Portland OR 7.23.10

We made the 6 hour trek back to Portland today. Mila was really great in the car, and we made the trip fairly quickly. The drive took up most of the day, but the fun started when we made spaghetti. Our adorable little niece took no time at all to completely destroy her bowl of sketti. Good thing all she was wearing was a diaper!

Prehistoric Land!

Our last night in Port Orford, we decided to take Mila to Prehistoric Land. It was this really cheesy 1950's attraction that was literally a trail with a few plaster dinosaurs along the way. We were expecting to be able to jump and play on them, but there were fences. The only thing you could do was look at them. It was pretty lame but we turned it into a good time, and came out with some really great pictures. Tomorrow...Portland!

Port Orford 7.20.10

Today we drove up the Coast with Kristin and Mila to a town called Bandon. There was a small area of "old Bandon" that was filled with shops, galleries, and places to eat. We shopped around for a while, and then headed to the beach for a picnic. The area was really cute, and Mila had a blast playing on the beach. We are back in Port Orford now, waiting for the guys to get off work. Tonight is our last night in Port Orford, but we havn't really decided where we are going next. We know we want to be in Portland by Friday to spend some time with Tony, and to knock around town. Its so strange to think that this once in a lifetime, 2 month long, sisterly adventure is winding down to its end. It is a lot to take in right now, but I hope that someday I will be able to truly understand the value of this trip, what it taught me, and how it changed my life for the better.

Port Orford

We planned on staying in Eureka, CA tonight.....When we got to the campsite it looked a little scary. So we turned on the GPS and found out that Port Orford where Tony (our brother) is staying was only 3 hours away. So we extended our 5 hour drive to an 8 hour one and drove to port orford. We called him along the way, but no answer from Tony. So, we decided that we would just drive there anyway and camp there until Tony showed up. So we stopped at the Grocery store, and on our way in I told kerri "how weird would it be if we ran into Tony and Kristin in the Grocery Store, haha." Sure enough, we put some things in our cart, rounded the corner and who did we run into but Tony and Kristin. It was crazy...and I totally called it.

We made camp at Humbug State Park just outside of town. There isnt much for a town here, but it will do.

Today we ate lunch at the Crazy Norwegian where we had the Best fish fry we have ever eaten. The rest of the day was spent laying out in the sun with Kristin and Mila. Tomorrow we plan on driving to a nearby town called Bandon, which should have a little more to offer.

San Francisco

This last weekend, Mom flew out to spend the weekend with us in San Francisco. We picked her up on thursday, and she stayed until sunday Morning. Friday the day was spent wine tasting and driving around wine country. We ate dinner at an Irish pub with a couple guys playing live music. The next day we headed out to pier 36 to look through the shops, and get a good view at alcatraz. While there we talked mom into riding a merry-go-round with us, which turned into a really good time. We then headed into Chinatown which was really fun. Personally, I have never visited a Chinatown and thought it was awesome, once we got out of the smelly food market places, that is.... We stopped for sushi and Dim Sum and ended the night with dinner at a restaurant in Little Italy. I must say I was not really impressed with San Francisco. Everything is extremely overpriced, there are an over abundance of people, and a lack of anything green. A strange mist covers the city, and the wind whips with an icy cold tongue. Maybe another time of year....but I was not impressed. The only thing I liked about San Francisco was that there were a lot of hills, so it seemed like you were constantly exercising. I would say, if you are traveling to that area of California, that Monterey was a million times better, and cheaper, than San Francisco.

Monterey 7.14.10

Today Kerri and I rented some bikes and rode 30 miles along the California coastline. I put a stereo on my bike and we spent the entire day biking and singing along to music. The coast was littered with beaches and rock alcoves. Some of them had seals and birds, and the scenery was beautiful. We stopped and watched some surfers for quite a while, sitting in the softest sand my toes have ever felt. When our ride was over we toured downtown Monterey looking through shops and taking a ton of fun pictures. Tonight we are planning on going out for seafood and celebrating Kerri's house officially being sold today. Tomorrow we are off to San Francisco to meet up with mom for a weekend there.

7.13.10

Hey all,

Yes it has been a while...oops. We have been having so much fun that it has been harder to get on here.

After we left lake Havasu, we went to the San Diego area and spent some more time with all of the wonderful people we met there. We were brought out for sushi and a walk on the beach with Kyle and Zach, we were brought out to wavehouse by the other Zach and Franco, invited over by friends, and all and all had a great time.

After we left Oceanside we went to Jay and Cori's house in Irvine, CA. They took us to the beach, showed us around, and dressed up like cows with us. The last day in Irvine we went and spent the day at six flags.

The next morning we left for Big Sur, Ca....of course we ended up in Monteray instead. We drove along Pacific Coast Highway the entire way, and got to see the sun set along the coast. It was truly an amazing sight. There was a clear distinction of day turning into night, almost like watching an eyelid close. There was a small window of time where the sun was setting over the coast and you could see daytime, and right above it was the night sky illuminated by a small sliver of moon. As the sun set more all of the scenery turned black with nothing but an orange glow behind it. My camera unfortunately does not do it justice, so if anyone has the chance to drive it...do it for sure.