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2002: America’s Westcoast

Roadtrip to San Fransico, California, August 24-31, 2002

Aug 24, 2002
I now know why I useta keep a record of my trips. I don’t remember where exactly we went anymore. Boo. Anyhow, we started off our road trip at about 6:30 am (or perhaps even earlier) and drove down to the border in this really uncomfortable Alero (Oldsmobile) (and not very powerful either). I was stuck in the middle for the most part of the first lag of the trip to the point where my tailbone (whiplash permanent damages) began to complain of pain again. We stopped for lunch someplace — think maybe it was near Oregon U…as we drove past Portland’s chinatown. Along the way, we stopped at a factory outlet and because the CK store was closing, bought some pants for a mere $12.50 CDN, a shirt at Banana Republic and some others at Gap Factory Store.

On the first night after a dinner in some hick town (where we got paranoid b/c some guy asked us if we were from out-of-town and if we knew were the police station was), we stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in Grant’s Pass, Oregon. My brother complained b/c there was not an indoor pool. However, this room was a suite-style so we escaped from my dad’s snoring :P. The beds were also queen-sized, which meant that my sister didn’t complain of me kicking her and hoggin all the blanket and shoving her to the edge of the bed (unlike the other nights).

Aug 25, 2002
In the morning, we were late gettin’ out and thus, missed church. Not that there were many churches to choose from mind you…However, we did go to Oregon Caves and participated in a tour that lasted approximately 75 minutes. The caves averaged to about 5C but we were equipped with light jackets to keep warm :).

Driving to Crescent City took awhile, but we managed to arrive at the small town (with beautiful scenery!) and had seafood for dinner at AppleBee’s (some chain restaurant). The hotel (Anchorage Inn?) we stayed at really lacked in quality. Although it’s noteably the “newest” hotel in town, the rooms were dirty, the furniture used, and the service was really poor.

Aug 26,2002
On our way to San Fransisco, California, we drove through Redwood National Park and through some massively tall and huge redwood trees. Kinda like Stanley Park but much vaster in the sheer numbers of trees. Tons of Oxygen there i suppose :P. We inched our car “backwards” through the drive-thru shrine tree, which is this massively tall tree that has a hole in the middle of it. 3/4 of this tree is dead but 1/4 of it still continues to grow. For dinner that night, we stopped along the way at a steakhouse called Cowboy’s or something like that. As I’m not too into steak, I only say that it was decent, tho my family liked it.

By the time we arrived in SF, it was dark so we checked in the Holiday Inn (Golden Gateway–tho I don’t remember it lookin’ quite like the picture does), it actually sleeps better than Delta Hotels, though Delta has a nicer balcony view. This one lacked a balcony even tho we were on the 22nd floor (or something?).

Aug 27,2002
*yawn!*, apparently I kept kicking my sister in my sleep and hoggin’ all the blanket :). heh…anyhow, took the street cable car to the cable car museum (and place where they run the cables). I never knew that it was the cable underneath the cars that pull them along. For lunch, we had a meal at IHOP, then browsed on Pier 51 (or was it 39–one of them is Fisherman’s Wharf) and took some pics and then I forgot what we did for the rest of the day. Agh. Must’ve been unimportant. But it’s still buggin’ me…oh! we might’ve gone shopping at the Espirit store, which was closing; it was its last day in business in all of SF. Thus, when we got there, everything was 75% off, and then just as they were goin’ to close, they announced everything was $2.00 USD :) (so works out to be 3 bucks CDN!). Even though they did not have a fitting room (which they sold as well), I managed to grab at least 4 skirts (same cut, different design), flowery capris (i hate capris but since they were 2 dollars, i can use them in the house), and maybe something else, but I can’t remember what. =). This is all thanks to my bro who reaped the intent of street flyer advertising. dinner…what did we eat…er…??? OHOH, I don’t remember if it was this day or the next, but we visited SF’s downtown, which reminds me of NYC b/c of all these really big-name stores, and had cheesecake (YUMS! I had the keylime one) at the famous Cheesecake Factory–pricey, but worth it! :) My mom had the firecracker salmon rolls, a very yummy appetizer too, along w some really yummy iced mango drink! Tho’ a late afternoon snack, we had Costco hotdogs for a light dinner–to balance everything. At Costco, I picked up a 128MB SMcard for my dig cam for a mere $75CDN! ;).

Aug 28,2002
Good mornin’! Cable car-ed to Pier 39 (Fisherman’s Wharf), and took the Ferry to Alcatraz Island (home to the movie, The Rock). I was skeptical at first about the quality of an self-audio tour, but the recorded tour was very detailed–along w sound effects, and testimonials from ex-convicts and wardens. Very well done! Apparently, it’s award-winning. However, advice to future tourists, the place is sooo cold and windy; I was afraid i’d get sick! Thankfully I didn’t and lived to eat the food in SF’s Chinatown. Apparently, the restaurant we picked was a good one (X and Y’s Lounge–X and Y being arbitrary b/c I can’t remember what it’s called)–the food tasted good and many ppl came and went. However, I think some of us had a stomach rxn to it anyhow. Ate in the afternoon at a seafood restaurant in Fisherman’s Wharf. The manager there was extremely nice; after my bro complained that his plate of food was too cold, the dessert (two as it’s equiv to price of the meal) was on the house :).

Aug 29,2002
Off to Oregon Coast! As we headed back home, we stopped along the Coast for some dune buggyin’. The sand was sooo beautiful as it reflected from the sun. The sand is soo fine and soft there too (my feet just sank in the sand)! What a ride! Instead of steering our own buggy’s (which would’ve prolly been fun as well), we opted to take a guided thrill ride, where the buggy sat 6 of us, and the driver would steer us up and down, to the max of 35MPH or slightly over. Apparently, my dad wasn’t too thrilled as it felt like a 30 min coaster ride…*grins*. I definitely recommend it, and since we were in a 4-pt harness, there isn’t too much to worry about. The driver does this for the summer and allegedly gets paid $9.00/hr USD plus tips to do this every day :). How fun (tho I think that would be “tai chi gik” for me). We continued driving until we hit a Fred Meyer’s to eat lunch there (sushi) and explore a sand dune and to take some pix. Yes, although my pictures seem to have sand dunes in them, they were actually directly behind the Fred Meyer’s hehehe.

Our last night was spent in Lincoln City, with dinner at Wendy’s and some shopping at the Factory Outlets. Continuing on, the next day was spent shopping the ENTIRE day. First, at Lincoln City, then on the way back to Vancouver, we detoured to Sea Side and shopped there (more Factory Outlets) and had a seafood dinner at a local bar and grill, prior to arriving home at 2 AM. The city-line of Seattle is soo beautiful at night (as seen from the I-5/interstate) esp w the “needle”. I wish I had my camera ready, but when I did, it was already too late =(. And, that ends my trip. Phew. The week felt like eternity tho’; it was nice to be home again :).

 

Again, this is B.P signing off.

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