Redwood National/State Parks, CA: Redwood was another park that was confusing and a little disappointing. While there were a few spots with awesome views of the coastline we couldn’t get access to a lit of the park without a special pass of hiking really long trails. We did get to see the big tree and drive the car through another redwood that’s been carved out just to show how big they really are. The plan was to camp at Redwoods but after seeing how little the park had for us to do we did what we could and headed into Oregon to stay the night and get closer to tomorrow’s destination… Newport!
Oregon/Newport: Oregon was AMAZING! I loved it! On the way to the campground we made several stops that were on the way. We toured two lighthouses one of which is the oldest lighthouse on the Oregon coastline and another just north of there. We also got to rent ATVs and go out on the sand dunes. Sand dunes cover a large amount of the Oregon coast and taking an ATV seemed like a much better idea than hiking them like Nadeen and I have done many other times. After we paid they had us watch a safety video warning us of the dangers of being out on the sand dunes and basically telling us about all the fees if we were to get stuck or damage the bike. After convincing my mom not to back out we hit the dunes and had an awesome time. Only two of us got stuck (I wont mention names) but Nadeen used her muscles and pulled it out both times. No fines and back safely… a successful dune ride! We got to the KOA that night and decided what better place to get seafood than the coast. After asking the front desk about suggestions (she couldn’t really give us any names which was a bad sign) we just heading into town to look for ourselves. We drove on the bay and found one place that had no fish (which is what I really wanted) and a lot of fried seafood. After a long search we found Georgie’s! It was fantastic. The next day we woke up and spent the day driving the coast and into Oregon wine country. We drove to a couple more lighthouses, where at one we ended up seeing a lot of seals basking in the sun. There was one that was so fat haha that the only way he could get off the rock was for a wave to come up and crash into him and knock him over. Another seal was probably 20-25 ft from us. He was just sleeping until Amanda started clapping and then he would look up at us and had a perfect picture opportunity. Overall, the seals were so mesmerizing that we ended up staying there for probably an hour just watching them. After lighthouses and seals was wine country. We decided not to go in California because everyone goes in California, we figured why not go to Oregon where it’s not so well known. We drove about 45 minutes and found wine country. Wine country with no grapes haha. The main purpose was to walk through the vineyards (I fell in love with vineyards when I went in Vienna a couple years ago). We drove up and all that was there were sticks! Nothing had started growing or blooming yet, not like in California where we passed fields and fields of grapes. Since Oregon wine country was a bust we had to think of something else to do in the meantime. Our ingenious idea was horseback riding on the beach! We got there and ended up waiting almost 45 min, which wasn’t cool to get onto the horses. Finally, I got Mocha, Amanda got Pee Wee and Amanda’s mom got Bailey. It was incredible. We walked up sand dunes and then onto the beach where we were allowed to trot if we wanted. Holy cow, after a few minutes of trotting I was in pain haha. It was slightly painful but totally worth it. The views and the experience were amazing. Newport and Oregon so far are just beautiful and amazing and we leave the next morning to see more of Oregon!
Portland, Oregon: We drove into Portland but went straight to the Multnomah Falls near the border of Washington and Oregon. The falls were crazy. It was definitely a huge tourist attraction and difficult to get any pictures without a random person in it as well. Oh well, it just wasn’t meant to be. We went to a few other waterfalls near there and headed out towards downtown Portland. On the way we stopped at this building that had so many people. We learned that it was a Vista House, a place for weary travelers. From the top of it you get this amazing panoramic view of the Columbia River and Washington right across from it. Well once in the city none of us really knew what to expect or do in Portland so we just drove into downtown. First we went to see the nationally famous rose gardens. Yet again, Oregon weather has ruined things for us because only live 5 roses were in bloom. Mother Nature was trying so hard to ruin our time but she failed J. We tried to go to the Japanese gardens but the tickets were like $15 per person to see flowers?! Yea no! Later we went to see another Chinatown. I am just unimpressed by the Chinatowns I’ve seen. Oh well, I guess I will never visit China. Again, the gardens in Chinatown cost some ridiculous amount to see some flowers so we decided against it. Since it was Mother’s Day we thought it appropriate to take Amanda’s mom out to dinner so we went to Red Robin, which was yummy. But since Amanda and I both serve, we are fairly critical and service on our trip has been below adequate most times. I guess it just comes with being an amazing server and knowing what to look for haha. Well Amanda’s mom flew out that night and Amanda was bummed about it. But what helped was the fact that we would be in Washington the next day, including a day trip to British Columbia.
Olympic National Park/Port Angeles/Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: Wooo we made it to another corner of the continental US. The drive to Port Angeles was actually very pretty. I didn’t realize it until we pulled into the KOA, but Port Angeles was the town that was one setting in the Twilight series. About an hour and a half from us is Forks and La Push (also two more settings in Twilight). The town has definitely used that in their favor and used it to pull in some tourists. They have it advertised everywhere. Well since we only one half day to see the park, Forks and La Push were too far for us to go but we did go to a mini rainforest and waterfall (Sol Duc Falls). The rainforest was amazing!!! I loved it so much. Afterwards, we headed to the top and saw Mount Olympus and the Olympic Mountain range. It had recently snowed there and the snow was about 8 feet tall. The snow plows were on the side of the road were ridiculous and the tires had some hard core chains wrapped around them. Amanda and I thought they were so cool, that we had to stop and take some pictures of it (check them out on facebook).
The next day was focused on Canada. The ferry left at around 8:30am and we got back around 5pm. Going through customs, Amanda realized that the Canadians apparently didn’t care if you bring in weapons because they don’t ask you or check you whatsoever. On the ferry, we were talking about what we were gonna do when I realized that we had no camera to document this trip! Ugh we were going to have to go old school and use a disposable. Also, on the ferry, we were sitting with two older women who were so nice, Judy and Jonnie. Jonnie (who was older) was telling us all about her life and how she ended up in northern Washington. She was extremely funny. They were going to have tea at the Empress hotel, fancy stuff! Well we got into Victoria and started walking. We walked about 8 blocks to a castle, which looked much larger in pictures than it did in person. Slightly disappointed we walked back into town looking for lunch. We decided on McDonalds because it was safe and cheap. Ha Canadian dollar not the same as a US dollar and the menu was completely different. They had Rolo McFlurries!!! If you don’t know what a Rolo is go to the store and buy some because they are amazing. Well after figuring out what to get and how to pay we continued on walking around Victoria. We ended up seeing Parliament, Fisherman’s Wharf and Antique Row. Around 2 or 3 we were ready to go but obviously couldn’t unless we wanted to swim. We ended up just sitting by the water, people watching until 4 and headed back to Port Angeles for the night before going to Seattle!
Seattle: Oh Seattle, the city that I learned about from Real World way back when haha. Pike’s Place and the Space Needle were the only two things I really knew about Seattle and the only two places I really wanted to go. We went to the piers and just walked up and down before heading towards Pike’s Market. It was nuts, an experience everyone should do and embrace! They had so much stuff and so many people. We did get to the part where they were throwing fish and I really wanted to get behind the counter to catch on but I was too chicken to ask. I regret not asking now, but that means I will have to go back just to catch one. We were just walking through the city when I realized that I really like Seattle. I don’t know what it is, but the atmosphere is just different from other big cities. In the market, Amanda found this stand selling dried apple chips and later I saw a gourmet popcorn store. Of course it was after we were back in the car that we decided that we wanted it so I had to run around Seattle backtracking and getting those treats for us, but totally worth it. We headed to the Space Needle and I was stoked. Amanda thought it was crazy that I was so excited about this place but I don’t know I just was. We got there and went up to the top and the view was UNBELIEVABLE!! Though the price per ticket was kind of nuts, I would pay it again to see that view but next time I would do it at night. After a long day of driving and walking we called it a night because the next morning was going to be an early one because we were on our way to HAWAII!
Hawaii!!!
The flight was long and uncomfortable and they fed us some burrito that may have been beef no one really knows, but I’d do it again because after two months we were in the western most state of the US…Hawaii! We got into Hilo at around 3pm and got our cute little Nissan Versa rental car and went to the hotel. The hotel is in the works (under renovations) so it was okay, not the best. But for what we paid I’ll take it. The next morning we got up and drove to Hawi to go zip lining. The drive is about 2 hours from Hilo and we got there and realized we couldn’t do same day reservations L We had to come back the next day. Well instead, we drove to a rocky beach and to a historic statue instead. The first day was full of driving but the sites were so beautiful it didn’t matter. On the drive back we stopped at some waterfalls (Rainbow and Akaka Falls) and did some hiking. Akaka falls had a woman selling artwork done by her husband and was telling us how the falls were named after her family. She was just funny and interesting. The next day was the exact same routine as the first day and driving to Hawi for zip lining, except this time we knew we were going to go. Zip lining was so much fun. Our two guides were Slingshot and Big Monkey, typical Hawaiian guys that were so much fun and absolutely hilarious. We went on 8 different zips most going over the canopy of the rain forest, saw a few waterfalls, and crossed over a suspension bridge. It was a great time and took about 4 hours. Slingshot was picking up random berries and fruits and giving them to us. It’s good to know if I were to get lost in the rainforest I wouldn’t starve haha. Who would have thought that zip lining was so exhausting but I was tired by the time we got back to the hotel. On Sunday we drove out to Volcanoes National Park and ventured out around the lava. It was amazing to see the steam that was flowing out of the crater and knowing that there was a volcano boiling just feet below. We were able to walk through a lava tube, which is basically like walking through a cave. This is where lava used to flow underground and eventually resurface and flow into the ocean. The hardened lava was marked in different parts of the park as to how long it had been there. We drove out to a point where lava had completely covered the road making this the new stopping point. If you wanted to go any further in that direction you had to get out of your car and hike over the lava. There was even an arch in the side of the coastline made of lava rock. It was awesome! That night we went back to the lava viewing so we could see the red glow from the flow. They had the road blocked off about half a mile from the actual flow due to the lava rock that had covered the road just 11 days before. If we were to cross this line we could only make it about 10 minutes before out shoes were melted through.. that is if the lava didn’t give way before that. There was a security guard there full of helpful information and he was telling one couple that in 2006 they didn’t regulate where visitors could go and in that one year 17 people went missing (died) and about 430 were injured (lost a limb). This was shocking to me and made me thankful that he was there to tell me that it was too dangerous to go any further. Monday we went to the other side of the island. This area is where a lot of the tourist go and is know for good snorkeling and beaches. We went to the beach in hopes to get a tan but instead we laid out under the clouds and watched people at they snorkeled on the reef, got yelled at by the lifeguards, and got too close to the sea turtles. That night we had reservations to go to a Luau. This was a cool experience. We had awesome food, unlimited drinks, saw a beautiful sunset, and met some very nice people. The performers did a great job at giving us an idea of the traditional dances and Hawaiian culture. After a great day and a long drive home we crashed back at the hotel. Today we took it slow, tanning on the beach (becoming lobsters), went to the zoo (15 minutes before closing), and spent some time in a few local shops looking for gifts and souvenirs.
OK now everyone is caught up! We’ll try not to let so much time go by before another update. :)
Amanda/Nadeen
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