Our Route Thus Far....

View Larger Map

Back to Portland

We took advantage of the 12:00 checkout time to catch up on some rest and TV watching (first time in a month and it didn’t seem like we’ve been missing much).  We got on the road to head south towards Tacoma to see what everyone had been making fun of (phrases like Tacom-aroma, etc) and to get lunch with Beth’s friend Eric from Denison.  Then it was algebra time, but both the public and the campus libraries were closed since it was Sunday (it is very hard to know what day of the week it is on this road trip).  We gave up and headed south towards Portland to find a campsite for the night.  Upon arriving in Portland, it was raining steadily so we made the executive decision to find a cheap hotel for the night (we got spoiled the night before).  It was well worth it as we found a nice, clean EconoLodge with free wifi and all the bells and whistles.  Not much exciting today.  Sorry. 

Seattle Wedding

We were delighted to wake up without much of a hangover before heading to breakfast at Eddie Vedder’s favorite restaurant (Endolyne Joe’s).  There is something about the Pacific NW that produces great food.  We guess that when it is raining, people need amazing restaurants to go eat at to cheer them up (not that we are complaining though).  This one even changes their “theme” every 3 months, redecorating the restaurant and changing the menu.  This time it was “Santa Fe” and Robbie got what was in his opinion the best breakfast ever. 

After hanging out in the McArthur yard and enjoying the rare Seattle sun and heat over some homebrewed apple cider, we packed up the car and hit the road again.  This time the drive was pretty short to a nearby hotel to get ready for the wedding that evening of one of Robbie’s good friends, Kyra.  The wedding was beautiful and was perfectly timed to capture a picturesque sunset over Lake Washington.  It was a great time catching up with old Colorado friends and dancing the night away before walking back to our hotel.

Seattle Wine and Beer

After convincing Grayson to skip work to entertain us we fueled up over an amazing homemade breakfast and took off toward the wineries to the East of Seattle.  For lunch we did cheese and crackers with a bottle of wine over an intense game of Bocce (which even with the power of Robbie’s mustache, we lost). We then went to Columbia Valley winery where Grayson and Katie were members, which meant way too many free samples of delicious wine. 

If we weren’t feeling nice and toasted yet, we drove down the road to Redhook Brewery for some beer, and a tour that was incredibly efficient at getting us drunk (especially Robbie drinking everyone’s unwanted samples).  After a great dinner and a blur of a car ride we went to a pirate themed local brewery that specialized in German styles of beer (go figure) and hung out for the rest of the evening.  The end.

Downtown Seattle

This day’s entry runs the risk of being as long as July 3^rd, but for better reasons.  We will do our best to make it shorter.  Katie volunteered to be our tour guide for the day and do the tourist thing around downtown Seattle.  We started by taking a water taxi across from West Seattle to downtown and headed towards the famous Pike Place Market.  This is the fish-throwing, crowded farmer’s market that everyone that has been to Seattle has probably visited.  It actually was very cool and they really did throw huge fish pretty long distances.  There also were these flower arrangements that cost either $5 or $10 depending on size and were seriously huge.  After seeing all the yummy fruit, the three of us were hungry and went across the street (next to the original Starbuck’s location) to Beecher’s for the “World’s Best Mac and Cheese” (for breakfast).  It really might have been the best we have ever had and was frighteningly addicting even though it was very filling. 

We then caught a free bus to Pioneer Square for Seattle’s Underground Tour.  This actually was very cool.  Tons of history and funny stories from Seattle’s past.  There also was plenty of civil engineering information for Robbie to enjoy like streets over 8 to 35 foot tall retaining walls in front of stores in that area.  It is too hard to explain in the blog, so go check it out or ask Robbie to explain.  During the tour we kept on smelling really good food so we hiked up to Chinatown to a wonderful Chinese restaurant and ate wayyyy too much for lunch.  At least we had a long hike ahead of us to the monorail across town. 

We took the monorail to the area around the space needle and the new Science Fiction Museum/Experience Music Project.  They were both very cool places and the SFM had a whole floor dedicated to Jim Henson and his Muppets.  There were walls made of muppet fur and plenty of cool sketches.  The EMP had a great exhibit on Jimi Hendrix and an amazing hands-on area that taught you how to play various instruments ranging from guitars and keyboards to sampling equipment and DJ turntables.  Robbie would have played there all night if Beth didn’t drag him away. 

That night we had a yummy dinner at a fish and chips place near Alki Beach and then went to an Irish pub for some beers and something called “Irish Root Beer” that was like 75% alcohol but managed to taste like root beer.  Then it was bed time after all of the tourism.  Good night.

 

Ferry to Seattle

Packing up camp while it’s raining is never fun.  The tent never gets rolled up smoothly and everything is a cold, wet mess thrown in the car.  After some coffee (we see why it is so popular with the Pacific NW weather), we were on the road toward Bainbridge Island.  After almost missing our ferry while eating lunch, we were crossing Puget Sound on a boat.  It is a weird sensation to park your car and then see the scenery moving by a few seconds later.  Also, we would later find out that the Seattle ferries were approaching 80 years old and had seen better days.  We made it without sinking though.

Drove to Grayson (Robbie’s old roommate from Colorado) and Katie’s house and got a much needed shower (sorry to announce every time we shower, but we don’t want people to think we were too unsanitary).  After hanging out for a bit in the McArthur abode, we cooked out before heading to a patisserie where the pastry chef had won some world cup of desserts in France before opening up shop.  The cakes were dangerously rich and good.  Then we went across the street to Elliott Bay brewery for some beers before heading back to their house.  It is nice to have a real bed and bathroom again.

 

Dangerous Goat

We woke up to an even rainier day today and decided a shower would be nice.  The campsite suggested the swimming pool in nearby Port Angeles that was closed for the month of July (odd timing).  No shower so we decided to go on a hike in the park again.  The drive was ridiculously foggy and it is actually kind of scary to go through a tunnel filled with fog.  There is this eerie dim light at the end but otherwise it is just an oppressing darkness.  Try it sometime. 

The hike was actually above all of the clouds and it was amazing to see the valleys from above filled with thick clouds.  At the trailhead there was a sign that said in large letters “Goat Warning”.  The sign went on to describe a goat in the area that had been aggressively approaching hikers and trying to ram them (it was cuter when we pictured a little farm goat, not a mountain one).  The sign suggested throwing rocks and insults at the aggressive beast to scare it away.  Also, urinating along the trail was discouraged as the asshole goat was perverted enough to enjoy licking up the pee.  This was all very funny but we took the warnings seriously during the hike.  We wondered how many innocent goats had been stoned in this area because of the one bad apple and the sign he inspired.  Otherwise it was a very steep hike that was filled with beautiful wildflowers and great views of the valleys below.  Since it was chilly and damp back at the campsite we just tuckered down in the tent with Oso and relaxed before going to sleep.

Hoh Rainforest

We awoke to a very misty morning on the Olympic Peninsula (go figure).  We really cannot complain too much though because we’ve had great weather up to this point and the cool rain was a nice change from the near one hundred degree heat.  Since it was raining we figured we’d go to the rainforest.  The cool thing about Olympic National Park is that it is very rugged, and something like 96% of the park is designated wilderness, which means it, will never be developed.  This means there are no roads that cross the park, only a major highway that skirts it and has different entrance points.  Because of this we had a little drive ahead of us to get to the opposite side of the park for the day’s hike. 

The drive was absolutely beautiful.  A good portion of the drive was along Cresent Lake, which is this amazing deep aqua color and looks like it should have a Loch Ness Monster living in it.  We eventually arrived in the rainforest, which was amazing and rainy.  Everything was covered in some sort of moss or greenery including the streambeds.  We did a few hikes around the Hoh Rainforest and checked out the Hoh River.  The river is all glacial runoff so it ends up being this crazy blue-grey color.  Sorry to focus so much on the varying shades of water coloring we have seen on this trip, but it is something that has to be seen to appreciate. 

Pretty much every sign in this little rainy logging town had something about “Twilight” on it so Robbie had Beth google the town to find out what was up.  Since the two of us are part of the population that have not read these teenage vampire books and seen the subsequent movie, we were surprised to find out they all took place here.  There are even mock “proms” at the local high school for teenaged girls willing to pay.  Makes us feel old to be in the dark on cultural phenomena.  

Leaving Portland

First we want to apologize for the lapse in entries lately.  Oddly enough it is much easier to keep up on the blog when we are camping and have less going on than when we are visiting friends in large cities.  So therefore it is our generous hosts’ fault that the blog has not been updated…

Not much to report today besides saying goodbye to the wonderful people we had met in Portland before hitting the road to head north.  Our destination was Olympic National Park in the NW corner of Washington and the United States.  The drive was longer than we anticipated but we arrived in the early evening at the park.  After talking to the ranger and getting some maps we picked out a campground for the next few days.  Then we drove up to Hurricane Ridge to check out the views and the very tame black-tailed deer.  Otherwise, we were pretty tired from all of the partying and heat in Portland so we just had a pretty relaxing night around the campsite. 

July 4th

To make up for the lengthy entry yesterday we will try to condense today as best we can.  Woke up and helped Catherine pick out a grill at Home Depot before grocery shopping for the afternoon’s BBQ.  Set up new grill in backyard and prepped food before visitors showed up.  Biked around for way too long looking for spatula and tongs we had neglected to pick up at Home Depot.  Ate.  Drank.  Met more great Portland people before biking down to the riverfront to catch the fireworks.  Robbie got ahead of the group and got lost among the thousands of fireworks spectators.  Without a cell phone he biked in circles and retraced his steps before deciding to head home.  Astonishingly, Beth walked out of a Thai restaurant that let her use the bathroom (emergency status) to find Robbie waiting at a traffic light.  Met up with cool people from the cookout and went to bars and a place called Voodoo Donuts that specializes in things such as a maple donut with bacon on top and huge bear claws with peanut butter and coco puffs.  Biked home.  The end.  Happy Fourth.

Pictures to come...

Mount Hood/Car Trouble

We will do our best to make the following entry short and sweet, but today was one of those days you catch yourself doubting the whole road trip idea.  It started off with driving all the way to our campsite (which we had abandoned due to location, heat, dealing with Oso, etc) to pick up our tent and some gear before heading up to Mount Hood.  It was pretty crazy having it be so hot and dry (near 100 on the highway) and approaching a mountain that was covered with snow to pretty low elevations.  We were kind of sore from all of the biking around Portland and hiking the day before so we just wanted to do a quick loop to a place called Mirror Lake that had views of Mt. Hood and was not too far into the park.  Disclaimer:  this next part isn’t especially exciting or inspiring, but is part of the road trip experience, so here we go. 

With almost 130,000 miles on it, it isn’t going to set any endurance records but has still been a great car.  The climb up the mountain on this fateful hot day in July was just too much.  Seriously right as we got to the trailhead, the engine overheated and smoke started pouring out.  After popping open the hood and finding the fans still working but the engine coolant gone (that had just been added a week prior), we decided to let it cool off a bit during the hike.  The car started up and had cooled down enough to make the trip downhill, which would hopefully be enough to get closer to civilization.  After barely making it to a gas station before overheating again, we added some coolant and hoped for the best and pointed the car downhill.  After a couple minutes it overheated again and it was time to call AAA.  The only trouble was the timing:  it was Friday afternoon (3:30) before Independence Day.   After an hour or so the tow truck managed to find us (even though we unknowingly were a quarter mile from his garage) and he drove us down to a mechanic and on the way had one of the tires on his tow dolly (luckily not my car) pop and ride the rest of the way on an axel.  The mechanic told us that we would not be able to get it looked at until Monday (not surprising since it was 4:30 on a Friday) but after some tears from Beth (not in front of the mechanic) and a quick discussion, Jason (wonderful human being) decided to, in his words, “pay it forward” by saving our trip and taking a look under the hood.  It ended up that the radiator had a huge crack in it and had to be completely replaced, which was a miracle that he even found a new one at this time of day.  Jason (@ Stephenson's in Sandy, Oregon if you are ever in the area) ended up chatting with us for the next three hours while he fought and miraculously got everything fixed around 7:30.  It is seriously people like this that give you hope, and not to get all cheesy, but we were both stunned at the generosity and humor he had during the whole process (it was way cheaper than expected and we didn’t even tell him about Oso’s surgery).  Whew.  Sorry about that.

We will make the rest of this one short in case any brave souls are still reading.  The two of us spent the night biking around Catherine’s neighborhood meeting seriously kickass people and having a wonderful time at a jorts (cutoff jean-shorts) party that had great dancing and a keg of local IPA.  A wonderful end to a trying day and boy are we glad to have a futon to be sleeping on.

Hiking in Portland

We drove into Portland first thing in the morning to meet with Catherine for brunch at an amazing restaurant called Tin Shed.  The more time we spend in Portland, the more appealing it seems with the great beers for Robbie and to-die-for Cobb Salads and meals for Beth.  This afternoon we drugged Oso and put him in his crate in Catherine’s house (since it was going to be in the nineties again today) and drove up to a hike behind Moltnomah Falls.  The falls themselves (second highest in America) were impressive but somewhat crowded, but the loop behind lead to beautiful waterfall after beautiful waterfall that were not as accessable and therefore more relaxing. 

  

For dinner we went to another McMenamin’s establishment (Kennedy School) and got some great beer (Beth loved the Rubinator) and tator tots to end the hot day in the outdoor garden area.

 

Outside Portland Camping

Damn, June went by fast.  I’m guessing it would have flown by faster had we been working actual jobs instead of gallivanting around America.  Today we started out by killing time doing some algebra quizzes and tests in one of the Grand Lodge’s libraries/sitting rooms before having to pick Oso up from the surgery center.  We got some directions from the vet as well as a couple of handfuls of painkillers and sedatives for Oso as well as a lovely neckbrace type thing that will hopefully not bug him once he’s all drugged up.  He does look pretty pathetic in it, but it is better than a “cone of shame”.  

Not much happened this evening besides settling down at another campsite with the groggy doggy and some mosquitoes.

 

Surgery Day

What a better way to celebrate our two-year Anniversary than to take Oso to the vet first thing in the morning for his knee surgery.  There was a little sticker-shock with the price, but we both know it will be worth it to get years of hiking and playing down the road from this expensive pound puppy.  Luckily the vet was super nice and accomidating and explained the procedure and everything that would follow.  She even seemed to like Oso a lot who was bellowing in excitement throughout the entire pre-operation appointment.  An overnight stay was included in the price so the two of us headed to Portland's famous rose gardens before heading to a nearby hotel recommended by Grayson, a friend of Robbie’s. 

The Grand Lodge in Forest Grove, Oregon was like nothing either of us had seen before.  It is owned by this company (McMenamins) that buys old historic buildings (schoolhouses and in this case a Masonic Lodge) and turns them into hotels/bars/concert venues/breweries/distilleries.  Each room looks like it is straight out of 1920 (in a good way) and they did a huge remodel 10 years ago and added artwork over all of the walls and plenty of other great touches.  Highly recommend these places for the experience and the price ($60/night) if you are ever in and around Portland.  We celebrated making it two years with a great dinner and drinks and found out Oso’s surgery was a success.  Fun times.

Portland day #1

The plan for today was mainly to drive to Portland to meet up with Catherine, Beth’s good friend from Denison.  Being on a road trip and having the freedom to take stupid detours, we drove well out of our way in the morning to a little town in far Northwestern Oregon called Astoria.  For those of you born in the Eighties, you might remember this as the town that the film Goonies took place in.  After finding the house where the movie started and taking a cheesy picture in front, we were en route to Portland. 

Catherine took us down to the art/hipster neighborhood around Mississippi Street for more local beer and amazing pizza.  The three of us and Oso wandered around the neighborhood for a while checking out a few shops including this ingenious store filled with old/used building materials ranging from toilets and tiles to old wood doors and recycled lumber.  Luckily our car was too full for Robbie to fill it up with some unneeded “junk”.  That night, we both took some much-needed showers and rode our bikes down to Mississippi again to a Mexican cantina Catherine was raving about.  We got some dangerously strong margaritas and wonderful tacos before bar hopping the rest of the night around that area.  At the end of the day, we both agreed that Portland would not be too bad of a city to live in (but do not worry, we are still on our way back to Colorado).  Now bedtime (literally this time… in an actual bed).  

Oregon Coast day #3

Beth is a great girlfriend.  Sitting around on this Sunday morning talking about hikes and what to do along the Oregon coast, she miraculously remembered that the US was playing Brazil in the cup final that morning.  After scrambling around and grabbing a quick shower, we drove to the nearest town (Tillamook) and started looking around for a sports bar.  This is not the easiest thing to find in a sleepy town on a Sunday morning.  Robbie eventually found a hotel bar that had a tv in it and asked if he could turn it on and watch the game.  This isn’t a soccer blog so the game will not be dissected, but the US team surprised everyone by giving Brazil a good fight and showing that they were for real.  Hopefully the same team shows up next summer to the World Cup.

After watching the game and enjoying a couple local beers and amazing carnitas nachos, we decided to head 2 minutes up the road to check out the main attraction in town:  the Tillamook cheese factory.  The factory is best summed up by the indescribable but nonetheless overwhelming smell of milkfat that hits you in the face walking in the front door.  The factory was packed but we still managed to stand in a surprisingly long line for cheese samples and then a way too rich mudslide ice cream cone.  The best thing to do with beers, nachos, cheese, and ice cream in our stomachs seemed to be to stop by a jerky store and get some samples there.  After this great idea we did a beautiful run/hike on a nearby trail overlooking the ocean (sorry we forgot the camera though) and Robbie somehow managed not to puke up the afternoon’s indulgences.  After this it was game time again followed by bed.

Oregon Coast day #2

It seems as though a lot of people are taking this entire next week off before the Fourth and taking our campsites.  After many frustrating “Campsite Full” brown signs along the road, we eventually found one just south of Tillamook, Oregon (like the cheese).  After a quick lunch and letting Oso roll around in the soft green grass (which he barely got to do in California) we put him in his crate and went on a nearby hike.  It was beautiful.  The trail wound down the front side of a mountain to end up in a little cove beach area with cliffs to one side and empty white sand beaches to the other (see pictures below).  Pathetically, all we could notice was all of the dogs happily running around us (kidding… mostly).  On the way back to the campsite we stopped at a little store up the road that sells seventy-something types of jams, mustards, and other various dips.  After trying every single sample with the little pretzel sticks they gave us, we bought an amazing spicy artichoke dip made in the store as well as a local spicy mustard since we were getting low.  The dip barely lasted once we were back to the campsite, but we didn’t totally ruin our appetite.  After dinner we played a few games (which are definitely getting more and more competitive as the trip goes on) and went to bed with our depressed doggie.

Oregon Coast

Next on the agenda was the sand dunes and coast of Oregon so we packed up camp and headed west.  We actually are getting scarily good at taking down the tent and packing the car.  This morning probably took less than twenty minutes to do everything.  Go us. 

Once we were in the car we had a serious talk about what to do with Oso and what it meant for the rest of the trip.  After doing some research online (you can too) on Patellar Luxations in dogs we realized he wasn’t going to get any better with rest.  Earlier this spring he started limping after runs on the beach or a lot of activity.  The vet diagnosed him with PL (which basically means his kneecap slides way out of its groove) and told us surgery would have to happen at some point.  With our crazy summer, we thought this meant after we were settled back in Colorado this fall or winter.  With all of the hiking and fun times he has had this trip, his kneecap now will not even stay in place when we push it back.  After some phone calls we found a great veterinary surgical center in Portland and have an appointment and surgery time set for next Tuesday, the 30^th. 

While the timing is not ideal, we are glad the three of us got to see wonderful places like the Redwoods in California and Crater Lake in Oregon.  We will not be cutting the whole adventure too short as we still want to visit friends in Portland to celebrate the Fourth as planned and then Seattle for a long-overdue visit and wedding for one of Robbie’s good friends.  We will still do our best to fit in hikes and the like in between taking care of Oso post-op, but the next two weeks look to be action packed in a different way than anticipated. 

After a stressful morning we reached Florence, Oregon and had a greasy but yummy lunch that really hit the spot and took Oso for a little walk around the harbor area.  We quickly stopped by the sand dunes south of there and walked around in the howling wind for a bit before leaving due to potential for “sneaker” waves.  Robbie’s mom warned us repeatedly to be careful around the coasts of Oregon and it worked because we got away from the beautiful beach as soon as we could (kidding ;)).  We headed north and found a tiny campsite (which was the last available one for miles) nestled away in some trees before going to sleep.  

Eugene, OR day #2

Sadly, one of the first things we saw this morning was Oso limping around and not putting any weight on his bad knee (more on that later), so we decided to give him a day off from hiking, running, etc.  After putting Oso in his crate, we left for a quick run around the state park and nothing much to report besides the fact that it was Beth’s first time running since her foot surgery almost two months ago. 

In the afternoon we got tapioca bubble teas (which were way too sweet) and walked around Eugene and the University of Oregon campus.  It was a very beautiful campus with huge balls of flowers that Beth was fascinated with and just a good overall atmosphere.  If we weren’t moving back to Colorado, we both think Oregon would be a great place to live (but then again we aren’t witnessing all of the rain that makes everything so green).  After a run to the beer store to get some local beers for Robbie, we went back to camp and took Oso down to the swimming area at the lake and just relaxed.  Still limping L…  We are going to have to figure something out for that poor dog.

Eugene, OR

After much needed showers, we were on the road bright and early on our way to Eugene.  We rushed to find a parking spot and a sports bar because the US soccer team was playing against Spain (the #1 ranked team in the world) in a tournament in South Africa.  In a huge upset, we beat Spain 2-0 and it was a great game all around.  Sorry to be talking about a soccer game in a road trip blog, but not much else happened of note today.

We found Oso a sweet dog park with swimming pools and plenty of friends since he had been in the car all day and it was getting hot.  Then we spent the rest of the afternoon in the Eugene Public Library catching up on Internet stuff and having a grand time taking two algebra quizzes and a test before grabbing dinner next to the University of Oregon campus.  Finding a campsite for the night proved to be more difficult than we planned, but we settled in next to a big lake in a peaceful state park.  Good night.

Crater Lake day #3

Being from the Midwest we thought mosquitoes only got bad around dusk; apparently with the conditions just right in Crater Lake they swarm at all times of day (not a fun thing to wake up to at dawn).  Even as we went to sleep the night before we could hear a constant humming of the mosquitoes trying to get into our tent.  But enough complaining about bugs...  We had a few hikes we wanted to do around Crater Lake, but the majority of them were still closed due to snow.  We drove halfway around the rim (the east half was closed) and hiked down to the only point you could legally access the lake.  Holy crap that water was blue.  The lake is barely above freezing and is something like 2,000 feet deep (Lake Superior is about 1,300 for comparison) and not to get into the physics of it all, but this is why it is sooooo blue. 

Even though we were freezing when we woke up, at this point it was close to 80 degrees so we got a nice big ice cream cone to end the day.  We decided to go back to the campsite and brave the mosquitoes for a bit and hang out before our evening’s event.  The Park Service was hosting a talk by a geologist/volcanologist named Charles Bacon.  We were interested (because we are dorks) and decided to check it out, but were nervous we would be the only two people there.  We were wrong.  The place was packed wall to wall (maybe due to the mosquito onslaught outside) and the talk was great.  Then bed time after killing a few rouge mosquitoes in the tent with Oso’s help.