Davis, California

Thanks for having us over,and making such lovely food, Bryn!
And congratulations to you and Chris.

We had a nice, quiet night in the town of Davis before heading off to San Francisco for the day.

I really wanted to try riding the unicycle, but we couldn't find a monkey wrench to lower to seat. We did take the unicycle for a lovely walk around the town, though.

Thanks again for everything!

THE PROMISED LAND

WE MADE IT OUT OF OREGON ALIVE!
Hello, Cali!


The drive along the coast is so breathtaking. Beaches, and crazy fog!


Some kids just hanging out on a roof in Arcata, where we stopped for dinner



Sam was relieved to have arrived, but boy did the 8 hour drive wear him out!

Awesome trees

The Redwoods were so stunning, but it was hard to get good pictures of them from the car. They blocked out all of the light! We camped out in Humboldt Redwood State Park, in the Hidden Springs campground. They charged the most for firewood here that we've seen so far- $7 for a bundle! However, we have to say that it was worth every cent.

The Oregon Curse

Oregon, we calculated, was the 13th state in our journey. This we attribute to why so many unfortunate things happened to us there. It was a gorgeous state. We enjoyed much of our time there. I must say, however, I am relieved to have made it to California alive!

1. Morgan got stung by a bee for the very first time in her life. Fortunately, it wasn't too bad. Being silly as Morgan is, she decided to go hiking in thick black tights. This, we believe, stopped the stinger from penetrating too deep.

2. Sam's car window got smashed in, and they stole Morgan's purse from the passenger side. Actually it was a purse she borrowed from Rhonda. Sorry, Rho! State and school ID, Passport, Ipod touch, glasses, planner, wallet, perscription pills, a black zip up hoodie, house keys, notepads, diary, flash drive, and other miscillanious items (it was quite a large purse) were taken.

3. We thought fourtunes couldn't get much worse. On our way trying to get the hell out of Oregon, in a small town that we can't even remember the name of, a cop decided to pull over BOTH of our cars and ticket them SEPERATELY for apparently going 50 mph in a 30 zone. Ludacris. Neither Sam or Max was doing 50 anyway.

Only one questioned beggs to be asked: What have we ever done to you, Oregon?!

Corvallis

Tonight we are staying with a good Charnow family friend named Christie. Apparently she grew up next to the Charnow family, and we've been enjoying some hillarious stories about them growing up together.


kitties
more kitties! I had a kittie on each side of me, and was petting both of them for a while (and making purring noises) until one of the buggers bit me :(

the second dog named Elvis that we've met on this trip

kibbles n' bits!
wind up dino
wind up caterpillar



an amazing bowing pin that Erin decorated

Kristie, and Corvallis, are awesome.

Portland; City of Roses and Smash and Grabs

I was completely unaware, but apparently, Portland, Oregon has the perfect climactic conditions for growing roses! We saw plenty of flowers on the sidewalks of the neighborhood we are staying in last night. We visited the International Rose Garden in downtown Portland.


Sam was tired from hiking all day. Plus, flowers make him sweepy.

An interesting one!

Smells lovely.



I like to call these the origami ones. It was great to see how many different types of roses there are. Some blooms are so open, with rounded and flared petals, and some petals are folded with flatter blooms, like these. Oh, and the colors! From the most delicate white/peach (my favorite) to the most vivid reds, purples, pinks, and yellows.
The names of the flowers were also really creative. Some orange ones we spotted were called "strike it rich". There was also "California Dreamin' ", "Rosie O'Donnel", "Love and Peace" and so many others. Some didn't have formal names, but just had letters and numbers to identify them with, because they're experimental strains.



breathtaking color gradation

This one is for you, Rhonda. I know yellow roses are your favorite!




You can get married in this amazing garden.




a view of downtown from the flower garden

What we came back to after spending an hour and a half in this surreal place. Someone smashed in the window to Sam's car and grabbed my purse from the passenger side. Thank goodness nothing irriplacible was in it. It did have my phone and my wallet, and my ipod and hoodie... plus my planner. My PLANNER! And my diary. MY DIARY! Hopefully nobody is reading my embarassing personal thoughts and dreams...
Yup. This really sucks, but at least they didn't steal the car full of camping supplies.
I'm about ready to suck down some of that famous Oregon beer right about now.
- Morgan

an Oregon Trail

We have arrived in Portland, Oregon. A pretty cool city so far!


Here's where we're staying
Thanks for having us over, Burger!

A Grateful- Dead themed bar that we drank at. So awesome!



And here is the Trail that we hiked this morning. We went up to Angel's rest. The shortest one, and we are all so exhausted from it!





...almost there...

The glorious view from the top. It's all downhill from here, baby.

This delicious little cheddar bunny fell, and landed in this upright position. A perfectly stuck landing. Nice going, little guy.