Road Trip Reads

It has been a very long time since I have felt this accomplished in the world of literature!! I read 8 books since we left for Costa Rica... I think that might be more books since I've been in college. ;)

1. Glass Castle // Jeannette Walls

I picked up this book at our hotel in Tamarindo, Costa Rica. I couldn't have had a better book fall into my lap. This is an autobiography written by the successful writer, Jeannette Walls, who has quite an odd and rough upbringing. She has literally risen like a phoenix out of the ashes to become what she is today. Jeannette Wall's parents were "different"--- and even though her dad was a raging alcoholic, her parents stole money from her, she lived in a house that had no roof in some places, she and her siblings slept in boxes, and were constantly moving from one town to another sometimes only having a stick of butter to eat--- she never talked rudely of them or placed blame on them. She simply recalls the events of her childhood in a story-like manner that keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire book. You will cry, be completely pissed off, and laugh out loud during this book. Truly an amazing, well-written autobiography.

2. Scar Tissue // Anthony Kiedis

Another autobiography I scored at a hostel in San Jose, Costa Rica... this is written by the lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Anthony Kiedis, and is a striking, detailed account of their time before and during the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Since Anthony Kiedis is writing it, you learn a lot about his childhood and life that you don't get about the other band members. At the same time, it captures well what was going on with the band as a whole. If you don't like the Chili Peppers or don't know much about them--- this book will awe you. The Chili Peppers story is truly one of kids creating a scene and running with it, capturing the attention of the youth. However, their story is also a story of addiction. They lost their guitarist to heroin and Anthony was next... It is the story of him getting clean and overcoming many heartaches throughout life.

3. The Red Pony // John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck... easily one of my favorite writers. I loved this short tale, but I'm not sure if I understood it completely. There were tons of lose ends for me, which I'm sure have some allegorical meaning, but it goes way over my head. The story is about a boy who is given a pony and a lot of crazy, random stuff happens that I don't want to reveal and ruin it. I think the point was that people have lost their ambition to explore or to "western" as John Steinbeck coins it. I love reading Steinbeck because it puts you in a time capsule. This book was set in Salinas, CA and we were around those parts when I was reading it so it fit very well: it talked of farm land and adobes, sending me back to Salinas in the 30s. All I've got to say about this book, is it is a great short story and I need you to read it and tell me what you got out of it, haha...

4. Catcher in the Rye // J. D. Salinger

This is a book that I decided to revisit. I read it in high school, but remember it as being one of my favorites so I gave it another go. And I was glad I did. This book is written ingeniously!! I love the main character, Holden's, narration of events. He's so blunt and uses words like "phony" and "anyway" a bunch. It is exactly how you would think a teenager in the 50s would talk. Catcher in the Rye is the tale that every adolescent goes though, in my opinion: dissatisfaction with the status quo, fear of the future, depression/confusion... basically growing up. In Holden's case, he probably didn't handle it all too well, but I'll let you read about it.

5. Snuff // Chuck Palahniuk

This is a book I borrowed off our reader/writer extraordinaire, Avery's, bookshelf. I could literally read every single book he owns!! I settled for this book by Chuck Palahnuik (author of Fight Club), because I hadn't read a book by him and well... sex sells and it certainly caught my attention. Snuff is the story of a porn star, Cassie Wright, who is setting out to break the record of how many guys slept with consecutively, which is 600 guys!! That's a lot of sex in a row. The book is told from the perspectives of 3 random guys in the waiting room full of guys about to have sex with Cassie and her personal assistant, Shelia. There are tons of plot twists including Cassie's possible son and the baby daddy might be in the line of guys about to have sex with her and she could possibly die. Despite the overtly sexual topic of this book, it's not too graphic and an interesting take on porn culture.

6. Oryx and Crake // Margaret Atwood

This was by far my favorite book that I read on our trip. I love dystopian/apocalyptic literature and this one nails it on the head. Margaret Atwood must be very well-educated and creative because the science fiction stuff she comes up with is so crazy accurate, you feel like SHE'S the mad scientist. It's hard to explain what I'm talking about without revealing too much about the plot... I feel like I could write a dissertation on the book, there is just so much to it!! To put it as simple as possible, the story follows a boy named Jimmy as he grows up in a future world where unethical science begins to take over until he is the only "human" left on earth--- or is he? Seriously, read this book and find out all the crazy things that happen throughout it!!

7. The Road // Cormac McCarthy

This is another one in the apocalyptic genre. I have a love/hate relationship with this book. The setting is an ashen earth, but it never specifies what catastrophic event happened. I hate when books do that, 'cause I wanna know! The whole story follows a father and a son in the hardships that they face. McCarthy does a good job capturing the gruesome details of what people will resort to, cannibalism, suicide, thievery, and how hard it is to find food in a scavenged landscape that can no longer produce food. The ending is a little "eh" in my opinion. Another one of those times where I wished it had kept going just a little longer.

8. Slapstick // Kurt Vonnegut

Now this was a weird book! One that I almost feel like I have to read again to fully grasp. I would say it's also in the apocalyptic genre because the world as the characters know it crumbles at the end of the book. It is about fraternal twins who are considered mentally retarded their whole life, but that is far from the case. When they put their heads together, they are one single, genius mind. However, they are separated and forced to live their lives apart. That's the best description I can give.









Please leave a comment below with some of your favorite books because I'll need some more to read this summer! 

We're HOME!

Okay... so we've been home for a couple weeks now, but we've been so busy it has flown by!

Crazy that our year lease here in St. Augustine is over May 12th and we're leaving even sooner than that... We've got to be in Gulf Shores, Alabama to set up for Hangout Music Festival by the 12th. Since we've gotten home we've been busy with Spunfest II (a local music shindig hosted by our very talented friends), having yard sales to get rid of all the things I (and Kyle too) have acquired living here for 2.5 years, working a festival at Suwannee called River Jam, and so much more. Before I get into all of that, we stopped THREE more places before we landed back where we started in sunny St. Augustine.

Where all the glass-blowing magic happens!

From Berlin, we drove straight to Asheville, NC, where Kyle's sister introduced us to two incredible glass blowers, named Sherm and Carla (a.k.a Gnarla Carla). We stopped through to check out their workshop and pick up a few pendants. Carla's "thing" is peaches and it just so happens that's my thing too!! So naturally, I love all of her stuff. Sherm specializes in swirly, staircase designs. I got a peach pendant and we got a Grateful Dead bear pendant for Shannon's birthday. Then Carla threw in a boognish pendant!! Did I happen to mention she also loves Ween?! I swear her style is so up my alley. I also got to see the PIECE OF MY DREAMS, which was a little water pipe with sparkly dichro rainbow tubing, a black and white staircase swirl, and then peaches on it. It was/is incredible. I might splurge and get a custom piece made after tour when I've got a little dough saved up... a girl can dream!

Sliding Rock when we were there, if you google older pictures
of it you can see how heavy the flow is right now!

After a quick stop in the studio, we had time left to check out a place called Sliding Rock, which is near Brevard, NC in the Pisgah National Forest. I thought I had been here when I was little, but it turned out there is more than one "sliding rock" in North Carolina. This one turned out to be great though. On the way, we drove by and stopped at a beautiful waterfall called Looking Glass Falls. When we got there, I definitely felt like it wasn't the place I had been to... Turns out, I went to the sliding rock near Cashiers, NC, which judging by pictures (and memory) is much less impressive than the one we just visited. In fact, when we looked up pictures of the place online, you could tell the water was much more powerful when we were there! It was fast!! Kyle tried going down like a penguin on his belly and pretty much broke his finger (or at least we think he did and it's STILL crooked).

Looking Glass Falls

Enjoying our King of Pops at Inman Park. 

Our next two destinations were short one-night stops in Atlanta, GA and Statesboro, GA to visit two of my oldest friends, Carol Ann and Bess. We arrived in Atlanta at Carol Ann's apartment in the evening, because we stopped for dinner first at one of my favorite Italian places, Ippolito's. I had been raving about their gnocchi and they didn't end up having it! We went to the Roswell location and I normally go to the Alpharetta location, so I am just going to tell myself they have it there and I will have it again one day!! All of their pasta is good, but get the Cardinale sauce, which is a mix of their homemade Alfredo and Marinara. After dinner, Carol Ann and I caught up over glasses of wine. The next morning, we got breakfast at a cute little joint called Highland Bakery, which we had coincidentally dined before when I came to visit. It was so good we went twice. The bakery is situated right next to the BeltLine Trail, which is a 33-mile path through the city. Not far down this trail was the Fourth Ward Skatepark, which is where one of Kyle's favorite skaters, Grant Taylor, often rides!! For being smack dab in the middle of a city, the BeltLine leads to some pretty cool stuff, I'd say. Plus, an awesome popsicle stand on the way back for when it starts to get hot. Carol Ann treated us to some King of Pops, which boasts delicious homemade flavors like thai iced tea and blackberry lemonade. Next stop on our Georgia tour, was to visit Bess in Statesboro, which is a very rural college town unlike the bustling city of Atlanta. We immediately went to get margaritas at a place called Retriever's. Later that night, we ended up at her boyfriend, Kyle's (yes, she dates a Kyle too!), land. The boys rode mules and four-wheelers while we reminisced and sang Elton John songs into beer bottles. It was definitely good getting to spend time with my best friends who I don't get to see very often!!

Freakin' sweet bowl at the Fourth Ward Skatepark.

This picture adequately captures Spunfest. 

When we got back to St. Augustine, we wasted no time planning a yard sale. Even though we had one on the same day as Spunfest II, we managed to get rid of most of our possessions. Spunfest was started by the members of a band called Hot Sauce Sandwich a couple years ago and the second edition just happened, which included a ton more bands including Hot Sauce Sandwich, Michael Armand Jordan, Earth House, The Cosmic Groove, The Greedy Lovers, What We Are, West King String Band, Jake Cox, Rob Langson, and MF Goon. All the bands are local St. Augustine musicians. Since some of my dear friends are in Hot Sauce Sandwich, What We Are, and West King String Band, I can say that those bands ROCK! I have seen them all multiple times and love every single show. Hot Sauce is kinda psychedelic rock, What We Are has grungy, girl-power vibe (two chick lead singers), and West King String is bluegrass. So there's something for everyone there! I've only seen Cosmic Groove like once and they didn't get to play 'cuz the fest got busted, but they are groovy as there name implies. Kyle used to work at a bar Jake Cox would frequently play at. He is a talented musician with a bit of a country twang. My favorite act of the night might have been Michael Jordan. It was my first time seeing him and wow... just wow. He completely blew me away. He's up there solo, just him and his guitar, and his voice is haunting and totally captures you! I didn't get a chance to check out the other bands, but this was a musical event at it's finest! There was fire hooping, a drink bar, and Planet Sarbez (the coolest local bar in town) was selling their gourmet grilled cheeses... what more can you ask for? 

Serving up the artist and production crew at Suwannee River Jam!

Right after Spunfest we had to get ready to work Suwannee River Jam, which was a festival of a whole different breed. When I go to the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, I am used to it being turned into a psychedelic hippie playground--- with sculptures, and vendors selling light-up gizmos, people on stilts, fire-hoopers, fractal artwork in every booth, tapestries decorating each campground. For Suwannee River Jam, they turn the park into a redneck haven--- vendors selling belt buckles, food trucks selling only sweet tea, lottery tickets for purchase, hell... even cars for sell next to the main stage, the roads are lined with supped-up golf carts everyone has brought from home. It was truly a new experience! There was even a daisy duke contest! I was working in artist catering the whole weekend with Outback Kate's (the company we'll be doing festival tour with this summer). I was serving up all the country celebrities, but had no idea who any of them were! I think I served the members of Alabama milkshakes though... pretty cool. Overall, the weekend was really fun and we kept getting compliments on how it was the best catering ever. I'd say that's a pretty big compliment coming from musicians and lighting crew who are eating ALOT of catering. Outback Kate's... the best vendor around, I'm telling you!! I can't wait for the next festival (Hangout Festival in Gulf Shores, AL) and the next festival and the next festival when things really start to pick up. 

You can feed the gators at the Alligator Farm dog food and they go nuts!

We made the best of our last few days doing all of our favorite things and even doing a few things I have never done before in St. Augustine. Of course we hit up all our favorite eateries and bars. We went to Taco Shop beachside on Cinco de Mayo and it was packed, but delicious as always. We ate at Flavors because I still have money on my account there! Flavors offers an option for students (or anyone really) to put money on an account and then they just take it off your tab. I have no idea how I have any money left 'cause I feel like we ate there all the time, but I ain't complaining!! One hot day, we biked downtown and got gourmet, homemade popsicles from The Hyppo. They never disappoint. When my dad came to visit, he took us to one of my favorite restaurants, Blackfly, that I don't get to go to very often 'cause it's a little on the pricey side. BUT SO GOOD! I went there to get their parmesan risotto and mussels, but neither were still on their menu. I was disappointed, but I got lobster mac and was happy again. I crossed a couple things off my St. Augustine bucket list by biking over the Vilano Bridge to the beach and visiting the Alligator Farm for the first time! Biking over the Vilano Bridge makes the Bridge of Lions downtown seem like a piece of cake, let me tell you! I was winded by the end of that uphill battle, but it felt so good cruising down and having the beach RIGHT there. The Alligator Farm lived up to all the good things I've heard about it. The park was founded in 1893, making it one of the oldest zoological parks in the United States. They have every type of crocodile and alligator from all over the world, even albino gators! Pretty cool stuff.. 

Me and Momma Jill... have to post this picture
even though I look hideous! I love her!

At night we hit up our favorite bars, Nobby's and Planet Sarbez. I got to visit with the best bartender, Shanna, and the owner of the Nobby's, Jill, who is like my momma! It was so good catching up with them and I was SO impressed with all the renovations they've been working on. The girl's bathroom looks like you just walked into a 5-star hotel. They are getting new floors, new paint, new everything! Jill is working on serving food from 4pm-8pm every night, which is also during their happy hours. Jill is from Greece and knows how to cook, so definitely go grab a bite and a drink! We played a few games of Galaga and PacMan at the Planet. We also ordered one of their delectable grilled cheeses. Normally, we get the Green Ranger which has apples and caramel. It is just the right amount of savory and sweet! We tried a different grilled cheese with pineapple on it, but I definitely still like the Green Ranger the best. The Planet is in trouble though! Ryan, the owner and a Flagler graduate, barely had enough money to start this beautiful hangout spot to begin with, but now that the lease needs to be renewed he doesn't have enough capital. Even though business has been doing well, music has been constant, and renovations and sick additions are being made daily... it may not be enough. If you've been to the Planet, you understand how special a place this is. If you haven't been, you don't want it to disappear before you get a chance to check it out. So if you have ANY money to spare (if 100 people gave $10, that'd be $1,000 and that kind of money makes a difference!!), please donate to Ryan's gofundme. I can assure you, it is a good cause. 

As my time here in St. Augustine is dwindling to an end, I can't help but feel nostalgic. It truly is bittersweet to be leaving this place: traveling across the country makes me realize just how special a place this is and what great people inhabit it. I am excited for the adventures ahead and to find out where the next place I call "home" will be, but St. Augustine will definitely be missed. 

Hittin' It Back East

This time last year I flew out to visit Kyle when he was still working at Beaver Creek to see a two-night Brother's Keeper run with Dean Ween and Glenn McClelland (the guitarist and pianist from Ween) at a local bar in Vail called Shakedown Bar. The season was ending so Kyle was off the hook as a lift operator and we drove back cross country to Florida together. It's crazy how almost exactly one year ago we were taking the same route back east... dreaded I-70. The midwest is a long stretch of flat prairie land, tumbleweeds, and fearing that you're going to get pulled over. We drove about 14 hours and reached Columbia, MO where we crashed for a few hours at Kyle's aunt and uncle's (our same halfway point last year also). We were rejuvenated enough to make it a bit past Pittsburg, another 13 hour stretch.

In the morning, we went to check out New Hope, PA, which was another 4 hours. New Hope, PA is the birthplace of my favorite band, Ween. If you haven't heard of them, get on it!! I had already visited this town before, but it's so cool that I wanted to show Kyle around. We checked out all my favorite stores, starting with God Save the Qweens, in case I spent too much money in what is known as "Ween's official merchandiser." They have old Ween shirts, random Ween odds-n-ends, and the store specializes in punk clothing and real Doc Marten's. The lady who owns the store, known as Punky, is super awesome and really good friends with Gener (lead singer of Ween). I got a Ween iPod skin, that is probably the last one in existence because it fits my out-of-issue iPod Classic. I got a couple Ween patches too. We wandered through Type B Tie Dye Studios, that is owned by a couple Deadheads. They are terrific tie dyers and you can even dye your own shirt instead of just buying one! We browsed in some more shops that I can't remember the names of, but the whole Main Street is a super awesome place to walk through. I love New Hope so much, it's a town with so much spunk. They have a theater called Buck's County Playhouse, that puts on shows right off Main Street. I'd love to see something there.

Delaware Canal State Park trail.

The Delaware Canal State Park has a trial that runs right through New Hope along the canal. There is just so much to do! We decided to walk across the Lamberville-New Hope Bridge, where you cross over the Delaware River and the state line into New Jersey! We walked to another state! While we were crossing over the bridge, you'll never guess who we saw... Mickey Melchiondo a.k.a Dean Ween himself, fishing!! Deaner's other passion is fishing and he even runs a charter business called Mickey's Guide Service. We got our beer and spectated from the river bank. Pretty soon, it was time to go John and Peter's, the famous local bar that Ween was playing at before they made it big. In addition to Ween, so many amazing artist have played and continue to play at this tiny, personal venue. The second we walked in we saw Guy Heller (singer in the Dean Ween Group and Moistboyz) and he shared some of his hot chocolate with us. Wednesday night is definitely the night to go to JnP's, because they put on something called The Invitational where so many talented musicians perform. Deaner and Guy Heller play pretty much every Wednesday. Someone from the Spin Doctor's got up and played too. The cool part is that ANYONE can get up there and play! You just tell someone in charge what instrument you play or if you sing good and they'll do their best to get ya up there. We met a really nice couple and the guy, Dan, who has two bands (a Grateful Dead cover band and an original project, The Bansai Bills), got up and did a song with 'em! It was literally so cool, I couldn't even believe it was real. The night just kept getting better when a friend, Juhll, we met at the Shakedown Bar shows I mentioned in the beginning of this post and then later randomly ran into him at another show in New Jersey, called the bar and ordered us a round of drinks!! That's Ween family right there and I can't get enough of it. Ween fans are the best friends you could ever have. The Invitational was out of this world and it certainly won't be the last I attend... If you haven't made it to New Hope yet, put it on your to-do list!

John and Peter's is such a tiny, personable place.

Giant half pipe at FDR.

We stopped by Philadelphia so Kyle could skate FDR for a little bit. We were sooooo hungover though that it didn't last long. We decided to just hit it to Berlin, MD (Kyle's hometown), where we would be visiting family and friends. The couple days here were spent eatin' good, celebrating, and catching up with loved ones. On our first night, Kyle's mom, Gussie, treated us to a crab feast at Crab Alley's. I'm new with blue crabs, so I am slow picker, but I love the social aspect of it. It's less about eating and more about chatting when you have to work for that crab meat! Our friends, Devin and Summer, came too and I left with Summer so we could have a slumber party. It's the first night Kyle and I have been apart in a looooong time and it was... horrible!!!!! Just kidding, I think we both survived just fine. It was good to have a girl's night and catch up with my best friend. I'm sure Kyle felt the same way. The next day, we went and skated at Ocean Pines Skatepark. When we walked up some local kids ran up to Kyle calling him "fifty fifty dude..." he's literally famous to them. It's precious. Last time we were here, I was just starting to get roll-ins and this time I was dropping in the big bowl! It was super fun and I worked on pumping around the pockets. We went to Blacksmith Berlin for dinner, which is where I waitressed last summer. The chef/owner, Justine, who is also Kyle's neighbor, knows what she is doing when it comes to running a restaurant. She has opened another successful business in Rehoboth Beach called Planet X Cafe. The thing that makes Justine's food stand out (other than her amazingly creative dishes) is that she sources all her food locally. There is a chalkboard in the restaurant that lists where she got all her ingredients from the meat to the bread to the dairy products. It's hard to find a restaurant these days where you actually KNOW where your food is coming from. If you go to Blacksmith, you're in luck because Summer is a waitress there!! She's the best server around, but ya better tip her good. ;) Later we went to Berlin's local craft brewery, Burley Oak. All the beers have funny names like "Just The Tip" or "Afternoon Delight." Burley Oak has such a cool atmosphere: they've got the ring game, board games, a vinyl night, and tons of good live musicians playing. We went to check out a band called the Pete Bozick Trio, who were doing covers of Dave Brubeck and Herbie Hancock. It was freaking awesome!! Saturday morning we went into Ocean City to make our rounds saying hello to everyone. We ate lunch at Malia's Cafe, which is owned by one of Kyle's friend's parents. We went on the right day because we saw everybody!! It was poppin' and the sandwiches we got were to die for. Malia's is super colorful, with a Hawaiian vibe... definitely a great lunch spot. The tropical decor gets you in the mood to go to beach and you're in luck because the ocean's right there! We stopped by Layton's on 92nd Street, where Kyle has worked for the past 6 summers. Everyone there is like family, they even know me after I spent a summer stopping in to say hello to Kyle while he was working. This place is always packed 'cause the breakfast is so good, so we just said a quick hello to everyone and let them get back to work.

We went to say hello to our friend, Tron, who started a skate company called Get Gnarly. Get Gnarly's the only skate shop in Ocean City. Tron hooked Kyle up with a board for a great price, just like he always does. Tron is the nicest dude and has the coolest gear in his shop. All his boards and t-shirts have such genius stuff printed on them. If you're in the area and you like to skate, go support this awesome local company! On the way out, we stopped by Kyle's MiMu and PopPop's to visit for a little. His MiMu has been keeping up with blog and was delighted that we stopped by. Back in Berlin, they were gearing up for the one year anniversary celebration of America's Coolest Small Town.

Main Street partyin' to Kelly Bell Band.

Last year on April 18th, Berlin was voted America's Coolest Small Town, so to keep up the camaraderie they are going to have a celebration every year. Berlin really does deserve this title, too. I have fallen in love with this town. Everything from the people to the small town vibes are on point. It's truly a community. They have events like bath tub racing and art strolls. You don't find that stuff in every town, that's for sure. April 18th is also Kyle's sister, Shannon's birthday! So we were celebrating many things at once. They closed off Main Street and had a band come from Baltimore called the Kelly Bell Band. They were super funky. After all the festivities ended, we had a fire in Kyle's magical backyard with the Washington Street gang + more. It was a perfect way to end our stay.

First ping pong game of the spring! It's party time on Washington Street. 

Squeezing in Oregon and Colorado

We left the Redwoods mid-afternoon and made it to Eugene, Oregon where we spent the night on a random street. As we were scoping out a place, we pulled into a gas station to regroup and a cop followed us and turned on his flashers... apparently Kyle didn't use his blinker for long enough and that was a "sign of impairment." Other than hassling us in the first place by pulling us over, he let it go and didn't mess with us. So far that's been our only run-in with the cops and I hope it stays that way.

Multnomah Falls

We got up early and made it to Hood River, Oregon. Right before Hood River, we passed Multnomah Falls (a 611 footer). It's right off I-84 and super easy to walk to, definitely worth stopping. The white arch bridge, which divides the first fall from the second smaller fall is a beautiful frame for this incredibly green view. It was lunch time when we got to Hood River so we got sammies at this coffee shop called Doppio Coffee + Lounge. The sandwiches were super fresh and had sprouts and other delicious, healthy toppings. Even though we were downtown and there were tons of cute stores to browse through, we left to go to Rotary Skatepark. Now this is DEFINITELY the coolest skatepark we've been too. I forgot to take a picture, but I've got a good skate-through video I plan on using in my road trip recap video.  There are a ton of features that incorporate natural things like a gap over a small creek. There's a super deep bowl, as well as a smaller bowl that I really was doing a good job pumping in. There's a pretty big street section. There are no posted rules at this skatepark, which is cool. There are permanent bathrooms, a water fountain, a playground area, and a bike path the leads to the skatepark. There is even a disc golf course across the street. We stayed all afternoon and it never was very busy. I'm pretty sure some guy did break his ankle while we were there. We cooked some dinner right on the back of our tailgate near on the street by the park (Wasco Street, I believe it was called). Last time Kyle was here, he said they slept on this street and it was straight. We met some other guys who were on a trip and had a camper top on their truck. We sat around a grill in the skatepark once it got dark and no one ever bothered us. Hardly any cars even passed. We had the grill up by the deep bowl and I don't even think you could see it from the road. Our plan was to skate again in the morning, but it was raining. We were due for an oil change so we ended up getting it at Oil Can Henry's again, the same place we got one in Arizona.

A narrow, rocky section on the Eagle Creek Trail.

Once we got all that taken care of, we went an hike a portion of the Eagle Creek Trail. We walked to Punchbowl Falls (35 ft.), which was about a 4 mile roundtrip hike that twisted narrowly along a rocky cliff edge. There were beautiful views of the river in the gorge below and you could see on the opposite bank where the water levels had once been and carved grooves into the mountainside. Before you get to Punchbowl Falls, you will pass a small spur trail about 1.5 miles in which leads to an overlook of Metlako Falls (100 ft.). Although there were no jumping signs, we jumped from a cliff next to Lower Punchbowl Falls (15 ft.). There are three points to jump off, the smallest one has a rope swing and the tallest one you have to jump off a boulder. The highest jump was covered in moss, making it too slippery to jump. We donned our wetsuits and plunged into the icy water below. This area was so lush. Everything was green and moist. Kyle said there was way more water rushing over the falls than last time. It's weird how California is in a drought and Oregon seems to have plenty of water. Everything is impossibly green! Punchbowl Falls gets its name because the rushing water has carved a bowl-like shape into the earth. Geologist now used the term "punchbowl" to describe other waterfalls that have a similar shape. However, Lower Punchbowl Falls is not a punchbowl type waterfall they just couldn't think of anything original to name it I guess. Since we were distracted with cliff jumping, we didn't walk up to the Punchbowl Falls overlook, but I definitely recommend checking that out. It gives a better view of the punchbowl shape. The Eagle Creek Trail goes way farther than what we did and there are more waterfalls along the trail. Oregon was one of my favorite stops, it was so beautiful! I recommend especially coming to Hood River, there are so many things to do around here from hikes to kite surfing to skating to disc golfing!

Metlako Falls

Lower Punchbowl Falls, we jumped off to the right. 

This picture is so surreal I can't even believe my eyes!! This is a view of Punchbowl Falls.

Party Polaroid at The Oasis.

When we got back to the start of the trail, we set out for Durango, Colorado to visit Spencer. We weren't planning on crushing the whole drive, but we ended up just getting those long 16 hours out of the way. What a freakin' drive... I must give Kyle mad props for this whole trip: he has driven literally 99% of it. We left around 3:00pm, around 1:00am I started to get to uncomfortable. I had been in and out of sleep for the last couple hours so I actually slept in the back of the truck for a bit while Kyle kept driving. I was kind of skeptical at first but caved because I needed to lay flat so bad. At around 7 in the morning, I took over because Kyle needed a rest. I lucked out and got the prettiest part of the drive. I passed THREE national parks on this drive: Arches, Canyonlands, and Mesa Verde. It was so hard to drive through Utah without stopping. :( Our original plan was to stop in Utah, but we just plumb ran out of time. Guess we gotta plan another road trip... It was such a relief when we finally arrived at Spencer's. He has the cutest little house in Durango that is known as "the Oasis," because young people have always lived there and partied and it has an awesome yard with a fire pit and like 27 trees. We unwound for a bit and then went to the skatepark at Schneider Park. This is a beautiful park area that has so much to offer other than just skating: fishing, a river tail, river access for kayaks, restrooms, a picnic area, and a playground. The skatepark is kind of small. It has a big bowl and a smaller one that I think was designed suuuuper weird. I didn't like it and the other bowl was too big for me. There's a street section as well. I messed around for a bit, but that small bowl was super wonky so I mainly watched the boys. Spencer had his crew out there and all the guys were pumping each other up. That's the best skate session I've watched on this trip so far. One of Spencer's friend, Luke, is starting a company/brand called Undiscovered Species. He screen prints shirts and does a ton of filming. He got a lot of cool stuff on film at the park and is hopefully making a video soon with the footage, so check out his Youtube Channel!! It was mid-afternoon when we decided to go back and start drankin'. We had a really fun party that night and we grilled out and just had a feast! In the morning, we tried to find this waterfall that Spencer's roommate told us about but we came out empty-handed.

Stacking Stones on the Colorado Trail.

Instead, we just hiked a bit of the Colorado Trail, which actually begins right here in Durango and ends 500 miles later in Denver. The section we did hugged a river bank, where there were many stones stacks. We walked to a large exposed granite wall and climbed up as high as we could. It was so steep at one point Spencer and I slipped out and slid down on our butts!! We went out to dinner at the Himalayan Kitchen, which was downtown and close enough to walk to from Spencer's. This place was awesome and the owner was super helpful and answered all our questions about the foods we hadn't heard of. We asked about this spice and she actually brought out a little dish of it and explained it's health benefits. It was a dank meal.

Meeting puppies in liquor stores in Colorado!

The only fish of the day, Kyle's brown trout.

Family fishin'.

Although I felt like there was so much more to explore around Durango, we had to get to Gunnison to visit my brother, Dylan, who moved out almost a year ago now. We took a route that was a little bit out of our way so we could stop by Telluride. It was just a town we wanted to check out as a potential spot to live in the fall. We passed by a town called Rico, which has free natural hot springs. The hot springs were super easy to find except it was like 2 in the afternoon and the only person out there was a naked old dude, so we weren't really feeling it. Definitely a place to go at night... Telluride was a cool little town that had chair lifts right downtown! It was hard to tell what it would be like during the on-season because it was pretty dead at this time of the year. We didn't stay too long and should have explored more, but we had places to be. My brother loooooves to fly fish and he came to the right spot. On Saturday, Dylan took us to the Saguache Creek (pronounced "swatch") to learn to cast. We donned all our gear, which included waders, a wading belt, felt-bottom boots, our rods, and tons of bugs (that's what they called their lures). We looked professional. The Saguache Creek was a good place to learn because there wasn't too much stuff to get hung up on. By the end of the day, we had gotten comfortable with the basic cast. Kyle even caught a small brown trout, only about 6 inches maybe but it was the only thing anybody caught all day. The next day, we went to a spot on the Taylor River and learned how to roll cast. Dylan caught a 2 pound rainbow trout right off the bat. He knows where they are waiting. My brother never eats the fish and knows how to remove the hook without injuring the fish. He always wets his hands before he holds the fish and uses a rubber net to avoid stripping it's scales. He tries to keep the fish in the water as much as possible so it doesn't get stressed out. He gets his prize picture quick and then releases the fish. That's trout conservation 101 for ya. Dylan's roommate, who is an equally skilled fly fisherman, came with us. He is a guide at a local fly shop called Gunnison River Fly Shop, so it was an awesome experience to go out with them both. We bought all our bugs from the Gunnison River Fly Shop and they let me borrow some felt-bottomed boots for free because they know Dylan so well. They're really nice and knowledgable about what bugs are hatching and what the fish are biting. Both days were long days spent on the river, trying to catch some fish. By the end our stay, I say we feel pretty comfortable casting and could probably do it on our own. We still need to learn how to set up the rod and reel and do all the knots though, but it's exciting to learn something new!

Dylan's big catch.

We're cutting across... all the way back east. Skipping the mid-west, cruising on I-70 till we get to Pennsylvania and then we've got a couple stops before we head south!

The Last Stretch of Cali

One of the many lakes tucked away in the mountains around Tahoe. 

Husky lovin' on Maddox. 

We got a late start leaving San Francisco, heading towards Lake Tahoe. On the way there, Kyle wanted to hit up a skatepark he'd been to before in Placerville. We skated for a bit at Joe's Skatepark. If you're ever in the area around Halloween, there is a festival hosted by Railroad Earth called the Hangtown Halloween Ball. You can skate while music is going on!! In this same park, there is plenty of green space and also a car racetrack. Quite an odd conglomeration of activities... We made it to Tahoe kind of late so we chilled at Kyle's friend, Angel's house. He has a Siberian Husky, Maddox. This is the first time I've gotten to play with one since I gave Salty away! Maddox is just like Salty too. It made my heart smile. The next day was spent by me running errands (my social security card got stolen in SF) and Kyle skating at the South Lake Tahoe Skatepark, which is in a great location right across from the community college. We met up with one of my friends, Emily, who has been living in the area and she took us on an awesome hike. Everybody knows about Lake Tahoe, because the city is named after this lake, but did you know there are many other small lakes tucked away in the mountain ranges?! I didn't... We did the Eagle Falls Trail, which leads to a waterfall and a hidden lake. Our plan was to rent kayaks in the afternoon, but it was so windy we decided to embark on a culinary mission: making herb infused coconut oil. The project turned out wonderfully. We've got the best massage and cooking oil around now. Kyle and I were kind of scoping Tahoe out as a place to live in the fall, but after visiting we're not sure if it's the right place for us. The ski season wasn't too great this year and we really want to ride a lot. I think Tahoe is definitely somewhere I'd rather spend the summer, because there are soooo many hikes around the area. It would be nice to get to take a dip in some of the lakes during the heat of the summer. Our last stop before we headed out was a coffee shop called Alpina Coffee, which was cozy and affordable. We got our Starbucks usual, large White Mocha, and two bagels for like the same price we pay at Starbucks. I love local joints like this!

South Lake Tahoe Skatepark

Sequoia seat!

The fam at Yosemite!

Our next stop was Yosemite, where we got to meet up with Gussie and Tommy for a birthday celebration!! They stayed at a swanky resort called the Evergreen Lodge, which has all the amenities. There is a bar on site, where we ordered many of their specials (a few compliments of Kyle's neighbors who sent Gussie a gift card). There is a pool and hot tub, where we soaked for many hours. There is a zip line, which we all rode even if we were too big. There is an activities desk with the best tours of Yosemite available and the best tour guides. There are games everywhere: ping pong tables, shuffle board, connect four, pool. This resort is seriously tucked away in Yosemite. To get to the lodge, you have to drive down an extremely long and bumpy road, but it's all worth it when you pass "boob rock" or the "yosemi-tittie," which is a rock that is breast-like and the nipple has been spray-painted pink. Truly a landmark you don't want to miss. Along this road you will also notice severe devastation from the Rim Fire, which broke out in 2013. The official story is that the Rim Fire was started by a hunter, but there are conspiracy theories. It burned 257,000 acres! The Evergreen Lodge probably would have burned down, but they had 200 firefighters standing the perimeter! Gussie treated us to a guided hike and it turned out to be spectacular. We saw everything worth seeing at Yosemite. Our guide's name was Bethany Kindiger (you can read about her and the other guides that work at the Evergreen Lodge here) and I highly recommend her. She was very knowledgable about everything Yosemite. She taught us the difference between Sugar Pine and Sequoia pinecones. The Sugar Pinecones are the huge ones and the Sequoias are rather small. The only other thing that can help you understand the sheer size of the Sequoias is seeing one that has fallen over! In Mariposa Grove, there is a fallen tree known as the Fallen Giant, that you can walk through. There was another dead Sequoia along the trail that had been carved through to make a tunnel for the old wagons. There were engravings on the tree from the 1900s! Bethany took us to a secret lunch stop (you have to take a tour with her to go), which had ancient native american grinding stones where their staple food, black oak acorns, was ground into flour. We saw two waterfalls on the tour: Bridalveil Falls (620 ft.) and Yosemite Falls (2,425 ft.). Bridalveil Falls deserves its name because it looks like a veil blowing over the edge. Yosemite Falls are incredibly immense. Bethany taught us a trick where if you stare at the waterfall in one spot and then look at the rock, the rock squiggles. It was a super trippy optical illusion. That Bethany... she knows her stuff. She even took us to a natural spring, Fern Spring, where we all filled our water bottles up. That was something we definitely would have missed without Bethany, it's pretty much just right off the side of the road. Bethany took us to some amazing overlooks of El Capitan and Half Dome. El Capitan is the largest exposed piece of granite in the world! The tour ended around dinnertime. We grabbed some food at the Evergreen Lodge's restaurant and soaked in the hot tub. It was a great day!

Yosemi-tittie.

Official members of L.E.S (League of Extraordinary Slurpers).

From Yosemite, we headed straight to Sebastopol, CA where Les Claypool of Primus owns a winery called Claypool Cellars. We had a tasting booked for 3:00pm and we got there riiiiight on time. The tasting room is in a train car and is filled with Primus art work. Our wine connoisseur, Cinnamon, was very knowledgable about all the wines. She hooked us up with some stickers, some salted caramels, and a Primus and the Chocolate Factory CD. We bought three bottles of wine, a pinot noir and two roses. We ended up loving the town of Sebastopol! It seems like a lovely place, centered around community. We lucked out because there was a skatepark super close to Claypool Cellars. We spent the rest of the evening at Laguna Skategarden, which is a unique combination of a skatepark and a community garden. There was a bird bath bowl perfect for me and I started to understand pumping in a bowl for the first time. Kyle was in heaven and unfortunately ended the session with a popped knee. The park had two bowls, a bunch of side rails, a rainbow rail, and a bunch of DIY gaps that were made from concrete stepping stones. The best part is that if you live here, after you skate you can go work in your plot in the community garden! This park also has a wall that you are allowed to paint on to encourage creative expression. Quite a hip little town... We treated ourselves to a sushi dinner at Sushi Tozai and I think it was the best sushi I've had in awhile. We got this roll that was baked and it was to die for!! Highly recommend this restaurant. On the way there, we drove down the oddest little street called Florence Avenue, which essentially was a sculpture garden of Patrick Amiot and Brigitte Laurent's work. These sculptors use recycled items and make larger-than-life sculptures. Turning down this street will certainly make you feel like you wandered into another world because every single yard boasts one of these quirky works of art. We parked the truck on Morris Street for the night, which was a nice dark street without much traffic.

A diner dash waitress sculpture on Florence Avenue. 

The Skategarden at Sebastopol. 

Glass Beach (Fort Bragg, CA)

Redwoods National Park was our next destination, but we didn't make it all the way. We had to stop by this seaside town I read about online called Fort Bragg, which has beaches entirely made out of sea glass! That's heaven to me! We found Glass Beach easily, except there were no trespassing gates around the beach. That wasn't stopping anybody: there were at least 10+ people on the beach and good for us!! The beach was a dream come true, except the beaches origins are not too glamorous. Apparently, this area was once used as a dump. Sad, but at least they've cleaned it up and it's left this treasure trove for us all!! To sleep, we stopped in Ferndale, CA at the Humboldt County Fairgrounds where tent camping and RVs are welcome. For tents, it's only $10 a night and they have hot showers. It was a deal to me! I don't think you can have campfires, but they have grills and picnic tables. If you are road tripping in the area and in desperate need of a shower, they cost $3 if you aren't camping here. I thought that was pretty cool, because it's not always easy to find a place to bathe.

Fern Canyon, site of Jurassic Park 2.

We left early in the morning because we had two short hikes we wanted to do in the Redwoods. The first one we did led to Fern Canyon, which was used in Jurassic Park 2, so you know it's gotta be lush! As it's name depicts, this canyon's walls are completely covered in ferns. The best time to visit is probably in the summer because I don't think it had reached it's green potential at this time in April. Still an incredible walk either way and on the road out we saw tons of elk! I have never seen elk in the wild, I do believe. The second hike we did was called the Tall Trees Trail which leads to the Tall Trees Grove, which boasts some of the world's tallest trees. Getting to the Tall Trees Trailhead is somewhat of a hassle, but so worth all the extra work! First, you have to obtain a permit with a gate combination from the Kuchel Visitor Center. They limit the amount of foot traffic on this trail, which means it's pristine and never overcrowded. On the way to the trailhead, you pass another popular trail, the Lady Bird Johnson Trail. We were especially glad we went and got the permit to hike the Tall Trees Trail when we saw that the Lady Bird's parking lot was packed. Once we got through the gate, it was a 7 mile drive down a winding, one lane gravel road. We got even more excited when we got to the trailhead and we were the only car out there. The combination of the fact that it was a rainy Easter Sunday might have attributed to the fact that we were the only ones out there, but I think the Tall Trees Trail is a safe bet if you're not in the mood to share the trail. You walk down the trail a little more than a mile before you reach the grove and then you walk a mile loop that wraps around some GIANT trees. There is one part of the loop that hugs the bank of a river and all the trees were covered in a thick green moss. It looked unreal. There are also holes in the trees that are big enough to sit in. We had a picnic in one!! I highly recommend this trail. At only 4 miles, it's a great day hike and shows you everything you expect to see in the Redwood National Forest.

Ain't nothing but a G thing. 

Unfortunately, our time is dwindling and we have to cut out some of our planned stops from our road trip. :( Next is Hood River, OR though!! Then we'll see what else we have time for...

Big Sur and Beyond

This is a picture of the little concrete area, but the mini-ramp
is not pictured.

We were anxious to get to Big Sur, but Kyle wanted to stop at a small town called Cayucos, because he'd been there before and there was an awesome mini-ramp. Coming from San Diego and Los Angeles, I was glad to be in this quaint seaside town. It was so quiet, it almost seemed abandoned. We had the mini-ramp all to ourselves for the two days we stayed there and skated. The mini-ramp is in prime location, right near the beach and the Cayucos pier, which unfortunately was under construction so we couldn't walk on it. They are probably gearing up for the Sea Glass Festival that is coming up soon. We only missed it by like two weeks. I love sea glass, that would have been neat to check out. At night we slept on San Jancinto Street, which turned out to be a super chill street to sleep on because you aren't parked in front of someone's house, instead you are positioned at the side of peoples' houses next to a fence. Since this street is on the beach, there are also public bathrooms not far away. In the mornings, we'd cook breakfast in the parking lot next to the mini-ramp and do the dishes in the bathrooms near the pier. We went and browsed the antique shops and got some cookies at a gourmet cookie shop called Brown Butter Cookie Company (you can order there cookies online here). We watched the sunset at Morro Rock, which is a pretty cool spot in the adjacent town of Morro Bay. It's a GIANT rock on the shore of the beach. It's a pretty popular surf spot too. The day that we left we took care of some laundry and got my guitar restrung at a shop called Central Coast Music in Morro Bay. Kyle didn't know how to do it because it's a classical guitar and strung differently. After we had all of that out of the way, we got back on U.S. 1 en route to Big Sur!!

These are seals not rocks!

There is tons to see on this stretch of road heading north. We stopped at a beach called Moonstone Beach, where apparently you can find moonstones. We looked for a bit and collected some stones that could possibly be some but I don't know enough about rocks to be sure. We passed an estate called Hearst Castle, which is now a state historical monument. It's on 250,000 acres and has 165 rooms!! It's probably similar to the Biltmore in Asheville. We didn't stop because I don't think they were giving tours at this point in the afternoon and I'm not sure we really cared to pay, but it did look rather magnificent up there on the hills overlooking the California coast. The next thing to stop and see along this road is the elephant seals! There is a great viewing area right off the highway, you can't miss it because they'll be like 30 tourists gawking over the edge of a cliff. Definitely go be one of those tourists... it's like seeing seals at a zoo but they are in their natural habitat. There are soooo many, laying like fatties on the beach. The sun was going down when we got to Big Sur (too many distractions along the way) so we stopped at a picnic area and beach called Sand Dollar Beach to collect wood for the night. Our plan was to camp at this site Avery and Liv told us about, but in the dark we had trouble finding it. Instead, we stumbled upon a road called Nacimiento-Fergusson, which suited us just fine for the night except we couldn't have a fire. This road is super easy to find and also right off U.S. 1. It winds up the mountains and there are plenty of places to pull off and park. Nobody messed with us and we saw a couple vans and RVs doing the same thing. We ended up being right next to the entrance of a trail called the Mill Creek Trail, so we decided to hike it in the morning. This hike made me realize just how special Big Sur is. The coastline is spectacular and all, with it's rocky cliffs, but it doesn't have anything on the lush forest that lies only a few miles from the ocean's edge. It's crazy how quickly the environment changes: from the dry exposed cliffs where scrubby bushes grow to the forests where giant redwoods stand tall surrounded by patches of three leaf clovers and crystal clear brooks. It literally looked like a place where fairies and leprechauns should live. We had lunch on a tree that had fallen in the stream's path where eventually a waterfall had formed by water cutting through the log. It was so beautiful and perfect and serene it almost looked fake. By the time we walked back, it was low enough tide to go hunt for jade at Jade Beach. We found the pull-off, which is right off U.S. 1, but we must have never found the right path. We went down this SUPER steep trail that led to a rocky cove. After reading this article, which says that it is a "simple, flat path," I know we weren't in the right place. With no jade in our pockets, we decided to head towards the campground we were planning to stay at tonight, which is near the trailhead we wanted to get on early the next morning.

You can just baaaarely see the McWay Waterfall in this picture.

On the way there, we stopped to check out the McWay Waterfall Trail. Kyle's mom, Gussie, had given us a tip to stop and check this out. She's visiting soon for her birthday, so she's been researching spots. This trail is easy to find, it's right off U.S. 1 and across the street from a state park called Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. You can't miss it because there will be tons of cars parked along the highway. This is the shortest trail in Big Sur, but it leads to a rewarding view of the McWay Waterfall, which falls right over the edge of the land to the beach beneath and into the ocean. Apparently, the waterfall used to fall directly into the ocean, but after highway construction and other land-altering circumstances produced enough sediment to form a beach. The beach is small and there is no way to get on the beach/you aren't allowed. The state park we were heading to to camp at is called Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, so it can be confusing since there are two parks with the name Pfieffer. This park was kind of pricey, $35/night or $50/night for waterfront. The Big Sur River runs right through the park. The main reason we wanted to camp here was to shower, because it had been awhile and we wanted to start out on our backpacking trip tomorrow fresh. You have to get shower tokens and the machine only took dollars and we had none, so paying to camp here turned out to be completely fruitless. Kyle said last time he was in Big Sur, they rolled into this campground late and left early so they didn't have to pay. Definitely what we should have done...

This picture doesn't even slightly capture how magical the hikes in Big Sur were!

B-A-N-A-N-A Slug!

We got up in the morning early so we could cook a hearty breakfast before our 10 mile hike today along the Pine Ridge Trail, which leads to the hot springs at Syke's Camp. The trailhead is located at the Big Sur Station, where you can pay $5/night for parking. We donned our gear, which I must point out was not very high tech. I was carrying a JanSport backpack and Kyle had a NorthFace backpack with our GIANT 2-person sleeping bag bungee corded to the top. I also had on running shoes that turned out to be a bad idea for this rugged 10-miler. The hike was challenging, very steep with lots of switchbacks. The scenery was constantly changing. The sides of the mountain that were exposed to the sun were arid, with rocky trails. The air smelled like herbs. Before we got too deep into the mountains, there were spectacular views of the ocean. The sides of the mountain that were shaded were lush and green. The trail became moist and slightly muddy in some areas without the sun beating down on it. We saw a giant banana slug, which are very common here. We didn't know what it was until we saw someone later wearing a University of California mascot shirt--- the banana slugs. The trees that grow along this part of the trail are HUGE--- sequoias, redwoods, or both. I tried Googling what the differences were in the two or which were in Big Sur, but I never found a clear answer. The two trees look similar. There are a few campgrounds before you get to Skye's Camp. There is one at the 5-mile point surrounding a river, which is a perfect time to stop for lunch. It was good to get our amateur backpacks off and let our shoulders relax. My feet started cramping about 7 miles into the hike and I was so relieved when we finally got there. The other campgrounds along the trail are clearly marked but Syke's is a little tricky. You'll come to a river and see a sign on the other side that says China Camp is so and so more miles down the trail. Don't go any farther!! There are some campsites immediately along the river, but if you go to the left and hug the shore of the river there are even better spots closer to the springs. I have to say we got the best spot there! Each site is a little different: logs arranged for sitting, fire rings, and a few even had grills! Our spot had a couple logs to sit on, one had mancala carved into it, but we couldn't remember how to play. It was riverfront and complete with a fire ring, a grill, and a clothesline for hanging our bathing suits after we took dips in the springs. The best part is it was the closest campsite to the springs. The water comes naturally from underground, but the pools themselves have been manmade in order to contain the water. There are 3 springs and I named them. There's the Party Pool, which is the largest and holds 5-6 people. There's the Friend Spring, which is the medium one and holds 3-4 people. Then there's the Lover's Tub, which holds one person comfortable or two if they are snuggling. That's why I call it the Lover's Tub. Kyle and I liked this one the best. We think it was the hottest because it was so small.

Lover's Tub!!

On the first night, we drank a bottle wine (yes, we did carry a bottle of wine 10 miles into the forrest) and rested our aching bodies in the Lover's Tub. We were dozing off in the hot sulfur water under the starry night sky. It was lovely. It was soooo hard to tear ourselves out of the tub and run through the chilly air back to the safety of our tent and sleeping bag, but this became the routine every time we went to the springs. We were tired from the hike so we spent the next day reading, collecting wood, and taking multiple dips in the springs. We had to rest our bodies for the trek back in the morning. Before we hiked back, we took one more trip to the Lover's Tub. My feet hurt every step back. It was so weird... I wasn't winded, my calves weren't tired, my back didn't hurt, but my freaking feet!! I think it was from the tennis shoes not being supportive enough, definitely investing in a solid pair of hiking boots before my next long hike. We were both relieved when we got back to the parking lot. Poor Kyle's backpack rig was so ghetto and I know it couldn't have been easy to carry and my feet hurt for days, haha. We decided to treat ourselves to a hotel room that night in a random town called Salinas. It was a pretty shitty Motel 6, but I guess I should have looked at the 2-star review it got on Trip Advisor. The motel had been recently renovated, so it wasn't too sketchy. We didn't care anyways, because we had a BED and a SHOWER, which we certainly needed. What luxuries!

I spy GodWeenSatan and Maggot Brain!

We spent the next night in Santa Cruz. We got there in the afternoon and checked out the surf at Steamer Lane... there weren't any waves really but of course there were still people out in the water at this famous surf spot. There's this tiny rocky island not far off the shore with like 100 seals on it. It just looks so weird because they are all crammed up there. We walked to the downtown area, which I really liked. There was an awesome mix of stores from local joints to more corporate stores, lots of different cuisine, some movie theaters, cool bars/venues... so much to do! We got some socks from a store called Sockshop and Shoe Company. The socks are made locally in Santa Cruz. Mine were tall watermelon socks and Kyle got sloths wearing bling--- yes, there were very creative design options. We wandering into a record shop called Streetlight Records, that made my face melt! First off, they had two of my favorite records in their window display (GodWeenSatan: The Oneness, by Ween and Maggot Brain, by Funkadelic). Secondly, I was so sad that I couldn't buy some of the records I found. They had a Moistboyz record (a Dean Ween project) on sale for like $10. I buy used records for like $10!! It was brand new! They also had a Blowfly record: he's this old rapper that is super vulgar. He was playing at this bar in St. Augustine called Nobby's the night me and Kyle fell in love. :) But atlas... we left empty-handed. We just happened to be in Santa Cruz on the 2nd Sunday when an antique market is held on Lincoln Street. They block off the street for browsing. We got lost in the shelves at a bookstore called Logos, that also sold records. They had new and used books, so something in everyone's price range. We had a lot of laundry to do after the hike, so we camped out in a laundromat for what felt like forever. I was asleep by the time we got to the street we slept on, because I rode in the back in the bed so I can't remember what it was called. In the morning, we went to this small skatepark called Derby. The entrance to the skatepark is a little weird, it's kind of a gravel path to a park in a neighborhood. Definitely a random place for a skatepark, but it was like a smooth ditch that led to a small bowl. Then off to the city!!

Derby Skatepark

Half Moon Bay Mini-Ramp featuring a Hot Sauce Sandwich sticker on the left-hand side.

We stopped at Half Moon Bay before we got to San Francisco to skate a mini-ramp that is right off U.S. 1. On the way, we went to this town called Castroville. We didn't even stop, but I thought this little town was funny because it is the "artichoke capital of the world." Literally, whizzing by your windows are just 1,000s and 1,000s of artichokes. If you want to see it yourself they even have an Artichoke Festival. Kyle's friend, John, who we are staying with in San Francisco, came to meet us at the mini-ramp. It turns out that Liv, the girl we stayed with in San Diego, was in San Francisco because her friends from back East flew into visit her, so she met up with us too on her way back south. There was a Hot Sauce Sandwich sticker on the mini-ramp, which is our friends' band from Ocean City... yet, the sticker ended up all the way out here on U.S. 1. We grabbed some food at Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, which turned out to be a pretty cool place. They had a super sick Grateful Dead mosaic in the dining area, but we ate outside because it was such a nice day! We were lucky that John met up with us because Kyle's shift connector broke right there in the parking lot of the restaurant. We rode back to SF with him and got the car towed to Half Moon Bay Auto Repair, who fixed our car in a couple days and were really nice.

San Francisco is an incredibly steep city. The houses are built side by side in a staircase fashion--- the only way to build them on all these hills! You know what hills are good for? Bombing, especially according to Kyle. I learned to skate in Florida where there are no hills so this is a whole new element for me. Most of the hills here are way too big for me, but I'm starting small. You know what hills aren't good for? Walking up... it's a freaking workout to go any where around here. The good news is is that there is an awesome transit system here. Kyle has spent time in San Francisco in the past, so he knows his way around on the MUNI, which is the public transportation. We've gone everywhere on that thing: to Market Street, to a skatepark, to the Haight-Ashbury district, to Chinatown, and back again. I had a mission to get new glasses when I came to San Francisco, because my favorite glasses company, SEE Eyewear, has a store here. I discovered SEE when I was vacationing in Charleston. Since then, I have gotten my glasses from that store ever since because I go to Charleston every now and then, but it's been too long since my last trip to Charleston and I need a new prescription. My first order of business was to get my eyes checked. I found a place that took my insurance and that I could walk to and got that over with. Then Kyle and I took the bus to Market Street, where SEE is. We had so much fun trying on all the glasses and sunglasses. Sometimes I wish SEE would sell their glasses online, but that would take away the whole experience. You don't get to try them on and see what you look like in them. I probably wouldn't have even considered the pair I got if I hadn't gotten to try them on! Kyle left the shop with a pair of funky new sunglasses, but I had to wait for my lenses to be made.

I had dropped some film off at a camera shop called Photoworks, so we were going to pick it up on the way home. To my dismay, the film didn't catch and my whole roll was blank. I was super bummed because it was a ton of pictures from the last few weeks, but the guy at the camera store showed me how to load the film so it won't happen again at least. This was a cool shop though and I highly recommend supporting shops like this because they are a dying breed. It's hard to find somewhere to get pictures developed these days and especially buy specialty film (black and white, polaroid, different speeds). They had framing options and tons of paper choices (glossy, matte, canvas, etc.). Another day was spent on Haight Street, perusing the psychedelic shops. We went into a super sick record store called Amoeba. The outside looks kind of like a 50s diner. They had some stuff I've been looking for like Tom Tom Club, but once again we couldn't get anything 'cause we on the road and a car is not a good place for a record and mailing them would be sketchy. The other stores were pretty much all head shops or vintage clothing stores. I impulsively got a new bowl that is a clear water filled pipe that has pink glitter swirling around inside of it, it's like a snow globe. I've seen them online before and considered ordering one. I'm super glad I didn't because finding one on Haight Street is pretty cool. I would tell you the name of the shop so you can get one too, but there are so many head shops that I don't know what the name of it is. We got some ice cream at the Ben and Jerry's shop and walked up to see the Grateful Dead's house on Ashbury Street. The Grateful Dead... some of the pioneers of the whole scene. I remember reading about the "Haight-Ashbury District" and thinking it sounded so magical. We heard some old spun bums on the bus talking about how it was back in the day "Seeing Hendrix in this joint, Jagger in the next--- all free." They'd shut the street down to let the Dead play. It's not exactly like that anymore. All the old heads who were there are now old bums and there are tons of spun out kids who have flocked there in hopes of finding what once was. Now it's mostly just a bunch of heady shops. It's cool, but not exactly what I expected. We did Chinatown too for a little bit, but we didn't stay long... just a bunch of Asians trying to get you to buy cats with swinging arms and chopsticks, although Kyle got a new jade monkey necklace ('cause he loses necklaces right and left). We spent (mostly Kyle) a lot of time skating: bombing hills when we could (walking down the killers), at a skate spot by the beach, at a park called Balboa. There are so many fun hills right around John's house.

I love mosaics so much. 

One leads to these intricate mosaic stairs that I saw on Pinterest awhile ago and put on my "Before I Die" board. I showed Kyle them and told him I wanted to find them and turned out he'd already been! There's 163 stairs and the bottom of the stairs is the bottom of the sea, then it goes up from there into a landscape, then the sun and moon at the top. From the base of the stairs, you get the full picture, perfectly fitting together like a puzzle--- a work of art. Then at the top, you get an amazing view of San Francisco. The cool thing about this spot is the stairs was a community project/idea: the neighborhood sponsored it, a local artist did the mosaics, and a tiling company helped. All because they wanted to make something beautiful. :) The skate spot was down by the beach where Lincoln Street ends at the ocean. Kyle and I skated there from the house once. We tried to do Quintara Street, which is a famous hill to bomb, but some of it was too intense (even for Kyle). We skated what we could and were at the skate spot and the beach in no time because it's downhill the whole time. The skate spot was a bank up to a curb that someone made with concrete. Kyle met a guy there who makes skateboards and he just happened to break his board at that very spot so he got one off the guy for $20.

Balboa Skatepark

We spontaneously stopped at Balboa Skatepark when we were on the MUNI with our boards, but I didn't skate much because I didn't have my helmet and I'm just not sure about that yet. Kyle said he was in San Francisco when the park first opened and already there's a bunch of wear-and-tear. The park is pretty cool in the aspect that the whole thing is covered with skatelite. They had a small bowl that looked fun. One day, we took a walk at this park called Land's End, which is actually a national recreation area. It was a beautiful spot to walk, literally at "land's end." There were some awesome views of the Golden Gate from the path. John took us down to Fisherman's Wharf, to see the touristy side of San Francisco. There were the classic t-shirt shops, selling magnets and mugs. There were street performers: a creepily good Michael Jackson and a one man band we watched for a bit called The Lone Sound Ranger. The Lone Sound Ranger was pretty cool--- he literally had a full band all by himself (no looping), but using rigs and all sorts of gizmos. We ate at a famous bread company called Boudin Bakery. They bake their bread fresh and the whole street smelled delicious. Bread bowls and soup it was! The time we weren't out and about was spent at John's giant mansion, where he has a jam set up. I played bass for the first time and I am so stoked on it. I want to take lessons now and get good!! Oh, the jam sessions that await...

SLAPPIN' DA BASS. 

Since we spent so much time in San Francisco, it's going to work out that we'll see Kyle's mom, Gussie, and his step-dad, Tommy!! She is coming to explore California (great minds think alike) for her birthday, so we are meeting up with her in Yosemite. First, we're spending a few days in Tahoe visiting friends and scoping out a potential spot to live in the fall. I can't believe it's already April! We've still got to go up the rest of the California coast and into Oregon to hopefully meet up with our friend Dom from St. Augustine. Then hit it to Colorado, I believe. Cut through most of the midwest and end up with our friends and family again in Ocean City. Down the east coast and home safely in St. Augustine by April 20th-ish... lots to do!! More than 3,000 miles to go and we've already put at least that on the odometer.