Said and heard throughout the course of the Manifest Destiny Psychedelic Road Trip Summer 2008...
Lisa: It's no fun if I have to put pants on. (RE: Climbing a rock at the Arches camp ground while wearing bathing suit bottoms)
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Kyle: Of all the things you could've put in my mouth, that was in the top 5. (To Jina, after combining grapes with peanut butter and Ritz to make a PB&J)
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Kyle: I think this music is making me stupid. (RE: Country music playing at a Subway in Barstow)
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Lisa: I'm gonna write a comic about my colon. "Coley: The Detestable Digestable Friend."
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Lisa: (While swimming) I think I was a fish in a past life. Or maybe a dolphin, because I do like breathing air still.
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Kyle: His girlfriend looks like she would've been hot 10-15 years ago. (RE: Guy and girl in a convertible in LA, after speculating he could be a famous bassist in some band)
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Lisa: The garbage (in the car) has conformed to the shape of our bodies.
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Kyle (To Lisa and Jina): I don't think I've seen any girls play with their boobs as much as the two of you.
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Lisa: Wouldn't it be funny if there was a calculator with only one button? A random number-generating calculator? It'd be an existentialist calculator... "These answers don't make any sense. Can you clarify these answers? Can you clarify any answers?" - That's what I'd say...
Kyle: It'd be like an IPod Shuffle, but a calculator.
Jina: ..The TI-83 Shuffle!
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Jina: (Looking at a picture of "Funny Student" toys available in Kinder eggs) This one in the corner would be me..
Kyle: Why, cause it's a gook?
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Lisa: (Talking about Shannon Sossamon) Who planted their seed in that retard?
Kyle: I would be so excited if I planted my seed knowing it would come out named (Audio) Science..
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Kyle: We have a fuckin'.. Nebraska's worth of driving left.
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Jina: KFC!!!
Kyle: Why do all Asians love KFC?
Lisa: Allison, do you love KFC half as much as Jina?
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Jina: Why do I make and keep douchebags for friends?
Lisa: I was thinking that too. We both know douchebag Pauls. That sounds like a band.
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Kyle: You better go use the bathroom before me cause I'm gonna destroy it.
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Lisa: (After biting off the end of a carrot) I should join one of those cigar clubs and just break out a carrot instead.
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Kyle: (RE: Golden Retrievers in the back of a pickup truck) Look how good they are! They don't even jump out to their death.
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Jina: I'm all paranoid now. Stupid pot...
Lisa: What do you have to be paranoid about? We slept in a car on a beach in the dark last night. We could've been surrounded by 13 bears waiting to eat us, pounding their forks and knives...
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Lisa: Grasses! (Passing the optical store in the Asian market in Seattle Chinatown)
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Kyle: Why won't my phone let me type Buddha?
Lisa: Maybe it's a Christian phone.
Kyle: I think it is a Christian phone. It lets me type hell and damn and Jesus Christ, but not fuck or dick or cock or Buddha.
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Lisa: Jina, you always state your emotions instead of expressing them.
Kyle: What combination of pills do you have to take til you get to the point where you're just like, "angry." "Sad." "Hungry."
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(In Seattle)
Lisa: Kyle, we should go around taking pictures of homeless guys and fisherman and post them side by side and call it, "Fisherman or Hobo?"
Kyle: That sounds like something Letterman would do. Like "Will It Float?"
Lisa: It could still be "Will It Float?" only with hobos and fisherman. The hobos will sink because they have no reason to live.
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Lisa: (As we all laid on the air mattress to deflate it) This reminds me of my life.. deflated and weighed down by retards.
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Kyle: So we need to go to Kinko's, get some pizza, get tattoos, and drive back to Chicago. Okay let's go, we gotta be back in 15 hours.
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Jina: I'm all about simplicity. Simple - simple - simple. (Pointing to two tattoos and head)
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Lisa: (RE: Group of 20-something white people at Buddhist Chinese restaurant) You could tell they were nice people..Even though they were Buffys and Tylers.
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Lisa: (In gay Vancouver area) Ew, old-ass leather daddy. I bet he wears Depends under his chaps.
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Lisa: Vancouver is the Bermuda Triangle. Its nickname should be The Land of No Left Turns.
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Lisa: (Returning to the same gas station we stopped at en route to Vancouver) I should steal a new back for my pin. I'm gonna steal from this guy twice - once to steal shit and once to fix the shitty shit that I stole.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Monday, 9/8 - Seattle (Last Day)
Day 14
We woke up early to drop Lisa's stuff off at Couch Surfer Dave's place, which was conveniently only a few blocks away. Attempting to scale down her load, Lisa decided to leave the hula hoop that had made the journey with us in the corner of the parking lot for someone to find. Fortunately she later salvaged it.
The guy had a pretty nice studio that sort of screamed "bachelor pad" - black leather sofa, lots of wine, giant flat-screen TV.. also a nice new-looking kitchen. His bedroom was semi-private at least. He seemed like a fairly harmless computer geek.
We went back to Kim's and had some breakfast, and I repacked my things while we watched an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm On Demand. Poor Clyde hid behind Kim's bed the whole time.
We heated up some of the Bo Kong leftovers for an early lunch, but as expected, it didn't taste quite right after having gone so long out of refrigeration. I figured it probably wasn't worth the risk of making myself sick right before a 14-hour plane ride.
I had a few hours before I had to leave for the airport, but we had to rush out to return the car by noon. We chatted with a nice Hispanic guy that worked there who happened to be from Berwyn and talked our ears off about some Italian restaurant in Chicago's Chinatown where Al Capone used to hang out.
Since we had some time to kill and were unfulfilled by the leftovers, we headed back to Pike Market yet again for some more fruit and to try some Piroshki, Piroshki. After laying out in the park a while, it came time to head to the airport. As we walked back through the market, Lisa bought me a giant sunflower as a parting gift and stuck in on my giant backpack. Sadly I couldn't take it through customs with me.
She accompanied me on the bus, where we snacked on the remaining Cow Chip crumbs I still had. Despite my excitement for my adventure ahead, it was bittersweet leaving - facing the end of our first adventure, saying our goodbyes, knowing I'd be on my own for the next six weeks...But I couldn't have asked for a better trip. Just more time.
We woke up early to drop Lisa's stuff off at Couch Surfer Dave's place, which was conveniently only a few blocks away. Attempting to scale down her load, Lisa decided to leave the hula hoop that had made the journey with us in the corner of the parking lot for someone to find. Fortunately she later salvaged it.
The guy had a pretty nice studio that sort of screamed "bachelor pad" - black leather sofa, lots of wine, giant flat-screen TV.. also a nice new-looking kitchen. His bedroom was semi-private at least. He seemed like a fairly harmless computer geek.
We went back to Kim's and had some breakfast, and I repacked my things while we watched an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm On Demand. Poor Clyde hid behind Kim's bed the whole time.
We heated up some of the Bo Kong leftovers for an early lunch, but as expected, it didn't taste quite right after having gone so long out of refrigeration. I figured it probably wasn't worth the risk of making myself sick right before a 14-hour plane ride.
I had a few hours before I had to leave for the airport, but we had to rush out to return the car by noon. We chatted with a nice Hispanic guy that worked there who happened to be from Berwyn and talked our ears off about some Italian restaurant in Chicago's Chinatown where Al Capone used to hang out.
Since we had some time to kill and were unfulfilled by the leftovers, we headed back to Pike Market yet again for some more fruit and to try some Piroshki, Piroshki. After laying out in the park a while, it came time to head to the airport. As we walked back through the market, Lisa bought me a giant sunflower as a parting gift and stuck in on my giant backpack. Sadly I couldn't take it through customs with me.
She accompanied me on the bus, where we snacked on the remaining Cow Chip crumbs I still had. Despite my excitement for my adventure ahead, it was bittersweet leaving - facing the end of our first adventure, saying our goodbyes, knowing I'd be on my own for the next six weeks...But I couldn't have asked for a better trip. Just more time.
Sunday, 9/7 - Vancouver, Seattle
Day 13
We woke up, cramped again from the tight sleeping quarters, and after getting organized found another coffee shop where we could have breakfast, and make use of the bathroom and wifi.
First excursion of the day was Stanley Park, but this time for a more thorough view. We sat by the water a while and just admired the scenery and nice weather, took lots of pictures, saw the famous totem poles. Afterwards we returned to Gastown, which looked much less seedy in the daylight. Actually very quaint from the streets we were seeing for the first time - a bit reminiscent of an old English street with cobblestone roads. There were a lot of cool little shops around there we didn't have enough time to explore. Back near where we were the night before, the street was closed off for some kind of kid's car race that had just ended. All the little racers were dressed in red jumpsuits, taking pictures with their trophies and such. Oddly the hired entertainment they chose was a woman with a keyboard playing the Chicken Dance song and singing in what sounded like Italian.
The day was short, so we went back to Commerical Drive for lunch at Belgian Fries, which had supposedly been voted to have the "Best Poutine in British Columbia." What better place to have my first experience. The first time I heard of poutine I thought it sounded pretty unappealing, at least for its potential fat content - fries, cheese curds, and "gravy." I think it's the latter that threw me, picturing it was turkey-style gravy, but it was more like a thin brown sauce. The place had several varieties of poutine and regular fries with various dipping sauces, as well as hot dogs and other things. But we decided to go with the classic poutine, and it was indeed tasty. Probably better that I don't have direct access to it on a regular basis...
Before we hit the road, we went down the street to a little Jamaican restaurant we passed by before to get another little sampling of something. Sadly they were out of anything containing plantains, which we'd had our hearts set on, so instead we opted for the sweet potato "pudding." Again, contrary to what I expected, it was not Jello-style pudding, but more of a bread pudding, almost cake-like. It wasn't til now that I realized these businesses took American currency after we'd been using nothing but debit cards. Despite the uneven exchange, I could pay in US dollars and receive Canadian change. So in the interest of using up the change, I got another cheap menu item, some kind of savory pastry filled with spicy vegetables. Both were delicious.
We set out back for Seattle around 3:15, and somehow ended up taking an hour just to get out of the city. I attributed this to undetailed maps and no clear turnoff to get over the bridge. Even when we stopped to ask directions, the guy had to tell us a very roundabout way to get there. We assume he had to have run into the exact same problem before - there's no way he could've known that route otherwise.
So we finally managed to get over the bridge and over the border without going through much of an interrogation. This time we were savvy enough to know the secret - embellish so as not to sound crazy.
We were on a bit of a time constraint getting back, even more so now with the setback of Vancouver's confusing road system, as we had to go see a potential apartment for Lisa in University Village. I had taken over driving after we got back to the states, and due in part to making up for lost time, mostly to just keeping up with the flow of traffic, I got my first-ever speeding ticket from a cop hiding out on the freeway entrance. $206 down the drain.
But we made it to the open house, which was large and very nice. The girl showing it was a personal trainer and kind of a trixie, almost alarmingly buff and tan. But she seemed friendly.
Finally we ended the day at my second cousin Kim's condo in Queen Anne. This was the first time I'd seen her since meeting her once maybe 15 years ago, but just like an Iwersen, she welcomed both Lisa and I like we were close family. She walked out with Clyde, her skiddish German Shepherd mix, whom we gave treats to get him to warm up. After confirming that I was the one who was her cousin's daughter she gave me a big hug and invited us in.
Kim and her place almost felt like the apex of our string of accommodations - fitting it was the last stop. We went from sleeping in cars, in tents on hard ground, on friends' floors, on little couches, to a guest room with a BED, laundry, a clean bathroom, and permission to help ourselves to anything in the kitchen. Better than a 5-star hotel. She even made us a nice dinner of grilled chicken and veggies and made us feel right at home. After living with so little for two weeks, it nearly seemed too good for us. We were almost taken aback by such hospitality for people she barely knew. Upon discovering Lisa did not yet have a place to live, she even told Lisa to call if she needed a place to stay or wanted to get together for dinner. Lisa had managed to find a Couch Surfing host to let her stay a while, the concept of which made Kim understandably a bit nervous.
After she and Clyde went off to bed, we spent the night cleaning ourselves up, doing laundry, eating the rest of our sweet potato pudding. I spent a while out on the balcony taking pictures of the amazing view of the Seattle skyline and full moon.
We woke up, cramped again from the tight sleeping quarters, and after getting organized found another coffee shop where we could have breakfast, and make use of the bathroom and wifi.
First excursion of the day was Stanley Park, but this time for a more thorough view. We sat by the water a while and just admired the scenery and nice weather, took lots of pictures, saw the famous totem poles. Afterwards we returned to Gastown, which looked much less seedy in the daylight. Actually very quaint from the streets we were seeing for the first time - a bit reminiscent of an old English street with cobblestone roads. There were a lot of cool little shops around there we didn't have enough time to explore. Back near where we were the night before, the street was closed off for some kind of kid's car race that had just ended. All the little racers were dressed in red jumpsuits, taking pictures with their trophies and such. Oddly the hired entertainment they chose was a woman with a keyboard playing the Chicken Dance song and singing in what sounded like Italian.
The day was short, so we went back to Commerical Drive for lunch at Belgian Fries, which had supposedly been voted to have the "Best Poutine in British Columbia." What better place to have my first experience. The first time I heard of poutine I thought it sounded pretty unappealing, at least for its potential fat content - fries, cheese curds, and "gravy." I think it's the latter that threw me, picturing it was turkey-style gravy, but it was more like a thin brown sauce. The place had several varieties of poutine and regular fries with various dipping sauces, as well as hot dogs and other things. But we decided to go with the classic poutine, and it was indeed tasty. Probably better that I don't have direct access to it on a regular basis...
Before we hit the road, we went down the street to a little Jamaican restaurant we passed by before to get another little sampling of something. Sadly they were out of anything containing plantains, which we'd had our hearts set on, so instead we opted for the sweet potato "pudding." Again, contrary to what I expected, it was not Jello-style pudding, but more of a bread pudding, almost cake-like. It wasn't til now that I realized these businesses took American currency after we'd been using nothing but debit cards. Despite the uneven exchange, I could pay in US dollars and receive Canadian change. So in the interest of using up the change, I got another cheap menu item, some kind of savory pastry filled with spicy vegetables. Both were delicious.
We set out back for Seattle around 3:15, and somehow ended up taking an hour just to get out of the city. I attributed this to undetailed maps and no clear turnoff to get over the bridge. Even when we stopped to ask directions, the guy had to tell us a very roundabout way to get there. We assume he had to have run into the exact same problem before - there's no way he could've known that route otherwise.
So we finally managed to get over the bridge and over the border without going through much of an interrogation. This time we were savvy enough to know the secret - embellish so as not to sound crazy.
We were on a bit of a time constraint getting back, even more so now with the setback of Vancouver's confusing road system, as we had to go see a potential apartment for Lisa in University Village. I had taken over driving after we got back to the states, and due in part to making up for lost time, mostly to just keeping up with the flow of traffic, I got my first-ever speeding ticket from a cop hiding out on the freeway entrance. $206 down the drain.
But we made it to the open house, which was large and very nice. The girl showing it was a personal trainer and kind of a trixie, almost alarmingly buff and tan. But she seemed friendly.
Finally we ended the day at my second cousin Kim's condo in Queen Anne. This was the first time I'd seen her since meeting her once maybe 15 years ago, but just like an Iwersen, she welcomed both Lisa and I like we were close family. She walked out with Clyde, her skiddish German Shepherd mix, whom we gave treats to get him to warm up. After confirming that I was the one who was her cousin's daughter she gave me a big hug and invited us in.
Kim and her place almost felt like the apex of our string of accommodations - fitting it was the last stop. We went from sleeping in cars, in tents on hard ground, on friends' floors, on little couches, to a guest room with a BED, laundry, a clean bathroom, and permission to help ourselves to anything in the kitchen. Better than a 5-star hotel. She even made us a nice dinner of grilled chicken and veggies and made us feel right at home. After living with so little for two weeks, it nearly seemed too good for us. We were almost taken aback by such hospitality for people she barely knew. Upon discovering Lisa did not yet have a place to live, she even told Lisa to call if she needed a place to stay or wanted to get together for dinner. Lisa had managed to find a Couch Surfing host to let her stay a while, the concept of which made Kim understandably a bit nervous.
After she and Clyde went off to bed, we spent the night cleaning ourselves up, doing laundry, eating the rest of our sweet potato pudding. I spent a while out on the balcony taking pictures of the amazing view of the Seattle skyline and full moon.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Saturday, 9/6 - Vancouver
Day 12
We got up early to take Dan to the airport for his India/Nepal trip around 6am, then hit the road for Vancouver. The drive up was beautiful, overcast much of the way. After a while we got within range of Canadian radio and instantly heard a string of Canadian bands - Our Lady Peace, Sloan, Stars... somehow I wound up hearing Elvis Costello's "Veronica" twice that day in different locations by pure coincidence.
We waited in a line of cars at the border for about 15-20 minutes only to get singled out for interrogation. They asked a lot more questions than we expected going over to the Canadian side - where we were from, where we were going and why, what we do for a living, how much money we had, where we were staying.. none of which seemed at all unusual to us until having to explain it to authorities. But I suppose both being unemployed with no residence, no place to stay planned, and all our luggage for just an overnight stay would've sounded fishy to anyone.
Among the first things we noticed on our drive into the city was that there was an overabundance of pet stores and animal hospitals..
We found our way downtown, but with no idea of what to do or where to go. So we parked and ate at a mediocre crepe place while we looked through some free newspapers for ideas. They didn't help.
We sat at one of the restaurant's outdoor tables, and as we lamented the system for not providing decent jobs for the college-educated, a couple of middle-aged guys at the next table overheard us talking. One of them interjected, "It's really a shame, eh?" and thus struck up a conversation about careers, Dead Man (the Johnny Depp movie that somewhat paralleled Lisa's situation), politics, and stuff to do in Vancouver. Despite being older, one guy, Rico, seemed like a cool guy - into Hank III and punk rock, knew about a lot of good places to see - Gastown, Commercial Drive, a nude beach and a scenic hill we didn't make it to. We felt slightly bad for not taking him up on his offer to show us around later, but despite being a seemingly harmless Canadian, we suspected he might've wanted to hit on us. However, much of his advice turned out to be quite useful, so we saw it as a serendipitous meeting.
Downtown seemed pretty average, and it was the only part of the city I remembered from the one time I spend a day here several years ago. It was mostly just big stores, most of which you could find anywhere. So we grabbed some maps out of a phone book (which ended up being useless) and took off in search of the scenic mountain Rico had told us about. We never found it and just wasted some time sitting in traffic. So we just spun through Stanley Park briefly, took a few pictures, and headed back to the art museum we passed earlier. It was the last day for a cool exhibit on cartoons, comics, and anime, so despite a pricey admission charge we sucked it up, went, and enjoyed it.
Next essential stop was the tourist info center to pick up some much-needed maps and city guides. We headed next to Commercial Drive, taking Hastings Street on the way, which to our surprise was almost completely vacant of businesses, run down, and full of bums. Maybe it just seemed like there were a lot of them since they were all concentrated in one area, but this was not the Canada I knew. We later found out there was a methadone clinic nearby.
Commercial Drive was a cool strip full of independent businesses, vintage clothing shops, little cafes and restaurants, hippie organic markets and such. It seemed like literally every other place we passes had a help wanted sign in the window. We were baffled at the amount of jobs compared to the amount of homeless people..
After walking around a while, we sat in a nearby park, smoked, and talked about life plans until the sun went down and we worked up our appetites. We found a lot of good places to potentially eat but decided to hold out for a Buddhist vegetarian restaurant we read about in the paper.
The place, Bo Kong, was delicious. Without realizing it we ordered a dish with pineapple and another with coconut, which I suppose reflects my inner Hawaiian. Both were amazing and made a tasty combination. Unfortunately we got there pretty late so didn't have much time to eat, and had to take most of it with us. Sadly it wasn't nearly as good in the form of unrefrigerated leftovers.
After dinner we passed through Mount Pleasant, another cool neighborhood we didn't have time to explore. We had the idea of going to the gay district on Davie Street to find a bar, but got a bit turned around on our way back downtown. As we sat at a stop sign looking over the map in the car, a woman walking her dog knocked on the window and asked us if we needed directions. She even went so far as to give us alternate routes and happened to suggest a specific bar on the very street we were looking for before we even told her that's where we were headed. Yet another serendipitous moment. We theorized that this kind woman might have been our sage, guiding us needy aimless travelers in the right direction. Perhaps there was something waiting for us at that bar, like someone that knew a place we could stay. But in any case, we decided at this point that Canadians are awesome. Had this incident happened a mere 30 miles south on the opposite side of the border, either the woman would've ignored us or we would've been paranoid about a car jacking.
When we made it to Davie Street we stopped off at a coffee shop first for my necessary dose of caffeine, then stopped in the seediest sex toy shop I'd seen yet on the trip. Unlike others that seemed to be run by and for women, and were thus relatively tasteful and almost sophisticated, this one had bright florescent lights, tacky packaging, porno mags, and made you feel dirty by proximity alone. Clearly run by men.
We walked up and down the street and decided the bars looked lame, expensive, predominantly male, were blaring unappealing generic techno music, so we headed back towards Gastown in search of some other bars we read about. We parked near the Scientology center, gawked at that for a while wondering what goes on behind those doors, then happened to stumble across a hostel with a busy bar underneath, probably full of hostelers. We stopped for a moment to take pictures of an awesome classic car that was parked out front - one of many we kept seeing around the city, probably for some convention in town. At this point a young Australian guy started talking to us and among other things, warned us not to leave valuables in our car since break-ins were common in this area. We were near ghetto Hastings Street, so this wasn't surprising. Apparently he lived there and offered us a place to crash when we told him we had none. In the few minutes we knew him he seemed like a decent enough guy. - most of his friends were female at least - but we opted to sleep in the car as we'd originally planned.
After he went back into the bar we went in search of the bar we were originally looking for, but got lazy and decided against going through the trouble of getting out cash to pay the $5 cover. The bar beneath the hostel looked cool, but we didn't want to run into the Ozzie if we weren't gonna take him up on his offer. We were suddenly feeling lazy anyway. Instead we walked over to a 24-hour coffee shop with wifi, went online a bit, and took advantage of their bathroom to get ready for "bed."
Back in Mount Pleasant we found a school in a quiet residential area that looked safe and parked, setting up a sort of makeshift bed in the back and blocking out the windows with our sweaters. Maybe not worth the $40 we saved on the hostel beds in retrospect, but cheapness = adventure, right?
We got up early to take Dan to the airport for his India/Nepal trip around 6am, then hit the road for Vancouver. The drive up was beautiful, overcast much of the way. After a while we got within range of Canadian radio and instantly heard a string of Canadian bands - Our Lady Peace, Sloan, Stars... somehow I wound up hearing Elvis Costello's "Veronica" twice that day in different locations by pure coincidence.
We waited in a line of cars at the border for about 15-20 minutes only to get singled out for interrogation. They asked a lot more questions than we expected going over to the Canadian side - where we were from, where we were going and why, what we do for a living, how much money we had, where we were staying.. none of which seemed at all unusual to us until having to explain it to authorities. But I suppose both being unemployed with no residence, no place to stay planned, and all our luggage for just an overnight stay would've sounded fishy to anyone.
Among the first things we noticed on our drive into the city was that there was an overabundance of pet stores and animal hospitals..
We found our way downtown, but with no idea of what to do or where to go. So we parked and ate at a mediocre crepe place while we looked through some free newspapers for ideas. They didn't help.
We sat at one of the restaurant's outdoor tables, and as we lamented the system for not providing decent jobs for the college-educated, a couple of middle-aged guys at the next table overheard us talking. One of them interjected, "It's really a shame, eh?" and thus struck up a conversation about careers, Dead Man (the Johnny Depp movie that somewhat paralleled Lisa's situation), politics, and stuff to do in Vancouver. Despite being older, one guy, Rico, seemed like a cool guy - into Hank III and punk rock, knew about a lot of good places to see - Gastown, Commercial Drive, a nude beach and a scenic hill we didn't make it to. We felt slightly bad for not taking him up on his offer to show us around later, but despite being a seemingly harmless Canadian, we suspected he might've wanted to hit on us. However, much of his advice turned out to be quite useful, so we saw it as a serendipitous meeting.
Downtown seemed pretty average, and it was the only part of the city I remembered from the one time I spend a day here several years ago. It was mostly just big stores, most of which you could find anywhere. So we grabbed some maps out of a phone book (which ended up being useless) and took off in search of the scenic mountain Rico had told us about. We never found it and just wasted some time sitting in traffic. So we just spun through Stanley Park briefly, took a few pictures, and headed back to the art museum we passed earlier. It was the last day for a cool exhibit on cartoons, comics, and anime, so despite a pricey admission charge we sucked it up, went, and enjoyed it.
Next essential stop was the tourist info center to pick up some much-needed maps and city guides. We headed next to Commercial Drive, taking Hastings Street on the way, which to our surprise was almost completely vacant of businesses, run down, and full of bums. Maybe it just seemed like there were a lot of them since they were all concentrated in one area, but this was not the Canada I knew. We later found out there was a methadone clinic nearby.
Commercial Drive was a cool strip full of independent businesses, vintage clothing shops, little cafes and restaurants, hippie organic markets and such. It seemed like literally every other place we passes had a help wanted sign in the window. We were baffled at the amount of jobs compared to the amount of homeless people..
After walking around a while, we sat in a nearby park, smoked, and talked about life plans until the sun went down and we worked up our appetites. We found a lot of good places to potentially eat but decided to hold out for a Buddhist vegetarian restaurant we read about in the paper.
The place, Bo Kong, was delicious. Without realizing it we ordered a dish with pineapple and another with coconut, which I suppose reflects my inner Hawaiian. Both were amazing and made a tasty combination. Unfortunately we got there pretty late so didn't have much time to eat, and had to take most of it with us. Sadly it wasn't nearly as good in the form of unrefrigerated leftovers.
After dinner we passed through Mount Pleasant, another cool neighborhood we didn't have time to explore. We had the idea of going to the gay district on Davie Street to find a bar, but got a bit turned around on our way back downtown. As we sat at a stop sign looking over the map in the car, a woman walking her dog knocked on the window and asked us if we needed directions. She even went so far as to give us alternate routes and happened to suggest a specific bar on the very street we were looking for before we even told her that's where we were headed. Yet another serendipitous moment. We theorized that this kind woman might have been our sage, guiding us needy aimless travelers in the right direction. Perhaps there was something waiting for us at that bar, like someone that knew a place we could stay. But in any case, we decided at this point that Canadians are awesome. Had this incident happened a mere 30 miles south on the opposite side of the border, either the woman would've ignored us or we would've been paranoid about a car jacking.
When we made it to Davie Street we stopped off at a coffee shop first for my necessary dose of caffeine, then stopped in the seediest sex toy shop I'd seen yet on the trip. Unlike others that seemed to be run by and for women, and were thus relatively tasteful and almost sophisticated, this one had bright florescent lights, tacky packaging, porno mags, and made you feel dirty by proximity alone. Clearly run by men.
We walked up and down the street and decided the bars looked lame, expensive, predominantly male, were blaring unappealing generic techno music, so we headed back towards Gastown in search of some other bars we read about. We parked near the Scientology center, gawked at that for a while wondering what goes on behind those doors, then happened to stumble across a hostel with a busy bar underneath, probably full of hostelers. We stopped for a moment to take pictures of an awesome classic car that was parked out front - one of many we kept seeing around the city, probably for some convention in town. At this point a young Australian guy started talking to us and among other things, warned us not to leave valuables in our car since break-ins were common in this area. We were near ghetto Hastings Street, so this wasn't surprising. Apparently he lived there and offered us a place to crash when we told him we had none. In the few minutes we knew him he seemed like a decent enough guy. - most of his friends were female at least - but we opted to sleep in the car as we'd originally planned.
After he went back into the bar we went in search of the bar we were originally looking for, but got lazy and decided against going through the trouble of getting out cash to pay the $5 cover. The bar beneath the hostel looked cool, but we didn't want to run into the Ozzie if we weren't gonna take him up on his offer. We were suddenly feeling lazy anyway. Instead we walked over to a 24-hour coffee shop with wifi, went online a bit, and took advantage of their bathroom to get ready for "bed."
Back in Mount Pleasant we found a school in a quiet residential area that looked safe and parked, setting up a sort of makeshift bed in the back and blocking out the windows with our sweaters. Maybe not worth the $40 we saved on the hostel beds in retrospect, but cheapness = adventure, right?
Friday, 9/5 - Seattle
Day 11
Lisa and I started out the day walking around Capitol Hill to look for wifi and job openings, and came across a Japanese/Asian restaurant called Boom Noodle that had both. The food was excellent as well. After lunch we moved on to Uncle Elizabeth's internet cafe down the street, and awesome little place with cheap internet AND free bagels with coffee purchases. What a deal. So we printed out a bunch of resumes planning to drop them off anywhere and everywhere. We walked back towards Pike Market via the Westlake Center area, stopped at a few shops and restaurants to apply, and later picked up our rental car to drive up to Vancouver the next morning. On the way back to Dan's we stopped at Piecora's from the night before so Lisa could drop off her resume, and she got a part-time job on the spot.
After that we headed back to Dan's and all went out for some good Indian food up the street. Dan claimed he wouldn't be tired of it being there over the next few weeks.
Lisa and I started out the day walking around Capitol Hill to look for wifi and job openings, and came across a Japanese/Asian restaurant called Boom Noodle that had both. The food was excellent as well. After lunch we moved on to Uncle Elizabeth's internet cafe down the street, and awesome little place with cheap internet AND free bagels with coffee purchases. What a deal. So we printed out a bunch of resumes planning to drop them off anywhere and everywhere. We walked back towards Pike Market via the Westlake Center area, stopped at a few shops and restaurants to apply, and later picked up our rental car to drive up to Vancouver the next morning. On the way back to Dan's we stopped at Piecora's from the night before so Lisa could drop off her resume, and she got a part-time job on the spot.
After that we headed back to Dan's and all went out for some good Indian food up the street. Dan claimed he wouldn't be tired of it being there over the next few weeks.
Thursday, 9/4 - Seattle
Day 10
Kyle and Jina had planned to leave early in order to high-tail it back to Chicago, but decided they couldn't go without getting tattoos first. Kyle called around to several places that all required appointments, but finally found one that took walk-ins.
First we went back to Pike's for more fruit, more bao buns, and to drop off some of Lisa's job applications. She worked up the guts to apply at one of the fish markets that was looking for help, so we sat at the counter and chatted with the guys for a bit to try and get her in. They kind of gave her a hard time since she was a girl, warning that it was hard/dirty work and may be a lot of manual labor, cold in the winter since they had to be outdoors. But they were nice guys and seemed to have fun working there. The middle-aged manager was an aspiring musician, and one of the workers showed us his music video on Youtube using the little computer covered in dried fishy slime. Talented or not, we thought he might be interested in Lisa for her recording experience if not for a willingness to handle giant fish.
Jina and Kyle kept wandering off in spite of Kyle not having his phone and Jina's not working properly, but eventually we all found each other, got our food, and set out in search of the tattoo place. It was confusing but we managed to find it in Capitol Hill. Kyle had found a piece of native american artwork resembling an abstract wolf - close enough to a spirit coyote - which he got in black on his chest. His took a few hours to do. Meanwhile, Jina got a small running rabbit on her foot, which she claimed was the most painful she'd ever gotten. The whole time we were waiting for Kyle, Lisa and I debated whether to get anything that night. Lisa ultimately decided to hold off since her idea was elaborate, expensive, and would've taken a long time. I knew what I wanted and where, but was afraid of the worst case scenario happening while I was out of the country with no insurance. But I finally worked up the guts and decided now was a better time than any. I had just been waiting for someone to go with me, and wanted it to be a significant time and place. What better way to culminate the trip than with a tattoo?
Once the other artist was free, I told him I wanted the American red cross symbol on my wrist. I didn't think to bring a picture to be exact, but everyone knows what it looks like anyway. He drew it out, scanned it, and printed it on tracing paper, and after adjusting it once for size he got started, outlining it in pen first before going in with the needle. It was probably not the worst pain I've ever felt, but it was harsh and uncomfortable. I squeezed Lisa's hand the whole time, at first wanting her to talk to distract me. But then I decided it'd be better to just sit and meditate, relax.. It only took about 15 minutes thankfully. I felt dizzy and lightheaded for at least the first half hour, but at some point during our late dinner I recovered.
It was pretty late by the time we finally got out - probably a little after 10. We went up the street for some pizza at a place called Piecora's. It was kind of sad, being our last meal..we thought about the fact that we'd probably all never be in the same place together again. We discussed places to possibly meet up years later - Italy, Dubai, South Korea. I'd like to make it happen one day.
Finally we ended up back at Dan's, where Lisa and I would stay for a couple nights. We unloaded the rest of our stuff and stood in a long group hug outside before Kyle and Jina drove off into the night, way behind schedule.
Kyle and Jina had planned to leave early in order to high-tail it back to Chicago, but decided they couldn't go without getting tattoos first. Kyle called around to several places that all required appointments, but finally found one that took walk-ins.
First we went back to Pike's for more fruit, more bao buns, and to drop off some of Lisa's job applications. She worked up the guts to apply at one of the fish markets that was looking for help, so we sat at the counter and chatted with the guys for a bit to try and get her in. They kind of gave her a hard time since she was a girl, warning that it was hard/dirty work and may be a lot of manual labor, cold in the winter since they had to be outdoors. But they were nice guys and seemed to have fun working there. The middle-aged manager was an aspiring musician, and one of the workers showed us his music video on Youtube using the little computer covered in dried fishy slime. Talented or not, we thought he might be interested in Lisa for her recording experience if not for a willingness to handle giant fish.
Jina and Kyle kept wandering off in spite of Kyle not having his phone and Jina's not working properly, but eventually we all found each other, got our food, and set out in search of the tattoo place. It was confusing but we managed to find it in Capitol Hill. Kyle had found a piece of native american artwork resembling an abstract wolf - close enough to a spirit coyote - which he got in black on his chest. His took a few hours to do. Meanwhile, Jina got a small running rabbit on her foot, which she claimed was the most painful she'd ever gotten. The whole time we were waiting for Kyle, Lisa and I debated whether to get anything that night. Lisa ultimately decided to hold off since her idea was elaborate, expensive, and would've taken a long time. I knew what I wanted and where, but was afraid of the worst case scenario happening while I was out of the country with no insurance. But I finally worked up the guts and decided now was a better time than any. I had just been waiting for someone to go with me, and wanted it to be a significant time and place. What better way to culminate the trip than with a tattoo?
Once the other artist was free, I told him I wanted the American red cross symbol on my wrist. I didn't think to bring a picture to be exact, but everyone knows what it looks like anyway. He drew it out, scanned it, and printed it on tracing paper, and after adjusting it once for size he got started, outlining it in pen first before going in with the needle. It was probably not the worst pain I've ever felt, but it was harsh and uncomfortable. I squeezed Lisa's hand the whole time, at first wanting her to talk to distract me. But then I decided it'd be better to just sit and meditate, relax.. It only took about 15 minutes thankfully. I felt dizzy and lightheaded for at least the first half hour, but at some point during our late dinner I recovered.
It was pretty late by the time we finally got out - probably a little after 10. We went up the street for some pizza at a place called Piecora's. It was kind of sad, being our last meal..we thought about the fact that we'd probably all never be in the same place together again. We discussed places to possibly meet up years later - Italy, Dubai, South Korea. I'd like to make it happen one day.
Finally we ended up back at Dan's, where Lisa and I would stay for a couple nights. We unloaded the rest of our stuff and stood in a long group hug outside before Kyle and Jina drove off into the night, way behind schedule.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Wednesday, 9/3 - Seattle
Day 9
Kyle and Jina left without Lisa and I as we dilly dallied, so we walked all the way down to the commercial area of Alki and had lunch in a cafe with free wifi so Lisa could look for jobs and apartments. After that we took the bus downtown and went to the library to find a Paul Klee book and try and print out some resumes. The library was awesome - all modern design and environmentally friendly.
While trying to meet up with Jina and Kyle we sat at Seattle's Best for a while, then gave up waiting and wandered over to Chinatown. It was kind of scummy but we found an Asian supermarket full of weird snacks that were too hard to resist. We weren't adventurous enough to try the bag of miniature dried crabs, but we got some weird chips that tasted kind of like Chicken in a Biscuits. We also got some honey-filled, bear-shaped hard candy and some gum for me, which I later found out was also hard candy.
After hanging out at the Japanese bookstore for a while we finally managed to find Jina and Kyle, and decided to go back to Ohana to eat since we liked it so much the night before. We got more coconut sushi and more Spam musubi - Jina managed to finish four of them on her own.
After some late-night happy hour sake at a Japanese restaurant up the stret, we went to a bar in the University Village area to meet up with Kyle's friends - one of whom was another ex-Arlington employee. Really nice people.
After that we thought we'd take a chance and look for the tattoo place nearby that the waitress had recommended, but it was closed...
Kyle and Jina left without Lisa and I as we dilly dallied, so we walked all the way down to the commercial area of Alki and had lunch in a cafe with free wifi so Lisa could look for jobs and apartments. After that we took the bus downtown and went to the library to find a Paul Klee book and try and print out some resumes. The library was awesome - all modern design and environmentally friendly.
While trying to meet up with Jina and Kyle we sat at Seattle's Best for a while, then gave up waiting and wandered over to Chinatown. It was kind of scummy but we found an Asian supermarket full of weird snacks that were too hard to resist. We weren't adventurous enough to try the bag of miniature dried crabs, but we got some weird chips that tasted kind of like Chicken in a Biscuits. We also got some honey-filled, bear-shaped hard candy and some gum for me, which I later found out was also hard candy.
After hanging out at the Japanese bookstore for a while we finally managed to find Jina and Kyle, and decided to go back to Ohana to eat since we liked it so much the night before. We got more coconut sushi and more Spam musubi - Jina managed to finish four of them on her own.
After some late-night happy hour sake at a Japanese restaurant up the stret, we went to a bar in the University Village area to meet up with Kyle's friends - one of whom was another ex-Arlington employee. Really nice people.
After that we thought we'd take a chance and look for the tattoo place nearby that the waitress had recommended, but it was closed...
Friday, November 14, 2008
Tuesday, 9/2 - Seattle
Day 8
We were awoken by the noise from Kyle's 7-year-old cousin, who was home for the day with her sister. She was very cute and energetic and wanted to play Mancala and Sorry with everyone. Her sister Emily seemed very mature for 13. Maggie, their 1.5-year-old puggle was the perfect dog - quiet but playful and affectionate and with lots of personality. She was a lap dog, liked to sit on a wooden chair in the kitchen. She'd normally be closed up in her cage if no one was around, but she would stay in there and roll herself up in the blanket somehow. She looked almost human when we tried to wake her and she'd just peak out from under the blanket groggily and go back to sleep.
Later in the afternoon we went down to Pioneer Square to go exploring. It was the first area we drove through so we parked to get out and walk around. I recognized the buildings and football field from the last time, and as luck would have it, we happen to park right down the street from the must-stop cookie shop, Cow Chips. We got a bunch of cookies and picked up an application for Lisa since they happen to have a help wanted sign. While we were there, our first interactions with locals were pleasant and managed to give us the impression that all Seattle-ites were this way. The Cow Chips cashier was very nice, as was a woman in the shop who gave us advice on places to go. We liked the old character of Pioneer Square, which Lisa aptly observed was reminiscent of Sesame Street (must have been the red brick buildings). We made our way downtown and to Pike Place Market, where yet another nice local at the fish-throwing place chatted with us quite a bit and gave us an abundance of salmon jerky samples - much better than the one we'd bought earlier. We thought maybe he felt bad for us as he'd commented that we looked tired from our travels.
We walked around the shops, bought some bling, and went a bit crazy over all the fresh fruit. It was late in the day and Lisa and I hadn't eaten much, so we stocked up on some massive juicy peaches, a bag of dates, and one of those flat nectarines. We got some more substantial snacks in the form of bao buns at a little Chinese stand.
We went to a little Bolivian (?) bar above the market for some drinks and for a nice view of the sunset, then went out for a real meal (one of the few on the whole trip) at a Hawaiian/Asian restaurant we found called Ohana. It was a cute place with kitchy but not over-the-top tropical-themed decor and several workers from Hawaii. We got some amazing coconut crab sushi, veggie kabobs, and Spam Musubi, which Lisa experienced for the first time and loved. Jina was already in the club and got an order for herself.
It was a good day for food. I don't know how we managed to sustain ourselves almost entirely on fruit and crackers with peanut butter for the past week.
We were awoken by the noise from Kyle's 7-year-old cousin, who was home for the day with her sister. She was very cute and energetic and wanted to play Mancala and Sorry with everyone. Her sister Emily seemed very mature for 13. Maggie, their 1.5-year-old puggle was the perfect dog - quiet but playful and affectionate and with lots of personality. She was a lap dog, liked to sit on a wooden chair in the kitchen. She'd normally be closed up in her cage if no one was around, but she would stay in there and roll herself up in the blanket somehow. She looked almost human when we tried to wake her and she'd just peak out from under the blanket groggily and go back to sleep.
Later in the afternoon we went down to Pioneer Square to go exploring. It was the first area we drove through so we parked to get out and walk around. I recognized the buildings and football field from the last time, and as luck would have it, we happen to park right down the street from the must-stop cookie shop, Cow Chips. We got a bunch of cookies and picked up an application for Lisa since they happen to have a help wanted sign. While we were there, our first interactions with locals were pleasant and managed to give us the impression that all Seattle-ites were this way. The Cow Chips cashier was very nice, as was a woman in the shop who gave us advice on places to go. We liked the old character of Pioneer Square, which Lisa aptly observed was reminiscent of Sesame Street (must have been the red brick buildings). We made our way downtown and to Pike Place Market, where yet another nice local at the fish-throwing place chatted with us quite a bit and gave us an abundance of salmon jerky samples - much better than the one we'd bought earlier. We thought maybe he felt bad for us as he'd commented that we looked tired from our travels.
We walked around the shops, bought some bling, and went a bit crazy over all the fresh fruit. It was late in the day and Lisa and I hadn't eaten much, so we stocked up on some massive juicy peaches, a bag of dates, and one of those flat nectarines. We got some more substantial snacks in the form of bao buns at a little Chinese stand.
We went to a little Bolivian (?) bar above the market for some drinks and for a nice view of the sunset, then went out for a real meal (one of the few on the whole trip) at a Hawaiian/Asian restaurant we found called Ohana. It was a cute place with kitchy but not over-the-top tropical-themed decor and several workers from Hawaii. We got some amazing coconut crab sushi, veggie kabobs, and Spam Musubi, which Lisa experienced for the first time and loved. Jina was already in the club and got an order for herself.
It was a good day for food. I don't know how we managed to sustain ourselves almost entirely on fruit and crackers with peanut butter for the past week.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Monday, 9/1 - Northern California, Oregon, Washington
Day 7
Lisa and I woke up first to find what a beautiful spot we'd stumbled upon to spend the night. We were at the bottom of a hill, surrounded by mountains behind, the ocean ahead, and a lagoon to the left. I walked out on the beach to take pictures and found the rotting corpse of some animal - probably a deer - partially buried in the sand. There were some uncovered bones, some of the hide still visible, but it was spread out in an odd way as though it had been mauled by a bear or something. Lisa joked that maybe it was her spirit animal.
As we returned to the car to change and freshen up, some people started to arrive for surfing and kayaking. Seemed a bit chilly out for that but they seemed pretty hardcore. A large bird - possibly a sea hawk - started circling around us several times, seemingly putting on a show. Perhaps this was Lisa's spirit animal?
We continued up toward Crescent City and stopped on a reservation called Klamath for breakfast. The food was so-so, but the atmosphere was entertaining. Everyone but us looked like they belonged there - mostly older, husky fisherman/hunter-types with facial hair. The guys at table behind us were almost too stereotypical, having a lengthy conversation just about fishing. It felt more like being in Alaska, or at least Oregon or Washington, rather than California. Before we left Lisa took it upon herself to release a butterfly trapped between the window glass and screen, and thought maybe this could be her spirit animal until deciding that a tattoo of it would be lame.
We picked up some salmon jerky from a roadside stand and continued on the beautiful drive up the Oregon coast, passing by the redwood forest and the dunes. It was gorgeous. I wish we had more time to stick around there.
We did stop in the cute harbor town of Florence at Jina's request to eat at Mo's, which she claimed had the best clam chowder and mushroom/swiss burgers ever. Despite me being nauseous from the car ride, Lisa not wanting to eat much, and Kyle having a toothache, we all ate anyway. I wouldn't say the clam chowder blew me away, but it was good. We stopped at an ice cream shop across from the restaurant for dessert and continued on. By now it was starting to get dark out, which made the drive through the redwoods pretty creepy. It was pretty desolate - just forest and mountains, houses few and far between. It looked like something out of a Stephen King movie. There were probably bears and crazy mountain men with rifles buried amongst the trees.
Assuming we were getting short on time, we had to skip over Portland, which was also disappointing since I've always wanted to go there. But I was happy to at least see the scenic parts of Oregon in the daytime.
We arrived in Seattle around 1 am. Kyle's aunt and uncle were expecting us, but though he didn't have directions to the house or know the city well, he somehow managed to find it in the middle of the night based entirely on photographic memories from when he visited more than 10 years earlier. Most impressive navigational skills I've ever seen.
His aunt and 13-year-old cousin Emily were up when we arrived, and they were extremely welcoming. Their beautiful home, beds, and showers were a godsend after a week of camping, car sleeping, and gas station bathrooms.
Lisa and I woke up first to find what a beautiful spot we'd stumbled upon to spend the night. We were at the bottom of a hill, surrounded by mountains behind, the ocean ahead, and a lagoon to the left. I walked out on the beach to take pictures and found the rotting corpse of some animal - probably a deer - partially buried in the sand. There were some uncovered bones, some of the hide still visible, but it was spread out in an odd way as though it had been mauled by a bear or something. Lisa joked that maybe it was her spirit animal.
As we returned to the car to change and freshen up, some people started to arrive for surfing and kayaking. Seemed a bit chilly out for that but they seemed pretty hardcore. A large bird - possibly a sea hawk - started circling around us several times, seemingly putting on a show. Perhaps this was Lisa's spirit animal?
We continued up toward Crescent City and stopped on a reservation called Klamath for breakfast. The food was so-so, but the atmosphere was entertaining. Everyone but us looked like they belonged there - mostly older, husky fisherman/hunter-types with facial hair. The guys at table behind us were almost too stereotypical, having a lengthy conversation just about fishing. It felt more like being in Alaska, or at least Oregon or Washington, rather than California. Before we left Lisa took it upon herself to release a butterfly trapped between the window glass and screen, and thought maybe this could be her spirit animal until deciding that a tattoo of it would be lame.
We picked up some salmon jerky from a roadside stand and continued on the beautiful drive up the Oregon coast, passing by the redwood forest and the dunes. It was gorgeous. I wish we had more time to stick around there.
We did stop in the cute harbor town of Florence at Jina's request to eat at Mo's, which she claimed had the best clam chowder and mushroom/swiss burgers ever. Despite me being nauseous from the car ride, Lisa not wanting to eat much, and Kyle having a toothache, we all ate anyway. I wouldn't say the clam chowder blew me away, but it was good. We stopped at an ice cream shop across from the restaurant for dessert and continued on. By now it was starting to get dark out, which made the drive through the redwoods pretty creepy. It was pretty desolate - just forest and mountains, houses few and far between. It looked like something out of a Stephen King movie. There were probably bears and crazy mountain men with rifles buried amongst the trees.
Assuming we were getting short on time, we had to skip over Portland, which was also disappointing since I've always wanted to go there. But I was happy to at least see the scenic parts of Oregon in the daytime.
We arrived in Seattle around 1 am. Kyle's aunt and uncle were expecting us, but though he didn't have directions to the house or know the city well, he somehow managed to find it in the middle of the night based entirely on photographic memories from when he visited more than 10 years earlier. Most impressive navigational skills I've ever seen.
His aunt and 13-year-old cousin Emily were up when we arrived, and they were extremely welcoming. Their beautiful home, beds, and showers were a godsend after a week of camping, car sleeping, and gas station bathrooms.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Sunday, 8/31 - California Coast, San Francisco
Day 6
We got up early and began the drive up Highway 101 through lots of vineyards and fog, eventually making our way to Route 1 with the gorgeous view of the coast, where we aptly started listening to the Beach Boys. At this point everyone perked up and remained alert to admire the view, which never ceased to be incredible. We stopped periodically at lookout points to take pictures and felt grateful we'd decided to drive during the day so we could appreciate it.
Among other places, we passed through Big Sur, which I'd been looking forward to since I'd heard it was beautiful, though I had no idea what to expect. I was expecting beach, but apparently it's in the mountains, so more of a hiking/camping area, thus we didn't see much of it. Santa Cruz was a cute little colorful town that looked like it was made for surfers - kind of like O'ahu's North Shore but with nicer houses.
We made it to San Francisco late in the afternoon, and everyone instantly fell in love with it. We drove around aimlessly, debating whether to go to Haight-Ashbury, downtown, or elsewhere, and wound up stumbling upon the famed Green Tortoise hostel. We parked down the street and just walked around downtown, went to Rasputin music, considered riding the trolley for kicks until finding out how much it cost. Instead we went up Nob Hill by foot, took a bunch of pictures, and asked for directions from a nice older couple from Seattle who gave us a lot of suggestions on places to stop on our drive up, none of which we'd have time for unfortunately. They gave us an extra city map and we decided to walk around Chinatown next. The decision was unanimous that it was the best of all Chinatowns.
We headed back towards the car, parked in the strip club district which was now all lit up and full of people. It felt less seedy than it did during the day when it was relatively dead.
All afternoon we debated on whether we should stay in the city overnight since we liked it so much. We decided to stop by the Green Tortoise, which was booked up for Labor Day weekend, but wound up hanging out there a while after seeing how awesome it was. Unlike Arlington House, it was everything a hostel should be. It had character. It had a communal feel and encouraged socializing with its big lounge/bar/eating area, which held open mic nights and other events. It had a cute-looking large kitchen with a supply of free food for cooking. It had a wall full of info on free or cheap activities for every day of the week. It had awesome, reasonably-priced bus tours around North America. It had free internet. Couldn't get any better.
Sadly we couldn't find a place to stay at the last minute, with the hostel booked, my sister being gone for the weekend, and Lisa'a ex being a douche. So we moved on. Kyle drove for several hours til he got tired and found a spot to pull off and park down a windy road near the beach. I woke up when we arrived to find us in a mysterious spot where it was pitch black. All we knew was that there was the ocean ahead, a mountain behind; all you could see were stars. This spot surpassed the Arches as having the most stars I'd ever seen at once. We must've been pretty far from civilization.
We got up early and began the drive up Highway 101 through lots of vineyards and fog, eventually making our way to Route 1 with the gorgeous view of the coast, where we aptly started listening to the Beach Boys. At this point everyone perked up and remained alert to admire the view, which never ceased to be incredible. We stopped periodically at lookout points to take pictures and felt grateful we'd decided to drive during the day so we could appreciate it.
Among other places, we passed through Big Sur, which I'd been looking forward to since I'd heard it was beautiful, though I had no idea what to expect. I was expecting beach, but apparently it's in the mountains, so more of a hiking/camping area, thus we didn't see much of it. Santa Cruz was a cute little colorful town that looked like it was made for surfers - kind of like O'ahu's North Shore but with nicer houses.
We made it to San Francisco late in the afternoon, and everyone instantly fell in love with it. We drove around aimlessly, debating whether to go to Haight-Ashbury, downtown, or elsewhere, and wound up stumbling upon the famed Green Tortoise hostel. We parked down the street and just walked around downtown, went to Rasputin music, considered riding the trolley for kicks until finding out how much it cost. Instead we went up Nob Hill by foot, took a bunch of pictures, and asked for directions from a nice older couple from Seattle who gave us a lot of suggestions on places to stop on our drive up, none of which we'd have time for unfortunately. They gave us an extra city map and we decided to walk around Chinatown next. The decision was unanimous that it was the best of all Chinatowns.
We headed back towards the car, parked in the strip club district which was now all lit up and full of people. It felt less seedy than it did during the day when it was relatively dead.
All afternoon we debated on whether we should stay in the city overnight since we liked it so much. We decided to stop by the Green Tortoise, which was booked up for Labor Day weekend, but wound up hanging out there a while after seeing how awesome it was. Unlike Arlington House, it was everything a hostel should be. It had character. It had a communal feel and encouraged socializing with its big lounge/bar/eating area, which held open mic nights and other events. It had a cute-looking large kitchen with a supply of free food for cooking. It had a wall full of info on free or cheap activities for every day of the week. It had awesome, reasonably-priced bus tours around North America. It had free internet. Couldn't get any better.
Sadly we couldn't find a place to stay at the last minute, with the hostel booked, my sister being gone for the weekend, and Lisa'a ex being a douche. So we moved on. Kyle drove for several hours til he got tired and found a spot to pull off and park down a windy road near the beach. I woke up when we arrived to find us in a mysterious spot where it was pitch black. All we knew was that there was the ocean ahead, a mountain behind; all you could see were stars. This spot surpassed the Arches as having the most stars I'd ever seen at once. We must've been pretty far from civilization.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Saturday, 8/30 - LA
Day 5
We slept in on the nice comfy sofabed, our first actual 'bed' in six days. After lounging around with the cats a while we went to the supermarket and picked up stuff so Lisa and I (mostly Lisa) could make everyone a kickass breakfast of Denver omelettes with bacon, potatoes, cantaloupe, orange juice, and horchata. After slaving in the kitchen we ate while watching a marathon of Women's Ninja Warrior on G4.
Eventually we managed to push ourselves out the door to go to Venice Beach. This was my first real view of LA, and I decided it was kind of ugly. The apartments near Jen/Juan's place looked like all the LA apartment complexes you typically see in movies, so it was oddly familiar despite having never really been there. The rest of the city was pretty blah - architecture didn't look more than 50 years old..there were some buildings with big murals on the sides, but aside from that they lacked any real character. It had an overall manufactured feel to it. The other major attraction was all the billboards, which were often digitized or three-dimensional - more elaborate than any I'd ever seen.
After spending most of the afternoon just trying to get to the beach, I got a first hand view of everyone's complaints about LA - too hot, too sprawled out, too hard to get around, too much traffic. I would still come back for more time to get a real LA experience, but my lasting impression is that it was like Vegas - something you do once to get it out of your system.
However, the beach was nice once we finally got there late in the afternoon. We had fun wave-hopping for a while, then walked down to the area where the shops and street performers usually are, but by then it was late in the day so there wasn't a whole lot to see.
Thankfully we managed to get back to Jen's faster once we figured out where we were going. After showering/changing we went out for a late dinner. On the way to Korea Town we got a bit more of a whirlwind tour of the city, passing through the famous Hollywood & Vine, past a number of exclusive-looking clubs that were almost too stereotypical - lines down the block of late 20-somethings dressed to the nines, literally all of the women waifishly thin and in short dresses with stiletto heels.
We met up with Lisa's friend Tressie at a Korean BBQ place that was open late, had a filling meal of meat and squid, and after some debate, decided to return to Jen's to sleep instead of driving through the night. Juan was still up watching a movie when we returned, so we wound up sleeping on the floor in our clothes. Still better than the car...
We slept in on the nice comfy sofabed, our first actual 'bed' in six days. After lounging around with the cats a while we went to the supermarket and picked up stuff so Lisa and I (mostly Lisa) could make everyone a kickass breakfast of Denver omelettes with bacon, potatoes, cantaloupe, orange juice, and horchata. After slaving in the kitchen we ate while watching a marathon of Women's Ninja Warrior on G4.
Eventually we managed to push ourselves out the door to go to Venice Beach. This was my first real view of LA, and I decided it was kind of ugly. The apartments near Jen/Juan's place looked like all the LA apartment complexes you typically see in movies, so it was oddly familiar despite having never really been there. The rest of the city was pretty blah - architecture didn't look more than 50 years old..there were some buildings with big murals on the sides, but aside from that they lacked any real character. It had an overall manufactured feel to it. The other major attraction was all the billboards, which were often digitized or three-dimensional - more elaborate than any I'd ever seen.
After spending most of the afternoon just trying to get to the beach, I got a first hand view of everyone's complaints about LA - too hot, too sprawled out, too hard to get around, too much traffic. I would still come back for more time to get a real LA experience, but my lasting impression is that it was like Vegas - something you do once to get it out of your system.
However, the beach was nice once we finally got there late in the afternoon. We had fun wave-hopping for a while, then walked down to the area where the shops and street performers usually are, but by then it was late in the day so there wasn't a whole lot to see.
Thankfully we managed to get back to Jen's faster once we figured out where we were going. After showering/changing we went out for a late dinner. On the way to Korea Town we got a bit more of a whirlwind tour of the city, passing through the famous Hollywood & Vine, past a number of exclusive-looking clubs that were almost too stereotypical - lines down the block of late 20-somethings dressed to the nines, literally all of the women waifishly thin and in short dresses with stiletto heels.
We met up with Lisa's friend Tressie at a Korean BBQ place that was open late, had a filling meal of meat and squid, and after some debate, decided to return to Jen's to sleep instead of driving through the night. Juan was still up watching a movie when we returned, so we wound up sleeping on the floor in our clothes. Still better than the car...
Friday, October 10, 2008
Friday, 8/29 - Grand Canyon, Los Angeles
Day 4
We woke up poorly rested after sleeping on the rock bed. So we managed to pack up pretty early and head over to the Grand Canyon lookout. We didn't stay too long but it was well worth the journey. I hadn't seen it since I was 3 years old so it felt like the first time. It's definitely something that needs to be experienced in person - such a vast, quiet, peaceful space millions of years in the making. I took tons of pictures, despite knowing they would never do it justice.
Due to lack of time we decided to bypass Vegas and Death Valley, so we drove straight through to LA. We finally arrived around sunset, and Kyle was hit with the sudden inspiration to put on some Creedence, go to In & Out Burger and get some white russians a la The Big Lebowski. Sadly we never got around to the latter two.
Our first stop was Jina's family's house. She showed up at their doorstep unannounced, first going in solo. Lisa managed to catch her dad's surprise on camera but aside from that we just assumed they were excited behind the scenes. The rest of us went in shortly after, and her parents and brother were incredibly kind in letting us swim in the condo complex pool, letting us take some much-needed showers, and even picking up some Carl's Jr. for dinner. I'd never had their massive burgers but after driving all day having eaten only a Subway sandwich and our stash of snacks, it was very satisfying.
They sent us off with lots of fruit and water before we moved on to Lisa's friends' place. We didn't arrive til about 1am, but the three roommates - Jen, Juan, and Lori - were still up watching part 6 of a Nightmare on Elm Street marathon. We stayed up to watch the second half, which was entertaining for the horrendous acting and bad gimmicky effects made for the 3D version.
We woke up poorly rested after sleeping on the rock bed. So we managed to pack up pretty early and head over to the Grand Canyon lookout. We didn't stay too long but it was well worth the journey. I hadn't seen it since I was 3 years old so it felt like the first time. It's definitely something that needs to be experienced in person - such a vast, quiet, peaceful space millions of years in the making. I took tons of pictures, despite knowing they would never do it justice.
Due to lack of time we decided to bypass Vegas and Death Valley, so we drove straight through to LA. We finally arrived around sunset, and Kyle was hit with the sudden inspiration to put on some Creedence, go to In & Out Burger and get some white russians a la The Big Lebowski. Sadly we never got around to the latter two.
Our first stop was Jina's family's house. She showed up at their doorstep unannounced, first going in solo. Lisa managed to catch her dad's surprise on camera but aside from that we just assumed they were excited behind the scenes. The rest of us went in shortly after, and her parents and brother were incredibly kind in letting us swim in the condo complex pool, letting us take some much-needed showers, and even picking up some Carl's Jr. for dinner. I'd never had their massive burgers but after driving all day having eaten only a Subway sandwich and our stash of snacks, it was very satisfying.
They sent us off with lots of fruit and water before we moved on to Lisa's friends' place. We didn't arrive til about 1am, but the three roommates - Jen, Juan, and Lori - were still up watching part 6 of a Nightmare on Elm Street marathon. We stayed up to watch the second half, which was entertaining for the horrendous acting and bad gimmicky effects made for the 3D version.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Thursday 8/28 - Utah, Arizona
Day 3
We woke up early to pack up our things and go see the rest of the Arches.
It was exceptionally hot. We drove up to the next hiking trail and walked through to see several more arch formations, all gorgeous and mind blowing. The landscape almost made you feel as though you were on Mars - reddish orange rocks on sand, small shrubs and tumbleweed. First thing that came to mind was actually the opening scenes of Total Recall, which I'd seen for the first time weeks before.
After making our way through the park we stopped in the nearby town of Moab for some groceries to make sandwiches for lunch - salami, cheese, mustard, parmasean bread, some giant juicy nectarines, and lemonade - yum.
After sitting in air conditioning at the gas station to map out our route, we continued on and stumbled across a lake where we considered bathing again. Pretty setting, however the water was still so we decided relative cleanliness was not worth the risk of catching the brain parasites Kyle had heard were present in lakes in that very region.
Most of the rest of the day involved a long, hot drive through the desert to the Grand Canyon. In southern Utah we passed the Mexican Hat Rock, somewhere called "The Hole in the Rock" though at the time we saw no apparent attraction to be seen, and near the border, the Kayenta Navajo Reservation, which was sadly pretty impoverished-looking. We stopped by a little roadside stand in the middle of nowhere where some Navajo were selling handmade jewelry - all of them were very friendly and interested in where we were from, where we were going...
Once we entered Arizona, the landscape took a number of different forms, many unexpected - throughout the northern part of the state, it shifted from desert, rocky mesas, and colorful sandy hills, eventually to forests, mountains, and green pastures. It's no wonder Native Americans are so in tune with their surroundings and treat the land as sacred. Living in an area where you're surrounded by so much awe-inspiring beauty, it's so humbling that it seems only natural to be spiritually affected by it.
We arrived at the Grand Canyon camp site shortly after sunset, thus got to evade paying the entrance/camping fee since no one was at the gate and the campsite pay system was automated. It was pretty much pitch black by the time we found a spot, except for other camper's fires and RV lights. They'd stopped selling firewood by then so we went around asking whoever was out if they had any extra we could buy so we could grill our corn, but no luck. So we gave up and just snacked on more crackers/peanut butter and carrots before going to sleep. At least we were now experienced tent-pitchers, so setting up with the car headlights blaring wasn't so difficult. But it was a far cry from the night before - the air was warm and the ground was hard and rocky, so no one got much sleep. Aside from some crows (or ravens?), no spirit animal sightings this time.
We woke up early to pack up our things and go see the rest of the Arches.
It was exceptionally hot. We drove up to the next hiking trail and walked through to see several more arch formations, all gorgeous and mind blowing. The landscape almost made you feel as though you were on Mars - reddish orange rocks on sand, small shrubs and tumbleweed. First thing that came to mind was actually the opening scenes of Total Recall, which I'd seen for the first time weeks before.
After making our way through the park we stopped in the nearby town of Moab for some groceries to make sandwiches for lunch - salami, cheese, mustard, parmasean bread, some giant juicy nectarines, and lemonade - yum.
After sitting in air conditioning at the gas station to map out our route, we continued on and stumbled across a lake where we considered bathing again. Pretty setting, however the water was still so we decided relative cleanliness was not worth the risk of catching the brain parasites Kyle had heard were present in lakes in that very region.
Most of the rest of the day involved a long, hot drive through the desert to the Grand Canyon. In southern Utah we passed the Mexican Hat Rock, somewhere called "The Hole in the Rock" though at the time we saw no apparent attraction to be seen, and near the border, the Kayenta Navajo Reservation, which was sadly pretty impoverished-looking. We stopped by a little roadside stand in the middle of nowhere where some Navajo were selling handmade jewelry - all of them were very friendly and interested in where we were from, where we were going...
Once we entered Arizona, the landscape took a number of different forms, many unexpected - throughout the northern part of the state, it shifted from desert, rocky mesas, and colorful sandy hills, eventually to forests, mountains, and green pastures. It's no wonder Native Americans are so in tune with their surroundings and treat the land as sacred. Living in an area where you're surrounded by so much awe-inspiring beauty, it's so humbling that it seems only natural to be spiritually affected by it.
We arrived at the Grand Canyon camp site shortly after sunset, thus got to evade paying the entrance/camping fee since no one was at the gate and the campsite pay system was automated. It was pretty much pitch black by the time we found a spot, except for other camper's fires and RV lights. They'd stopped selling firewood by then so we went around asking whoever was out if they had any extra we could buy so we could grill our corn, but no luck. So we gave up and just snacked on more crackers/peanut butter and carrots before going to sleep. At least we were now experienced tent-pitchers, so setting up with the car headlights blaring wasn't so difficult. But it was a far cry from the night before - the air was warm and the ground was hard and rocky, so no one got much sleep. Aside from some crows (or ravens?), no spirit animal sightings this time.
Wednesday 8/27 - Colorado, Utah
Day 2
We woke up early after not much sleep and started driving through the little town of Idaho Springs, which we were seeing for the first time in the daylight. It was adorable, almost like the little old mountain towns you only see replicated in movies or theme parks. We decided to stop at a cute little diner called Jiggie's Cafe for breakfast, where I aptly had my first ever Denver omlette, though technically we were no longer in Denver.
While on the road, our stops needed to kill several birds with one stone. Grocery stores were a lucky find amongst gas stations/rest stops with nothing but junk food. Sleeping in the car was a last resort, so camping or knowing people to stay with would help plan out where to stop. Bathrooms were obviously the most essential. Toilets and places to wash up were few and far between, so finding one or the other made it important to plan out when and where to poop, which thus would have to be done when it's convenient more so than when it's necessary.
Bathing was the most difficult thing. Some rest stops do have showers, but we never ended up using them. But roughly 36 hours into the trip, mostly sitting in a cramped car in the heat, having gone at least 2 days without a shower, we were getting overdue. Fortunately, driving through the gorgeous Colorado Rockies, we happened upon a branch of the Colorado River just off the highway and got the notion to stop for a swim and a 'bath'. We parked, grabbed our bathing suits and shampoo/soap, and walked down to the relatively easiest part where we could climb down to the water. It couldn't have been more refreshing. Rafters would pass and wave periodically, a few guys making row-by passes at us. But at least we were in bathing suits.
We continued on driving through the mountains, passing Frisco, Vail, some mountain goats, and a bunch of other little ski towns along the way.
Eventually we made it to Utah and Arches National Park shortly before sundown. It was the perfect time to be there, with the air cooling down to a more tolerable degree and the sun low in the sky, making the red rocks even redder. We sat at the first lookout for at least 30-45 minutes, mostly just reflecting on the beauty and history of the site. We headed over to the camp site just as the sun set, luckily finding a spot despite their claim that it was full.
We pitched the tent in an open sandy spot, and as it got dark, started a fire to grill the corn we'd bought earlier from a roadside stand. This, the Ritz/Triscuit crackers with peanut butter, and some mushrooms Kyle had brought made up our dinner. The corn was perfect and surprisingly filling..the peanut butter and crackers never failed to keep us satisfied throughout the trip.
We spend much of the night staring up at the stars, millions of which were visible now that we were a fair distance from light pollution. Lisa got the most energized out of anyone, hallucinating about moving stars, doing yoga, breaking out the hula hoop tied to the roof of the car. She'd theorized that the stars could actually be a canopy of giant glowworms waiting to secrete their saliva and catch us for prey.
Fearing we were being louder than we realized, we eventually went to sleep in our cozy tent on a comfy bed of sand, fortunately with no snakes or scorpions to disturb us. However, Jina got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, after which Kyle got up to check on her and spotted a coyote by our tent. I was too out of it to take it seriously or worry, but apparently it sniffed around the tent for a while and went over to the burnt-out fire to steal our burnt corn cobs. We later figured this was Kyle's spirit coyote.
We woke up early after not much sleep and started driving through the little town of Idaho Springs, which we were seeing for the first time in the daylight. It was adorable, almost like the little old mountain towns you only see replicated in movies or theme parks. We decided to stop at a cute little diner called Jiggie's Cafe for breakfast, where I aptly had my first ever Denver omlette, though technically we were no longer in Denver.
While on the road, our stops needed to kill several birds with one stone. Grocery stores were a lucky find amongst gas stations/rest stops with nothing but junk food. Sleeping in the car was a last resort, so camping or knowing people to stay with would help plan out where to stop. Bathrooms were obviously the most essential. Toilets and places to wash up were few and far between, so finding one or the other made it important to plan out when and where to poop, which thus would have to be done when it's convenient more so than when it's necessary.
Bathing was the most difficult thing. Some rest stops do have showers, but we never ended up using them. But roughly 36 hours into the trip, mostly sitting in a cramped car in the heat, having gone at least 2 days without a shower, we were getting overdue. Fortunately, driving through the gorgeous Colorado Rockies, we happened upon a branch of the Colorado River just off the highway and got the notion to stop for a swim and a 'bath'. We parked, grabbed our bathing suits and shampoo/soap, and walked down to the relatively easiest part where we could climb down to the water. It couldn't have been more refreshing. Rafters would pass and wave periodically, a few guys making row-by passes at us. But at least we were in bathing suits.
We continued on driving through the mountains, passing Frisco, Vail, some mountain goats, and a bunch of other little ski towns along the way.
Eventually we made it to Utah and Arches National Park shortly before sundown. It was the perfect time to be there, with the air cooling down to a more tolerable degree and the sun low in the sky, making the red rocks even redder. We sat at the first lookout for at least 30-45 minutes, mostly just reflecting on the beauty and history of the site. We headed over to the camp site just as the sun set, luckily finding a spot despite their claim that it was full.
We pitched the tent in an open sandy spot, and as it got dark, started a fire to grill the corn we'd bought earlier from a roadside stand. This, the Ritz/Triscuit crackers with peanut butter, and some mushrooms Kyle had brought made up our dinner. The corn was perfect and surprisingly filling..the peanut butter and crackers never failed to keep us satisfied throughout the trip.
We spend much of the night staring up at the stars, millions of which were visible now that we were a fair distance from light pollution. Lisa got the most energized out of anyone, hallucinating about moving stars, doing yoga, breaking out the hula hoop tied to the roof of the car. She'd theorized that the stars could actually be a canopy of giant glowworms waiting to secrete their saliva and catch us for prey.
Fearing we were being louder than we realized, we eventually went to sleep in our cozy tent on a comfy bed of sand, fortunately with no snakes or scorpions to disturb us. However, Jina got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, after which Kyle got up to check on her and spotted a coyote by our tent. I was too out of it to take it seriously or worry, but apparently it sniffed around the tent for a while and went over to the burnt-out fire to steal our burnt corn cobs. We later figured this was Kyle's spirit coyote.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Tuesday 8/26 - Iowa, Nebraska, Denver
Day 1
Early in the morning we woke up to a surprisingly gorgeous view of Iowa farmlands, with the sun rising over hills lined with wind turbines. After stopping at a gas station for some fuel in both gas and caffeine form, Lisa took over driving into Nebraska. It was literally nothing but corn fields, and lots of them. As soon as we crossed the border to Colorado, the scenery immediately changed to rolling hills full of bright yellow flowers.
We continued straight on to Denver, amazed we were able to cross 3.5 states in just over half a day. We arrived in the afternoon, a bit aimless at first, and decided to find out where the Democratic National Convention was taking place. Our first encounter with a local was a pleasant one - he was the first of many people we'd meet along the trip who was happy to give us detailed directions when asked.
We parked and walked down the 16th Street Mall near the site of the convention, which was the most we could experience since we average civilians weren't allowed in. Had the DNC not been in town, the city might have been fairly ordinary. But the street was full of activists and protesters, mostly liberals and Obama supporters, but a few conservative crazies as well, including a small group for McCain, and a larger group of crazy religious people protesting homosexuals and general heathens.
We walked around and stopped at a Starbucks to use wifi and bathrooms, where we met a very chatty journalist who tried to give us tips on crashing some press parties. Tempting, but aside from the fact that we were seriously underdressed and hadn't showered, I don't think we would've had the guts to try it anyway. So we walked down the street to Rock Bottom for dinner and decided to seek out some hot springs in the area.
We found one in nearby Idaho Springs - the guy at the desk was nice enough to let us look around. We went into one of the springs in this cave-like tunnel - as soon as I stepped inside I was soaked with water droplets in the air and too hot to stick around. I'd never been to one, but the general consensus was that the place was sub-par, so we decided to just park at the nearby campground and sleep in the car since it was too dark to try and set up the tent. I was in the driver's seat - that plus the cold made it the most uncomfortable night of sleep on the trip.
Early in the morning we woke up to a surprisingly gorgeous view of Iowa farmlands, with the sun rising over hills lined with wind turbines. After stopping at a gas station for some fuel in both gas and caffeine form, Lisa took over driving into Nebraska. It was literally nothing but corn fields, and lots of them. As soon as we crossed the border to Colorado, the scenery immediately changed to rolling hills full of bright yellow flowers.
We continued straight on to Denver, amazed we were able to cross 3.5 states in just over half a day. We arrived in the afternoon, a bit aimless at first, and decided to find out where the Democratic National Convention was taking place. Our first encounter with a local was a pleasant one - he was the first of many people we'd meet along the trip who was happy to give us detailed directions when asked.
We parked and walked down the 16th Street Mall near the site of the convention, which was the most we could experience since we average civilians weren't allowed in. Had the DNC not been in town, the city might have been fairly ordinary. But the street was full of activists and protesters, mostly liberals and Obama supporters, but a few conservative crazies as well, including a small group for McCain, and a larger group of crazy religious people protesting homosexuals and general heathens.
We walked around and stopped at a Starbucks to use wifi and bathrooms, where we met a very chatty journalist who tried to give us tips on crashing some press parties. Tempting, but aside from the fact that we were seriously underdressed and hadn't showered, I don't think we would've had the guts to try it anyway. So we walked down the street to Rock Bottom for dinner and decided to seek out some hot springs in the area.
We found one in nearby Idaho Springs - the guy at the desk was nice enough to let us look around. We went into one of the springs in this cave-like tunnel - as soon as I stepped inside I was soaked with water droplets in the air and too hot to stick around. I'd never been to one, but the general consensus was that the place was sub-par, so we decided to just park at the nearby campground and sleep in the car since it was too dark to try and set up the tent. I was in the driver's seat - that plus the cold made it the most uncomfortable night of sleep on the trip.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Manifest Destiny Psychedelic Road Trip Summer 2008
Here follows the chronicles of the Manifest Destiny Psychedelic Road Trip Summer 2008, approximately 2 weeks, spanning from Chicago to Seattle.
Monday 8/25 - Chicago
Off to a late start already. After a day of anxious packing and cleaning out my room in my now former apartment, I lugged my gigantor backpack/messenger bag, a jog of water, a bag of snacks, and a blanket on the train to meet Lisa, Kyle, Jina at Arlington House International Hostel. A long time central meeting point, it was fittingly the place we all met either directly or by association, and the place Lisa, Kyle, and Jina (and thus I too) would be leaving forever. We spent a couple hours loading up the car, trying to fit everything in very snuggly, including Lisa's and my massive luggage, several blankets/pillows/sleeping bags, and Shelby's homemade hula hoop. Somehow we managed to cram everything in, even the hula hoop which was tied to the roof with an extension cord and some useless duct tape. After months of uncertainty of who would be going on the trip and finally convincing both Jina and Henry at the last minute, we unfortunately had to leave Henry behind to make way for the sleeping bags.
We lingered around Arlington for a while, taking pictures, reminiscing, saying goodbye to people verbally or in writing. It was bittersweet for everyone, for me it was mostly sad despite that (or perhaps because) I never worked there like everybody else. My memories hanging out there were only good ones - meeting awesome travelers from all over, talking with Henry, listening to Mousa play guitar, making food, secretly sleeping in vacant rooms...I'll miss it.
We hit the road right around midnight, reset the odometer right in the heart of downtown Chicago, and at Lisa's request, aptly listened to Kanye West as we left the city. The outskirts were hauntingly pretty at night with the orange crescent moon over pitch black fields. Three of us eventually fell asleep as Kyle drove on through northern Illinois. We didn't wake up til we stopped at a gas station in some remote area in Iowa, where we found a wallet belonging to some teenager named Mangler. Nothing really in it except a few bucks and likely used $10 Walmart gift card.
Monday 8/25 - Chicago
Off to a late start already. After a day of anxious packing and cleaning out my room in my now former apartment, I lugged my gigantor backpack/messenger bag, a jog of water, a bag of snacks, and a blanket on the train to meet Lisa, Kyle, Jina at Arlington House International Hostel. A long time central meeting point, it was fittingly the place we all met either directly or by association, and the place Lisa, Kyle, and Jina (and thus I too) would be leaving forever. We spent a couple hours loading up the car, trying to fit everything in very snuggly, including Lisa's and my massive luggage, several blankets/pillows/sleeping bags, and Shelby's homemade hula hoop. Somehow we managed to cram everything in, even the hula hoop which was tied to the roof with an extension cord and some useless duct tape. After months of uncertainty of who would be going on the trip and finally convincing both Jina and Henry at the last minute, we unfortunately had to leave Henry behind to make way for the sleeping bags.
We lingered around Arlington for a while, taking pictures, reminiscing, saying goodbye to people verbally or in writing. It was bittersweet for everyone, for me it was mostly sad despite that (or perhaps because) I never worked there like everybody else. My memories hanging out there were only good ones - meeting awesome travelers from all over, talking with Henry, listening to Mousa play guitar, making food, secretly sleeping in vacant rooms...I'll miss it.
We hit the road right around midnight, reset the odometer right in the heart of downtown Chicago, and at Lisa's request, aptly listened to Kanye West as we left the city. The outskirts were hauntingly pretty at night with the orange crescent moon over pitch black fields. Three of us eventually fell asleep as Kyle drove on through northern Illinois. We didn't wake up til we stopped at a gas station in some remote area in Iowa, where we found a wallet belonging to some teenager named Mangler. Nothing really in it except a few bucks and likely used $10 Walmart gift card.
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