The Great 2024 Road Trip

Posted On August 2, 2024

Prologue – Genesis

It all started with a text from my cousin Kate that she was on a road trip heading south from New England, down through Georgia and the south, and would be passing through Texas. We had made preliminary plans that she’d probably swing by Austin but nothing concrete.

On May 2nd I shoot a text across, “What’s the latest on your road trip plans?”

Very quickly a reply comes back, “Andrew!!! I’ve been meaning to talk to you. I’ll be in Alabama May 13-15 and then driving towards you but I’m making stops like Memphis and hot springs Arkansas then Dallas then Austin! So you around end of May?”

“Yeah. Should be here! Might be getting kinda “warm” out by then.”

A few weeks and many texts later, on May 20th, who shows up in my driveway but Kate! She arrives with gifts as well. Including two bottles of gin and a shirt from Wonderbird Sprits. Of course we had to sample them right away.

We both had to work during the week, but after work we would head out and explore, me showing off Austin (and areas around Leander), as best I could. Since I hadn’t kept any journal notes for this section of time (this is after all the journal of the road trip which you, the reader, don’t know about yet), I don’t have a perfect memory of everything we did. But based on texts and photos, I was able to reconstruct much of it:

• Hiking in St Edwards Park and river (Tue May 21)
• The 360 Bridge Overlook(Tue May 21)
• Mt Bonnell (Tue May 21)
• Dinner at Hula Hut (Tue May 21)
• Interstellar BBQ (Wed May 22)
• A visit to Hill Country Water Gardens (May 23)
• My (and hers) first time swimming in Barton Springs (Friday May 24)
• Dinner at Donkey Mo’s Fried Chicken (Friday May 24)
• Drinks at The Driskill (Friday May 24)
• Taco Deli (I think Sat morning, May 25???)
• Make sourdough bread (not bake it) (Saturday May 25)
• A Bluegrass show at Haut Spot (Sat May 25)
• Actually bake the sourdough (Mon May 27)

Somewhere along this week I think Kate asked “So…what would you think about me staying another week?”

“What would I think? I think that sounds great! I’m having so much fun!” So instead of Kate leaving that weekend we plan more events like:

• Dinner at Steiner Ranch Steakhouse, requested Hoobastank from live player (Wed May 29)
• The first BLT and other sandwiches made from Garden tomatoes (Friday May 31)
• Jester King Brewery where me meet up with my Friend and his family (Sat June 1)
• Attempt to see Lucas play at Poodies (Sat June 1)
• Daiquiris at “The Daiquiri Depot” (Sun June 2)
• Tubing on the Guadalupe River where Ace (one of the travel mascot dinosaurs) lost his way and fell into the river. (Sun June 2)
• Made Apple Pie (Tues June 4)
• Dinner at Lin Asian Bar and Dim Sum, then continued to Gueros Taco Bar for KDRP Live music (where I had my worst-ever parking job trying to park my truck), Gelato at Gelato Paradiso, and then some live music at The Continental Club. (Wed June 5)
• Purchased and assembled some much-needed patio furniture for my back patio (Thurs June 6)
• Went out “on the town” of Cedar Park to Shooters and Wild Wild West (Fri June 7)
• Recover in pool and then go see Luke Daniel play at The Rabbit Hole (Sat June 8)

On Sunday, June 9th Kate left on her way to Sante Fe and then afterwards on to see Sedona Arizona. At some point the previous week we had half joked that it would be fun if I were able to meet her out in Arizona to see the Grand Canyon and Sedona, neither of which I had ever seen before. And on Tuesday, after a bad day of work, I decided that sounded way more fun than working from home at my kitchen table, so I sent Kate a text, “Still thinking of maybe going halves on an AirBnB and I can fly out to meet somewhere to do some hiking?”

I was glad to see a reply come back, “Sure!!! That’d be so much fun!”

Planning began over the next couple days that culminated in my booking a flight to Flagstaff, Arizona and reservations made at Yavapi Lodge in the Grand Canyon.

The Great Road Trip of 2024 was about to begin.

Saturday, June 14: Austin > Flagstaff > Grand Canyon

Day 1! The greatest day! I’m going on an adventure! This trip is special in another way though too, instead of leaving early in the morning, my flight doesn’t leave until 3:40pm. That means no early-morning alarms, no bleary-eyed drive or Uber to the airport. Instead I get a friend to drive me to the airport with our long-standing tradition that an airport pickup or dropoff equals a taco dinner at some point in the future. It’s a win-win for both parties.

After the dropoff and obligatory TSA nightmare, I get settled in and find the one downside to late-day departures from Austin airport – Taco Deli is no longer serving breakfast! That means no papas, egg, and cheese. And it means no Jess Special. Oh well, such is life. I opt for a chicken sandwich from some other restaurant I can’t remember, and head to my gate to read until my flight boards, which is actually pretty soon.

We board, the doors close, and after a while the energy on the plane starts to change — We’ve been sitting here for a while after we were supposed to leave. Why haven’t we pushed back from the gate yet? Then the dreaded announcement from the flight deck, “Uhhhhh…..afternoon everyone this is your captain from the flight deck, uhhhh, we’ve got a mechanical issue with the plane and maintenance can’t tell us how long it will take to fix, so we’re holding here for a while. We’ll get back to you when we have more information.”

This is not good. Normally I would not care if a plane is late or doesn’t leave, I rarely have a carved-in-stone schedule. I have taken vouchers and cash to get off a plane before at a layover since I didn’t care and thought it might be cool to check out the city. This is not one of those trips. I have a 40 minute layover in Phoenix to get my plane to Flagstaff, and Kate is already in a car on her way from New Mexico to Flagstaff to pick me up! This is one flight I really need and want to make.

After many times looking at my phone and sending Kate text updates about the situation, we finally get the all-clear, the engines start, we push back, taxi, and are on our way to Phoenix. We are still short on time having left 30 minutes late. Hey captain, can you lean on those throttles a little bit more?

On landing at Phoenix the chief steward asks everyone with a connecting flight that leaves soon to raise their hand so that they can get off first. It seems that three-quarters of the plane raises their hands. Liers! All I can think of is Monty Python The Life of Brian – “I’m Brian and my wife is too!”

I get off the plane with my two bags and begin the “fast walk” to my next gate in the next concourse. Two moving walkways and I’m there. The plane has boarded already and it’s an empty gate with two airline employees waiting for me. This plane is tiny so I have to gate-check my larger rolling carry-on, but it’s the good kind of gate check where I’ll get it back right away at the destination.

The flight to Flagstaff leaves without a hitch and is a short one, so after a quick up and down, and a moment where I think I might see Sedona down there, I’m at Flagstaff! I deplane, use the restroom quickly, and head outside. Who do I see parked there just a few cars down but Kate and “Trusty Trudy” (a nickname we would give to the car later in the trip).

“Hey, I haven’t seen you in forever! Holy shit! We did it! What great timing!” – we each say variations of these phrases as Kate pulls out of the airport and up onto the highway towards the Grand Canyon!

Kate says, “Hey, if you’re hungry there’s a quarter of a Subway sandwich in the cooler.”

I decline, opting instead for an apple and to wait to see what food the road has to offer.

It is only a 2-hour drive to the Grand Canyon from the airport. The drive there is interesting with some large fields, some long, straight sections with hills far in front of you (that would have made a good photo had I thought of it quicker). After arriving at Yavapai Lodge (really a bunch of apartment-like buildings with hotel rooms, and a “main lodge” where you check in – there is a restaurant/cafeteria, bar/lounge, and a cafe), we quickly unpack and since it is nearly sunset decide to drive to a close point called “Mather Point”.

When we get to Mather Point I get out of the car to be greeted by an odd sensation of cooler-but-still-warm air being driven by a persistent wind. We walk around a short trail and I finally get to see my first glimpse of the Grand Canyon. It does not disappoint. We find a spot to sit down and watch the sun set over the far side of the Canyon in front of us. There is a pod of rowdy teens a little further up the trail at what seems to probably be a better spot, but we have no interest in their antics, and this spot seems just fine, so we settle in where we are.

After the sun is no longer visible we stay a bit longer as the majority of the crowd leaves. There is still plenty of light and it’s fun to watch all the colors change, and we’ve also spotted a cool tree we want to get some photos of.

After the photo op is over we figure it’s time to go, besides, we’re both hungry (another theme that would be established on this trip). There is only one real choice of where to eat at the moment, and that’s the bar at the Lodge. So we head over there for Burgers and a Gin drink for me — I forget what Kate ordered.

After the long day and a good meal it was back to the room to sleep and wait to see what the morning would bring.

Sunday, June 16: Grand Canyon

I woke up at 4:45am due to a combination of timezone change and the general “new hotel and new location” poor sleep I always get the first couple nights on a trip. Oddly enough, as this trip extended itself into the third and fourth weeks, I noticed that I no longer experienced this – my body and brain seemed to have adjusted to the routine of changing locations every few days. But that is a story for later, today I’m going to go watch the sunrise over the Grand Canyon.

I pack up my camera and backpack as quietly as I can and head outside. The pre-dawn hours are always relaxing to me, and once I’m awake and in it, it seems to give me an energy and desire to go do something. Unfortunately in this case I know what I want to do, I just don’t know where to go! We never got a chance to get oriented last night, so I decide the best course of action is to go to the main lodge where I know from there at least I should be able to find my way to the rim, or at least someone who can direct me to it.

And sure enough, before I even get to the lodge I see an older couple walking down the road in front of me. They pass the entrance to the lodge and keep walking so I figure they probably know where they’re going.

“Should I be following you?” I ask, and a little too loudly for this early in the morning I realize. They turn and look at me and I start to wonder if I have committed some sort of Grand Canyon faux pas by breaking the early morning silence.

The woman replies, “We’re looking for the Amphitheater…and after that there’s supposed to be a trail to the rim.”

“Ok, well I was trying to get to the rim too. Mind if I join you?”

They seem to agree without words, so I walk up to them and they turn back in the direction they were originally walking. Both the woman and I get our phones out with GPS guiding us to the Amphitheater. I’m using mine as more of a backup since I can see hers and I recognize some of it from looking at maps before the trip. We eventually find our way, and it’s a nice short walk past the Amphitheater and through some woods until we start seeing the trees thin.

“Looks like that might be it up there.” the older man says, “you can see the light through the trees.”

“Hmm yeah, kind of like when you first see the ocean when walking down a beach trail,” I say. I’m not sure if my metaphor will land until he turns towards me.

“Yeah,” he says with a nod.

We break out onto the rim trail. Without words we decide to go our separate ways and enjoy the sunrise on our own terms. First I have to stop and take a photo of the sunrise illuminating one of the rock faces across from the trail section. It would become one of my favorite pictures of the trip.

I walk up the trail (heading east) to see what else I can find. It is quiet but there is still the persistent wind, just not as strong as last night. It feels good though and I decided to take a seat on a random stone that formed a natural bench a few feet from the edge of the canyon. I do what thousands and thousands of people over the years must have done; I gaze out over the canyon looking at the patterns and colors of the stone, I listen to the wind, I notice wildlife start to move that has decided I am no longer a threat (or has forgotten I am there), and mostly I just space out. It feels good. Really good.

I get back to the room around 7 to drop off the camera, backpack, and hoodie intending to head to breakfast. In the process I end up waking up Kate, but she decides that even though it’s early she should get up too since this will be our only day at the Grand Canyon before we have to leave for Sedona.

We head to the Lodge for breakfast which is not as good as the Burgers were from last night. It is buffet style or some smaller items you can order a la carte. I get the buffet (a.k.a. The Yavapai Traveler’s Breakfast), and Kate orders the Breakfast Bagel Sandwich, I think. It was not in my notes exactly what she ordered, but whatever it was she didn’t like it very much. Since I still had buffet privileges, and since the staff didn’t really seem to be paying attention or care, I went up and got some extra french toast and some more fruit for Kate. Out of everything we both agreed that the best thing on the menu was probably the fruit. It didn’t matter much, we have some busses to catch.

On my walkabout with the older couple they told me about the free Blue and Red busses. The Blue Bus has a stop in front of our lodge and when taken will get you to a stop called Hermit’s Rest Route Transfer. From there you get on another free Red bus that does a loop around some of the best Grand Canyon lookouts and scenic views. Since we only have today to see things, this seems like the easiest and most efficient way to see some cool stuff. So we head out of the lodge and get on the next bus.

At the Hermit’s Rest Route Transfer there was a pretty cool sight that had nothing to do with the Grand Canyon, there was a large group of either Amish or maybe old-school Mormons dressed up in classic things like dresses for the women and suspenders and hats for the men. Like something out of the 1800s. Since we had spent a little time looking over the wall on the short walk over to this bus from the last one, we were last in line had to wait for the next bus to arrive. Soon enough it did, and we were on our way.

As advertised, the bus stopped at various spots, and each one had something to offer different than the others. Spots include: Bright Angel Trailhead, Trailview Overlook, Maricopa Point, Powell Point, Hopie Point, Mohave Point, The Abyss, Monument Creek Vista, Pima Point, and Hermit Trailhead.

You can also decide to walk between any of the spots since there is also a trail running the whole length. We did this at two spots, between Powell and Hopie (the shortest hike in the world), and then a longer one which I think was between The Abyss and Monument Creek. On these hikes is also where I would start a photo theme that I called “Flora Fawa” – which stands for Flora Far Away. The idea being it is a close up of a plant with nothing behind it but some out-of-focus distant background (which is relatively easy to accomplish at the Grand Canyon).

At one of the early stops Kate noticed that her Camelbak was leaking in her backpack. After taking it apart, cleaning and inspecting, looking for sand or something in the o-rings, we could not identify the source of the leak. “Oh well, it’s a back wetter cooling device now.” Kate says jokingly. We make additional jokes about how the vultures flying high in the sky overhead have probably evolved to be able to identify hikers with leaking water supplies. “Only a matter of time and that one will be out of water!” we imagine them saying. Too bad vulture, I have plenty, and there’s also a bus that comes every 10 minutes if we run out.

At one of the stops you’re supposed to be able to see the old Hermit’s Shack. Try as I might to follow the directions on the information board I could not find it. It is either very small, or I was interpreting the instructions wrong. Probably the latter.

At the final stop there is a little shop, some picnic areas, bathrooms, and a water-resupply point. In the gift shop Kate buys me a “Prickly Pear Chap Stick” since I had mentioned I forgot to pack some. It is pink, smells fruity, but is also SPF 20 and my lips are already chapped. Somehow I would manage to not lose this chap stick for the entirety of the road trip, although it would go for one ride through the wash.

Something else we purchase at the shop are two Ice Cream bars. Some variety of chocolate and toffee over vanilla. It really hit the spot after a long day of Grand Canyon vistas. However there were also the squirrels that we were warned about. Do NOT feed the squirrels the signs say. But what is the guy next to us doing?….feeding one. This same squirrel later climbs up the rocks towards us causing Kate to jump and run away.

The ride back on the bus to the lodge brought two stories. One was the father in front of us holding his sleeping son on his shoulder. Slowly dripping out of the kids nose like the Elephant’s Foot at Chernobyl was the largest and slowest-moving river of snot I’ve ever seen. And it just kept getting bigger and bigger. Kate took a moment to find some napkins and attempt to notify the father of what was happening on his shoulder, but he either didn’t quite understand the extreme nature of the situation, or he did not care and would rather have the sleeping child than a clean shoulder.

The second story was back on the Blue bus where there were two kids in their twenties or so, and who also seemed to likely be under the influence of something. All four of us were standing at the front of the bus and one of the kids taps me on the shoulder and says, “Why do they always want me to STEP ON DEWALLA?”

I have no idea what he’s talking about. He sounds like he’s attempting an Australian accent or something. “Huh?” I reply. He repeats himself and points at a sign on the window and laughs. The sign is affixed and meant to be read from the outside. What it really says is:

NO PETS
ALLOWED

I actually get a good chuckle out of it, but the bus driver seems very unamused. We all ride the rest of the way in relative silence until Kate and I reach our stop and get off.

It’s back to the room for a quick change into “not hiking clothes” and we decide to try going somewhere else for dinner. There’s a very high-class place at one of the other hotels, but we decide that maybe even if I put on my “blue shirt” we’re probably still not getting in there (although in retrospect we think maybe we should have tried). Instead we realize we can take the free bus system down to the main town of Tusayon where there is a steakhouse.

We stop at the lodge and ask the lady at the front desk about going into Tusayon for dinner. She is wearing a mask and continually figits with it while replying, “Oh….you’re going into Tusayon for dinner? Um….ok.”

We should have realized why she reacted that way and asked her for recommendations for other places to go, but we were both too distracted by her mask figeting to do anything but say thanks and go to the bus stop. A short bus ride and transfer later and we’re on the Purple bus down into town. Along the way we start reading reviews for the Big E Steakhouse:

“The food left something to be desired…”

“This is exactly what you expect from a restaurant that holds part of the monopoly in providing dine-out experiences for park visitors”

We talk with the bus driver about our options. We’re thinking maybe we’ll skip this steakhouse.

“Oh, you can just stay on this bus. All this does is turn around and go right back to where you got on!” she says.

We thank her and ride our way back to the lodge laughing about the reviews we read and the horrible mistake we may have just averted. Instead we go back to the lodge bar cafe and order Street Tacos and Steak Salad.

The sun is setting so we’ve got time for one last view of the Grand Canyon sunset. We decide that maybe a walk out the way I went this morning would be cool since it’s close, and different from where we went last night. On the hike out we hear what sounds like coyotes in the distance. Maybe it was a dog? Maybe not. Who knows. We make it out to the rim trail where I was this morning, and walk a ways up until we find a cool spot with an equally cool tree.

There is a couple there who asks us if we can take their picture. We do and then as is tradition they reciprocate by taking our picture as well. We stay and chat for a while and learn that she is from Sweden and he is from India. They met back in school and are still together now. Very cool.

We stay a bit longer taking photos of everything we can in the fading golden light of the sun until it is getting darker and time to head back to go to sleep. Tomorrow will be my first day of working remote “from the road”, and it will be an early one.

Monday, June 17: Grand Canyon > Sedona (Travel Day)

6am wake up call to get ready to work from the Lodge for as much time as I can before we need to check out. I reluctantly get up, and then take a shower, put on some warm clothes since it’s cool out in the mornings, pack up the laptop, and head over to the lodge.

First stop is the cafe for some coffee. It is way busier than I was expecting and I end up having to wait in line about ten minutes while they brew a new pot of coffee. But soon enough I had a coffee with cream and sugar and I was ready to get to work.

I set up camp in an out of the way corner in the glass-enclosed dining room of the main dining room. I get everything unpacked, fire up the laptop, and connect to Lodge wi-fi. Unfortunately only a few minutes go by before a hoard of senior citizens starts infiltrating my little section of restaurant paradise. It is soon too loud to talk so I have an idea – I’ll go to the patio outside the bar where we had dinner! It turns out this is a great idea as it has warmed up a bit, and there is nobody and no noise out there except for the wind through the trees and the occasional bird.

I take a few calls and meetings out there before I realize that my battery is getting low (company-issued laptop battery sucks ass) – but perhaps more importantly my coffee is getting low and cold too. So I head back inside and ask the cafe for a refill, “Oh, you can just go ahead and grab one if you want!” says the girl at the counter.

“Sweet, thanks!”

New coffee in hand I find a new spot inside the restaurant that is very out of the way — it looks a little like a hiker’s den, I suppose it often is. Shortly after setting up camp here is when I see it…I had looked up from my laptop to ponder some work question when my eyes landed on a guy with his hand down the back of his pants. WTF???? He’s all the way past his wrist. I am horrified but cannot look away as he walks from one area of the restaurant over to the cafe, still with his hand down his pants. Later I would relate this story to Kate with the conclusion that “This is why we cannot have nice things.”

Checkout is at ten so just before that time I head back to the room to get all my stuff ready. Kate is already packing and nearly ready to go – so very quickly we are rolling our bags down the sidewalk towards the car, ready to go to the next stop.

We checkout and then head to the General Store where we get some roadtrip supplies including:

• Chips (Fringles), drinks, and some other stuff which came to about $20
• 2 sandwiches which came to about $21

We hit the road for Sedona! Along the way we play the animal game. Since Kate was driving I offered her 100 bonus “driver points” since it’s kinda hard to count cows in a field while you’re driving. She says she’ll only accept 50 driver points. In addition to animals we decide to include train cars with a point value of one. I did end up getting a freight train on my side with a bunch of cars that ended up helping. The final score in my notes was Kate 116 to Andrew 133.

During the drive I also am able to work via my hotspot through my phone. Pretty cool logging in to work from a car going 70mph down the road! At one point I tried to join a voice call but my phone signal was not quite strong enough for that so I had to stay in text mode.

Soon all thoughts of animal games, points, and work faded because we drive around a corner on the highway and there before us was our first Sedona mountain! Orange-red, majestic and strong. Each turn of the road brought more of these plateau-like hills, and each one excited us more! “This place amazing!” we both say.

We are a little early to be able to check into our house, so we find a nice little shop called Synergy. We order up come coffee and some sort of tea for Kate while we chill out. It’s a very relaxed place and after hooking up to their wi-fi I continue working and Kate strikes up a conversation with the barista. Kate asks about places to go and the barista gives us a piece of paper with a list of hikes, cool spots, and some events that might be cool to check out. Kate stores the piece of paper somewhere safe, somewhere where it will clearly never get lost (stay tuned for updates about this piece of paper).

Soon we get notice that our place is ready, so we say goodbye to the coffee shop and head over to our new home for a few days. It is a pretty nice place (and it has a community pool and hot tub which we think will come in handy after long hikes).

After getting settled in we are both hungry and head out to dinner – for tonight we choose “Mesa Grill” which is at the top of the mesa that also houses the Sedona Airport. We have no reservations but are able to get seated immediately. I order a Gin and Cucumber drink and the Ribeye with double mash, and the Elote Corn and Green Chili Grits, while Kate orders a Hibiscus Tea (while going over our notes Kate has just corrected me that it was their “FAMOUS Hibiscus Tea), and the Fried Chicken.

On the drive back we stop at the Whole Foods to do some shopping for the week and purchase:

• Beef teriyaki shish kabob
• Chicken Chimichurri shish kabob
• Milk
• Avocado
• Red Onion
• Garlic
• Limes
• Wine
• Peaches

Tuesday, June 18th: Sedona

Up at 6am to be ready for the first meeting which will be at 7am – ugh — timezones suck. However starting early has its benefits since you get to end early too. Around 4 we head to the pool to relax a bit, and after a little less than an hour figure it’s cooled off enough now to think about doing a hike.

We head back to the house, change into hiking clothes, fill up the water bottles and camelbaks, and get in the car to drive to the hike. We initially had planned on doing Devil’s Bridge today, but since we’re getting going a little late we decide that maybe a closer and shorter hike is a better idea. It is a good thing we chose this too since we would do Devil’s Bridge another day and I don’t think we would have had enough time to do the whole thing and get back before dark.

Instead we decide on a trail called “Bell Rock Trail”. Maybe it was because it was our first hike in Sedona, but I think this was perhaps my favorite hike of all of Sedona, with a close second being Cathedral Rock. As we hiked up Bell Rock the sun was starting to set, and each time you turned around to look at the valley behind you the view got better and better – and the light got better and better too. Kate also got her first up-close look at one of her “Dr Seuss” trees, which it turns out is a flowering agave plant. As we climbed higher it very soon did not matter which direction you pointed a camera, you were going to take an amazing photo.

The trail was turning steeper as we neared the actual mesa and started turning more vertical than horizontal. We decided to sit and rest on the rock face and take in the sights in front of us. An apt description that Kate gave it was that it “Looks like the Land Before Time”. I agreed.

After the sunset seemed to peak we decided to explore a bit around the other side of the mesa where there was a hint if a trail we could follow – as much as stone can have a trail anyway – it seemed “worn”. We rounded a corner and there to our surprise was the moon which apparently has been rising behind us this whole time.

It was getting darker so we decided it would be best to start heading back. After a couple pit stops along the way down to take some more photos and videos we were back at the car. We’d been planning on cooking up our leftover shish-kabobs with some rice and whatever else we could find, but we don’t have any soy-sauce at the house. A plan was born — we’ll order some Chinese food appetizers to-go, and in the process ask for (or see if we can grab) a whole bunch of extra soy sauce packets. We’re geniuses!

I’m driving the car tonight so Kate calls up the Chinese food place we saw on the drive out to Bell Rock and orders up some dumplings and egg rolls. A few minutes later we pull into the restaurant parking lot and Kate runs in to grab the food (and the soy sauce). After a while she returns, and as we’re pulling out of the parking lot I ask, “How many soy sauce packets did you get?”

“Oh no!”, Kate says, “I totally forgot about the soy sauce!”

We get back to the house and start making dinner. I’m on grill duty and I realize that I can’t find the grill brush anywhere. The day before I had inspected the grill to see if it was in working order, this involved taking the cover off, taking the grill brush out of the grill (it was stored inside it for some reason…good thing I looked before lighting it), and then lighting the grill itself to make sure everything worked, there was gas, etc. Where on earth did I put the grill brush? I look everywhere I can think of. In the patio seats. Under the rosemary that is planted in the patio garden. I even pick up the grill cover and shake it out thinking maybe it is in there. It is nowhere to be found. We chalk it up to ghosts, but the only thing I can think is maybe some kind of animal got ahold of it and dragged it away.

In any case we get the shish-kabobs cooked, and polish off the egg roll and dumplings, making sure to save the dumpling sauce for the rice tomorrow night.

After cleaning up from dinner we dig out the “Tarot Card” game that I saw in the game drawer and have been wanting to try out. I insist that is it “a game” since it clearly says that on the box. Kate says that no, it’s just normal tarot cards. We open up the box and find that……yes….it’s just normal Tarot cards like Kate said. In any case we do a couple rounds of them and each one seems to be some variation of “just go with the flow”, “don’t stress too much about things”, etc. So either these things really work since we kept getting the same basic message each time, or all the cards are really close to the same thing.

After that it’s time to see what is on TV. We find “The Aviator” movie on a movie channel (TCM I think), but it is a long movie and we are both tired and end up falling asleep and then calling it a night.

Wednesday, June 19th: Sedona

Another day of remote work in paradise of followed by another Sedona hike. But first, lunch!

In one pan we fry up some rice with butter, curry powder, garlic, paprika, salt and pepper, and then add water to let it cook. Another pan has the leftover steak and chicken cut up in it, along with the leftover dumpling sauce. A third pan gets a mixture of onion, jalapenos, and garlic. All are fantastic and makes for a great lunch for before we head out on today’s hike: Devil’s Bridge!

We leave for Devil’s Bridge not knowing exactly where it is, the GPS refuses to cooperate and always tells us it’s an hour away — we know it is not. Kate suggests using Boynton Canyon as the GPS destination since we know that is close. That seems to work, and she drives towards that while I try to get more direct directions to Devil’s Bridge trailhead.

It turns out that using Boyton Canyon was enough, since as we were following those directions we saw signs for Devil’s Bridge. We pulled in, parked, took a look at the big map to orient ourselves and then headed up the 4×4 road/trail. The dirt on this road was finer than any other dirt I think I’ve ever seen. It had the color and consistency of Nestle’s Chocolate Nesquik. I picked up a handful of it and let it drain through my fingers. It felt soft and warm, like very fine sand on a beach.

At one overlook we tried to “smell the trees” as was suggested on one of the guides, or maybe it was the big map we looked at in the parking lot. Try as we might it only smelled like “tree” and “bark”. Scratching the bark a little bit helped some but we left unimpressed and convinced it was not the right kind of tree.

After a while the 4×4 road reaches an intersection, and a sign instructs us that Devil’s Bridge is to the right. We turn in and just after a small parking area where a few trucks and jeeps are parked the trail begins in earnest. What starts as a flat trail steadily increases in grade until soon we are walking up stone steps and switch backs. Near what we presume is close to the top a group of hikers stops us and asks, “How much longer do you think to the top?” Apparently they were doing a survey of everyone passing by. Or perhaps it was a convenient excuse to stop and have a few beers, which is sounded and smelled like they had already done. They were a jovial crew though, carrying a cooler of beer and smoking cigarettes up a trail that some would call “medium difficulty”. While talking to them we asked where they were from and they said north of LA in California, and that the drive out was only a little over 7 hours. I think this conversation planted the first seed in Kate and my minds that perhaps there were more locations to visit on this road trip apart from just the Grand Canyon and Sedona.

We climb up the final steps to Devil’s Bridge, turn a corner on a trail and there it is – a naturally-formed (I assume) stone bridge roughly 60 feet above the ground, that appears to narrow quite significantly in the middle. As most people I am guessing do, we pair up with some people who are ready to go out on the bridge and agree to take each other’s pictures.

I think Kate took theirs, and then after they got off the bridge Kate and I walked out. It looks wider as you’re walking out than it does when you look at it head on, but you are still very aware that you are 60 feet in the air on a stone bridge. There is definitely a voice in the back of your head going “Boy, I sure hope this thing doesn’t decide to break in half right now.” We stand out on the rock for a while trying to decide on what kind of pose to do and decide on the “hands in air” and “standing together with arms around shoulders”. When we got back we reviewed the photos which looked great, and our “photographer” had even taken a video of us walking back!

Afterwards we stay for a while watching other people take their photos, including our drinking friends who decided to sit down on the edge of the rock with their legs off the edge. No thanks! After a while we leave and attempt to find the “lower trail” that is supposed to go down below the bridge where you can look up at it. We are unsuccessful though and return to the main trail and start making our way back to the trailhead.

Suddenly Kate exclaims, “Oh no!”

“What is it?” I ask.

“We forgot to take a picture of Ronnie!” Ronnie, the dinosaur travel mascot missed getting his photo taken at one of the most iconic photo spots! Kate gets Ronnie out of her backpack and we find a stone to prop him up on. I hold up the stone and Kate grabs a photo. It makes it look like he’s walking across a big stone with the Devil’s Bridge mountain behind him.

We make our way back to the car, stopping once for some photo ops since the sun had hit peak golden hour. Our next stop is dinner because we’re both starving!

Back in the downtown area we’ve picked a place called Javelina Catina. It’s a nice Mexican-themed restaurant. We grab two seats at the bar, go the bathrooms to wash our hands, and order up:

• Andrew: Birria Tacos (something I’ve been wanting to try), and a Javelina Margarita with Prickly Pear.
• Kate: Mango Ceviche, a Cheese Crisp, and also a Javelina Margarita with Prickly Pear

As we eat the bartender keeps us company with stories and making sure our waters are full. At the end of the meal he brings out some bags of candy for us to pick from. It’s Milk Duds for Kate and a Heath Bar for me. He also packs us up some extra chips and salsa, and as we’re departing we realize he’s wearing a Bruins hat. We stay a little longer and talk hockey, Bruins and Caps.

After we get home it’s time for a night pool swim and hot tub soak to rest our weary hiking muscles. Then back to the house to shower and watch TV – which tonight was the end of Oceans 11 and the beginning of Oceans 12, but we were too tired and had to go to sleep.

Thursday, June 20: Sedona

Work while also planning our trips to Jerome, the Chapel of the Holy Cross, and dinner at Elote cafe. Around 3:30 we both think we hear thunder, and then shortly after we definitely do. Some rain begins to fall but it is not even enough to wet the ground before it stops again.

Around 4:45 we drive to the Chapel of the Holy Cross but decide there is not enough time to see it since we also have 5pm reservations at Elote. No worries, now we know where it is and can come back tomorrow. Off to Elote!

We arrive just at 5 as they are opening the restaurant for dinner. We are seated at two seats at the bar. Soon the waiter arrives with some chips and salsa, and Kate and I both agree that this is the best salsa we’ve had on the trip so far. After pondering the menu for a while we order:

• Andrew: Elote Corn Appetizer, smoked pork cheeks, a special house spicy margarita, and then a Sangria later.
• Kate: Jicama Orange Salad, Scallops, White Sangria, Flan
• After dinner flight with: Rasin Infused tequila, Almond tequila, Chili Chocolate Liquor

It was an all-around great dining experience, with the added bonus of having tried some very interesting liquor. The Almond tequila was both of our favorites.

We leave Elote and drive the short distance over to Tlaquepaque which is a mini resort/hotel area with some bars, restaurants, and an outdoor area with tennis courts, mini golf, seating, and a walk along a small river. We wander around until we see a cornhole game that has been set up. We play a round and Kate wins easily. We take a peek into one of the beer bars but decide against going in and elect to head out instead.

Leaving Tlaquepaque early turns out to have been a good decision because on the drive back we realize two things: it is sunset, and we are driving by the road for the airport overlook. We make the easy decision to head up there, pay the $3 to park, and watch the rest of the sunset. It is very comfortable, beautiful, and relaxing. So much so that we stay well past sunset watching the colors fade all the way to blue. We are one of the last to leave. We head back home to watch most of Oceans 12.

Friday, June 21: Sedona

Friday! Last day of work! Today would also be a great finale to Sedona as it includes another favorite hike and a great restaurant. After work we head to Layla cafe for a Croissant and a smoothie, and then make our way over to The Chapel of the Holy Cross. We have plenty of time today, so we are able to park and walk up to the chapel – singing Going to the Chapel along the way. It’s a winding path/road that changes to another curved concrete ramp that leads up to the main building. When you walk through the main doors you enter the chapel. It is much smaller than I was expecting, with only 7 or 8 rows of bench seats along the left and right, with an aisle down the middle. Just inside the doors is a candle area, both Kate and I donate some money and light new candles.

Downstairs is the gift shop, yes the gift shop. It is much cooler down here too. We spend a few minutes looking around and I find a couple small things to buy, including a lighthouse for my Aunt Laurel.

We leave the chapel and head to our next hike – Cathedral Rock (apt name considering where we just were). Around 5:30 we arrive at the trailhead and park. At the same time a large group of teenagers also gets out of a car across from us. We decide to expedite our departure and throw our packs on and hit the trail. The idea was to put some distance between us and the other group, but at one of the first rest and photo spots we ended up stopping anyway to take some photos, and the group passed us there. Funnily enough we end up passing them after we continue our hike and find them either resting or taking photos at the next spot. We stop at one large rock face to take a photo of Ronnie, and then after one more short leg we are at the top and greeted by a fantastic view! There are quite a few people milling around this spot, seemingly waiting to all take pictures of themselves at the same spot, so Kate and I decide to follow a small trail that leads off to the side to see where it goes. After a few turns the trail leads up more, and after some scrambling we are greeted with another great view back down in to the valley. Even better there is nobody else here!

It is also a fantastic place for photos. The golden light of the sun at this hour combined with the color of the rocks themselves makes it another place where it seems nearly impossible to take a bad photo. We find a cool spot where the sun shines through and get some photos of ourselves as well as the surrounding landscape. Of course, when it is my turn to have my photo taken a German couple shows up and watch with bemused expressions as I sit and pose. Even with that making me uncomfortable, I think Kate managed to get some good ones of me.

Afterwards we head back down to the main landing, and find yet another side trail that leads to a shelf-like thing that also provides a great spot to get photos with the sprawling landscape of Sedona behind us.

Finally it is getting to actual sunset, so we join the rest of the crowd on the main landing and watch as the sun slowly falls below the Sedona horizon.

After the last bit of sun disappears we make our way back down to the trailhead and parking lot. Our plan is to go directly to Mariposa after this and see if we can walk in, but we can’t do it in dirty sweaty hiking clothes, Mariposa is a really nice restaurant! So we planned ahead and brought clothes to change into. After a little bit we are both changed and ready to go.

Around 8:45 we arrive at Mariposa, hoping that we don’t look like we just hiked Cathedral rock, and hoping even more that we don’t smell like it. There is a man at the outside main entrance in the parking lot who seems to be verifying reservations (of which we have none). Hoping for more good luck we ask if they might have room for a walk in. He asks someone over the radio is there might be any bar seating and to our delight the reply comes back yes!

We sit down at the bar and after looking over the menu order:

• Yucca Fried appetizer
• Andrew: Picso Sour and the Pollo Rustico, and later a Gin Fizz
• Kate: Red wine and Filet Mignon

Both dishes are fantastic, although the beef could have used an actual steak knife instead of a normal dinner knife. Your steak is not that tender Mariposa!

After we finish dinner we are chatting with the bartender who tells us he grew up on Cottenwood, a town not too far away and on the way to Jerome. We ask about good breakfast spots there and take down some notes.

After getting back to the house there is some additional excitement when Kate gets her hair tangled in a “telephone-cord-style hair tie”. I do my best to try to figure out how to untangle it but it is no use. It is so wrapped up there is only one choice – scissors. I am about to cut the hair tie itself when Kate yells “Noooooo, cut my hair instead, I only have one of those hair ties and they’re really nice.”

“Well, no so nice it seems if it gets tangled like this.”

I am unable to convince her otherwise, so I go get the utility scissors from the kitchen and cut her hair right next to the hair tie.

Saturday, June 22nd: Sedona > Cottonwood > Jerome > Sedona

Kind of a roundabout day today as we are set to go to Cottenwood and Jerome, and then back to Sedona for one last night.

We get into Cottenwood which is a small town with “outskirts” and what appears to be the classic “main street”. Our first stop is at a rather large antique store, the kind that seems to keep going and going with more rooms leading to other rooms. We do a full lap but neither of us find anything to buy. Diagonally across from that store is another one called “Art Glitter”. We go in wondering if it’s what it sounds like and find that yes, it is exactly what it sounds like – art and art supplies for doing glitter art. I am actually a little disappointed because I was hoping it was going to be a real art store and I could buy something for Kate that I’ve been looking for – a small sketchbook and maybe a graphite pencil so she can throw it in her pack and do some sketches of the places we visit. We have a long chat with the storekeeper who it turns out is from New England originally.

After we go to an Olive Oil store and sample a bunch of different olive oil and vinegar combinations. These are mostly highly flavored things. The combo I liked the best, and the one I purchased, was a Harissa Hot Olive Oil paired with a grapefruit white vinegar.

We do a lap down to the end of main street and then back up, and find ourselves in front of Crema Craft Kitchen, which was a place recommended by the bartender back at Mariposa. Initially we were just going to get come iced coffee and tea (and use their restroom), but on second thought we decide to stay and eat. There are breakfast tacos on the menu and we decide we have to try those. They come with some sort of mayonnaise-based sauce. It’s “not bad”, but also not really what I was expecting. Points for the corn tortillas though.

It’s time to pull anchor and head to our next spot – ghost hunting in Jerome. It’s a very short drive, and after some switchbacks we’re at the first stop which is Douglas Mansion in Jerome State Historic Park. We stop at an old mine shaft that has a plexiglass window over the top. The sign says that underneath you is nothing but empty air for 1900 feet! There is a light that illuminates the first little bit of mineshaft, but after that is just blackness.

Just down the road is the actual “mansion”. We head in there and check out all the exhibits, different rooms with the history of the building, family, and town in it. As well as watch a video in the “movie room” about the history of the town.

Afterwards we head down to the “ghost town”. After parking we try to say hello to a pair of donkeys in a pen next to the parking lot, but one of them is an asshole and won’t let the other one even get close enough to us to even think about an ear scratch.

We head inside the main gift shop and after a quick tour buy our tickets for the actual ghost town along with a bag of feed for the various animals that are in the town. The “town” itself is really a bunch of old buildings on one edge, with a lot of old trucks and equipment leftover from the mining days. But it’s pretty cool and very photogenic. With our bag of oats we had fun feeding various kinds of animals including: turkeys, chickens big and small, a pig, and goats. There is also a funny moment when I open up an old outhouse expecting it to be empty, but am instead greeted by a mannequin whose arm was attached to the door in a way that made it raise as I opened the door. Needless to say I was startled and yelped and jumped away from what my brain told me was some sort of person in there. Little did I know that Kate was recording a video of the whole thing having already opened that same door herself.

After exhausting our supply of oats and also having been through the entire town, we headed out and went down in to the main town to have a look around and find something to eat. In one stop we find a small knicknack kind of shop. As we’re looking around I finally find one thing that I’ve been looking for — a small book with blank pages for Kate to sketch in. I grab it and go to buy it. I’m hoping to get it purchased without her noticing. As I get to the counter the person in front of me is trying to pay and the storekeeper says something like “Oh, I think we’ll need to reboot it”.

“Oh no!” I think to myself. I stand there a while longer, watching Kate looking around the store and slowly making her way closer to me. Eventually she makes her way over to me while I’m still waiting to pay.

“Buying something?” she asks.

“Oh maybe.” I reply as I tuck the little book under my folded arms to hide it, “They’re having some sort of trouble with their payment system.”

Eventually the person in front of me is able to pay, and then I am also able to pay, with cash. “Must be the ghost” I say to the person running the register who I think it turns out also owns the store.

After we leave there we head over to The Haunted Hamburger for dinner. The burgers hit the spot, as do the beverages – I had a mudslide and Kate had a “Bourbon and Bacon”. Although hers sounded better in theory we both agreed that the straight-up mudslide was better.

After dinner and a quick walk back to the car in a passing rain-shower, we make the drive back to Sedona for our last night in that place before we start the extended part of the trip and make the drive to San Diego!

Sunday, June 23: Sedona > San Diego

We decide to go to San Diego instead of Moab Utah. We both agree that the west coast and associated beaches sounds better than another hot desert type place. Also, I’ve never swam in the pacific ocean, so I think I can probably make that happen. And as we’ve heard from our friends back at Devil’s Bridge, it’s only a 7-hour drive. Let’s gooooooooooo!

Much of the drive is uneventful, and there is a slight moment of tension as we’re driving through the California foothills on 20% full fuel tank wondering where the next gas station might be. They appear to be few and far between. As usually happens with the “I hope we find a gas station soon” situations, we do. I’ve been driving for the mountain part, and I continue driving after fueling up to our first San Diego stop – Lola 55 for tacos.

We arrive, easily find parking, and make our way in to order. Where we order:

• Andrew: Pork Belly Al Pastor tacos, a Chicken taco, and a Lola Margarita.
• Kate: Fish Tacos (and a Lola Marg?)

We continue on to Catamaran Resort and Spa where we’ll be staying tonight. After a wrong turn towards Sea World we find the correct road and hotel. After checking in we go to explore a bit. On the bay side of the hotel there is a beach and boardwalk where we find an expiring bonfire. After moving the charred logs around a bit I’m able to get it almost re-lit. Kate suggests that whiskey, Buffalo Trace if they have it, and fire go together pretty well so she stays behind to guard our fire treasure while I go to the bar to order two whiskeys to go.

As I’m waiting for the drinks to arrive at the bar in walks Kate. She explains to me that the fires are actually something you need to pay for, and that the one we found was actually for another group that was arriving shortly, and that the “fire guy” had shown up while she was there to stoke the fire up for their arrival.

We take our whiskeys down to the beach anyway and walk around. On the walk we also see the place where you can rent sailboats – an idea for tomorrow is born.

We remember that this place also has a pool and hot tub, so we head back to the room to change into bathing suits. After making our way to the pool and getting pool towels out of the towel-dispenser-thing, we also realize that the pool area also has a whole video game area. Ok…time for some game competition. The games we play are: Air Hockey, Basketball as a team, Dance revolution (I do not understand at all how this works), Basketball each playing solo and Kate annihilates me, and a car racing game in which I annihilate her even though I had a manual transmission and she had an automatic, and finally Foosball – I also won this one but it’s not fair because I played this so much freshman year of college I nearly failed all my end-of-year exams.

After this we do a rotation of hot tub, swim, hot tub, and then decide to head back to the room to shower and sleep. On our way out of the pool area we are unable to figure out how the towel return part works. We hope that whatever we did was correct and that we don’t get charged for them.

Monday, June 24: San Diego > Carlsbad

I work in the morning hours and Kate does Yoga on the beach. She forgets hat/sunglasses/sunblock and asks me if I have any of those. Foreshadowing? I say I have none of those with me and then realize later I did have my super-cool shades. I go up to the room and try to find other stuff for her and find her hat but no sunglasses. I then go back down to the beach to deliver these items but it looks like Yoga is in some sort of meditation pose so I chicken out. I don’t want to interrupt some special “yoga thing” just to deliver sunglasses and a hat!

Afterwards we check out and store our stuff in the car, but then go back to do a sailboat rental. We opted for the larger of the two mono-hulls, a 22 footer. It’s a basic setup with a furling jib and a mainsail that is expected to stay “always up”.

We have a nice sail around “Sail Bay” and “Mission Bay”. We head downwind, practicing jibes along the way. Kate quickly recalls her training from Rhode Island and is soon a master of the jib sheets for every jibe. We head as far down as some yacht club, and then figure we should probably head back upwind. As usual the upwind portion of the sail is more exciting, with some decent puffs of wind heeling the boat over and “burying the rail” in the water. Kate seems nervous at first, but after explaining how with this kind of boat, the more it heels, the less effect the wind has on the sails and so the boat is less likely to completely capsize, she seems to accept that we are in no real danger.

When we get back to the resort and dock where we’ll need to land this boat under sail we have to decide whether or not to land it on the “end” of the dock, or on the long part of the pier, which is in between some other boats, and will be an upwind approach in tight quarters. Not the easiest thing to do in a sailboat that you do not know well.

I make one pass at it, sailing downwind, tacking nearly 180 degrees back to the pier, but when I try to turn up and luff into the wind I am still carrying too much speed so I call out to the dock hand “I’m going to make another pass!” I fall off the wind, fill the sails, and do the same pattern again, but this time remembering to depower the sails a little sooner. It works and we glide to a comfortable landing alongside the pier, with the dockhand able to easily grab a bowline and tie us off.

After our outing we decide it is mandatory to have a celebratory drink on the beach, so we go to the beach/cabana area and find an open set of chairs and umbrella where we order up a beverage. We soon decide we’re also hungry so we also order tomato soup and grilled cheeses.

Unfortunately our time here must end, but we’re headed to an even better place, hopefully anyway. We get back in the car and point it towards Carlsbad where we have a two-night stay in a beachfront condo / apartment.

We arrive in Carlsbad, do the obligatory “make sure we can get in to this place and check it out”, but very soon we are hungry and looking for food. Kate has found a very in-demand restaurant called Campfire. We head out on foot towards Campfire, both on the way to dinner and “orienteering” ourselves to this new town. It’s very walkable, and has cool crosswalks where the entire intersection turns into a “walk” at the same time, which also means you can go diagonal if you want.

We make it to Campfire and are seated in a small table next to the kitchen wall. The wall itself is warm, there must be grills or fire right on the other side. We are told that if it’s too hot we can move, but it is fine and we are hungry and ready to order:

• Both: Lamb Belly appetizer (Trailhead in Campfire parlance)
• Andrew: Smoked Brisket with coffee rub and polenta.
• Kate: Smoked Oyster, Ricotta Cavatelli
• Dessert: Share S’mores that come out with charcoal.

Tuesday, June 25: Carlsbad

I start off the morning by waking up early and going to Elysa Cafe for coffee and two croissants. And after I’m done with work I’m so excited about going to the beach right outside the door that I totally forget to put sunscreen on my face. I remembered (most of) my body and legs, but Kate had taken the face sunblock with her to the beach earlier, and I thought to myself “Oh, I’ll just grab that when I get down there.” Nope! Totally forgot!

I proceeded to chill at the beach for a while relaxing, and took two separate jaunts into the waves to body surf. On the second one I got dumped pretty hard and then overrun by the next two waves and started to think “Hmmm, maybe it’s time for me to get out of the water – don’t want to end up on the news!” After a little while more on the beach we decide to head back inside to go find some dinner and maybe explore the town some more. And that is when I realized how burned my face was, and I knew from childhood burns that it if looks like that now, it’s only going to get worse. I slathered on a bunch of our mineral-based 50 sunscreen (which also had the effect of making my face look more pink than red).

But, even though the sun is still up I’m still not going to skip this night out! We go on a walkabout around Carlsbad, do some window shopping and check out a few clothing stores. On our way back into the main area we stop in at Pizza Port where we had a couple beers (well, I had two and Kate had one). We were hungry but didn’t really want pizza, so we headed over to Pure Taco which was actually right down the road from Campfire where we ate last night. I think we had:

• Andrew: 1/2 half flight “Traditional” (One of each: Grilled Steak, Pulled Chicken, Pastor and Citrus Braised Pork)
• Kate: maybe the 1/2 flight global? (One of each: Pho Beef, Green Curry Shrimp, Korean Pork Bo Sam and Veggie)
• There was also some sort of margarita drinks. Can’t remember if they were standard or on the craft cocktail side of things.

Afterwards we go to the liquor store to pick up some fixins’ for Sangria, which in this case was a bottle of red and a bottle of sparkling white. We realize it is getting towards sunset so we’d better get back and see at least one sunset in our beachfront condo! This is after all our last night here!

We get back to the condo, mix up some Sangrias, and head out onto the balcony to watch the sun go down. It is a great sunset and the Nikon makes an appearance to try to capture it. Afterwards we spent even more time out on the balcony as dusk turned into night. I think there was a TV in the living room, but we definitely never turned it on – this view and the sound of waves crashing right in front of us us why we wanted to spend a couple night here.

Eventually it is time to turn in so we reluctantly turn our backs to the ocean, close the door, and head to sleep.

Wednesday, June 26: Carlsbad > Malibu

Travel day! After working in the morning again and then checking out, we hit the road for the somewhat short drive up to Malibu where my niece lives. Los Angeles traffic is as expected, always seeming to get worse and extend our predicted arrival time to later. But eventually we make it to Malibu and my niece’s place which is at the top of a big hill and while small is very comfortable. We all still have more work to do, so after a quick catch-up we all are working on our laptops until the end of the day when it is time for dinner.

Dinner was at the Bel-Air Club where we also learned about the origins of paddle tennis. I believe we were told that it was invented in California, but the internet says it was “…invented by Mexican businessman Enrique Corcuera, who set up the first-ever paddle court at his holiday home in Acapulco in 1969.”

Afterwards we had back and all shower up and head to bed.

Thursday, June 27: Malibu

We all have to work today, so we take turns using the outdoor patio as the “meeting room” since otherwise we’re all in the same small living room. Being together makes the time go be faster though and soon enough it is quitting time.

The first stop is at Zinqué for lunch. I think I had a burger and fries (I do remember the girls having some of the fries), and some sort of healthy smoothie that was really good. As I recall everyone really enjoyed their food. Then right next door was Becker Surfboards so we headed over there to do some hat/shirt shopping. I was able to find both a new hat and two new cool shirts – the shirts were two-for-one too! The girls also got new bathing suits and were able to get the same two-for-one deal on those as well.

After that it’s time to head out to “Point Dume” which is a park that includes a classic west-coast cliff that leads to a beach (after making your way down a large and switch-backing staircase). We stay down there for a bit, but the tide is in so there’s not much more than boulders to walk around on.

We head back up the stairs and my niece goes to get her car while Kate and I take her dog for a walk over to the other side where there is another lookout. After we get there we realize the path seems to extend further past the lookout. So we head down that way and soon are treated with a side path that extends out to a rock point at the top of a cliff (I think the same cliff point that we would be able to see later from Zuma Beach). We stay for a while admiring the view and then head back to the parking lot where my niece is probably waiting for us. On the way back we notice a mother seal and some pups on the rocks on the beach below the cliffs.

After the beach walk we are ready for something quick to eat and my niece takes us to Le Cafe de la Plage for ice cream. We are all also thirsty and have some waters while eating our ice cream.

Re-energized with sugar we head to our next spot which is Zuma Beach. This is a more classic beach with a wide sandy beach. There are a few people there, but it is not crowded at all so we quickly find a spot and begin taking turns throwing the tennis ball for my niece’s dog. He occasionally seems to get tired of it and will leave the ball in the sand, but in a couple minutes he has changed his mind and is again looking for someone to throw it for him.

After a while we leave Zuma Beach and head inland a bit to “The Old Place” for dinner. It’s a very cool restaurant with a wine bar attached, and lots of farm animals and interesting things to look at while you wait. We head in to the wine bar/store and buy a bottle of wine, and then take that and three glasses out to a seating area where we relax to wait for our table to be open. At one point we are treated to a large peacock who walks by, seemingly minding his own business and just out for an evening stroll.

Eventually we are seated and we order up some much needed food (and perhaps a gin and tonic as well). The meal is good as is the conversation, and too soon it is time to head back home for showers and sleep.

Friday, June 28: Malibu > Pismo (pants)

Today is another work day followed by a travel day. After finishing up with work we head to Malibu Beach Inn for a late lunch. My niece parks the car which is whisked away by a valet, and we head in for a nice lunch looking over the water.

After lunch we go to the Malibu Pier to walk around there a bit, do some shopping, etc. In one store I find a patch that says “Moon Worshiper” that immediately reminds me of another story from a previous family trip about “Moon People”. I also find a magnet that says “Ice Cream” on it that I buy for my niece.

The big story of the pier walk was when my niece somehow got a bee in her hair inside the store. I didn’t see the beginning of it but heard the commotion on the other side of the store. I walked over to find her and about three other people ushering her outside where one of them then tried to carefully get the bee out. He eventually was able to, and now that the bee was on its way we were all able to have a good laugh about it.

Then it is time for us to head back to my niece’s place, and too soon, leave for our next spot. She has given us a list of places to check out on our way north though, so we have a pretty good itinerary for the next few days. We pack up our bags, say our goodbyes, and then it is just Kate and I on the road again.

We make a quick pitstop as a FedEx to drop off her work computer — from this point on in the trip she will be free of work responsibilities!

The next stop is Montisito and a walk down Butterfly Beach for sunset. It’s a classic California beach sunset and also a great beach in general, with access leading down to the sand from stone staircases. As many beach walks do, this one turns into a long walk all the way down to where it turns into stones. Reluctantly we turn around and head back to the car. After a few shots of a cool-looking road with palm trees and the sunset behind it we head to Honor Bar for dinner.

We are able to get a table outside, and guess what, these tables have heaters! Kate’s initial seat doesn’t seem to have heat so she moves over one place and says “Oh yeah, there it is!” She orders a French Dip and I don’t remember what I had – some kind of chicken maybe? After we’re done with dinner the outdoor fireplace has opened up so we scoop it up and spend about a half hour there soaking up its heat and relaxing.

Finally it’s time to finish the drive, so we’re off to Pismo beach (or Pismo-Pants as I call it). A few hours later, around11:30pm, we roll in to Sandcastle Inn and are relieved that there is still someone at the front desk. We check in, shower, and go to sleep.

Saturday, June 29: Pismo

Ahhhhhh Saturday. No work! Today we wake up and head out into Pismo to see what’s happening. It’s a chilly and somewhat foggy morning, and I’m looking for a coffee. On our walk out onto the pier I spot a coffee trailer, but on asking it turns out that they are out of their first batch and are brewing another. “Ok,” I say, “I’ll maybe swing by in a bit.” A short while after that we are at the part of the pier where the waves are breaking, and we spend some time watching the surfers catch (sometimes) some waves.

We’re getting hungry so we head away from the pier and into the town section. Along the way we find a tourist store full of t-shirts, hats, and other Pismo stuff. I find a shirt I like, and a magnet with my niece’s dog’s name on it, and purchase both. Kate purchases a white “Pismo” baseball hat. Now we both have white hats!

We nearly stop at one place that is cooking up some sort of meat on a flattop grill that you can see through a storefront window, but we’ve heard about this other place we want to get to so we keep on going. Eventually we arrive at our destination, Honeymoon Cafe.

Ordering at Honeymoon Cafe is where you order inside, and then go find a seat and they will bring it out to you. I order Carnitas Chilaquiles (hard to resist when that is on the menu) and a coffee, and I think Kate ordered something gross with fish in it. During breakfast I notice that Kate is sitting directly under a sign that says “Hollister” on it, so I ask her to sit still for a second, “Why?” she asks.

“Hang on…..there we go.” I show her my photo of her and the Hollister sign, but I think she was more interested in the food that had just arrived. I was pretty hungry too and Clean Plate Clubbed (CPCd) all my breakfast.

Across from the Honeymoon Cafe is a garden center with lots of pots, succulents, and other garden themed stuff. I find a whole section of hummingbird feeders that I snap a photo of for my niece who has a few at her house, and Kate finds some incense for her friend that we will meet up with later in San Fransisco. Back on the other side of the road we find a store that is kind of half farmer’s market, and half crafty goods store (handmade things like soaps, napkins, etc). In here Kate finds another gift for her friend which is a bouquet of lavender. We are about to purchase the ones on display, but they look a little dried out and we’re not sure if they would make the trip in one piece. But after asking the storekeeper about the “fresh ones hanging from the ceiling” she says “Oh, of course, you can buy one of those too if you want!”

The day is getting on and we’ve got multiple places to get to still, so we head back to the hotel, pack up, and make our way out of Pismo towards Hurst Mansion. However, on the way there we pass by a really cool looking beach full of driftwood. We turn around, go back and park at the Cambria William Hurst Memorial State Beach (it becomes known as Pebble Beach to us).

What was originally going to be a short down and back onto the beach predictably turns into a longer walk down the beach. In one section we find that the beach has gone from sand to small pebbles. And closer inspection reveals that each of these pebbles is polished smooth and they are all different colors and patterns. We start collecting our favorites. On the walk back up the beach towards the car what at first looked like a log in the waves turns out to be a dead seal, and he looks to have been eaten on by some other wildlife.

We depart the beach and continue our way to Hurst Mansion / Ranch. You take a bus up to the mansion from the visitor center, and on the way there is one of those guys with a camera and tripod in front of a green screen. Kate suggests doing “finger guns” in the 007 movie poster style. We strike a pose and the camera guy takes the photo. We won’t see these until later after we finish the tour.

Getting onto the bus you are not allowed to bring food, so I try to finish the bag of chips we have with us and (unsurprisingly) accidentally inhale some of them which starts me coughing. In fact, for the first ten minutes of the ride I was still coughing trying to get the chip dust out of my throat. The entire time thinking, “Man…I bet everyone on this bus thinks I have Covid or something.” Nope! just me inhaling a chip!

The tour goes through the outside grounds, outside pool, and then inside to a few of the rooms inside the mansion. It has many nice tapestries, ceilings imported from Spain, a movie theater, etc. All done in the “classic” style of a mansion built between 1919 and 1947.

After getting off the bus after the tour we see our “finger guns” picture and it looks great! I am very glad Kate suggested it and purchase the full size digital prints package.

We depart from Hurst and I realize I don’t have my hat. “Oh no Kate! Remember when I went back to take off my sweatshirt? I think I left my hat on top of the car! She stops the car and I get out to look. No hat on the roof. We decide to drive back to our old parking spot, and there in the middle of the parking lot road is my (nearly) brand new Billabong hat that I bought back in Malibu! Whew!

Now we can make our way to Monterey, our final destination for today. After arriving and checking into the hotel, we walk to “Montrio”, a Michelin star restaurant. I don’t remember what we ordered, it was a long day and it didn’t make it into my journal – maybe it is in Kate’s and I can update this section later. But whatever we had I remember it being good!

We want to see some Monterey nightlife, so we head to “Britannia” which we’ve heard is an English Pub and an easy walk from here. That sounds perfect to both of us. Maybe sit down a bit, have a couple pints of Guinness, and reflect on the day. However when we arrive there is loud dance music playing from inside. Oh well, I guess we’re going in here!

We order a couple drinks and head out to the outdoor patio where it’s a little quieter. It is here we meet Amanda who is part of a wedding party that is also here for an “after party”. We have a long conversation with her about many topics. Towards the end of our conversation we all turn and see someone bent over at the waist, leaning up against the corner of the entrance to the bar, projectile vomiting onto the ground between his feet. He creates a literal river of yellow-colored vomit that snakes its way along the fenced area of the patio where we’re standing. The bar staff come out with a hose and do their best to wash it off, but while they get most of it, some if it also gets spread around.

That was our clue to leave, so we head back to the hotel. Our room has a fireplace in it so I decide to see how to light it. The instructions are simple, the flu is locked in the “open” position, so I turn on the gas, light a match, and “wumph” the blue gas flame comes to life. And then about ten seconds later, just as I was about to say how nice this is, the fire alarm goes off. Of course it did! I ran to turn off the gas while Kate opened the door that led to an outside patio of sorts. Finally, after both of us waving things at the fire alarm it stopped. I’m sure we woke up at least the two rooms next to us. Sorry neighbors – but it’s not our fault!

Sunday, June 30th: Monterey > Carmel > Capitola > Santa Cruz > San Francisco

The next day we get up and go for a walk around Monterey. Of course we make a beeline to the waterfront which is only a mile or so away from the hotel. On the way we find a little “historical section” that has old buildings and some gardens. We stroll through the buildings and planters for a while and then continue to the water. We start at a small rocky and curved beach and soon realize that there are some sea lions that have claimed the other end of the beach. We stay and watch those for a while and then go back up the stairs and walk over to the actual marina side where there are the usual clusters of small shops, boat tour shacks, and sun-bleached docks and piers.

It is on one of these piers we find a “knot tying exhibit” where there are various stations with some lines and plaques describing how to tie different knots like: square, clove hitch, bowline, etc. We spend some time there trying a few different ones. I find that I have apparently forgotten how to tie a bowline and have to take a few practice attempts before getting it right. Kate learns quickly (and is gracious in saying I’m a good teacher). Afterwards we head to the end of the pier where there are a few other people and we do what they are doing – stare out over the boats moored in the harbor and zone out for a while.

Today is a big day so we have to keep moving. We go back to the hotel for the car and drive to Carmel by the Sea. Along the way Google provides a wrong turn and we end up in a pay lane to go on the “Pebble Beach Scenic Drive”. We think it is just a drive around Pebble Beach Golf Course, so we ask the attendant if there’s an easier way to get to Carmel by the Sea? He says yes, it’s basically the next exit, and that we can just turn around and head back out to the highway.

We take his advice and soon are in Carmel by the Sea. A quaint but also clearly expensive seaside town. We get a beachfront parking spot and make our way down onto the beach. On our right we see a golf green, “Oh man, that must be Pebble Beach!” It is then we realize that we probably could have done the scenic drive (and looking it up afterwards it seems that it is more a seaside drive with great views than the golf course tour that we thought it was).

After being on the beach for a while we are hungry and find a Michelin star rated Mediterranean restaurant called Yafa that looks good, so we make the quick drive up to that area, park and begin walking to Yafa. When we arrive we find that it is closed, so we backtrack to a place we passed on the walk in called Forge in the Forest which turns out to be a great place with some history behind it too. From their website (and menu if I recall right):

Mr. Whitaker used The Forge to produce much of the hand-wrought hardware (hinges, door latches, sign holders, etc.) that still adorns many of the historic buildings in Carmel.  Mr. Whitaker was also active in civic affairs and served on the Carmel-by-the-Sea City Council for 13 years.  The actual anvil, vise, and hearth used by Mr. Whitaker, as well as photographs of him and the original Forge building, are on display inside the current Forge in the Forest Saloon.

Artist and writer Henry Miller and the internationally renowned writer, John Steinbeck were frequent visitors who met with other locals inside The Forge, to drink, tell stories and talk. The Grapes of Wrath novel was reported to have been inspired inside The Forge as a result of one such meeting. When Francis Whitaker left Carmel in the mid-1960s, The Forge became an artist’s studio. In the fall of 1970, The Forge was then converted into a restaurant and saloon.

After a fantastic lunch we head back to the car and find we are blocked in by someone trying, and failing, to park. After we sit for a while watching their car not move in the middle of the road, Kate’s inner New Yorker comes out and she takes matters into her own hands and drives around the car while muttering under her breath. Free of the Carmel traffic jam we make our way to Capitola.

Capitola is another seaside town with the main attraction being the beach, and the multi-colored buildings that line one side of it. We do not get a front-seat parking spot this time and instead have to park a ways up a side street and walk back down to the main area. We are strolling around when we hear some live music. And it turns out that the music is coming from a wine bar! We go in. Obviously.

Inside Capitola Wine bar there is a curved bar, and playing in the small front area inside the doors is “Jazz the Dog” playing an interesting mix and style of music that they accurately describe as “an eclectic mix of Americana, Altared Soul, and improv”. We order a flight of wine that turns out to also be very photogenic- our favorite of which was Rose D’Anjou. After both using the bathroom we head out to continue the walk to the beach. We walk along the beach, and after taking our shoes off realize the sand is very hot and we are forced to run to a spot we see near some water that is cooler and put our shoes back on to finish the walk over to the “multi-color houses”. They are indeed very pretty and give a Mediterranean or Caribbean feel. They also appear to be rentals – that would be a great place to stay!

We circle back to the main downtown area and make our way back to the car. Along the way we pop into an art store where I find a Hummingbird painting that I am sure my niece will like, so I grab for her and then it is off to Santa Cruz!

We park in a small spot next to the rail line that itself is next to the Santa Cruz boardwalk. We walk down the main boardwalk which is very busy and in stark contrast to the relaxed vibe of the last two towns we were in. This is hustle and bustle, teenagers, and loud music and noises everywhere. There is one thing that catches my eye however, a ski-ball game that you play against other players to try to make a Mario Brothers character move across the back wall to the finish line. Kate and I both sign up, as well as six or seven others. I choose Princess Peach as my character. Soon the races are off and I am ski-balling and feel like I’m doing pretty well. The bells go off declaring there was a winner and who is it that was first across the finish line? Princess Peach! I am allowed to pick a stuffed character as a prize so I choose Mario for my cousin’s son who I know is into Mario games at the moment. In celebration of my “total and complete annihilation” of the competition, we stop at the ice cream stall a few stands up for some chocolate-dipped ice cream.

Next we’re off to the Santa Cruz Pier to walk down that and check it out. About half way down we find some sort of dance event going on. There is salsa music and people dancing on a stage. We stop to observe for a bit, and Kate does a few dances in place until the song stops. We still have more driving to do so we head back to the car and start north again.

We arrive in San Fransisco fairly late. Kate is driving so it is my job to try to find a place that is open until 10pm or so – not an easy task sometimes. I am able to find one that has good reviews, is some sort of Chinese food which is what Kate has requested, and is also close to the AirBnB in which I will be staying. We park next to Sichuan Home and head in. It is a small restaurant, and I think we may have been the only ones in there. Usually a bad sign but it is late so we hope that’s the reason why. After ordering some beers and food we are pleasantly surprised at how good it is! Another interesting thing about it is that in order to get to the bathroom you have to walk through the working part of the kitchen. Seems a little strange to me, but as I recall there would be two or three more restaurants with set ups like this on the rest of the trip – must be a west-coast thing?

Kate drops me off at my AirBnB that will be my home and work location for the next few days, and she heads across the bay where she will be staying with a friend.

Monday, July 1: San Francisco

It is Monday again which means working. I get up early for meetings and stuff and then at lunchtime walk down to Arsicault Bakery which is famous for their croissants. I order a plain and a Pain Chocolate. Next door there is also a sandwich shop, so I jump in there to get a sandwich and soda. Then head back to the AirBnB to work the rest of the day.

Around dinner time and a few texts later Kate and I decide to have dinner somewhere in the city. She has to take the ferry across, and I will try my luck at San Fransisco public transit. I use the MuniMobile app to buy a ticket, and then head down to the bus stop at the end of the road. I don’t really understand how to “use” my ticket on my phone, so I just sit down and hope nobody asks me for it. At the last bus stop it is only a few more blocks to the Ferry Building so I just walk them. Along the way I get a text from Kate saying her ferry is almost docked and where to meet. I say “At the base of the tower?”.

She says “Which one?”

I take a picture of the tower above the Ferry building and send it to her and quickly the reply comes back, “Owwww, the Ferry building! You came to meet me!”

We link up and begin the search for where to eat. We find one place that is nearby (I forget the name). We walk in to a large restaurant that is nearly empty and are seated quickly. Looking over the menu neither of us are overly impressed and we make the unusual decision to bail on this restaurant and find another one. We apologize to the hostess on the way out and begin the restaurant search anew.

While walking we pass by a Thai restaurant called Osha Thai that seems full of people (always a good sign) and looks nice. We head in and are treated to a very nice meal with a couple different appetizers and mains. I had some sort of curry and rice for the main, but the star of the show was the Beef Wasabi Rolls, described as “Premium flank steak grilled to perfection rolled-up with carrot, celery, mint with Osha’s secret wasabi dressing” on the menu, closely followed by the Chicken Satay. I don’t recall exactly what else we ordered, just that it was very good.

After dinner we’re thinking about heading up to Fisherman’s Warf when we start discussing these weird cars with “Waymo” written on the side. “Oh!” I say. “Those are driverless taxis! I saw some people get out of one.”

“Should we get one?” Kate asks.

“I think we have to.” I reply.

Kate quickly downloads the Waymo app and soon enough our driverless taxi arrives. This is so novel to us that we are both recording video on our phones to capture the entire experience. It is very unnerving at first to be in the back seat of a car that is driving itself through city streets. Visions of horror and sci-fi films go through my head as I imagine the doors locking themselves and the car deciding to go careening off one of the piers into the water.

Nothing like that happens, but the Waymo does make a few “questionable” decisions including the funniest one where there was a construction crew in the middle of the street, holding up their hands asking traffic stop while they backed out a big crane from a construction site. The Waymo, which technically had a green light, decided to go. The guy directing traffic turned at us and had the most “WTF?” look on his face as we passed. I think both Kate and I were belly-laughing in the back seat for a full 30 seconds after that.

With no more driving transgressions the Waymo drops us off at Fisherman’s Wharf, with a computer-generated voice telling us goodnight or something. We walk around the Wharf, Kate is cold so we pop into a tourist shop that is just about to close. We talk our way in saying we’ll be quick so the storekeeper agrees and soon enough Kate finds a very soft “San Fransisco” sweatshirt. We thank the girl at the counter and head on our way, with Kate now warmly bundled in her new sweatshirt but also remarking “I look like such a tourist now!”

The sun is setting and the fishing boats lined up make for a classic (or is it cliche?) photos of them in the foreground with the sun setting behind them. It is at this moment that I remember the last time I was here with my father, and I also remember that just up the street is Buena Vista Cafe!

We walk into a nearly-full Buena Vista Cafe and get two seats at the end of the bar, just past the 90 degree curve. I fill Kate in on the whole “Irish Coffee” thing that is Buena Vista, and after looking at the menu for a little bit we both decide on the Nutty Irishman which is coffee with Frangelico and Bailey’s. It is delicious and disappears very quickly.

It’s getting late so we both order Ubers back to our respective “homes”. Or at least I thought Kate had ordered hers until when I ordered mine she says “Hey, I think you stole my Uber!” We head outside to wait and both of our rides are only minutes away, but mine arrives first. I get in and as my driver is driving away I am overcome with regret that I didn’t ask him to stay and wait until her ride arrived, so that I would at least know she got into her Uber safely. My fears are somewhat alleviated however when a few minutes later I get a text from her saying she’s in her Uber and “Going over the bridge!” At least I know she’s in the Uber. I do not feel completely at ease however until later on when I get the text that she is safely back at her friend’s house.

Tuesday, July 2: San Francisco

After work Kate picks me up, and our first stop is to Boudin Bakery for sandwiches. There is one right down the road from where I’m staying, so we get a couple Italian sandwiches on Sourdough (of course). Afterwards we drive over to the Golden Gate Park Conservatory of Flowers which is free today. We stroll through the conservatory, which is fairly small and separated into three main “areas”. The jungle / cloud parts I think are my favorite. The foggers and misters make for some interesting photos.

After completing the conservatory tour we find a comfortable piece of grass in the shade just outside and eat our sandwiches. They are perhaps a bit light on meat, but the bakery I suppose is really trying to show off their bread which is chewy and not as “tangy” as I was expecting, but still very good. I finish mine while Kate only has half of hers.

We pack up our sandwiches and head back to the car to check out Point Lobos and the Labyrinth. We park at the trailhead and head into the trail. There are a few staircases made of sunken wooden pilings, that lead downhill. Following the signs we eventually end up at a trail split where we could go down to a beach, or continue back up a side trail out onto the point. We choose to go out onto the point. Kate stays on a lower trail and I head up a steep embankment to see what’s up there. From the top you can see out into San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate bridge, and the frequent freighters sailing in and out. After grabbing some pictures and soaking in the view for a while we continue up the trail towards Sutra Baths.

The hike down into Sutra Baths is a downhill walk, but not too difficult. You are first emptied onto a wide patio like area where you can look out over the water. Continuing further down the walkway leads you to the actual Sutra Baths.

On one side is a cave that you can walk into. Kate does not want to go into the cave for fear of getting “sick again” like she did after going into a cave in New Mexico. I decide to go in and check it out. It’s dark inside, but half way in there is a section where the waves come in and create a good “boom”. I stay there for a while and take a few videos before continuing to the end of the tunnel where there is another opening that looks out onto the rocks and the waves coming in and over them. I return back towards the entrance, stopping once more at the place where the waves come in to take another video and wait for a good set of waves to come in, and then return to the outside.

We continue down to main area of Sutra which is now a series of square algae-filled pools that used to be enclosed in a building. We walk across the edge to the other side, being careful not to fall onto the sharp rocks on one side, or the murky water on the other. Once on the other side I remark to Kate, “That guy down there has been playing the same song over and over on that boombox!”

Kate replies, “I think he’s making a music video.”

“Ahhh,” I say, “That makes way more sense.”

We hike/climb up the hills on the other side, and then walk across the parking lot to get back to the main trail that we arrived on. When we are almost back to the main trailhead where we parked we again cross a small wooden bridge and and say to Kate, “Huh, that looks just like the bridge in Monty Python.”

Kate turns around, and after looking at the bridge for a second says, “Yeah. It does.”

“Should we?” I ask.

“Definitely.”

So we set up a phone on her selfie-stick and proceed to make a reenactment of the Holy Grail Black Knight sketch. A part that I’ve been practicing for my whole life. I think we did a really good job, and in a single take too!

The next stop is Alamo Square to view the painted ladies which are a series of buildings painted in various colors. The park at Alamo Square is nice and offers a somewhat-elevated view of the city, and a nice tree that Kate stops to take a photo of. Since it is nearly sunset now we decide to sit down and enjoy the sunset. Kate has brought a blanket so we spread that out on the grass and sit and watch the sun get lower and the people get higher. There were multiple people taking advantage of the legal weed in San Francisco, especially one couple down the hill from us who seemed to always have a column of smoke rising away from them.

Afterwards we are hungry. We drive and park on a road that has lots of activity in the Mission District. We are looking for a restaurant called Lazy Bear, but are saddened to find that they are closed for the July 4 week. We instead find another place called Regoleto Rosticeria (http://www.sfregalito.com/). The host/waiter/server is very friendly, and I think also the owner. The food and margaritas are also very good. I don’t remember exactly what we ordered, but I do remember finishing Kate’s rice and beans. As often happens when you take the “take what the road offers you” approach to living – we ended up having a great time, conversation, and food.

Wednesday, July 3: San Francisco

Vacation day! This day begins with Yoga at the Ferry Building. This will be my first ever Yoga class, and I’m definitely a little nervous. I don’t really know what kind of class it will be. I spent about a half hour last night watching some yoga videos so I at least would sort of know what was going on, but I’ll definitely be the noob. Kate bought me a yoga mat and left it with me at the AirBnb, so I grab that and head out to my trusty bus stop to take the bus down to the Ferry building – I’m getting good at this! This time I even manage to actually pay! I fit right in on the bus, just another San Franciscan with a purple yoga mat.

I arrive at the Ferry building, and after some looking around I see the instructor setting up some stuff in the middle of an outdoor area behind the building. It is already getting hot, and it’s definitely time to take off my hoodie. One thing I do not see anywhere is Kate. I’m starting to get a little worried that I’ve somehow gone to the wrong yoga class when I finally see Kate and her friend walking towards me.

This class uses wireless headphones so you can hear the instructor, and soon we are all following along as the instructor walks us through the lesson. It is an hour long, and by the end I’m definitely starting to feel some burn in my legs on some of the longer crouch/hold types of moves. But soon it is done, and the instructor seems very happy when I tell her that this was my first-ever yoga class. “Well, you did pretty good!” she says as she sends a high-five my way.

Afterwards the three of us head over to Hog Island Oyster Company for lunch. I don’t eat oysters but am able to find a chicken sandwich or something like that on the menu. I also find a Bloody Mary and a glass of the wine that they have ordered for the table! After finishing lunch we go to Humphrey Slocombe for ice cream, and then we are off to Richmond to go to Costco where Kate’s friend needs to stock up on supplies for a housewarming party. One thing Kate and I find is a giant box of snack-size Cheeze-Its that will ride with us in the car for the rest of the trip.

After returning to her friend’s apartment we all change in to swimsuits to do some relaxing at the pool. We alternate between taking dips and laying in the sun enjoying ourselves. We also meet Midori and Jules who gives us some great tips on where to go next, one of which is Healdsburg.

After pool time we change into sportswear and then we’re off to the pickleball club where both Kate and I will play this game for the first time. Since we need a fourth we are matched up with someone named Alan who seems to take this game very seriously, even though we’ve informed him that two of the people he’s playing against have never played before. Even so, Alan insists on firing serves across the court, only a third of which I’m able to return. Afterwards Kate and I would joke that we’re going to start our own pickleball club, and call it “No Alans Pickleball Club”. Kate also had a long conversation with someone else who works in healthcare and was essentially offered a job on the spot.

We return to the apartment to change back into normal clothes, and have some quiche tacos and Truly drinks to get ready to go see the fireworks at the Marina. We find some of Kate’s friend’s friends and we all sit together watching the show. It’s a very good show, with a couple “midway” false endings. But unfortunately for me there is no section of “rolling thunder magnesium bombs” that is always my favorite part of a fireworks show.

After the show we walk back to the apartment, and I order an Uber to take me back to my AirBnb. Tomorrow is July 4th!

Thursday, July 4: San Francisco

Today is a solo day as Kate is helping her friend unpack and finish moving in to her new apartment. I start the day with a walk up to Golden Gate Park to see the Botanical Gardens. I spend a few hours walking around the park and visiting different “parts of the world” and the plants that inhabit them. There is also a pond where there are a bunch of Canada Geese.

After I finish a whole lap around the gardens I go back to the center of the park where there is a large grassy area ringed by trees. I read my book there for a while, laying against my backpack under the shade of one of the trees. Very soon I fall asleep. Upon waking I am hungry, so I leave the park and head up to Arizmendi Bakery where I purchase a Cheese Tomato Focaccia, a loaf of sourdough (that will travel all the way to Seattle uneaten), and a brick of Kerrygold cheese. I bring these back to the Botanical Garden and have a little mini picnic, and another nap.

It’s getting later so I head back to the AirBnB to get ready for the fireworks show tonight. I take my trusty bus down to the Fisherman’s Wharf area, but the roads are blocked off so the bus lets us out a few blocks early and I join the masses of people walking that direction. I text Kate to see if she wants to take the ferry over to see the fireworks, but she says she is cold and doesn’t really want to take the ferry all the way over. I suggest that maybe she’ll be able to see the fireworks from her side anyway since they’re in the middle of the bay.

I walk around the pier and decide I’m hungry but don’t want food from tourist trap so walk back up a few streets. I find a pizza place and order a large “NY Style Cheese Pizza” because I think it will be fast. It is not because they are slammed with orders. I order another drink and then eat some of my pizza.

I walk down the street with my pizza in hand looking for a bar to have a couple gin and tonics in before the show. A couple women are walking the other way and ask me about my pizza and if it’s good. I reply “Meh…it’s pizza.” I finally find a bar and have the beverages I was looking for, and then head out to go back down to the Wharf for the show. I find a spot out on one of the piers and it’s a very good show.

After the show I head back to the same bar I was in earlier for a few more drinks before calling an Uber for a ride back to my AirBnb.

Friday, July 5: San Francisco

I wake up hungry and head to Hamburger Pub for a classic “eggs, bacon, toast, coffee” breakfast and then head back to the AirBnB to wait for Kate to arrive for our Golden Gate Bridge Bike trip! Kate arrives, leaves her car parked in front and we Uber to the bike place. After getting instructions and helmets we head out on our e-bikes towards the Golden Gate Bridge.

The bike up to the bridge is fairly steep and would have been a difficult bike ride if not for the electric motors we had helping us out. It is a (predictably) foggy day and the bridge is shrouded in fog. After crossing the bridge, dodging pedestrians along the way, we stay for a while in the parking lot on the other side where there is a good view of the bridge and a guy selling Mango and Tajin out of the back of his truck. We order one to share but are still unable to finish it, even though it is very good.

We are continuing on further so we point our bikes towards Sausalito. After passing a car wreck it is nearly all downhill to Sausalito – I take this opportunity to “tuck” and see how fast I can get my bike going.

After arriving in Sausalito we are tying our bikes up to a bike rack when a guy from the restaurant’s parking lot comes out and tells us that it’s $4 per bike. I pay with a $10 and he is unable to give me change, but insists that he’ll have my $2 by the time we get back. I am unsure if this entire thing might even be a scam.

We walk across the street to the Sausalito Bakery and Cafe and split a BLT and two Modelos (being careful not to touch the outside tabletop which is insanely hot). We continue the bike ride heading towards Tiberon, our final destination. It’s a nice ride with bike paths nearly all the way. We ride by the houseboats, a small marina, a “spooky house” where Kate also “Annihilates” her ankle on her bike somehow.

Eventually we make it to Tiberon and meet Kate’s friend and her friend’s mother for lunch. We have to eat quick however because the last ferry leaves in 40 minutes or so. After eating we have to leave before the check comes, so we make plans to Venmo Kate’s friend whatever we owe her and have to run to catch the ferry before it leaves. We make it just in time.

We relax on the upper deck for a while when one of the ferry workers comes up and starts giving a confusing speech about how we’re going to get our bikes off: “Ok…so the bikes….on the first level, they need to go to the second level, so there will be a ramp. But the passengers will be getting off that side too, so your bikes, we’ll deploy a platform for you to push your bikes up – but it would be best if you stay out of the way. Again, this will be happening on the second level.” We are very confused and decide to head down to the second floor to see whats up.

The ferry docks at Fisherman’s Wharf and we grab our bikes (after pushing them up the ramp), and ride them back to the Bike Rental place with 30 minutes to spare!

Afterwards we walk along East Harbor Marina checking out the boats and chatting. After a while we decide it’s time to get moving again, so we Uber back to my AirBnB where Kate’s car is, and drive to Healdsburg where we stay at the “7-star” Fairview Motel which somehow still costs $200 a night!

Saturday, July 6: Healdsburg

We awake in Healdsburg in the heart of wine country. For breakfast we head to Parish where I got talked into another California attempt at Brisket, this time in the form of a breakfast hash and grits, it’s actually pretty good, and also my first time eating grits!

Afterwards we walk around the town a bit, visit an art gallery and another woman who had her own studio above it. And also went to Black Oak Coffee Roasters for Hibiscus and Earl Grey infusion teas.

We reserve a room at the Harmon House because it’s local and walkable in the downtown center of Healdsburg. Then it’s off to Francis Ford Coppola Vineyard where we have a flight of white wine and the bartender Dan is a great story teller. He tells us many stories of his life and that he’ll also be in Healdsburg tonight a “a local dive bar” if we are looking for somewhere to go. We end up buying two of the wines from the flight that we liked and later realize that Dan didn’t charge us for the flight. We’re unsure if it was an accident or if maybe they don’t charge you for the flight if you buy the wines.

Afterwards we head back to Healdsburg (with the wrong GPS coordinates at first) and check into Harmon house. After dropping our bags off we head back out to go have dinner at Bravos Tapas bar. We order multiple things all of which are fantastic, I remember some deep fried chicken, and a steak one.

Afterwards we go find “John and Zekes” for drinks because we told Dan we’d meet him there. It is as advertised, a local dive bar with regulars sitting in their normal seats. We have a couple drinks there and then head out to go explore more. We find an ice cream shop, and then go to Spoon Bar where Kate orders me a flight of gins. The results were:

• Gray Whale, from California, sorry, you lose.
• Barr Hill (from Vermont) and Re:Find (from Cali) were split between our favorites (but I forget which one was which).

After we head back to the hotel and do some sketching in the sketch books, take showers, and get ready for our next drive tomorrow.

Sunday, July 7: Healdsburg > Fort Bragg > Garberville > Fernbridge > Eureka > Jacksonville

Today will be a big driving day with multiple stops. We start with breakfast at the hotel – or rather the hotel next door which is partnered with our hotel and also seems to be where everything is. Maybe we should have stayed there instead.

The drive north from Healdsburg to Mendicino is full of twists and turns that Kate does not like. I am driving for this portion and do my best to not make too abrupt of turns, but switchbacks are what they are, and there is only so much you can do to smooth them out.

For a portion of the drive we go through a forest grove of (cedar?) trees. It is very pretty and relaxing, but we both also think they have a weird smell, like old gym socks or something.

We finally get to Mendicino which is a small seaside town that has a very New England feel. We walk through some shops full of odds and ends, including one where I find a very comfy blanket that I thought was made of wool, but it turns out was 60% acrylic — I don’t have room to bring a blanket back with me anyway.

We grab lunch at “Mendicino Cafe” more to use their bathroom than because we’re hungry. On the way out we hear someone say: “Oh do you want to have lunch at the Mendicino Cafe or the good place?” — wups! I guess we chose wrong.

We get back in the car and head to “Glass Beach” in Fort Bragg. The land of not so much sea glass but still a cool spot. We do find a few pieces of sea glass, but it is pretty much picked over of all big pieces.

We hit the road again and encounter more winding roads (Kate is driving this section and is very proud of herself when she makes it all the way through them). We stop at the Gerberville Legend of Bigfoot Kitch Store where we shop but do not buy anything, we do take a picture with Smokey the Bear outside though.

Further on in the drive we are hunting for a Walmart and take one exit. There is no Walmart but there is a cool storefront that we take a video of. Another place we stop is “Field’s Landing” where we find ourselves at a boat launch with some people flying kites, and a very rundown-looking trailer with an equally rundown-looking man standing on its stairs. On the way out we notice that there is a single bar in this entire town and we’re pretty sure that’s where everyone goes, every night.

We finally find a Walmart in Eureka but this is not a normal Wall-Mart. It seems the parking lot and insides are filled with “Night People”. Both Kate and I are getting bad vibes from this place, so we quickly grab some groceries for dinner tonight, I need a beard trimming kit so I grab one of those (after the smelliest, roundest, neck-beard of a store-hand unlocked the cabinet while Kate hid an aisle away unable to handle the aroma) and then we fast-walk back to the car and GTFO of Eureka.

We finally arrive in Jaksonville which thankfully appears to be a very nice town. We check in to the house, do some laundry, take showers, cook the ramen noodles we bought in Walmart, watch a little TV and then go to sleep. Tried to make Kate watch the Quiet Place claiming, “It’s a good movie to sleep to because they have to stay silent or else they die”… Kate: !!!!????

Monday, July 8: Jacksonville

It is Monday again and I need to work. In what has become standard practice, I work as long as I can in the AirBnB and then transfer to a coffee shop for the remainder. I work in the Ceberus Cafe for a while and then later on Kate texts me that she found a better one called “Goodbean” (The employees at Ceberus didn’t tell us about Goodbean when we asked if there was any other coffee shops to work in). We also have sandwiches at Goodbean, and both agree that the air in Goodbean is smokey and smells like burnt spices from the grill station.

Afterwards we shop around a little bit, looking for a sweater for me before heading out in the car again to make the final drive up to Portland.

We arrive in Portland around dinner time, so after getting settled in to our new AirBnB we head out to walk around the local area looking for some food and doing a little orienteering. We find a place called “Burma Joy” which serves Burmese food. They also had a cool “robot waiter” that brought our food out and then the “real waiter” actually served it to us.

We are tired from the drive, so we had back to the AirBnB where we both fall asleep watching Dr. Who.

Tuesday, July 9th: Portland

My first day in Portland starts with work. But we do go out to lunch at West Coast Bento which is run by a guy named Dan. The food is “ok”, and I drop one of my steak skewers on the ground by accident. I go back to the house to finish work and Kate goes off exploring.

After I am off work we head out with the primary mission being to go to Powell’s Book Store. Along the way we stop in at a CVS so I can buy some tweezers and nail clippers (since forgetting to grab at the Eureka Walmart due to safety concerns), and we make a pit stop in Le Labo fragrance store and both take the offer to wash our hands with nice-smelling soap (Kate also samples some of the fragrances themselves). Kate’s favorite lotion there is Rose 31 (but not the perfume- it smells strongly of cumin on her skin per her.)

We finally make it to Powell’s Book store and wander around, looking at different sections and even do a tour of the Rare Book Collection room.

After leaving the book store we go back out wandering, stop in one store to ask if they have any sweaters, they give us a strange look and say “No, not too many sweaters in stock this time of year.” At this point in time, Portland was having a major heatwave in the triple digits.

We continue the walk and find a square filled with food trucks. We’re both hungry so we head in to check it out and both decide on the Shwarma truck. There is a also a brewery truck, so I grab a beer while we wait.

Afterwards it’s time for dessert and we head to Voodoo Donuts and purchase a few donuts, including the “Homer” which is a re-creation of the pink Homer doughnut with sprinkles.

We decide to head back to the rental and are trying to figure out how to get to the bus line that we think will get us there. We walk through a film crew who is filming an Amazon show called “Criminal” that is supposed to be released within a year.

The further we walk the more sketchy the people are becoming, more and more “night people”. I suggest that maybe we should get an Uber instead and Kate heartily agrees saying something like, “I was hoping you would suggest that.” The Uber driver is from Hawaii and we have a nice conversation with him about Portland and the differences between Portland and Hawaii.

We get back, try to watch Dr. Who and predictably fall asleep.

Wednesday, July 10: Portland

I work in the morning and Kate goes off exploring for a while. After work we head to the Rose Garden which is a large garden filled with many terraces and beds full of roses. We tour around the gardens, smelling different roses trying to find the most fragrant ones. Afterwards we walk over to the accompanying Japanese Garden and pay the $21 entry fee, even though they are only open for another hour and a half or so. While the Japanese Garden is interesting, we both agree that it may not be worth the $21 entry fee.

Afterwards we are hungry (even though I had a hot dog at the rose gardens), so we drive over to a riverwalk area that Kate had been to before. However, much like many of the places in Portland that we have visited, it seems a little “off”. Some of the store fronts are unoccupied, and there are not very many people eating. We end up at Riverside Taproom where we get a pizza and some beverages.

We head back to the AirBnB to again try to watch Dr. Who, and again we both fall asleep.

Thursday, July 11: Portland > Astoria

Today is a checkout / driving day. So we do the standard program where I work in the morning up until checkout time, and then move to a coffee shop for the afternoon portion. In this case it is Dragonfly Coffee House which sounds like something out of Lord of Rings. I work there a while until Kate returns and then we go across the street to Cha Cha Cha Taqueria for lunch and where I also work a bit more. This is also where we see a homeless guy smacking two sticks together, and every time he sees a white van go by says something that sounds like “puff puff”. Oh dude…whatever.

Once I hit my hours we walk back to the car and begin the drive to Astoria. While stopping for gas on this portion of the trip I notice a business across the street called “Hi-School Pharmacy” – I wonder to myself if that is a “special” kind of pharmacy.

When we arrive in Astoria we see a cool-looking wharf / pier combo. You can drive out across the wooden pier road and there are a few shops and restaurants – this part freaks Kate out but we make it, park and wander around for a while. We end up at the restaurant where we order the chicken wings, I have a gin beverage, and Kate orders a Cider. Much like another cider she ordered somewhere earlier in the trip, she decides she doesn’t really like it and doesn’t want to finish it. This would become sort of a running gag in the trip and would happen at least one more time.

We check into the Elliot hotel, drop our bags, and then head out for a walk around the town. We hear some live music coming through the air and follow it to a place called Winekraft. We meet a couple locals “Rich” and “Other Guy” who neither of us can remember his name later. We have a good conversation with them about music, mostly around prog-rock and “Other Guy” gives us a list of bands to check out – one of which is “Opeth” that I am familiar with but Kate is not. We add Opeth and a couple other bands to the Spotify playlist.

We leave the wine bar to go get food which ends up being at Astoria Brewing where I had a tall G&T and a chicken salad. On the walk back to the hotel we walk by a place called The Chart Room and decide to head in for another drink or two. We talk with the bartender a while, and he talks us out of playing Keno saying “If you want to lose money you can just give me $10 instead.” Kate also ordered another cider here but did not finish it.

Friday, July 12: Astoria > Seattle

I wake up for a 7:30am meeting only to find it was cancelled. I work from the hotel room until checkout, and then move to the Buoy Beer Company for lunch and more working. While I work Kate works on her journal. Eventually she leaves to go walk around and I stay longer to finish up work.

When I finally am done with work I take my laptop back to the car, and then begin my own self-guided tour. At one place I am walking down the sidewalk that parallels the trolley tracks when I hear the trolley sound its horn. I turn round to see that the trolley has stopped because there is a car parked too far out towards the tracks and the trolley cannot get by. I decide that this might be good entertainment so I get an ice cream from the shop next door and go back outside to watch this event unfold. Kate arrives and we both talk to a lady who tells us about her favorite Seattle things, one of which includes the Kurt Cobain bench — added to list. She’s a cool lady you’d love to have a beer with and hear all the stories of the town which I’m sure she’d give up if fed a couple drinks. Eventually a disgruntled-looking man comes out of the bar that is on the corner and moves his car further into the parking spot.

Kate and I go back to the car and drive to the Astoria Column. – Kate is afraid on the way up the stairs in the inside and finds a kindred spirit who is also taking breaks on the landings in the tower’s spiral staircase. He’s winded while she is scared, but they are both also determined to make it to the top. 120 feet up the pamphlet says. I take a look over the side at the top and get a little woozy myself, maybe I’m not as unafraid of heights as I used to be! When leaving the column to begin our drive to the next place we notice that the ticket for the column says it is good for 90 days or something – we joke that everyone should give their ticket to the next person you see coming up and almost nobody would need to buy a ticket.

We drive across the bridge to Cape Disappointment and are in Washington State! We made it! After buying a car pass in the parking lot of the park, we begin the hike to the old lighthouse. Along the way there is a detour to something called “Pirate’s Cove”. It is a very serene cove that is probably more impressive in beauty than the lighthouse. After checking that out we continue on to the actual lighthouse. It is rundown but does still house a lookout station that I guess Coasties still use to watch the water and sound the alert if they see vessels in distress in the Columbia river.

On the hike back we are treated with a Doe deer that is walking up the road towards us. We stop so as to not frighten her and watch as she carefully makes her way towards and then past us.

There is another beach in this park that I want to check out, Kate is hesitant at first but I insist that it’s very close and we need to at least check it out. We stop at the Ranger Station and confirm that we can go that way, and that there is no other exit north to Seattle. It turns out that it was a really good idea because the beach is nearly deserted, and it is very windy which has sculpted the black and grey sand into very intricate and otherworldly-looking formations. As we usually do, we end up walking nearly the entire length of the beach – towards the North Head Lighthouse, looking for rocks, taking pictures of interesting seaweed, and just enjoying walking along the water and waves.

After the beach walk we head back to the car and then drive out of the park to Ilwaco where we find a marina filled with fishing boats, both on land and in the water. After a survey of the waterfront we end up in Salt Pub where we get some food — another burger for me and a tuna melt for Kate.

After dinner it is a long drive to Seattle where Kate drove half and then I took over. She asked what music to play while I was driving and I requested Matt Harlan even though it’s chill music it’s also good driving music.

We get to the place we’re staying one night in Seattle, we have to wave spiders out of the way but the house is pretty nice, with a little view of the Elliot Bay. We are too tired to anything but go to sleep.

Saturday, July 13: Seattle > Seattle

Seattle to Seattle? Yup. Just a one-night hop to our next place. We check out of the AirBnB after taking one last peek at the water view. I am in the driver seat since I was last to drive last night. Our plan is to go on the ferry over to Bainbridge island, but first we need to find a place to park. We drive towards our next AirBnB hoping to find parking but there’s nothing but 2 hour parking. Up one road, down the next — two hour parking everywhere. We find a garage and pull in, but it’s retail businesses only. No go. We plot a course for the Ferry terminal and decide to park in a garage at Columbia & 1st street. $30 but we’re out of options. We go to Ferry terminal and buy tickets – they tell us about how the other ferry is out of service so it’s a reduced schedule. While walking down the sidewalk waiting for our ferry departure time we realize that these tickets to Bainbridge would be better used tomorrow instead of today at 2pm – we want to have enough time to see everything on Bainbridge. So we decide to go in Sunday instead. It means no Farmer’s Market, but we’ll have more time on the island. Plan made.

We walk up to Pier 70 for a pitcher of Sangria, then walk our way back along the waterfront to Columbia and 1st to the car.

It’s now late enough that we can check in to our next AirBnB. We open the door and are greeted by a wicked hot interior, even though the AC is running it seems to be frozen up. There are thankfully mobile AC units in our rooms. So we leave those running and hope that the house will naturally cool off overnight, and we can try the AC again tomorrow. We are hungry so we decide to walk down the street to see if we can find some food.

We find a place called “Herb and Bitter” and I had Steak Frites and Kate had Gnocchi. Gnocchi? You know you don’t like that!

After dinner we stop at a bar for beverages where I sampled a lot of gin drinks off of their special menu. Of course when the bartender asked me about my first drink at first I said “Oh, yeah! It’s great!” – but after another drink I confessed to the bartender that I really didn’t like the drink and I thought it tasted like a pre-made margarita mix. It turned out to be a good thing because he brought out the black limes that they made themselves and crushed one up for us to smell.

Sunday, July 14: Seattle > Bainbridge > Seattle

This was a much better plan than trying to go to Bainbridge at the end of the day yesterday. We get an Uber down to the Ferry terminal and are soon on the ferry over to Bainbridge Island. I am unable to resit a photo of the “thrusters” with the Seattle skyline fading away in the background.

It is still late morning when we arrive, and many places are not open yet. We stop in at Sauce Nouvelle which is a highly-rated sandwich shop. The plan is to buy a couple sandwiches here and then find a nice place by the water to have a little lunch picnic.

We find our lunch spot while walking and eat our sandwiches at some tables at the Winslow Wharf Marina. The people behind us are having an in-depth discussion about different accents in different parts of the country. With one woman remarking how “when you’re from Tennessee you’re not tired, you’re ‘tahrd’.” Those same people showed me where the garbage was which took some finding, and when I mentioned that the sign said “Marina guests only”, they said “It’s OK, we’ll vouch for you!”

Afterwards we continue our walk around downtown Bainbridge and find ourselves in a place called “Seabird”. It’s an oyster restaurant, but we’re hoping that they also might have some Bloody Marys. “Oh, hey, oyster bars always have great Bloody Marys, right?” Nope. But it’s ok, because they have other drinks. the one we ordered was bitter at first, but got better as the ice melted. We said to ourselves the drink should be called the “Meh”, because it’s too bitter at first but after some ice melt it’s not so bad.

Then we figure it’s time to get back towards the ferry – are these tickets round trip? Hmmm….we don’t know. We huff it to the ferry terminal and buy new passenger tickets for $10 each, but then meet a couple in line who let us know “Oh yeah man, you don’t need a ticket going this way, you just walk on!” Seriously? Just walk on? Oh well, so we gave our tickets to them since they also told us about the cool San Juan Islands ferry. C’est la vie!

Next stop the Center for Wooden Boats! We arrive in our Uber and get the lowdown – there’s a street party going on, you can go there and get food, but the last boat we rent is close to when we’re wanting to go. So we go get some Aqua Fresca, braving the loud DJ music at both ends, and then head down to the docks. We rent a rowboat and get head out onto Lake Union. Down to the houseboats and then further to the Gas Works where Kate took over and rowed all the way back to the houseboats (albeit in a somewhat zig-zag line). We drop off our boat (after many compliments from the dockhand at my amazing ability to row compared to some customers). Not gonna lie, that made me feel pretty nice. Who doesn’t like a compliment?

All that rowing has worked up an appetite, so we grab an Uber to a Chinese Restaurant but along the way talk to the driver who clearly knows better spots than we do. “No…I never go there….if I want Chinese food I go to Chinatown.” You are correct man…send us there instead! While we are headed towards Chinatown the driver stops at a light and says “Oh hey, this place is supposed to be great – there’s always a line out the door. You want to go in here? “Sure!”, we say. We ask him to join us, and although it seems like he wants to but he does not.

The place is called Chengdu Memory and it is my first time having hot pot! I suck at chopsticks but the food is amazing. We order beef and mushroom base broth, and then beef, glass noodles, dumplings, bok choy, as well as load up on toppings like green onions, chili pepper paste, and garlic.

Monday, July 15: Seattle

It’s Monday again which means it’s a work day. Kate makes a great breakfast of eggs, pork belly bacon, and toast. After work is finished we take an Uber down to Pioneer Square to go on the underground tour. On the tour we learn:

• That this area of Seattle was built Sawdust
• The phrase “The aroma of Tacoma”
• That Thomas Crapper invented the toilet – which I knew of but always also thought was urban legend.

After the tour we head over to the “Gum Wall” which is this section of alleyway where thousands and thousands of people have stuck their gum to the wall, windows, pipes, any exposed surface. We also swung by an outdoor market that sells flowers in the mornings, but since it was later there were no flowers left.

We continue our walk and end up at the Space Needle. We contemplate going up to the top, but it is expensive and something that both of us have done before, so we decide to skip it and find some food somewhere instead. We find a place that sounds cool called La Fotana – but when walking in the host (or maybe owner) said to us, “I’m sorry but my chef was just rushed to the hospital, so we are not serving dinner tonight.” He gives us the name of another place to try called Limencello.

We walk the short way to Limencello where we both have ravioli (mushroom and beef I think), and then two glasses of CHILLED Limoncello! My notes say that the Argentinian waitress said she would also like to try it with ice, but Kate says that she insisted we should only drink it warm, and without ice. I think at first the waitress sounded like she didn’t understand why we would order it chilled, but after we ordered our second round she decided there might be something to this chilled variety.

Tuesday, July 16: Seattle

The trip is rapidly coming to a close. Today will be our last full day in Seattle, and I have to fly home tomorrow while Kate will continue the road trip up into Canada. I am working when Kate arrives back from an excursion with a bag of Victrolla coffee beans for me to take home! She also gives me a cardamom coffee that she didn’t like and gives it to me. I think it tastes good bit also cannot taste the cardamom too much.

Kate makes a lunch of salad and pork belly that sets off the smoke alarm, but that’s ok, that’s the price to pay for fried pork belly! She says she doesn’t like the fried pork belly and that it’s not as good as bacon. I say I think with a bit of salt it would taste just like bacon. She says salt is bad for you, and I say salt is why bacon tastes so good and is also bad for you.

Then it’s back into Kate’s car Trusty Trudy to go for a drive to go see Kurt Cobain’s bench. It is a normal park bench, but covered in notes and small “gifts” that people leave on the bench to remember Kurt Cobain.

Afterwards we go to Walrus and the Carpenter for oysters. Sweet – there’s no “non-seafood” items on the menu! I have bread and a gin drink, Kate orders 6 oysters, and then six more but accidentally orders two of the “Baywater” oysters again that it turns out was one of the ones she didn’t like.

We head out and drive down the road more to a marina. We walk the waterfront, laugh about boats we wish we did or did not own, and then head back to the car after deciding to not eat at the Little Coney hot dog stand. A little further drive and there is a parking lot for a public beach. We walk through the trees where there are some teenagers and other people of the “hippy variety” doing “hippy things”. We sit in the sand for a while, do some rock hunting and throwing, and then go back to the car to see about getting something to eat.

We drive up the road a ways and end up at a place called Flint Creek Cattle Co where we had:

• Andrew: Lamb Sausage & a G&T
• Kate: Tuna Tar Tar

Then it’s back to the AirBnB where we did laundry, compared journal notes to get both of our journals in sync, and finished the last of the wine.

Wednesday, July 17

I walk down to a coffee shop for an early morning Cafe Late and then work the morning hours until we have to check out of the house. We (reluctantly) pack up the car and Kate drives me to the airport where we say our goodbyes, but are also looking forward to seeing each other again at the family reunion we’re having in Maine which is only a week and a half away! I work more hours in the airport and then finally board the plane back home.