Lovely Laguna

We had planned to spend two nights in Laguna Beach, but the beautiful weather, free lodging and friendly hosts(some family friends of Audrey) enticed us to stay another night. The Goodwins (our hosts) live within a short walk from the beach (they have a great view from their rooftop deck) and have a nice little guesthouse where we slept. The third to last photo shows the little courtyard between their main house and our room. If you look closely, there is a little lemon tree on the far right. I suppose that's normal for a Californian patio, but I thought it was pretty cool. I also got to eat watermelon and guava freshly picked from a home garden. Is it really late October? I think we're in for a rude awakening when we come home to Oregon's rain clouds.

After Laguna, we continued north and camped along the coast. It was a nice, clear night, but the wind tried to turn our tent into a kite. It took 45 minutes to set up (usually it takes about 10), but it did stay put once we got the stakes secured. We spent last night with Audrey's friend who is a grad student at Stanford and had lunch today in San Francisco. All the San Fran townhouses made me think of Full House. I half expected to see the three-year-old Olson twins skipping along the sidewalk. Remember that show?

We're now in Red Bluff, Calif., staying with the Beasleys. We have been good friends with the Beasleys since way back when both of our families lived in Salem and our moms have kept in close touch over the years (we also visited their older kids, Beau and Larie, in Texas). I hadn't seen Haley (see photo) since she was a baby (she's now 4), so it was fun to get to know her a little bit this evening. She showed Audrey and I all of her toys and we even had a little dance party in her bedroom to hit kids' tunes such as "Here We Go Loop-de-Loo" and "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain."

On our way to the Beasleys' this evening, we spotted the first "Portland" sign - the first reminder that we're getting close to home. We also caught a glimpse of the first real, snow-covered mountain that we've seen in a long time. Tomorrow morning we'll continue heading north. If all goes as planned, it will be the last day of our road trip. Bittersweet.

Grand Indeed

Words and pictures just won't do the Grand Canyon justice. We were there on a hazy day that only added to it's not-of-this-world feel. It's beautiful. It's gigantic. It's mind-boggling. And it's one of those things you just have to see for yourself.

Last Taste of the South

Here are a few photos from last week that I've been meaning to post. We camped outside Memphis and did a bit of site-seeing the next morning on our way out of town. We drove through Arkansas on our way to Texas, where we stayed a night with Larie, an old friend from back in our Salem days.

1) Sun Studios, where music greats like Johnny Cash and Elvis launched their recording careers.

2) Dr. King was shot at the Lorraine Motel and it now houses the National Civil Rights Museum, located inside the hotel where Dr. King was shot.

3) Fried green tomatoes - just like in the movie. We stopped for lunch in Arkansas and I dined on catfish, hushpuppies and onion rings, along with the tomatoes (all fried, of course). We couldn't leave the south without tasting a few of the specialties. We did pass on ordering the fried pickles, though.

Sorry, no photos

Blogger is refusing to upload photos and I'm ready to check out of my hotel, so the Memphis/Arkansas/Texas/Grand Canyon pics I was planning to post from the past few days will have to wait. We're off to Cali now - just one state from home!

About that NYC hostel . . . (finally)

Our criteria for a NYC hostel was a decent price (preferably under $30) and easy driving access with cheap or free parking. We were feeling pretty darn lucky when we found Jazz on the Villa, a Manhattan hostel accessible without driving through downtown and only $23 for a bed. What a steal! We called the hostel to double-check about parking and they assured us they had their own lot with plenty of space, so we booked it for three nights.

As it turned out, the hostel was easily accessible, but a decision to stop by Chinatown on our way nixed that advantage. Chinatown was crammed with pedestrians overflowing into the right hand lane because the sidewalks were too full. On top of that, taxis, delivery trucks and random cars would decide to stop in their lane, forcing everyone else to make their own path around. I have to admit, I did have a sense of accomplishment after we’d reached our destination. When we finally got to our hostel, we found that their promised parking lot was full and had to find a spot on the street.


We weren’t sure quite what to think when we realized that the hostel we had booked was smack dab in the middle of Harlem. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon and the neighborhoods were full of people dressed to the nines emerging from the many churches nestled amidst the shop fronts. Harlem (at least the area we were in) wasn’t as sketchy as it’s stereotype suggests, but it fit many of the other expectations you might have for an urban neighborhood. There were men gathered to socialize in the barber shop, kids playing pick-up games on the basketball courts and folks sitting out on their front porches (or folding chairs on the sidewalk) visiting with each other. People would greet us as we walked by and ask if Audrey and I were twins. So, the fact that our hostel was in Harlem added interest, but isn’t what made the place wacky.

The hostel was in a big, old house that had potential to be quite cool with a little upkeep. On the first night, I skipped brushing my teeth because the only two bathroom sinks on our floor either didn’t have running water or was clogged with someone’s fresh throw up. As we would quickly come to find, the place was riddled with plumbing troubles and at least one or two of the already scarce bathrooms were always out of order.

The other quirky thing about our hostel was that it had a work program allowing long-term visitors to live there for free in exchange for three days work. We’re not sure how many people were in this program, but we were constantly seeing new faces sporting “Staff” T-shirts. They all lived in the hostel basement. This arrangement created a weird dynamic, making us feel like “guests” in the live-ins’ home. They were nice enough, but kind of had their own little group amongst the hostel-dwellers. Also, most of them didn’t seem to have real jobs, so they pretty much just hung out at the hostel day and night, watching TV or hanging out on the porch. You'll have to ask Audrey about Jorge to get a good idea of the wacky characters we met there - that story just has to be told in person.


To top off our stay, I found that the towel I’d hung to dry on my bunk that morning was soaking wet on the last night. First, I assumed someone had used it, but it was really drenched. Then, I noticed that my mattress and pillow were also wet. People were already sleeping, so I didn’t want to turn on the lights to investigate. I put my hand on the bunk on top of mine and felt a chalky substance. The ceiling was falling! And water was leaking from the bathroom above my head. Lovely. At this point, Audrey and I were cracking up. It was our third night at that hostel, so not much could have fazed us. I informed the front desk of the leak and they let me switch beds and assured me that it was “probably from the sink.” I sure hope no one had been throwing up in the sink that night.

A glimpse of NYC

I don't know why, but I did a rather poor job photo-documenting our time in NYC. Here's a sampling of what I did capture . . .

1) Lady Liberty herself, on a rather cold, overcast day
2 & 3) Ellis Island
4) We saw "Rent" on Broadway!
5) Audrey, Becci and me in Central Park - we made Audrey pose w/us even though she was in the middle of a phone conversation. (Becci and her boyfriend came w/us to NYC for the first day. Becci is Audrey's college pal who we stayed w/in D.C.)
6 & 7) More from Central Park
8 & 9) Times Square - even the police station and McDonald's have fancy, flashing neon signs here

A few more D.C. photos . . .

1) Look closely. That's a bride and groom having their picture taken in front of the IRS building. I wonder what their story is?

2 & 3) The World War II Memorial

4) Good ol' Abe

5) The Vietnam Memorial

6) The White House

7) The Old Post Office

8 & 9) The National Museum of Natural History, home of the Hope Diamond (pardon the ugly flash)

10) Random government buildings and the WA Monument