Last Stop.

Hands down my favorite place. Saved the best for last. We booked a really nice hotel for only 50 bucks! Thanks priceline.com!! We walked around the city all night. Portland is known for their food trucks. They have gourmet food trucks all over the city, all specializing in something different. There are waffle trucks, gyro trucks, crepe trucks. We had delicious Vietnamese food. It was the best. We had a hard time finding a good place to go out and grab a drink. It was a monday night so most bars were empty. We ended up finding a good small pub right by our hotel which had really good live music and some hilarious people dancing. In the morning we went to the famous Voodoo Donuts. It was good, but not the BEST. I would rather have a nice warm apple cider donut then a really fancy cold iced donut. But some people love it. We were only there for about 12 hours but it was one of my favorite places. It is only 3 hours from Seattle and I fully intend to take a few weekend trips back.

Up The Coast.

We drove from LA to San Fran on the Pacific Coast Highway. It was my favorite of the drives. Windows down, music blasting, ocean on my left, and mountains on my right. We stopped at Malibu Seafood and I got an amazing fried shrimp sandwich. I had gone there when I was 15 and I vividly remembered eating delicious seafood there so I wanted to go again. I also sat in the sun and attempted to soak up the last of the sun-rays I would have in a LONG time. Mary could not eat anything at this fish market, I felt bad but I HAD to get my sandwich. So after I ate it we were on our way. We eventually were away from the ocean and near farms and vineyards. California was very scenic.

We also saw the Kraft macaroni and cheese colored convertible in Malibu. Who chooses that color? Really? It is terrible.

At the end of the drive we crossed over the famous Golden Gate bridge and arrived at a really cozy house right outside of San Fran where a delicious dinner was waiting for us. And a really cute bunny too named BunBun. Unfortunately I did not get a picture of her.

California Girls.

Ahh yes. 3 relaxing days in LA. Mary and I skipped the Grand Canyon to relax from all of the driving. We spent probably an entire day in bed, with my cousins four miniature dogs jumping all over us. We tried going to the beach but it was gloomy and cold. Mary somehow still got sunburned. I naturally took a nap. It was our day to "veg" out. We watched loads of TV and at night we actually got to meet up with the boys we went to Europe with last summer. It was so nice to see them. Boy, how I missed their English accents.

The next day I took Mary to see my favorite parts of LA. We went to the Santa Monica Pier. Then had lunch at a restaurant called Lemonade, which has the BEST lemonade I have ever had. I had Blueberry Mint Lemonade. THE BEST. Their food is also delicious. They are set up in a cafeteria way where you go down the line and tell the people behind the counter what to put on your plate. All of the ingredients are really fresh and everything they served was unique. We also went to the Venice Canals which is where my dream home stands. I love it there. If you ever go to LA, please take 10 minutes and walk through the canals.

We also went to The Getty Center which is a huge art museum on the top of a hill. It overlooks all of LA. They were having a free concert at 6pm. We got stuck in traffic for about an hour. We also realized while in this traffic LA drivers are the worst. We waited patiently in the traffic and got cut numerous times by douche bags in their Mercedes. We got to see the sunset over LA and hear a band called The Antlers. The lights from the city and at the Getty Center were beautiful. It was our last night in LA and I was so happy to spend it there.

Flagstaff,AZ.

Wow. The roads through Arizona were nuts. Our little Versa was cruisin' through. The rocks were beautiful though. We jumped out of our car a few times to take pictures of the landscape. After our 3rd long drive in a row we were SO HAPPY to be in a hostel in a city we could easily walk around. We got into our room and jumped on the bottom bunks of the bunk beds, called our best friend who was about to depart for China and then went out and explored.

We ended up in a spanish restaurant/bar where I had a delicious bowl of chicken fajita soup and friend plantains and listened to a little live music. Then I looked into my drink and there were 4 flies in it!! I was so mad. We decided to leave on that note and started to wander around. We realized we were on historic Route 66 so we took a touristy picture. We tried going to a few bars but on a monday night nothing was really going on. I decided to go the old lady route and hit the hay.

The next morning we were supposed to go to the Grand Canyon. I still feel guilty about skipping it but after all that driving I just wanted to get to LA and lay on the beach. So that is exactly what we did. We went out for breakfast in Flagstaff and then hit the road. Sorry Grand Canyon, I'll catch ya next time.