Road Trip recap

Thank you, Phoenica Zhang, for being far more creative than I.

Road Trip.The Monterey Peninsula: May 21/22

After staying the night on the 20th at a friend’s apartment in Davis (thanks again, Mo, for the free cookies and needed bestie catch-up time), we finally made it back home (for me, at least). Without stopping, I decided to take advantage of a brief respite from the fog and drive Jordan and Phoenica down to the Bixby Bridge, just to get that typical tourist view of scenic Highway 1. The sunshine lit up the ocean just like I wanted it to, but the wind made things a little precarious as we stood on a cliff for a photo-op. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering Ocean Avenue, driving along Scenic, hitting up the free samples of olive oil and kettle corn at the Farmer’s Market, experiencing the joys of running into old friends from high school (small towns ftw), and just sitting on a couch and watching TV for a few hours. In the morning, we made our way to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I’ve never been there with tourists before, which forced me to go slowly and actually look carefully at all the exhibits—and I guess I kind of understand why it’s such a big deal. That place is like a wonderland of magical sea creatures. I mean, where else can you touch a bat ray? Or see sardines swarm up in a giant shimmering cloud, knocking tuna out of their way just by the force of their synchronized circular swimming? Or watch sea otters perform tricks? It was nice getting the chance to be a tourist in my own hometown.

And so the road trip ended, with a brief stop for frozen yogurt and a quick goodbye at the airport. Until spring semester, my friends. Twas an incredible start to an adventurous summer.

Road Trip: Days 9/10

(Photos 3 & 4 courtesy of Phoenica Zhang. She so talentedd)

Road Trip.Silver Falls: May 19

The campsite at Silver Falls, Oregon, was the exact opposite from our secluded haven in Mendocino. Where Russian Gulch was silent and empty, Silver Falls stuck us right between two loud and large families. Where Russian Gulch’s bathrooms gave us the barest of necessities, but with plenty of spiders, Silver Falls gave us hot water, automatic sinks, and no bugs to speak of. We hiked for a few hours in the late afternoon and saw about 4 of the park’s 12 waterfalls, even getting to walk through the cavern behind two of them. Jordan and Anand made the fine choice of walking through the water at the base of Double Falls in attempts to stick their head under it (?), but were essentially screaming in pain from the cold after just a few steps in. Phoenica and I chose to stay on shore…and take a video. After yet another meal of goldfish and cheese sandwiches, and many a peanut butter s’more, we fell asleep spooning (4 in a 3-man tent) while we listened to the 7th Harry Potter. Jim Dale is pretty effective at drowning out crying babies and loud, drunk old women.

Road Trip: Day 7

(Photos, once again, courtesy of Phoenica Zhang.)

Road Trip.Vancouver: May 17/18

We left Seattle midmorning to start the two and a half hour drive to Vancouver, B.C. But we didn’t go straight to the city—instead, we drove north to the ferry station at Horseshoe Bay, waiting in the chilling rain for a boat to Bowen Island, about a 10 minute ride from the mainland. We reached Bowen around 4, just as the sun started to peek through the gold-tinged clouds. I don’t think I can even describe how beautiful north Vancouver is—the dark water everywhere, the low-hanging white clouds masking the deep green forested islands protruding from the sea, the small coastal villages on the shore that just look tea-time cozy with warm woodsmoke rising from their chimneys. A passive British man loaned us a few sea kayaks so that we could experience the region’s natural beauty a little closer. After a brief lesson in rudder use and taking off a skirt in case we flipped over (“highly unlikely”), the man calmly instructed us to “watch for the wind” and let us go without much other guidance. The first hour was stunning—the clouds carved the surrounding mountains in half, leaving us in a valley of sea, fog, and a few cherished rays of sunlight. At risk of sounding ridiculous, the only comparison I can make is to the green hills of Twilight—it was eerie, but in the most tragically beautiful way. And then we turned back, just as the wind started to pick up. The waves grew more and more ominous, threatening to tip us over and crash us into the rocks. By the time we got back to the dock, we were drenched through and thoroughly exhausted.

We drove back along the coast to the YWCA in downtown Vancouver, a cheap but comfortable hotel filled with young, poor hipsters. By this point, it was 9 pm, and we gorged ourselves at an Old Spaghetti Factory, indulging in our legal, if poor-quality, alcoholic beverages. We half-heartedly walked past a few clubs, but didn’t go in—we were under-dressed, tired, and feeling too poor to pay the cover charges. Although Vancouver seems like it has some great nightlife…if you’re actually in the mood for that and have a wallet. 

My cousins had recommended dim sum in Richmond, just outside of Vancouver, so we stopped on the way home the next day and were led to the Neptune Seafood Restaurant by a mysterious Chinese man we met at a Starbucks (thanks for the language skills from our token Asian, Phoenica). I had the delightful experience of eating chicken feet for the first time, and I’ve gotta admit, it tastes a lot like chicken. 

Road Trip: Days 5/6

(photos 1 & 2 courtesy of Phoenica Zhang…thanks girl)

Road Trip.Seattle: May 16

Jordan’s roommate, Anand, graciously let us sleep at his house just outside of Seattle, and there we settled in for a day and a half of rest, tourism, and home-made South Indian cuisine. Like good foreigners, we visited Pike’s Place Market, indulging in free samples and street music while the crowd milled about us. We left our mark at the gum wall in the form of a multi-colored May snowman. After a stop at the original Starbucks for a coffee, and at a cheese shop to taste some curds for the first time, we strolled around the Space Needle and then spent a couple of hours “jamming” at the EMP museum. It was actually incredible—this place allows you to bang on drums or mess around with electric guitars for as long as you’d like, and they don’t really care how much noise you make. (Let’s be honest—it was all noise.) But we enjoyed getting to pretend we could drop out of Duke and join a band. Everybody needs to be a rock star sometimes. The afternoon ended in canoes on Lake Washington, playing limbo under the freeway and avoiding bigger boats (and the U of W women’s crew team). Being out on the water was just…peaceful. The water was calm, the sun was just beginning to fall, and the surrounding mountains provided a scenic backdrop for our adventures. For around $5 an hour, it wasn’t a bad way to spend a late afternoon in Seattle. Later that night, we played baseball in a park near Anand’s house until we could no longer see the ball coming towards us…and then we played some more. And ran around the jungle gym. And got hurt on the swingset. It was so quintessentially summer, and so unusually sunny and warm for an evening in early May in the Pacific Northwest. 

Road Trip: Day 4

Road Trip.Portland: May 15

After being woken up by my cousins’ old beagle, Milo, we began our day exploring the food of Portlandia street by street. First, breakfast pie at a small specialty shop down the street (“All produce organic, locally-grown, and generally well-cared for”), followed by breakfast-dessert at Voodoo Donuts (from the Old Dirty Bastard slathered in peanut butter and oreos to the maple bar covered in bacon). We perused the various floors of Powell’s, local coffee in hand, amazed that a local bookstore of that size could still be in existence with Amazon and Barnes & Noble still around. While Phoenica and Jordan had lunch in the city, I picked up an old friend from high school at Lewis & Clark, and we made our way to Multnomah Falls after wandering the Hawthorne area. Standing at the bottom of the falls, we commented that they didn’t seem that tall—and then we stood on a bridge halfway up. I felt scared I would fall even with a solid railing holding me back. After an hour-long drive back through rush-hour traffic, we ate one last meal with my cousins, talking about start-ups and Nike and adventures abroad. And then it was on to Seattle.

Portland is a city filled with food—oh, the food—and bridges and traffic and rain. The lush greenery and bright flowers adorning side streets were pleasant, charming, welcoming, yet they didn’t make up for the…well, the dreariness of it all. I love the rain, and yet, covered by a solid gray layer of clouds, the city just felt stagnant and exhausted. Maybe I should have seen it on a different day. But for now, I don’t believe I’ll have my sights set on Portland for the future.