twinga

Driving from California to Oregon

Lying in bed with free WIFI at some random motel in Grand Pass, Oregon, which for once is real value for money. First thing you notice when you cross the border from California to Oregon: no state tax and thus things get a little cheaper.

We just came back from "dinner" at Blondie's Bistro, the last place that still served food (if only salad) at 8 p.m. on a Sunday evening. Wow... I always thought in America you can get everything 24/7. Guess that's only true for Highway McDonalds :). Either way, Blondie's was a great choice. Our woman bar tender traveled through Heidelberg once. She also taught English in Japan, so we had a pretty interesting conversation with her - including her observation that my American English sounded a bit Indian ;). Well...

So, the past two days we rediscovered what driving means in America: Huge distances with nothing much around, which can get pretty tiring. We are still wondering how our friends could be serious about the fact that you can drive from San Francisco to Hood River in only 12 hours. Wow... that's some serious road tripping. Granted... we took the scenic routes and stopped at tourist attractions like the Redwood National Park and Eureka. 

The great (negative) take away of today was: Don't ever order an "oyster cocktail" for $6.95. This mean you'll get the huge oysters nobody would normally eat I guess. I only know oysters in the shell that are about 1.5 inches in size max. Well, those ones looked like living aliens, and I can't believe I managed to eat three of the six. T sypathized with me and tried one too. I wish I had captured the face on camera :))).

All right then... here are the pics :) (this blog kind of cuts off the pics a bit. Click on them to see the whole ones)

T in front of a Redwood tree

 

Eureka, California

Awesome pancakes and eggs benedict in Eureka, CA

 

Ever noticed that some trucks are taller than their owners?? Insanity!!

Driving along the coast

Out of the shell oysters ... arggghhhh...

The only thing still open at 9.30 p.m. on a Sunday in Grants Pass, Oregon. A drive thru coffee shop.

 

Oh, and have we introduced our beautiful rental car yet? (Manual window openers and NO central locks included)

Sonoma

Before heading up to Oregon and drive up along the coast (Mendocino, Redwood National Park, etc.) we decided to stop over in Sonoma to do some real wine tasting for once. I have always been the driver when I took people up here, so now it was time to do the real thing!!!

April is peak season here, so we were lucky to get an (overpriced) room at El Pueblo Inn. Cool enough, we had a patio and a fire place, which we even used. Nice nice... We then immediately walked to Sonoma town, admiring the cute little houses along the way.

At the center square we now had to hurry up. Lots of wine tasting places close down at 5 p.m. (why, I wonder??). So we just let our instincts take us to a place and we had a really cool wine tasting at Charles Creek. The guy was super knowledgable. One interesting story: We talked about the movie Sideways and how the character in the movie doesn't like Merlot. The insider joke here: The character had been saving up a bottle of some 1961 wine for a special occastion which to a large part consists of Merlot. I didn't know that :)

After tasting (and swallowing) nine different wines, including a most amazing chocolate infused red desert wine, it was time for dinner. To keep it short: La Salette Restaurant was amazing!! Another bottle of wine later, we were ready for bed by 10 p.m. :)

P.S. The weather is amazing. 23C degrees (or more?) and sunshine.

Wine tasting

A Mustang even J.F. can afford ;) (insider joke)

Dinner ... the fish: before and after


Northern Californian coast line

San Francisco

What a trip!!! Literally ... It's been a whirlwind so far and it has been great. Let's see what all T and I have managed to squeeze in so far:
- Sleep two nights at the really cool W Hotel (thanks N!!)
- Hang out in the Mission, especially at Zeitgeist beergarden, the Casanova (my favorite neigborhood bar), Dolores Park (on Easter Sunday, with the Hunky Jesus contest)
- Met baby Max
- Hung out with friends and ate at Sunflower, Sushi Zone, Park Chow, Cancun Taqueria and Abacus
- Had more drinks at Toronado
- Went climbing at Mission Cliffs
- Rode the Cable Car, which I had never done before (really!)
- Had drinks at Bourbon and Branch, which were amazing

and and and...

There's always so much to do and see in San Francisco, it really never gets boring. Tomorrow we are going to have drinks with my co-workers from back then. I can't wait to see everyone.

Here are some pics...