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

Appreciating warmth

We're warming up in a coffee shop after a cold, wet night camping in West Virginia. We arrived at the campground before dark and set up our tent, planning to drive into the nearby town for some dinner ingredients, but then found out that the park gates get locked at dark. Not wanting to risk being locked out, we opted to make do with the food we had. Thinking we only had a can of black beans, popcorn and some tuna, we joked about initiating a potluck with our camp neighbors in hopes that they'd have some better food options. (There were several other people camping, but we were the only ones crazy enough to use a tent.) But then we found a can of chili, which made a decent meal paired with some stale blueberry bars and popcorn. (We're really glad we brought a camp stove!) We then huddled in our tent and watched "Freaks and Geeks" on my laptop until the battery died before turning in for a long night of huddling for warmth and tossing and turning, attempting to avoid the wet half of my sleeping bag.

I do plan on writing about our NYC experience eventually - our hostel, in particular - because it really deserves a decent post. For now, we'd really better hit the road. We're headed south-ish (toward Kentucky), so hopefully the clouds will clear and the temperature will start to rise again.

A quick hello from Harlem

The drive through Chinatown was crazy, but we made it to our hostel in Harlem, NYC on Sunday without a scratch on the car or ourselves - a feat I'm quite proud of. Have you ever driven amongst New Yorkers?

We're staying in what might be the quirkiest hostel yet (Europe trip included). Perhaps I'll elaborate on that more later. We don't have free Internet, so I have to make this snappy. We leave NYC and start heading back west in the morning.

English as a second language

We returned to Becky's apartment this evening to find this sign posted in the entryway after a fresh coat of paint.

(It reads "Pant Went," just in case that photo isn't legible.)

D.C. Sites

Audrey and I took the Metro from Becky's into Washington D.C. for a day of museum exploring and site seeing. We visited the U.S. Holocaust Museum and the National Air and Space Museum. The National Museum of American History is closed for renovations, but we were happy to find part of their collection on display at the Air and Space Museum (such as Abe Lincoln's top hat, George Washington's uniform, Dorothy's red slippers, Alexander Graham Bell's first telephone, etc.) I think it's safe to say that today has been the most educational day of the trip yet (although I did learn a lot at Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame).

As for governmental sites, we saw the Washington Monument and the capitol building today, but only from the outside. We might try to get a tour of the capitol tomorrow. The White House, Lincoln Memorial and all those other must-see sites are on the list for tomorrow. As a side note, the large pond that reflects the capitol (see photo) was not a pretty site. You can't really tell from the photo, but a lot of the water is gone, leaving a thick, smelly sludge. To add to the ugliness, some people have been using it as a trash can. It's more of a swamp than a pond. On top of that, much of the grass around the capitol is dead (although the front lawn is nice). Still, I was expecting it to be surrounded by lush, green lawns. Did I just come at a bad time? Has anyone else been surprised by how much ugliness surrounds this otherwise grand building? Perhaps it's maintenance season.

Self Portraits

Audrey spotted some transparent, pyramid-like sculptures next to the National Gallery and sensed a photo-op. We had some fun playing with our reflections.

Virginian countryside

Before I get into DC photos, here are a few from our drive through Virginia along the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's a windy, two-lane, 45 mph road, but the gorgeous scenery beats the Interstate any day - especially now that the fall colors are starting to come out.

We've made it to the east coast!

I've been absent for a few days due to a disabled wireless card and two nights of camping in the boonies (very beautiful boonies, I might add). Now we're staying with Audrey's friend Becky in Arlington, VA - right by the WA DC border. Becky's boyfriend is a computer techie and was able to fix my Internet issue in about 3 minutes flat. I'm glad it was such a simple fix, although I do feel like a bit of a technology dunce. Anyhow, I went a little crazy with posting tonight trying to catch y'all up on our latest travels. The posts got a bit lengthy (especially the one I wrote while we were camping), so I won't be hurt if you just scroll through and look at the pictures. Tomorrow morning Audrey and I are taking the metro into DC, so I'd better get some sleep.

In love with Tennessee

I’m typing out under the stars on a warm, clear Tennessee night, crickets chirping, bugs swarming. Ahhh. It’s been an idyllic country road trip kind of day. Audrey and I are spending tonight at Edgar Evans State Park. We arrived just after dark and managed to set up our tent without much trouble and now we’re enjoying the evening at a picnic table. Audrey is perhaps a bit better at traditional “camping” activities. She’s singing along with her guitar as I upload photos and write on my laptop. I have no idea when I’ll get a chance to actually upload this post to the Internet. Yesterday my computer decided that it no longer recognizes my wireless card, so I had no luck connecting to our hostel’s free Wi-Fi. Hopefully the problem can be resolved on the road or else my posting will become quite sparse.

Anyhow, back to our lovely day . . . We checked out of Music City Hostel this morning and headed west (wrong direction, but a purposeful detour) to visit Loretta Lynn’s Dude Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tenn. Once again, we were relying on MapQuest directions. They instructed us to take an earlier freeway exit than the ranch Web site’s very general directions, but we decided to stick with it since Tennessee likes circular roads and they probably link to the same place. Miles down charming country roads, we turned down Hurricane Mills Road. MapQuest claimed we would find the ranch if we simply followed the road .3 miles down. We felt like we’d gone back in time driving down the country gravel road, bordered by a creek and lined with trees decked out in their fall finery. After five miles or so, we were quite certain MapQuest had led us astray, but we spotted signs to a church and elected to drive a bit further to see what we could. We stopped on the road to snap photos of a grand old farmhouse perched on a hill and began to fantasize about how idyllic it would be to live out here – for just six months or so, though. We’d have to give up a bit more than we’re willing to actually adopt that simple, country lifestyle. We continued on to find the little country church, which we were pleased to find is pastured by a man they call Brother Buddy Mullinax. We decided there was no way Loretta’s ranch could be this far down, so we re-traced our path and returned to the freeway, exiting where the ranch instructions told us to and following the very obvious signs that led us straight to the ranch. Once we arrived, Audrey spotted a sign for the same little country church we’d found. Evidently, the road does loop through and would have led us to the ranch eventually. Oh well, it was a pleasant detour.

For those of you who aren't familiar with country music greats, Loretta Lynn is one of them. She's the perfect example of a rags-to-riches story: She grew up in a large, poor family in Kentucky, where her dad eeked a living farming by day and mining coal by night. She married before her fourteenth birthday and had given birth to four of her six children by the time she was eighteen (and became a grandma at thirty). Along the way, her husband (called "Doolittle" because he "did little" and "Mooney" for his moonshine habit) bought her a guitar and she began performing, eventually earning a gig as a regular at the Grand Old Opery. With a life like that, it's no wonder that she ended up writing so many country music hits, huh?

Anyhow, now Loretta is old (although she still performs) and lives out on her ranch which is open to the public. We visited the Coal Miner's Daughter Museum where Loretta displays her many awards, family photos, dozens of ridiculously glitzy dresses and other random memorabilia. The museum - and the whole ranch - was very Loretta: unsophisticated, cheesy and endearing. She even hand-wrote many of the descriptions in her museum, spelling errors and all. We also toured the ranch's 1800's-era plantation home where Loretta lived for several decades and the replica of a coal mine and her childhood home that she had built on the site. Our tour guide was a charming old man with a fantastic Tennessee hills accent who called Audrey and I "Thelma and Louise" after hearing that we were on a road trip. He also recommended the fried bologna sandwiches that Loretta's daughter sells at her little country store nearby. We did stop in for a sandwich, but played it safe with turkey and ham.

More from Music City

Audrey and I had a lot of fun spending the weekend with Corrin in Nashville. Almost everywhere we went, someone would comment,

"All y'all look alike."

Gotta love the south! The accent is incredibly charming (and addictive) and the people really do seem to have a down-home, friendly attitude.

Corrin took us to her church on Sunday morning and we got to meet a few more of the girls she lives with at Mercy. As eager as she was to get away from Mercy for the weekend, she does seem to really be gleaning a lot from the program and has made many good friends. She will be graduating from Mercy on Monday and moving back to Oregon, so you can be praying for her continued success as she launches into this new stage along her long road to recovery. I'm really proud of her for all she's accomplished these past six months. Anorexia is a beastly disease and she has had to fight very, very hard for every bit of ground she's gained on it.

Corrin returned to Mercy Sunday evening and Audrey and I checked into Country Hostel for the night. We followed our MapQuest directions and were surprised when they led us down a driveway to a double-wide manufactured home. As it turned out, a middle-aged couple lives in half the house and rents beds in their two extra bedrooms. It was a comfortable stay for that night, but we opted to book our last night in Nashville at another hostel more centrally located. We spent our remaining time in Nashville visiting the Grand Ole Opery Museum, the Country Music Hall of Fame and listening to live country and bluegrass music (naturally). I suppose I can die happy now that I've seen Elvis' 24-karat gold-plated piano and stood on the hallowed ground where so many country music legends have launched their careers. Actually, I have to admit, I have gained a greater appreciation for country music after my Nashville visit. As many of you know, my radio dial is never set to country stations (and likely never will be) and I've even claimed to despise the entire genre until only the past couple years. But . . . (don't pull a dagger on me, Amy) there are some country artists that definitely deserve a listen - and perhaps even a position on my MP3 playlist. (Johnny Cash and Loretta Lynn, to name a couple.)