The great road trip!
Marshall and I decided to spend spring break at my sister's place in San Jose. We drove directly there and then spent a few days with them and then took the longest route possible back- the oregon coast. This is that journey!
Spring break occurs after a gruelling week of exams and papers. When it was time to go... I was ready! As a full time student, who also worked full time to support myself, I needed a vacation. Marshall, my then live-in bf, was also excited to go. We decided to take our two puppies with us; Taj and Hannity. They have been on road trips before. Hannity is a classic snoozer during road trips. She immediately falls asleep and sleeps for the next 14 hours. Taj, not so much. He is a pacer. He won't even sit down.
Marshall and I listen to some great road trippen songs. Really it's the music that sets the mood. We play Sublime and Jack Johnson. Of course we argue over the ipod. Marshall wants Led Zepplin and I want to listen to Corrine Bailey Rae (I win!).
We get to Salem, OR and we are famished! We assume this would be a cool place to stop. I mean the name is cool right? Well after being frustrated by a maze of one way streets and our growling sotmachs, we find a cafe. Well we think it is a cafe. It looks more like a furniture store.
Back on the road, we are flying down the I-5. Marshall and I like to take life at different speeds. He is the type to drive 5 over the speed limit and well I drive way over the speed limit. When he tells me to slow down... I scoff. I've never had a speeding ticket! I am a master at illuding the cops.
We get into California after snickering at the "Weed's" sign. We, however, after 14 hours of non-stop driving get lost in the great San Franciso area. There are lights and cars and confusion!!! We finally get to Rachel and Aaron house and collapse.
Our dogs have made a new friend. Rachel has a dog named Trilo (short for trilobite). He is still a puppy but has outgrown both of my black labs. He runs and jumps on them and tries to shove toys in their mouths. After some warming up time, they are running circles around the house, destroying everything in their path.
My sister Sarah is also in town for the first few days. She is a school teacher in Houston. Only my sister Debbie is not there and how we miss her. I love my sisters and have many wild stories with them. We spend time chatting and playing games. We drink coffee and relax with books. We catch up on the craziness that is our lives.
Aaron and Rachel take us to the San Jose flea market. People are pushing buggies and shopping carts in line to get in. I am speechless. Rows and rows of people selling everthing from cars to crap (not literal crap). We turn over knick knacks and shop for fresh produce. There is even a tent for just eggs. We get items to make a delicious meal.
I find myself with a python wrapped around my neck. The man put it there and then tried to talk me into buying it. Weridly enough, I wasn't that afraid. Perhaps I am more reptile friendly then I though. Flashback to collecting garderner snakes as a child and putting them in my sisters bed.
I am sunbrunt! big surprise! many sunburns in my lifetime. We go to San Franciso the next day. We walked on the pier and got some clam chowder. We watch as the bush man scares innocent passerbyers. Since I have fallen prey to the bush man on a previous trip. I knew what to expect. If you don't know what I am talking about, just you tube the bush man in san francisco.
We go on a tour to Alcatraz and hatch escape plans. We walk around the island and take the audio tour of the jail. Cheesy photos of us posing in the jail cells, one on the toliet :) We then walked to China town. After a specific lunch incident in which we were swindled out of our money (you know who you are), we all ran and lost each other. I ended up in a seedy bar, looking timid and afrad. Thank god for cell phones!! We reunited to shop and shop some more. We went into store after store of Chinese themed gifts. My mission was to find some silk chinese slippers.
Finally pooped from the walking and the San Franciso hills, we went home to play "Cooking with Mama" on the WII. Please note that apparently my cooking skills are as bad as my viedo gaming skills.
Marshall and I said goodbye to my sisters and Aaron and started the drive home. We took the old highway by the Oregon Coast and were awed by the rocky coastline. We stayed in a A-Frame hut on the beach and the puppies ran and ran.
We discovered the joys of Newport, OR and the Rougue Brewery. We feasted on the best calamari in the world and comparable beer. Since then, we've gone back to Rogue establishments but have been cursed, since they have been out of the calamari ever since. We call it the calamari curse!
We know it's ridiculous but we pay too much money to go see Ripley's Believe It or Not. However, I am amused. What can I say? I am easily entertained! The rest of the journey home is filled with relaxation, books and wine. We returned home rested and I unfortunately went back to working too much, studying a lot and playing too less.
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