We're home, finally!  Only 3,434.5 miles!!

Friday 7/20:

Okay, so yesterday we drove from Portland to Seattle and it was great! We stopped off the route to see Mt. St. Helens, but couldn't see the mountain because it was too cloudy and it was raining! Yes! We love the rain!!! So, we don't get to see the majestic mountain, but it was cool to see the forests that they replanted since the eruption. Anyway, we were planning to stay at a "private studio" that I found on Craigslist. Well...it technically was in the city of Seattle, but it was in an outlying area called Burien. Yeah, there was a reason she didn't put pictures of the place....it was a converted garage...which we were fine with, but when we walked in....it was still a garage with a bed....so needless to say, we left! We went around, tried hotwire.com and all the rest, but all the hotels were booked!!! It was very sad how we almost ended up in this really scary place with prostitutes walking around!
Needless to say, we were going to use that as our last chance!!! Okay, so we end up passing the University of Washington campus and come across this hotel. Hotel Deca. YEah, totally, cute!! Oh my god, like it is so upscale and shit and we get their last room!!! So we get the room and it's very tiny, but very chic and elegant and we're so put off by how much we lucked out finding it! Okay...so, fast forward to me getting Jay's ear drops and getting asked if I "need" something.....we went to sleep, very tired from the hotel ordeal and visiting Mt. St. Helens.


Friday, we get up, get our free breakfast, yay! and the head out on the bus to downtown. Our first stop was the Seattle Center where the Space Needle is. We get in line and I'm freaking out because of my fear of heights and all, but the staff is so well trained, that they do a talk the entire way up that when they're done, you're at the top. It was so neat to be there at the top! Even though it was cloudy and you couldn't see that far, you could see the edge of the city and all the things around....it was....breath taking! I feel so sleepless!!! So then we went down to the festival in the center complex (which was why there were no hotel rooms) and get us some gyros and a thai tea - not bad food. Then we went to the Museum of Science Fiction (Michael, Julio, you would have loved it!) and the Experience Music Project (Josh, Alfie, you would have come over this!). So then we started walking down to the Pike's Peak Market. It smelled really fishy....really fishy.

Then we took a bus back to the hotel where we are at now...Jay is napping and I am typing away! Anyway...gonna nap so we can get some rest for tonight!

Tuesday 7/17: Okay, so we took the MAX TriMet Light Rail from our hotel to the Skidmore Station....it should have been Skidrow. I don't mean to be a big pussy, but there were so many homeless people when we got off there and they all asked for money, and of course, it's where we needed to go for the ATM, how can you lie to someone when you just pulled cash out? So, yeah, unnnnncommmmfortable! So, we went walking down the way, passed the Salvation Army's women's shelter, some more crack addict-look-a-likes, and then into what I can only describe as the red light district.... So, we move on, as we became used to the constant begging for money, cigarettes, booze, handouts of doughnuts and pamphlets, it all felt like home. We walked into the gay areas and were pleased to see there were people about, but not as much as you'd think, although it was early on a Tuesday. But, it was a big city that we were in! I loved hearning the noises of the cars and people, buses, and trains. It made it that much more special. So, that night we found ourselves a local place called Roxy's, it was a very cute, dim diner that served homemade food and had a huge crucifix of Jesus with, of course, a yellow neon halo. After we ate there, we walked over to the Eagle...interesting. Nice and dark, we ordered our drinks and admired the large Crisco bucket.....need I say more? We played darts and left... We walked across the street to a place called Scandals that had....STRIPPERS! No, no pictures....it was....not as exciting as you would have though, although Alfie, you would have seen your blonde balls! After the second stripper we left and went to find the train, we did eventually find it, but we walked 7 blocks in the wrong direction! Oh well, we did get to see some nice places near the stadium. We got back to the hotel and fell right to sleep.






Jay scaring me by standing on a tree that had a huge cliff under it...I'm paranoid.











Wednesday 7/18: We woke up to rain!! It was so nice to see it, damn, we've been in the desert too long!! We had to go find the original Original Pancake House and we did! It was very small compared to the others that we've been too, but we had to go and have our cakes....mmm...so good. After we left the pancakes we drove around and ended up going to an outlying 'suburb' and found a great park, which is also a reservoir area. It just so happened to be that Wednesdays no cars are allowed in, so lucky us, we walked! It was raining! Not hard, but it was rain to us! So, we walked around the park, which reminded us of the Greek Theatre area in LA by the Griffith Observatory.
It was nice walking around the park, no cars, just big trees, trails, some picnic areas and rain. After the park, we went to Vancouver, Washington and saw their little city. Again, very cute. However, it dawned on me that it was July and it was gray, very, very gray so we asked a realtor of some condos (you would die Alfie!!!) that we saw if it was normal, and she said no, that it was normally 80-85 degrees. So, we walked around and then got back in and came back to the hotel, nothing too exciting, but what's a vacation without relaxing?

The Dome at Shasta Caverns

Jay happy...we're leaving the caverns...

Real logs in the river!! How cool it was to see!!!

Our view:

Tuesday 7/17: Okay, so, we were leaving the pizza place in Eugene (which is a totally cute college city that has a lot of character!!) with the scary man that wouldn't stop talking to us about being twins and about us having the same laptops and that we should switch because then...yeah, it got kinda annoying, but the pizza was good and the guy that helped us at the counter was so nice! It was a very pleasant experience overall. Cops on bikes, what more can I say?

So, we leave Eugene and it's my turn to drive. Shortly after we leave the city, Jay falls asleep and I'm left alone the battle the weird drivers on the Oregon Interstate. The all could not seem to keep their distance! Always riding my ass! Thank goodness for the radio for me to sing along and ignore these bitches! So, it's raining! Yay! I really wanted to see the rain. It was just drizzling, but after being in the desert for the past year, it was rain bitch. I was excited. We drive into Salem and some other cities that are very unknown to me. It was so nice to see all the pine trees amongst the BestBuys and auto dealers....kinda like they were trying to live in harmony with the environment.

So, we hit some traffic getting into what I think was South Portland? I don't really know because there were so many changes in the freeway that I didn't even see any signs for downtown, at this time, Jay has woken up and is making the reservation at our hotel....I need you Jay, where do I go? Meanwhile, I need to pee....real bad....so, again, some arguing later and making U turns, I'm running into a brewery's restaurant to use their bathroom, very nice place, only smelled like stale....beer? So, we finally get on the right direction, and after all my frustrating time on the highway (all 5 minutes of it), we ended up about 2 miles away from the hotel. It's near the convention center and a short train ride from downtown, across the river and to the west. Pretty exciting!!! So, we'll see what tonight brings!!!

More pics to come!!

By far, the most impressive sight I've ever seen is Crater Lake, as they put in the brochure...wow....but I get ahead of myself.

Monday 7/16: We leave Sacramento, heading north on the 5 toward Oregon!! We were on the road for a while and kept seeing these signs for the Shasta Caverns. So, since neither of us had see Lake Shasta, we decided to venture into the deep bowels of the mountain! We took a little winding road down toward the lake and thank god Jay was driving because I would have been in tears seeing all those cliffs of death and hairpin turns that the Jetta seemed to handle quite well! Hooray for the tip tronic! By the way, we've nicknamed is Farrah (as in Fawcett, yes Michael, she is an Angel!!). Anyway we get our tickets to the caverns, which are across the lake and up another mountain. So we got a boat ride and a bus ride all in one ticket! A good way to spend an afternoon! It was sad to see how low the lake (well, it's a reservoir) was. There were some many dead trees and the waterline was so low, it was really devastating.... So we got the shore, climbed into the bus and took our asses on a journey. We got to see all kinds of formations from the caverns, it was very cool, I highly recommend it to anyone. There were a lot of steps and it felt kinda wet and sticky, but very worth it. The tour guide was pretty cool, she was informative, but not annoying.

So we head off from the caverns, onto the 5 again and head into very small towns outside of normal civilization....yes, pavement and concrete equates civilization to me.....how sad. You can imagine our excitement when we saw that Oregon was less than a mile away, and before we knew it, it came and went, and we crossed the border....no fanfare...the same....just fields. However, we noticed that there were these signs that said "Congestion" ?? Where?!? There were no cars on the road, nothing....well, here in the outback of Oregon congestion is when you come into the little towns....very interesting. So, our nightly destination was Klamath Falls, a smaller town that has a huge lake near it (Klamath Lake...). So, we start going toward where we're going to stay for the night, Cedarwood Inn, a small bed and breakfast that caters to the gay community. So, as we're driving we're greeted with huge conifer trees, lakes, rivers, marshes, everything that's not normally what I'm used to. It was awesome! When we arrived, it was about 8, so it was still light and there was a breeze that came and made the trees move, it really was magical. We checked into our room, which had a view of a stream and the meadow and everything for miles around! We then went for a short walk but came back because of the mosquitos and bugs. As soon as we got back, we crashed and slept all night.

Tuesday 7/17: We get up from our great sleep (never slept so good!). And went for another hike/walk with bugspray this time. We saw a deer infront of us on the trail and then we met the dog sled team that the owner promotes. We came back, had a great breakfast made for us and then headed out back on the road, this time, for Crater Lake. We take a winding road all the way to Crater Lake and are awe struck by the pines and other foliage. When we get to Crater Lake (which is a sunken in volcano, not a crater), it's overcast and 54 degrees outside. It was sooooo clear and sooo blue. I'm told that when it's sunny, the water is even bluer. We walked and took a lot of pictures and then headed out again. We made it to Eugene, where we're now, and had a great piece of pizza and got stuck talking to a crazy local, saying, once again, that we're brothers....so, we're now headed to Portland!! Pictures will come when we reach Portland.

Looking in to the distance.

The Apricot Tree Cafe's lunch pails.

Shrimp!  And Jasmira's not here!!!

I know he's just thinking about me....

Here it goes again!  We've finally begun a much anticipated trip to the northwest, our destination being Seattle, Washington.  After being on the road since Thursday (it is now Sunday), I felt that I needed to document the good things, because I'm feeling really shitty from my sunburn!! 

Thursday, July 12: left Desert Hot Springs to go to Los Angeles and spend the night.  Thanks Ivonne!  On the way we met up with BreAnna and Ana and had dinner.  It was a nice time spend in good ol' San Bernardino. 

Friday, July 13th: It's was 5:56 and Jay had to wake up and go and I was all for it, however, it was one of those days when I didn't want to get up and out of bed, and those are rare!  So I begrudgingly get out of bed and get ready.  Meanwhile Jay speaks incessantly about how nice Ivonne's sheets were....I guess we'll be purchasing our own pair of silk sheets! Again, thanks for letting us stay Ivonne!!  We get on the road and find that it was a great idea to leave from LA (and yes, a better idea that we left early because the traffic was on its way).   We were up and over the Grapevine and on our way deep into the Central Valley.  Also!  We have our new-to-us Jetta and it was really nice doing the Grapevine in a car with such great handling!  So, we finally get hungry and stop at a place called Apricot Cafe.  It's a cute typical truck stop cafe and it was better than waiting for all the over caffeined wannabe OC families that were trying to save a buck at McDonald's.  So we get into the Apricot Cafe and you must walk passed the millions of plastic toys, fortune telling, and magnets before you can get to the host/hostess please wait to be seated pedestal.  But!  We were pleasantly surprised to see that this cafe's theme was lunch boxes and we got to sit near the comicbook ones!  Michael would have been his screaming self and probably would have tried to steal the WonderWoman or Superfriends one, needless to say it was very cool.  Then, we were on our waaaayyy!  (Fastforward a few hours that included a gas station, an argument, and getting lost).  We stopped at San Juan Bautista Mission.  Didn't go inside, but walked around the mission grounds, it was nice, peaceful, small town, all those feelings that you might get from watching a b-flick horror movie or where someone's going to get stoned in the middle of the town plaza to keep the earthquake god from terrorizing the city.  It did have a cool theatre, called El Teatro Campesino where they were opening Zoot Suit that night...so we may be back to watch that.  (More fastforward to Santa Cruz).  We went to Santa Cruz to spend time with Michael Howland.  He lives in this gorgeous mountain community called Felton just outside of Santa Cruz - beautiful, just beautiful!  So Michael wasn't going to get off work until 6, so we entertained ourselves by going to Seabright Beach right next to the boardwalk and reading Valley of the Dolls. After being their for about 2 hours we decided to eat in town.  There were postings everywhere about how there was a heatwave and that global warming was wreaking havoc on our environment, so that day was about 92 degrees which felt very pleasant to us, however, the locals were melting.  We ate at a bagel place, it was good, but it was not Arrowhead Bagel  (moment of silence)....  Then Jay had this great idea for us to go to the gym, workout and then SHOWER, naked!  infront of everyone!  ack!  so, we did, it was a little odd when the one guy was in there for the duration of Jay's and then mine, but alas, we did it, overcame our boyish fears and did it, there!  So now, we met up with Michael at his house where there is a river at the bottom of a ravine behind the house and the scent of real pine is in the air, not the manufactured candle scents that we get for Christmas (or maybe I only get those...).  Michael had to take his roommate to the airport in San Francisco so we went along with him to drop Lisa off, then we went into the city to eat at Kitaro's on 21st and Geary.  It was a Japanese Sushi place that Michael really liked.  So he ordered for him and Jay and I ordered my teriyaki chicken box (I should have taken a picture like Ade!!!) and it came back to us so fast!  So, I had my chicken and then I had sushi...(in a high pitch Alfie scream) ahhhhhh!!!!  I ate two "Firecrackers" and a "Godzilla".  I had to stop at the Godzilla because I felt this overwhelming sense of fish come through me.  So then we met up with my friend Adam in Castro (he has the best San Francisco apartment!!!)  And we went to 5 different bars because we couldn't decide what we wanted.  But, hey, I got felt up at one!!  AHHHH!!  Okay, so now, it's 1:15 and we're tired so Michael drives us back and we crash at his place.  It was an eventful day.

Saturday, July 14th:  We get up and head to Sacramento we get here at 11:00 and Jonathan and Ron have everything ready to go to the American River.  They packed the booze and snacks we pile into the car and race off to meet Vanessa, a wonderful person with a great personality (sounds like I'm trying to get her a date!).  We get our raft, oars, and life jackets and make our way down the path to the river.  So, we suit up in our vests and enter the freezing water!!  It was cold!  Or I should say, "It was hella cold!" As we entered the raft gracefully and shove off, we pop open the cold drinks and snacks.  It was a nice slow journey down the river.  Of course the vests come off one by one as we get buzzed not paying attention to the sun slowly but effectively cooking our skins.  We were doing well until we we got to the "rapids" part where were felt the cold fury of the river splash onto our peaceful raft.  So, were going along as Jay commands the raft because of his control issues, and we come across this group.  Now, we were enjoying our little voyage down the river just fine, but when some drama is happening, no matter where you are, you pay attention.  So we did.  We watched our little romantic novela happen there as this one guy tried to make a move on another guy (who was probably straight), and another couple (guys) jumped into the river to make out in the water near the bank.  All the while the girls are totally clueless or drunk trying to show their girls to passing boats.  It was all exciting, except that in our excitement to see human drama we see rocks really shallow rocks, and we paddle, however, it was too late, we beached ourselves in the middle of the river.  So we get out, and try to push it along.  Meanwhile we're screaming and laughing and Vanessa loses her sandal, which gets rescued, then loses the other one, which is also rescued, but, does she lose her drink?  No.  After the whole ordeal, she still has half a cup left!  So we're all getting back in one by one and Ron finally gets in, as he was the one holding onto the raft by sitting on the rocks holding back the raft, our hero!  We finally get back to shore and get on the bus back to the original launch point.  Then, we make it back to their apartment and crash.  We get up and go eat then go to a bar called Silk in the ghetto of Sacramento.  It mimicked what a rave would be like, however, it was much smaller and not in some remote location in the middle of a cornfield.  Yeah, I think I was born too old for that....music was loud, people were crazy, and it was smoky... Next time, I think I'll sit it out.  Get home and crash.

Sunday, July 15th: I wake up at 10:57....long sleep in for me, my back it burning and I think my body temperature has raised 5 degrees because Jay can feel the heat emanating from me...we're going to go eat in a bit and then we'll see where tomorrow brings us!