Road Trip Day Ten: Home

We woke up at 4 AM, finished packing, hopped in the car and started our longest drive. 10 hours, 800 miles. To be honest, they flew by. We passed the time with audiobooks, and real books, talking, and staring out at the sea of trees that is Northern California and Southern Oregon. I cried when we crossed the California border, and again when we crossed the Carquinas Bridge into the bay, and then again when we pulled into our driveway.

This trip was hard. 9 days of travel with no rest days, 3000 miles. We saw a lot of things, but ultimately feel like we did the trip completely wrong. We should have picked out exactly what activities we wanted to do, things we wanted to see, and spent more than a day at each place. We also should have made the loop smaller, and made each hop less far apart, all the driving was terrible.

Also, why the fuck did we pick fire season and worse still, tourist season to do this?!

But we did enjoy some places immensely. St. George in southern Utah is stunning, and Portland was like home away from home. The Museum of Clean was definitely my favorite museum, though exploring Powell's was a quasi-religious experience.

All in all, I'm so glad to be home. After that trip, I need a staycation.

Here's my favorite photo from the whole trip. Look how happy we look at Cathedral Park!

Also, bonus panorama image of Zion.

Road Trip Day Nine: Portland, Oregon

Today we explored Portland! We started at Cathedral park, which is underneath a green version of the Golden Gate Bridge (it's not really the green version, but suspension bridges look alike). We enjoyed walking around and feeling the sunlight.

After we stopped at a specialty salt store, then went to book mecca, Powell's City of Books. It is incredible! We explored for a couple of hours, then visited the world's smallest park, one of the few things originally on my list to see. It is about two feet across, with a little tree.

After that, Zach grabbed a burger, and we decided to relax for the rest of the day. We have a 10 hour drive tomorrow, but we're going finally going home.

This is my favorite photo from today. Look at this park, it's so ridiculous ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Road Trip Day Eight: Portland, Oregon

We started in Kennewick, Washington, heading for Seattle, about a 3-4 hour drive. Then there was an accident which would have made the drive an additional hour. It was the final straw. We said fuck it, bailed on Seattle and headed for Portland.

The thing about road trips is that they are supposed to be flexible. The drive to Portland was about 3 and a half hours along the Columbia River. It was very pretty, and not very smoky. We listened to music in the car for the first time in a week.

Portland is neat, we got a King Suite at a Best Western. It has a tiny stove even!

We checked out this place near us called The Grotto. It's a park open to the public and run by a Catholic Church. It has two levels and is situated against a basalt cliff. It's stunning and meditative quiet. Pretty despite the religious dogma.

After that, we decided to rest. Tomorrow we'll explore Powell's City of Books, and a few other things. We want to head home early, and relax for the week, this trip has been hell on my psyche, and we miss cooking and baking terribly. I even miss doing dishes, how sad am I?

Here's my favorite picture from today. It's golden hour sun filtering through some tree leaves. It's warm and happy.

Road Trip Day Seven: Kennewick, Washington

We started out in Boise. I was anxious about the 4 and a half hour drive over to the Tri-Cities area of Washington. The route goes up and over some mountains, then descends rapidly to flat farmland. From the top, you can see for around 50 miles, probably more, but the air quality has been shiiit.

Boise is about an hour from the Oregon border, the Snake River being the border, with Ontario right on the other side. Funny thing, Ontario is on Mountain time, but the rest of the state isn't. Leaving the mid-west and returning to the west coast felt like a boulder had been lifted off of my chest.

It sounds so stupid, but I feel like the world makes more sense. Travelling is supposed to widen your horizons or whatever, and while it has definitely shown me just how much of a bubble I live in, it's only made me more desperate to return home. I don't know if this whole road tripping thing is for me. It's been so fucking hard. I haven't felt this anxious and miserable in literally years. There hasn't even been anything particularly bad on this trip, but it's very stressful.

But hey, I lived through a panic attack in the middle of buttfuck nowhere, so that should count for something.

Anyway, back to the trip. We stopped over in Baker, Oregon to visit the Leo Alder Museum. It's this dude, Leo Adler's house. It's been restored to it's 1800's glory. It's stunning. The wallpaper is crazy, and the old furniture and doors were very cool.

After that, we booked it straight to Kennewick. We saw a horrific accident on the way, at least 2 semi-trucks, and a couple cars. A chilling reminder to obey traffic laws and that trucks are really bad.

Upon reaching Kennewick, I was surprised at how much it looks like my hometown. We checked out a book store and got a free D&D adventure, and then met with my stepbrother and his family. They are very nice and confused that I am so normal.

Heading for Seattle tomorrow, I am looking forward to being in a metro and in the same hotel for a few days.

Here's my favorite image from today. What I like about it, is that I look normal here. I don't look like I've been battling anxious thoughts all day, or that I had a horrific panic attack only a few days ago. It just looks like regular me, having fun. Also, hand chairs.

Road Trip Day Six: Boise, Idaho

Boise is a weird city. It's weird in that it's a city of 220,000 people (half the size of Oakland), but it's flat and spread out, the downtown comes out of nowhere. We explored the World Center for Birds of Prey. It has a library of Falconry! We also met a nice older couple who are road tripping from New Mexico. 

After that, we stopped by the Idaho Museum of Mining and Geology. It's small, but has a really cool collection! We got a cool Fluorite sample. 

Then we spent the rest of the day just relaxing. We have a 5 hour drive tomorrow. I hope I can handle it. I would like to not have another panic attack. 

Here's my favorite photo from today. They have a captive bald eagle. They make very odd noises, high and squeaky. This says something about America. 

Road Trip Day Five: Boise, Idaho

I made it to Boise, Idaho.

We started with visiting Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, Idaho. It's a beautiful place, they call it the Niagara Falls of the West. It's actually taller than Niagara Falls. I liked it there.

Next, we hit Boise. It's been a bit of a quiet day, but that's what I needed. We have an enormous suite, and we decided to go food shopping and cook something. I missed cooking so much.

Here's Shoshone Falls. Complete with Rainbow.

Tomorrow, we are exploring Boise, but today, I need to rest.

Road Trip Day Four: Pocatello, ID

The day started with a visit to the Hill Aerospace Museum in Ogden, Utah. They have a lot of planes. It's quite impressive, but all I could think about was the sheer number of bombs these planes dropped and how many people they killed. Also, just one of these planes cost at least $10,000,000.

The original plan was to go to West Yellowstone, stay there for two days, then hit Missoula, MT, then shoot over to Spokane, WA. Well, we didn't plan as well as we should have, so we decided to stay in Pocatello, ID instead then skip over to Boise, ID, then head for Seattle. 

It was in Malad, ID that the trouble started. I wasn't feeling great, and then came the panic attack. I haven't had one of this level in at least 5 years. It was horrible. I just wanted to go home. We still had an hour out to Pocatello. I felt like I was going to die the whole time. 

But I made it. We had a half hour before check-in to the hotel, so we drove around Pocatello for a while, then went to the Museum of Clean. It's a pretty awesome place, I saw the world's first vacuum and met the creator/ founder, Don Aslett, who gave me a free book that he wrote. He's a sweetie. The whole building is really cool, LEED certified, and has an awesome collection of cleaning items. I felt like I'd been hit by a truck, but I could appreciate it. 

After that, we checked in, I attempted to eat, and still feel horrible. 

Here's my favorite photo from today though. 

Road Trip Day Three: Salt Lake City, Utah

Day three was easier than day two, though the temptation to get on the 80 and take it all the way home is so strong.

We started off visiting Zion National Park. It looks like Yosemite and Vas Quez Rocks had a child. It's fucking gorgeous. The red cliffs are insane. It was packed with tourists, but we found parked and took a short hike. We definitely want to come back here, but I'd rather fly into St. George than ever have to go through Las Vegas again. That place is a hell hole.

After Zion, we made the 5 hour drive up to Salt Lake City. Utah is a weird place. The way they name streets is annoying. Like 2600 South Street. That's literally what it says on signs. As in, you drive on the highway and the exit signs say 2600 So. It wouldn't be so bad except the numbers aren't in order and some streets are named normally. Also, they refer to these streets like 26th. Not twenty-six hundred, or two thousand six hundred. Why not just call it 26th???

We went and checked out the Salt Lake. It smells. Bad.
There were so many flies, it was gross and awesome. But what was really cool was the sheer amount of spiders. It was horrific. Thousands of quarter-sized orb spiders on the rocks, eating.

After that, we found out way up hill to get a view. There is a fire burning like 70 miles from SLC, and the wind is blowing it into the city, where it sits in the basin, stewing. It's gross.

Tomorrow we hit Yellowstone. Hope I don't die.

AHAHAHA LOOK AT THE SPIDERS

Road Trip Day Two: St. George, Utah

We started the morning with biscuits and gravy courtesy of Best Western in Las Vegas. Yesterday's post was written before the night was over, and right after I wrote it, I started getting warnings on my phone and over the radio about both thunderstorms, and sandstorms. The power went out in the hotel and the wind and rain was nuts.

Of course I would be there when it rains in the desert.

The car was filthy in the morning, the rain was filled with dust. But the storm had blown out, so the air was clear, though warm.

We had about a half tank of gas, so we decided to fill up the tank. The first gas station we went to was closed. The second one was also closed, and we decided to buy ice and figure out what the deal with the gas was. Apparently the storm shut down all the gas stations for miles! Shout out to the woman working at Arco who told us.

Without filling up, we drove a half hour out to Hoover Damn. While not as mind blowingly huge as Shasta Dam, it was still awesome. There is a new bypass bridge that you can walk across and view the dam. It's amazing! It spans across Nevada and Arizona, so we walked to Arizona!

After that, we checked out the Neon Museum. While small, it was really cool! Those neon signs on the strip are enormous!

We headed out to St. George, Utah from there. It's only about two hours out from Vegas, but it was hard for me. I was far more anxious during those two hours than on the way to Vegas, but I made it.

St. George is a mid sized city, situated in the middle of red cliffs and pink striped desert hills. It has a large white Mormon temple in the center. The cliffs are beautiful. We found a little park called Pioneer Park and Gardens where they have a large number of native plant species you can check out, and awesome red cliff canyons you can climb.

Tomorrow we hit Zion and Salt Lake City. Hope I can handle the drive.

This is my favorite photo from today! The red cliffs are really something.

Road Trip Day 1: Las Vegas

So today was day one of my 2 week road trip. I'm doing a 3000 mile loop from Oakland, CA down to Las Vegas, out to Yellowstone, up and over to Seattle, then back down to the bay.

I knew today would be the hardest day. A brutal 9 hour drive through the central valley, in 100+ degree weather. The air was ashy and dusty. I was nervous for the last quarter of the drive, panic disorder enjoys rearing it's ugly head at the most annoying moments, but I lived.

The Best Western in North Vegas is decent, but it's hotter than shit here. I guess the area we're in is very new, there are open housing developments all over and it feels like no planning was put into the street layout.
Biggest I'm not in the bay shocker: PLASTIC BAGS AT GROCERY STORES. They put a single item in a bag. They put my bananas, alone, into a bag. I had other items, but they were not put into the bag. I just don't understand.

This is my favorite photo from today.

This is an art installation called Seven Magic Mountains. It's about 30 miles out from Las Vegas. It's a really cool place!