Dear Man of My Dreams,

You are running late and I am concerned. (its ok though, I'm usually late to everything). My history proves that men are terrible communicators...so I will spell it out for you, I want you to sweep me off my feet! Please roll into my life like a tornado and destroy all this dating game crap! I'm terrible at dating. Mostly because I don't trust men. I think you could change that, Man of My Dreams. If you were to show me that I was the only girl in the world you wanted, that I was one of a kind, irreplaceable. Then I might open up to you. I'm ready to stop being complicated and give my heart away. But, I'd have to trust you to do that.
I want you to be intelligent...hold a conversation with me for hours, let me know exactly what's going on in your head. I'm no mind-reader, and quite naive at times. I want you to plan a date, be creative, build me a cake or something. I want you to be a sweet person. Sweet to me, sweet to your mother, sweet to strangers. I want you to travel with me. I want us to explore the world together, sleep in tents, make friends on trains. I want us to have adventure, grow old together, and sit nestled in our rockers telling all of our stories with not a sight left on Earth to see. I want you to think deeper than your daily routine. I want you to pray with me. I want you to accept things when they come as part of God's design. I can be an intense, panicky, firecracker...so I'll need you to be laid-back, patient and content. I want you to open my eyes to new things, teach me, make me try things I don't like. You don't have to be athletic, just willing to hike and play and swim in the ocean. Oh, and can you make me laugh? I promise I won't give a damn about your looks if you can make me laugh.
I'm hoping you're a t-shirt and jeans guy. I hate shopping, so please don't pressure me into being one of those girls. And, apparently I like tattoos...so bonus points if you have some good ones!

Eagerly awaiting,
Me

Portland, OR -- Seattle, WA

And now for the big finale!!! In Portland we stayed with our new friend Linny! Isn't she cute? We had never met her, BUT she was a good friend of Shasta's friend Derrek. And she was sweet enough to let us sleep in her apartment for like 4 nights I think! We had so much fun with her when she didn't have to work. Our first stop the night we got into Portland was the Horse Brass Pub. Our Portland stop was partially an homage to our author hero, Donald Miller. I've mentioned him in past posts because I love his books, and they have especially had a profound effect on me on each of my major moves. I read Blue Like Jazz when I moved from Abilene to Dallas...and Through Painted Deserts as I acclimated to Australia. We went to his favorite pub, coffee shop, and bookstore...but never saw him. :(
Another random connection, was that of Ben! He was great! He hung out with us every night and showed us the whole city top to bottom. We were so appreciative of he and Linny.
We ate breakfast one day at this place called "Byways". Let me tell you something. DO NOT GET the biscuits and gravy there. Those people brought me a biscuit the size of a loaf of bread and northern people don't know how to make gravy. I'm preeetty sure that place ruined that particular meal for me forever. I MIGHT still be able to eat my mom's version. But we'll see...hold on I'm gonna puke...

Moving on. We climbed to the top of Multnomah Falls and played around. We went to the Ski Bowl just outside of Mt.Hood where I got to ride my first Alpine slide and jump on my first trampoline with a HARNESS. The harness is key folks. Takes away all the worry, and should they ever allow harnesses to accompany the Olympic trampoline...you can be sure I will do our country proud.
We ate at Voodoo donuts. Its a famous donut place because they have all these CRAZY flavors, like adding cereal on the tops, or egg and bacon. They were really good but what was interesting is that this place is the size of a closet. Seriously. And its in the ghetto where all the homeless people come to sit through Swahili lessons given by one of the workers in order to get a free donut. Crazy.

SEATTLE. We stayed with Hollee's uncle and his family was sooo wonderful. Especially his wife TeShawna. I want her to be my new best friend. They had 3 cute little girls all under the age of 7...which was perfect since there was 3 of us, we were totally entertained. Uncle Daron had just gotten back from Alaska with 60lbs. of Salmon he had caught. They grilled some of that for us on our first night and I almost licked my plate. So good.
We saw all the sights on our few days there: Space Needle, Original Starbucks, Pikes Place, Seattle Library. That is one cool city. Bigger, and more industrial than Portland. Portland was my favorite. I'd move there just second to Hermosa Beach if I was going to live outside of Texas. Sorry this post is so late and given under retrospect...I've been uber busy with my new Teaching job. Which I LOVE, but I'm exhausted. You can expect more traveling to come on my school holidays!!!!!! Stay tuned!

Napa Valley -- Eugene, OR

Well, blogs are stupid and its not letting me upload anymore pictures right now, so I guess this is it.
Where were we? Ah, yes. We woke up in Napa Valley and were ready to hit the tastings! I called my bro to find out the choicest locations and to my dismay he actually prefers the Sinoma Valley (which we drove through the night before in a furry to get out of San Fran). He also told me about the Rutherford Vineyards. "Rutherford" is my mother's maiden name so I was hoping for a discount with my 'hey cousin' jokes. But, those jokes were not well received by the snobby Napa Valley people. We had our wine tasting at the Rutherford Ranch and I got to send my mom some Savignon Blanc...only to find out she already had a bottle, unopened, from my brother! You better open your present from ME mom!

Anyways, then we drove to Shasta county to spend the night. We passed several mailboxes lined with hand-made cardboard signs that read, "Thank you, Firefighters". We actually put up our borrowed tent and stayed the night at a campsite on the ever-so-smoky, Whiskeytown Lake. Even though the air wasn't clear, we figured it would be ok for one night. It looks like it would have been a really pretty area. We missed seeing Mt. Shasta since we left when we woke up the next morning. Our next stop was the Redwood Forest in Eureka, CA. Let me tell you, they were unbelievable. My new favorite tree, the Redwood. Though I am partial to the Magnolia and the Willow, Redwood are just amazing. SO tall and big and old. Did you know that most of the earth was covered with Redwoods before the ice age? I saw a tree lying on its side that had been well preserved and the sign said that it was 3,000 years old! Thats before Jesus!

That night we drove to Medford and camped again at the nearby KOA. Just to be clear, KOA is not a real campsite. Its sort of like someones back yard that they cram a lot of people in and charge a price cheaper than hostels. You are practically on top of your neighbors. That was such a cold night! The next day we packed up and headed for Crater Lake. (see muscle photo above). Crater Lake was AMAZING. Its a volcano that imploded upon itself and eventually filled up with rain and snow. It is almost 2,000 ft. deep. Doesnt that sound creepy? It's the second deepest lake in the whole world and a must-see on the West coast. It's the most beautiful blue! We got a couple of out-of-shape-affirming hikes there and some great views. After Crater Lake, onto Eugene, Oregon.

We found a hostel on the internet that was called something like, "International Hostel in Eugene". I am a member of "Youth Hostels International" so I figured my discount would work at this place. When we rolled up to it we found that is was some really cool old house from the 1800's, owned by a hippie named Brody that wanted to have a chat before he gave us a room. It was great though, because we ended up getting our own room with a double and twin bed for $55. Less than $20/person is hard to beat without sleeping in a tent so we were grateful.
With our bellies full of Quiznos and our bodies worn from hiking, we slept like babies.

To be cont.

San Diego--San Francisco

It was so much easier to journal in Australia. We had a computer handy daily, and down time to funnel our thoughts. The West Coast Tour 2k8, awesome as it was, went 90 mph!!! So I'm not promising my best journal entries from this trip, due to the recapping I'm undergoing in my own head. Apologies.

To pick up where we left off. I came home from Alaska on a Monday, worked 2 shifts at the Blue Goose, and left Wednesday night for San Diego. Probably not one of my better ideas, I was exhausted. But worth every minute in order to complete both trips. We flew into San Diego on July 16th, where we stayed with my old friend, Paul. This guy is wonderful. He shares an apartment downtown and gave us girls a key to his place AND his room! He slept on the couch and we took over his room for 2 nights/2 days. What a sweetheart! In that time span we went to the San Diego zoo...(and while great, doesn't compare to the interactive Steve Irwin, you don't need to try any other zoo's after the Steve Irwin)...went for a walk past the Padres stadium and down to the water with Paul, and had a night walk down the pier of Ocean Beach.

We got breakfast everyday at this great little fair-trade coffee shop called Java Jones. Prices were great, people were great, food was great. I try to go to the mom and pop stores when possible since it was Starbucks who put my high school job out of business. I should tell you about my $10/day plan. I would try to spend no more than $10/day on food on this trip, just to see if it would be possible. Now, the rules are: 1. This only applies to food/drink. 2. This does not include tips (hard-working waiters should not be submitted to my sick game) 3. Overflows are allowed--ex. I only spend $6 one day, then I may spend $14 the next. You'd be surprised. And something that was blatantly obvious to me for the first time...America's portions are OUTRAGEOUS. PLEEEEASE America. I would much rather have a smaller portion and be able to clean my plate than you giving me "All I can eat" for $7.99. They need to change it to "All I SHOULD eat" and lower the price a little. And you waiters out there...don't get annoyed when Shasta and I want to split something. You'll still get your tip because YES I realize that even though we only got one meal...we are taking up TWO seats. Don't you worry. I feel the need to clean my plate. Its how I was raised. And its a great practice since we are such a wasteful, obese, gluttonous nation. The only problem comes when Im sick of pizza and want some vegetables, therefore have to order my own portion.

From S.D. we drove to Hermosa beach and stayed with TOBY AND JANE!!! I can't express my love for this couple. Jane is one of my best friends in the whole world and Toby is always entertaining. They even talked us into staying an extra night or two. Hermosa was still probably my favorite part of the trip. We grilled burgers, played volleyball, mastered rockband, splashed in the frigid ocean...(forced by toby)...it was all just so relaxed. Oh and mom!...Kellie Decker and her mom came over for dinner on our last night so I got to catch up with them!

Jane let us borrow their 4 person tent, so we packed it up and were on our way after a few days. We drove up the 1, which is beautiful and the best way to see the West Coast. Stopped at the Hearst Castle...you know, the newspaperman?...it was very big and would have loved to take a tour...but that would have been $75 and half/day and we had a hostel reservation in Pescadero that night. A co-worker had told me the tale of how her and her husband actually stayed INSIDE the lighthouse. And i know i didn't hear her wrong because I thought was the coolest thing and even asked, "So your bunk is INSIDE the lighthouse?". This was not the case when we got there. It was just a cabin next door. But no big deal, only $20/night and they had a much needed hot tub. It gets very cold on the coast at night you see. This was also one of my favorite nights. The girls and i went and got some coffee that night and sat outside with our blankets, drinking and talking...which eventually led to more spiritual conversation...which eventually led to shasta's interesting thought. As we watched the waves roll in and out, she noted how they never stop moving, even when the sea is calm, and how it could be compared to God's breathing...all over the Earth...outstretched to every land...constant and present.

He made something else beautiful too that everyone should see. BIG SUR (as seen above). It felt like I was driving through another country and at one point while driving, there was an eagle that soared alongside us for a few seconds...literally about 5 feet from our car. Coolest thing ever!

No segway appropriate here because the next day was San Francisco and we did NOT like it. To me, after a while, a big city is just a city. They all have Gaps, and wallgreens, and traffic and hubub. Everyone I know loves San Francisco but here is what I discovered. To love San Francisco you either need to know a local, or have money. We had neither so this is how our day went. We drove in, got some breakfast, everything going good.Then we try to find the visitors center, which is located in the heart of down town. It costs at least $20 to park anywhere, food was expensive, there are NO left turns, and nobody could tell me where to park if we wanted to use the buses for the day. We finally drove over to the bridge and walked it. You can see how windy it was (above). Drove to an overlook where we saw signs for another visitors center that soon became a joke when the signs disappeared after a while. Finally found some free parking in a residential area and walked to the Fishermans Wharf, saw the sea lions on Pier 39, the Ghiradelli shop where they make chocolate. We stopped in an Irish pub to have a beer because tensions were high, it was evening by this time and we were all frustrated. Call it pms if you will, but it was not our best day.

That night we were supposed to stay with a couch surfer, which we met at a coffee place at 10pm. This guy and a zillion references so I thought he'd be ok for one night. When we met him he was completely uninterested in us and a little bit rude. So we told him we were going to get dinner and we'd be back later. We drove around, decided not to spend another cent in that city and parked for some pb sandwiches from our snack bag. At one point Shasta says, "Can I be honest? Im just ready to get out of San Fran."...she meant the next morning, but I said..."ya me too, lets go!"...and Alayna said, "I'm totally awake to drive, lets get outta here!". So just like that, we drove to Napa Valley and actually spent money on a hotel. Ironic because the whole couch surfing thing was supposed to save us from spending ANYthing. But it was worth it to listen to our intuition that night. The date at this point is July 23rd.

...to be continued...