Backpackers Blog: "Don't Make Good Time, Make Good Times"

March 21, 2011

I hit the road. Heading from PDX to PHX. Alongside me is my trusty Co-Pilot; Chris Boscamp. After a brief stop for a final donut delivery to my opening crew in Portland, we headed towards I-5. Let the journey begin.

As the title of this post suggests, the goal was to relax and enjoy ourselves. After considering our options, we decided to catch 199 out of Grants Pass and head down to Crescent City, CA.

After a brief stretch and a snack, we found ourselves a little bit hungrier than we had prepared for. Our attempts to get food for the road were however, unsuccesful.

Back on the road, we catch 101 out of Crescent City and continue south. Our goal; Redwoods. More specifically, Avenue of the Giants in the Humboldt Redwoods.

If you haven't had the opportunity to visit the Redwoods, I suggest you go now. There are very few places more majestic than what remains of these forests. While you're there, thank Teddy.

As you can see, the trees are absolutely massive... Anything that makes me look small is just inherently impressive.

Thanks to the wisdom of our good friend Todd, we were able to wrangle up a salamander for dinner.

After hunting for more tasty forest creatures, we realized it was getting dark. Driving on the scenic by-way means older and tighter roads. The fear of our lives ending like a bug on a windshield made us move on.

We continued south on 101, all the way into San Francisco. I had never driven over the Golden Gate Bridge, despite it being dark the $6 toll was more than worth it.

After a ridiculously long day, we decided to find a place to stay. San Francisco smelled like a traffic nightmare come morning, so we pushed forth. Picking the next biggest city on the map, we cruised towards San Jose. Theres no better way to find a cheap hotel than to just look at the names.

And at that, we called it a night.

March 22, 2011

This was the "short" day of the road trip. We rolled down 101 some more, headed for a stretch and lunch in Monterey!

I've been to Monterey a number of times and have some absolutely wonderful memories from both my childhood and adulthood. This stop was obligatory in my opinion. Damn we are handsome.

After lunch and some sun in Montery it was time to head to Fresno, CA. Where we stayed with my cousin Michael and his wife Christi, their two kids and also got to see my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Danny. Trust me, it was an amazing time. No pictures there, unfortunately.

March 23, 2011

After Fresno, we really only had 1 planned stop left; Reuniting a boy with his dog. So we headed to Long Beach, CA where said dog resides.

Chris could not have been happier to see her, although hesitant at first she remembered him quickly. Little did she know we were just trying to gain her trust back because we were hungry.