Day 9

Hoover Dam, Arizona side.

Saturday April 9th 2011
St. George Utah.

I was refreshed and relaxed after a great sleep at the Monte Carlo last night, The city doesn't ever sleep though.  Even when I woke up at 8 and headed out for a stroll there were people going at it!

I headed to Hoover Dam for a morning of entertainment, and what a structure that is!  considering when it was built ( over 75 years ago) it is massive, and just the scale of everything is outrageous.  There is a whole lot of concrete there.  I spent about an hour and a half at the dam itself, then headed up to the bridge that just opened in the fall above it.  WOW it is also pretty amazing, 880ft to the river below, and it is a little terrifying standing there and looking down.  

My day today was a fairly relaxed drive after the dam, just 2 hours up to St. George where I am staying with another Couch host, he is in a band and the schedule for tonight looks like we are going to a concert of his! Can you say Awesome.  I am pretty excited, after all music is excellent.  I just overheard that this is the terrible weather for April in Utah... Camping could suck tomorrow, stay tuned!

Music of the day - hmm tough one today, lets say New Slang - The shins.

Arizona Time on the Dam

Nevada Time also on the Dam

The new bridge, huge right? 

Dam... Hoover Dam

Dias Ocho

Joshua Tree meets Jon + Braden 2011

Friday April 8th 2011

A lovely day in so many ways!  Last night and this morning were amazing, Francine and Carl were just an absolute treat to stay with, I got a little care package for the road today from them.   After leaving and heading south east I made it to Joshua Tree National Park just after lunch, and by lunch I mean the time that people usually eat lunch because I havent eaten lunch much lately.  Cut the costs that can be cut and the spend like mad!

The park itself is awesome, Joshua trees are so strange in the sense that no two looked alike, some are tall and just one set of leaves, while others are short and covered with so many different branches its amazing.   They are in this setting surrounded by huge rock formations that are so distinct and unlike anywhere else I have seen in the states before.   It was crazy windy while I was in the park and that meant shorts were a terrible choice, but a mistake I dont mind making.

Today was a big day for US budget related issues, and one of the issues was that if the budget didn't pass the National Parks would close.  And anybody camping in them would be evicted from their camp sites at midnight.  That meant my plan to camp in Joshua Tree was gone, so what does one do when their plan fails?

VIVA LAS VEGAS!!! Tonight I ended up in Vegas, and wow.  I feel like I could write for weeks on the subject.  People watching is amazing, the sheer excess is terrifying.  I was at one bar and the couple in front of me got one drink each....125$ total 12 shots in each drink 1/2 a yard long.  I wandered around and went to the fountains at the Bellagio, which are sooo amazing (fountains? amazing? I know but just wow!)  I also went to Toby Keith's "I Love This Bar & Grill"  where I drank beer from a mason jar, then a cougar made me dance with her... awkward.   Anyways, Vegas is crazy.  After a few hours of wandering around I had seen all there is to see without losing all my money so thats it for me tonight.  Cheers

Song of the day  - Where the Streets Have No Name - U2 from the Joshua Tree

Lola and the open road.

Fountains of awesome.

This one is for Ben, Mickey Mouse in Vegas.

We like to drink our beer out of Mason Jars.

7th Day

At school we learned to balance flash & daylight.  but you cant teach good looks like that.

Thursday April 7th 2011
Bakersfield California

Good day friends.  Today had so many things to talk about, but I feel like not boring you with most of them, so here are some things worth boring you with.  Golden Gate Bridge was awesome.... I mean awesome I pulled up at the viewpoint and just then a fighter plane did a barrel roll just above the bridge!  I was just enjoying the view when all of the sudden it got super windy so I moved to another location. BUT THEN!!

Sasquatch 

I ran into a Sasquatch wearing big sunglasses.  Really awesome, talked to him for a bit and then took his photo...  I then proceded to drive along the coast of California from San Fran - Monterey where I went and watched the Sealions play, and listened as the barked at me.

Today was a bit of a plan changer, the shuttle launch has been pushed back, so now the question becomes where do I go after Arkansas?

Combine that with the weather taking a turn for terrible (crazy hail, wind that pushed me all over the road) and feeling a little tired today, I was really glad to get to my couch tonight.   Amazing hosts, in the last 2 years they think they have hosted a couple hundred people.  And from reading the journal, they all agree with me that Francine and Carl are amazing.  So fun to be around!

Enjoy the photos!

Music of the day - Anything by the Tragically Hip.

Golden Gate, Alcatra and San Fran

He wrote this I swear.

Day 6 - Addition

Well since I posted my last entry the day has been even more excellent.  I figured I couldn't let this be missed!   So here is just a small tidbit more.

I picked up the key from a coworker of the girl I am couch surfing with, and went to her house to wait and figure out the plan.  She arrived home from school at about 10pm and asked if I wanted to go celebrate the big project she just finished.  Not being a party pooper I tagged along to the same place I had dinner. (Bistro Sabor).  Turns out it is own by the first Mexican family to start a Vineyard in Napa and an amazing family at that.

It was one of the family members birthdays today, so I got invited to the party!! It involved a long table with multiple free shots of Tequila, and amazing wine from their vineyard (Ceja).  So after spending a night eating cake, drinking amazing wine and celebrating with some new friends I figured why not post!

Cheers
Braden

Day 6

I'm no good at self portraits

Wednesday April 6th 2011
Napa, California

Today the theme was big.  Big trees, big statues, big drives and big appetite.

Jon and I met Paul Bunyan and Babe the blue ox.  That was in the middle of one of the most amazing things I have ever.  Redwood National Park, a completely free national park.  Following these roads that twist and turn amongst giants, and when I say giants I mean trees that are 1200 years old, 300+ feet tall.  I could drive Lola inside most of them.  Nobody around for miles, just Jon and I walking through the old growth forest.

After leaving Redwood at about 1, we headed south and for the first 2 hours it was a gorgeous drive, following the coast, darting in and out of more old growth forest.  Then it got a little dull, today for the first time yet I was sitting there bored of my music, kind of uncomfortable and ready to be where I was going, and tired of eating out of a cooler of boring food.

AND THEN!!! (AHH suspense AHHH)  I got of the 199 Redwood Highway, and headed towards Napa.  Instant change, rolling hills stretch from horizon to horizon covered in vines.  Cows grazing in the fields that separate the vineyards.  Amazing winery buildings designed to showcase the wine, mansions with views that only get better as you get closer.

Napa is gorgeous, the town itself is very much a tourist town.  Everything is spotless, the streets are wide and the sidewalks wider (now you are picturing this town that just seems poorly designed, aren't you?)  I was told that I should go to Bistro Sabor, a little place with good food.  BAM! SHUT MY MOUTH SLAP YOUR GRANDMA!!!  One of my top 10 restaurants, latin street food style paired with local Napa wines.  And to top it off... they had hockey on the TV!!

Today, I felt like a king.  I wish you could join me, who ever you are.   The road just isn't the same alone!

Music of the day???  Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd.

Massive redwoods

Jon at the beach

The California Coast

I tried photographing this tree, but it just couldn't do justice.

Day Cinq

Sunset, Crescent City, California.

Tuesday April 5th 2011
Crescent City, California

WOW!!!  Okay so today started off fairly non interesting, Neil and I went for breakfast, I got in the car and drove.  But then what a day it turned out to be!!   To keep it easier to read I will do some bullet points today.

• Portland Oregon
• Powell's Book Store, over a million books covering like 5 stories (that is a lot of books for the same 5 stories) The photo section was so overwhelming that after an hour I couldn't choose! 
• The city itself is amazing, like Vancouver but smaller and a bit more interesting... a lot more.
• The drive
• Jon and I listened to some quality music as the weather went from rain to shine
• Grants Pass - Crescent City
• Well thats where my life got amazing!  The Redwood highway is about 80 miles long, and starts off  up in the mountains, before joining the river and dumping you out at the ocean.  
• One corner I came around all of the sudden opens up into super old growth trees, we're talking wider than a car
• Crescent City
• I set up my tent at the KOA and then made a direct line for the ocean.  I pulled up and ran to the edge of the shore, nobody around, the sun just saying goodnight.  Like any epic movie scene I walked to the edge of this cliff and just yelled at the top of my lungs!!

Well I am settling in for what looks to be a very cold night of camping, Walmart stop for blankets today will be greatly appreciated!   Speaking of which, Val the cashier at Walmart was about the nicest person you could meet.  (She told me my hair was the most beautiful hair she had ever seen on a man)

Musical Choice of the day?  Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley 

Cheers! 

Couch host number 1 - Neil Branson

Dashboard surfing

River along the Redwood Highway

Crescent Beach 

Braden and Jon do Cali!!! 

Redwood Highway!! 

Day Quattro

Jon Bear does Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon

Monday April 4th, 2011
Seaside, Astoria, Cannon Beach

For those of you not in the loop, Jon is my polar bear co-pilot.  He has been on all of my road trips, and he is pretty wonderful ( if not a little dirty...both mind and body)  But really what he does is fill the void when there is nothing to talk about, and when you are driving alone there is almost never anything to talk about, or to talk to.  Enter Jon.

Today was rainy and wet, but so enjoyable.  Jon and I went for a nice long walk along Cannon beach, a truly amazing beach and I have to believe that on a nice day in the summer it is like a zoo!  (side note, are zoos typically really busy?)  But today the rain was coming down so hard, and the wind was blowing so strong that I was alone on the beach.  And after an hour of walking I was soaked to the bone.

After coming back into seaside, doing some groceries and warming up again it was off to go find the Columbia River Maritime Museum (A building that is designed to look like the waves that the area is so well known for)  Can we say VALUE! 10 dollars for one of the most enjoyable little museums I have had the pleasure of seeing! Golly!  Followed by a wander up to the Blue Scorcher Bakery, awesome little place that is a must for all your trips to Astoria.

I took my fantastic host Neils' advice and went for Mexican at The Stand, excellent food!! I think I am going to be bigger than my car by the time I pull into Toronto.

Song of the day  Gasoline - The Silent Comedy

Nuclear Submarine and escort-  Port Angeles Washington

Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon

Astoria Bridge (PINHOLE VERSION) 

Seaside, Oregon