool.

And finally here is our wonderful dinner from the night. We were exhausted so after some laundry, a great hot tub session, and a few beers Sarah made this little gem. It was FANTASTIC

- I walk the line.

Skiing Big Mountain

2009-01-20T18:41:00.014-07:00

January 20, 2009 - So I blogged a few nights ago about the Montana microbrew beers and how they are so much better than any other state's microbrews. Well here is a picture and the correct name of my new favorite beer. Salmon Fly Honey Rye by Madison River Brewing Company. The other beer in the picture is an award winning beer I have had the past two years at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, probably one of the better events Denver hosts. If you are a beer lover (Semel) I HIGHLY recommend you go out and find either one of these beers. So now on to the days activities. As the subject line of the post suggests Sarah and I skied today. We are staying about 15 mins drive from Big Mountain base. Lucky for us the inversion stuck around for another day and now I have some pictures to show you all what the hell I am talking about. As I said, and this is from my understanding of what an inversion actually is, high pressure systems force colder air down into valleys and create cloud cover at low altitudes. The clouds sit so low in the valleys that the surround mountains poke up through the clouds and allow people to literally go above the clouds. I have only ever before experienced the inversion in Jackson Hole but Montana suffers from them too. So without further ado here are some pictures. Now you all know what the inversion looks like. Here are a few other pictures I took today that I like a lot. I call the first one "Soldiers in the Sun". The second picture is of a bank of snow flakes that we skied by today. We were totally blown away by how big each of the flakes were (2 -3 inches) and how intact there were. I thought the picture might be worth sharing.

That's all I have for now. I will share more tomorrow after we snowshoe Glacier National Park.

- Land Hoe!!!

Whitefish MT - 1250 Miles Down

2009-01-19T23:19:00.008-07:00

January 19, 2009 - Sarah and I drove up from Missoula to Whitefish today. The drive was beautiful but unfortunately for us there has been an inversion in the valley for the past few days so the clouds have sat pretty low and blocked all the views. The drive up the east side of Flathead Lake is pretty cool regardless of views. The closest thing I can compare it to is driving around the Finger Lakes in Central NY. The roads are winding right along the shores of the lake right off the water. I wish more than anything we had a sunny day because the mountain range that surrounds the lake is supposedly amazing, check out some pictures online if you are curious.

My old boss at Hines is from the area and gave me a bunch of names of places Sarah and I needed to stop along the way. Unfortunately the winter season shuts down this place pretty good so some of the bars he recommend along the way were closed since winter working hours are weekends only. From the looks of it this could be one of the better summer places ever. There are bars and restaurants lining the lake that all have docks that you can pull your boat up to in the summer time. From talking with some of the local bartenders it sounds like this place is off the hook in the summer time and especially so July 4th weekend.

We had lunch in the town of Bigfork on the northeast side of Flathead Lake in a great bar called the Garden Bar. If you are ever in the area this place is an absolute must. Here is a picture of the bar sign and Sarah and I just after we finished lunch.

After Bigfork we made a bee-line for Whitefish and the place we are staying at for the next few nights. As I said my old boss Jay made some recommendations of some places to visit while here. He also was nice enough to let us stay at his condo here right on Whitefish Lake. The Lodge is really nice check out the link http://www.lodgeatwhitefishlake.com/. At this point anything would beat the Days Inn in Missoula so we are more than happy to have it. We were going to get dinner tonight in downtown Whitefish but the Lodge was running an all you can eat King Crab Leg special so we got sucked in. 4lbs later I was full.

Tomorrow we are headed up to Big Mountain to get some skiing in so hopefully I will have some nice sunny pictures to share once we break through the inversion.

I am trying to get a song posted to my Blog so you all have some music playing in the background while you read. I don't think Blogger has this function so I did the next best thing. I found a Youtube clip of the song so make sure to click on the new video clip on the right before/after/during reading the post (click the second video box for best results). Thanks to Luj Stash for the inspiration even though I introduced him to Elvis.

Mazeltov Gentleman!

Jackson Hole Wrap Up and Bozeman Drive

2009-01-19T00:13:00.016-07:00

January 18, 2009- Since I haven't posted in a few days I am going to combined two days of driving into one longer than usual post. Not much exciting stuff has happened. Sarah and I left Jackson Hole on Saturday afternoon after a great breakfast at this little spot called Jedediah's on E. Broadway right off the square, we both highly recommend it if you are in Jackson. Here is a picture of Kyle and Becky's house where we stayed for 3 nights.

We left town with a quick stop at Teton Village (Jackson Hole Ski Area). We passed over the Teton Pass into Idaho and got some great shots of the Teton Range from the "other side". Sarah drove for about 50 miles which was a nice relief but she is still re-learning how to drive manual so I am doing most of the driving. Here are some pictures of Teton Village and the Teton Range from Idaho.

Best bar in the Village! (pretty much only bar in the Village)

Sarah and I decided to do two things to commemorate our trip: 1. Always take a timer picture of us as we cross state lines 2. Get a beer coozy at every place we stay for a night. By the end of the trip we should have a pretty cool collection.

The Teton Range is in the background. This picture was taken from the Idaho looking back East towards WY.

The town of Bozeman was pretty uneventful. We grabbed dinner at Ted's Montana Grille and a few drinks at a great little local Irish Pub. The microbrew beers in MT are by far and away the best in the country (check out Madison River brews). The next morning we split for Missoula and during the drive we broke our first 1000 miles!

When you drive the interstates in MT you see interesting things like this.

Stockman's Bar in downtown Missoula. This sign was too classic not to take a picture of! Stoop don't worry I got you a t-shirt.

University of Montana's first academic building built 1897.

Snow Shoeing - Teton National Forest

2009-01-17T08:59:00.006-07:00

Jan 16, 2009 - Yesterday we woke up to some weird weather. For those who have not visited Jackson there is a weather phenomenon called the inversion. Cold air sinks into the valley cooling off the water moisture in the air and creating a heavy misting fog. The cool thing about this system is that once you get above a certain altitude the fog is burned off and you get what the locals call (all ski towns use this lingo) a blue bird day. So Sarah and I packed up the car with some lunch and headed out to Teton National Forest about 65 miles north of town. We stopped at the visitor center, got some maps, and were told we could hike to Huckleberry Hot springs from a trail head inside the park.

About 5 minutes into the park we bumped into this little guy. Sarah snapped this picture from the car. He/she was probably 25 yards away it was really cool. The fox trotted along the side of the road for a few hundred yards and then headed back into the forest. So far on the trip the wildlife has been great. I have seen 9 moose, a giant elk heard, and this little fox, not bad for two days.

The hike to Huckleberry was about 40 minutes along a beautiful river (where we saw moose #8 100 - 150 yards away just standing in the river looking at us). When we got to the springs we were a little disappointed. It was nothing like we expected or what you would think of when someone told you to go visit a hot spring. Besides the numerous warning signs stating NOT to go into the water because certain bacteria/ameba's live in the water, it was only about 12 inches deep. I wish I could show you some picture of a fantastic hot spring in the middle of a pristine national park but this is all I have.

Obviously we didn't go in but we did have a really nice lunch of beef jerky and hard boiled eggs. We hiked back out of the park, past the moose again, and back to the car. On the way home we were treated to a pretty amazing sunset behind Grand Teton and the entire Teton Range. The next picture is of the Teton Range looking south back over Jackson Lake towards the town of Jackson Hole (approx 65 miles south). I wish the picture did the scene more justice.

Grand Teton is the farthest and most distinct peak in the picture. It was a pretty amazing view to say the least.

Today Sarah and I are saying goodbye to Jackson, packing up the car and heading to Bozeman MT. We are driving the Teton Pass which is known to have tons of wildlife (Buffalo & Elk herds) around the road so hopefully we get a few more shots like we did our friend the fox. We are going to pop into Teton Village (Jackson Hole Ski area) and Big Ski on the way to Bozeman so there might be a few cool pictures of the towns coming up.

To the Ocean!

Snowmobiling Grey's River Valley - Jackson Hole WY

2009-01-16T00:36:00.009-07:00

Today was quite the day! 7am wake up, 7:45 departure for snowmobile tour shake, 8:15 on the road. Our entry point to back country was in a town called Alpine about 35 mins drive south of Jackson. About 28 mins into the drive I asked the driver "when are we going to see old faithful?" His answer - "you are on the wrong tour!" Unfortunately for Sarah and I when we were signed up for the tour we were under the impression that we were going to be touring Yellowstone Nation Forest and going in to see geysers and clay pots. This is what we had been told to expect the night before but we go the switch-a-roo. In the end everything worked out GREAT. We had a fabulous time on some serious sleds. The trip we ended up doing was more "back country" oriented. Our guide (Jamie) was a great guy, a recent grad from Colorado College, who pretty much cut us loose after about 15mins. We ended up riding about 90+ miles in all, seeing 7 moose, herds of elk, getting a few sleds stuck in super deep snow, and getting a great tan all the while. Here are a few pictures from the day.

All in all the day was a success. Yes we are disappointed that we didn't get into Yellowstone but there still is time to go and get that done before we move onto Montana. In the meantime tomorrow we are planning on snow shoeing to Huckleberry Hot Springs in Teton National Forest. Lots of the locals have said the hike is beautiful, the hot springs are amazing and supposedly lots of wildlife (Buffalo's, elk, mule deer) hangout by the pools. If that is true I should have some pretty amazing pictures to share tomorrow night.

Stig I love the comments, I do have a blade and I am sure you have a "guy" out here but no thanks. In closing I will leave you all with picture evidence of Lesson Learned - 1

God save the king!

First Day Lessons - 478 Miles Done

2009-01-14T21:42:00.003-07:00

So the first day of the journey covered 478 miles from Beaver Creek to Jackson Hole with some important lessons learned along the way. Not 3 hours into the drive I decided I liked the speed limit signs that displayed two separate speeds for day and night driving and thought it would make a cool picture. Unfortunately for Sarah and I we were not aware that the snow bank on the side of the road was actually not stable and hence the car feel into the ditch!

I would post a picture of my car in a ditch here but my Internet connection is pretty crappy right now so it will have to wait until I can get a better connection. The picture is pretty funny my two uphill tires are pretty much off the road.

Lucky for us people "on the road" are super friendly. We got picked up by the second passing truck and were soon in the town of Baggs WY (first town over the CO/WY boarder) and shortly thereafter back at the car. With little trouble we got pulled out of the ditch and were back on our way. It is funny now looking back at it but for a little bit we were up shit creek without a paddle. But you live and learn and now we know not to pull off the road to take pictures of signs.

We are in Jackson now staying with my sister in-laws younger sister Becky and her boyfriend Kyle. Tomorrow we are taking a snowmobile tour of Yellowstone so I should have a great post tomorrow night with a link to a great photo album.

Lessons learned - 1

D - DAY: 0 Miles January 14th

2009-01-14T08:11:00.003-07:00

January 14, 2009 is Departure Day, first stop Jackson Hole WY. Woke up this morning and had to take one last picture of our amazing view from Sarah's house looking back at Beaver Creek. I am definitely going to miss this view but I am sure what lies ahead will be equally amazing.

Sarah and I hope to be In Jackson by 6pm tonight. Enjoy the day. Here is a picture of the sports wagon aka the Saab ready to go. Check in with you all later.

Kick Off Blog

2009-01-12T13:32:00.006-07:00

As the great FDR once said "December 7th is a day that will live in infamy". Well in my case October 27th is my day of infamy. As you all know by now I lost what I thought to be my dream job working with Hines in Denver. Like the old cliche says when you get lemons make lemonade, so I decided to hit the road. Over the next few months I will be driving around the west with my wonderful girlfriend Sarah (most of you have met her) stopping at whatever place/town/truck stop/ski hill/national park/point of interest that we fancy. I will do my best to get daily blog posts up so that you all have something to do for a few minutes while sitting at work and also so that you might live somewhat vicariously through my journeys. Please don't expect much in the form of a written document. This blog will be more a stream of consciousness and pictorial diary of the trip. I will do my best to post funny stories, cool pictures and links to the places we travel to and pretty much keep you all updated as to where I am in America.

I am using Google's free blog site called blogger so if you choose to follow please create a profile and post any comments or trip/stop suggestions as Sarah and I drive.

Looking at the map you can see the rough trip outline of where Sarah and I will be driving. We were going to start the trip Sunday January 11th right after the Giants game but plans changed when Beatrice gave birth to little Phoebe Beatrice Mellick (7lbs 3oz; 20 inches long) on Saturday January 10th at 1:17pm. I got the call early Saturday morning and was able to get a cheap flight home and luckily made it in to LGA despite a snow storm and pretty bad weather. I spent the day yesterday with Beatrice, Phoebe, and Jeff in Greenwich hospital as various friends and family stopped in to say hello and hold Phoebe. Unfortunately for Phoebe her first Giants game was a loss to the HATED Eagles so hopefully this does not become a trend. I sent out a Kodak Gallery to many of you already but I will post some pictures of little Phoebe to the blog as we go along. Here is my favorite picture from yesterday! There will be plenty more coming.

So now we have the next generation in our family with Beatrice and Jeff's first child and 5000 Miles of Freedom has been delayed a few days. I fly back to Denver tomorrow morning Jan 13 and then Sarah and I plan on hitting the road Wednesday Jan 14 with Jackson Hole, WY being the first stop. As I said I will do my best to check in regularly with daily posts (baring a good Internet connection) to keep all updated.

One last comment before I leave you today to go up and see Phoebe, if you plan on being in the car for any amount of time or you drive a lot already do yourself a favor and get Sirius Satellite Radio. Besides snow tires on the Saab Sirius is the most important piece of equipment that I bought for the trip.