The Orange Ninja and Friends

Good Times

2009-08-06T23:04:00.000-07:00

Cayucos to Santa Barbara and Beyond

We woke up very well rested, and Mark and Natalie, his girlfriend, greeted us with coffee and breakfast. Mark made this awesome concoction of avocado, hot sauce, and almonds on toast that was pretty delicious (Drew- a great vegan breakfast). Headed back up to Hearst Castle we passed the zebras once again minding their own business while amidst the cow and goats. We got on the bus for our tour, and the weather was prefect by California standards-74 and sunny. We were dropped of at the Neptune pool, which was one of 2 pools in the castle. The other one we would see at the end of the tour, and it was an indoor one complete with gold tiles and a 10’ platform diving board. W.R. Hearst basically outfitted this “house” (1 of his 11) with all sorts of relics and antiquities from Europe after WWII since the countries needed money, and he was a high bidder. He basically condensed all of 7 Spanish churches in his abode. From the ceilings to wall paneling it was all imported. Anyways, it would be cool to go back a visit again; we only got to see a fraction of the house. There are 5 different tours you can go on! Hopping back in the car (which was really dirty at this time..it even had tiger stripes on it made out of dirt) and headed to Solvang right outside Santa Barbara. Solvang reached its notoriety when the movie Sideways was filmed here a few years ago. In fact it is nothing more than a tourist trap and reminds me of Bush Gardens without any of the fun rides..so therefore it is lacking in the fun dept. If Solvang had a roller coaster I might go there more often (note to city council). So over the pas we went to Santa Barbara where we picked up Napoleon, who was a filthy mess after playing with dogs for 11 days straight, and headed to 5086 Rocoso Wy Santa Barbara 93117 (here is our address finally for those who keep asking…and it’s my birthday soon too). We unpacked the car and headed into town for some dinner at Sojourner café a cool restaurant with tons of Vegan options. It’s amazing how many choices there are for Vegans out here. We all were exhausted after being on the move for so long, but knew we had one more day of driving down to LA tomorrow to send Mike and Bri on their way home. I woke up this morning to find Mickael in the front yard sleeping like a homeless person since Napoleon was snoring too loud last night (he was really snoring loud for some reason). I was dreading driving down to LA because of the traffic, but we made it down there in a little over an hour and half. We met up with Mike and Brionna’s old roommates from Richmond Dave and Will and headed out for breakfast at Millie’s (same owner’s as the Richmond one..or used to be). After that we walked around Silver lake and since everything was closed (note..do not go to LA on Monday…everything is closed) we headed over to Fairfax where only ½ of everything was closed. Mickael passed out some Born Ugly Magazines at HUF and Supreme…The guys there pretended to be too cool to look at some zines even though the reality was they were probably just pissed that they were making minimum wage working the register at a skate shop. We then went to an awesome bookstore called Family across from supreme and picked up some books about art and stuff. If they had had cookbooks there…I probably would have bought one of those too. We then went back to Will and Dave’s house and said our goodbyes to our travel buddies. It was only 11 days with them, but we gained a lifetime of memories. We hope they have a safe flight home and come back soon…next time with Chance and a truck full of furniture!

Total stats
2214 miles traveled
640 dollars spent
10 days of fog
2 hunger strikes
1 great invention ...ask Nikki and Bri

No Reservations

2009-08-06T22:45:00.000-07:00

Monterey to Cayucos

We woke up this morning to some fog yet again. It seems to be following us everywhere we and of course each time we ask someone he or she says that this is the worst fog in a number of years…go figure. We packed the car and headed towards Big Sur. We were going to do the 19 mile drive around Pebble Beach and Ghost Tree, but since it was a Saturday, the traffic was pretty bad so we headed straight on the 1. We stopped by a café at the River Inn, which is right as you enter Big Sur where we had a great breakfast in the SUN (finally). The café was great and it even had Adirondack chairs set up in the river for people to eat in the comfort of the running water. You can even bring your inner tubes and go for a ride after you eat…We’ll remember to do this next time. We started back down the road, and the scenery was amazing. It reminded us a lot like Oregon; except there weren't any guardrails down here…I was guessing it was because of the budget cuts. All of the bridges are simple compact concrete bridges built in the 1930s but still look very rigid and sturdy today. With the girls passed out in the back, Mike and I sat in the front talking about the cool things we had seen in the past week. One of the place that we didn’t get to stop at because of time but are curious to go back to is the Esalen Institute which has hot springs right on the ocean. The only problem is that you can only go by reservation between the hours of 1 and 3 a.m. that is correct..a.m. Imagine how the ocean and stars must look sitting in a spring in the middle of the night. We exited Big Sur and headed up to the Hearst Castle. This place is amazing. It makes Neverland ranch look like a motel 6. It sits way up high on a hill overlooking San Simeon Bay, and has tons of fruit orchards, cattle, own fire station, and even a few zebra. We pulled into the parking lot, and tried to go for a tour, but since we didn’t have any reservations we weren’t able to go on a tour. So we picked up some tickets for the next day and headed down to Cayucos about 15 minutes south. In Cayucos we stayed with Mark Interian, a friend of mine from dental school, whose house is amazing. He has some great vegetable gardens, little bungalows, and a creek all on his property. After showing us around, we headed down to Moro Bay for sushi which Nikki and Bri were craving the past few days. We had a great dinner and then headed back to the house where we all fell asleep to the sounds of the creek below.

Day 9 stats
117 miles driven
26 elephant seals
5 bridges crossed
0 guardrails

Stimulating that Economy

2009-08-06T21:55:00.000-07:00

San Francisco to Monterey-
After a great night’s sleep in a bed for the first time in almost a week, we ventured out in the town in search of a good breakfast spot. We consulted Yelp for a good breakfast spot, and Brenda’s French Soul Food was hands down had the best reviews, and we headed down their to judge for ourselves. If you are ever craving any southern cooking in San Francisco…go there. The food was delicious, and just what we needed to start our morning off. After checking out of the hotel, we headed to the mecca of hippies, Haight Asbury to wander around some more shops and galleries. Nikki ended up finding some cool vintage bathing suits at La Rosa, and Mike and I ended up getting some original artwork by Jay Howell at the RVCA space. I am trying to start a mini art gallery in our place and will hopefully transfer it into my dental office in the distant future. We ended up heading over to golden gate park to meet up with one of my roommates from college Adam Carlson who is doing his residency at UCSF, and we all chatted over some crepes before he had to get back to work. It was good seeing him; I haven’t seen him in almost 4 years even though he was only in Charlottesville at UVA while I was in Richmond. We headed out of the city, all making promises to come back, since the 24 hours there wasn’t enough to even cover a fraction of all the city had to offer. The views driving down the coast to Monterey were again beautiful with the sun peeking out through the fog every once in a while. We stopped by Half moon bay and Mavericks imagining what the waves must be like here in the winter towering 40-60 feet high. We passed Santa Cruz, Seaside, and finally ended up in Monterey. Monterey has the same feel as Santa Barbara with a long stretch of shops and eateries like State Street. We didn’t have enough time to go to the aquarium, but we’ll have to do that on another visit. We settled into the hotel, and ordered some Chinese food, and called it a day after Nikki and Brionna had a very competitive pillow/jousting fight. I think Brionna put up a good fight, but she was no match for the MMA trainee…I’m glad those classes are going to some use.

Day 8 stats
121 miles driven
24 head shops
5 photos taken because of
2 sleepy girls

Land o' Plenty

2009-08-06T19:59:00.000-07:00

Salt Point to San Francisco-
We awoke around 6:30 to the revving of the motorcycle engines at the campsite next to us. Imagine having an alarm clock that you can’t hit the snooze button on…it was kind of like that. With everyone being awake we decided to go exploring down by the beach since we heard that tide pools were in the area. After making sure that the raccoons didn’t run away with anything from the night before, we headed down to the beach. It was right between tides, so we found lots of cool things in the rocks from sea anemones, starfish, kelp crabs, and abalone. The fog started rolling in and we packed up and headed towards San Francisco. After about a 2 hour drive, we passed under the golden gate bridge (which is amazing) and entered into Japan town where we were staying at the Hotel Tomo. It was like we were staying in Tokyo with all the rooms having different themes..needless to say it was awesome, and I’m sure Brionna felt like she was at home. After unpacking, Mickael had an appt at Thrasher magazine to be shown around the place, so we headed over there to see what the inner workings of a magazine were all about. I was amazed at how small the space was for 3 magazines under the same roof. Thrasher, Juxtaposed, and Slap were all in the same area that was about 1600 square feet. We then headed down over to the Tenderloin area where all the art galleries were along with all the homeless and drug addicts. In about 5 minutes we were offered crack, morphine, and oxy cotton in the broad daylight. I’m glad art galleries always seek out the seediest parts of town to set up shop. We went into White Walls, Shooting Gallery, 111 Minna, and the Luggage store which all had pretty cool shows, but we were all impressed by Mike Maxwell’s stuff at the Shooting Gallery. We even got a chance to check out the SFMOMA, which had some cool special exhibits on Richard Avedon and Georgia O’keefe. Starving, we headed back to the hotel to eat in the downstairs restaurant called Mum’s where we had some shabu-shabu. It’s basically Japanese fondue and it’s delicious. After we refueled, Cody, one of Mike and Brionna’s friends from high school came by and took us out to Haight Street for drinks. The bar that we went to was called Molotov’s and the best part was that dogs were allowed inside. Cody’s girlfriend Julie stopped by and joined us telling us some great stories, and after a few hours we headed back for a good night’s sleep.

Day 7 stats
74 miles driven
14 kelp crabs
5 art galleries
1 full house

Ranger Rick

2009-08-05T23:10:00.000-07:00

Orick, Ca to Salt Point, Ca
Today we had our long drive ahead of us. It wasn’t that far by any means, but the number of twists and turns on the road was a recipe for instant motion sickness. We stopped for a while to relax at the Eel River, and the water was a perfect temperature. It would have been a great place to go kayaking, but we definitely couldn’t have fit one in the car. While sitting on the rocks in the river, Nikki spied a drowning bat getting swept away by the current, and we hurried down the river to push it to safety. It caught it breath for a few minutes, and then while Nikki was telling Mike and Brionna the story it flew over us as if to tell us thank you. With our good deed done for the day, we headed from the 101 to the Avenue of Giants where the road was lined with giant redwoods. Even after seeing them the day before, they continued to amaze us. We stopped to grab lunch at a small café in Arcade, Ca before heading back over to the coast. The coast was a continuous sinuous road combined with the fog made for what seemed like a very treacherous drive. We made it to our campsite at Salt Point just before dusk (even though you can’t ever really see a sunset here with all the fog) and were hoodwinked by some older campers to change our campsite. We wanted the ones across from them, but they told Nikki that the one up the hill was much better. They just didn’t want to have to walk around the long road to use the restroom since the shortcut went straight through that campsite. After we had started making dinner, Mickael noticed a raccoon on a stump at the neighboring campsite. In a few minutes, the raccoon emerged right next to our picnic table, and had no fear as he climbed up on it to see what treats we had to offer him. Nikki and Mike clammered on some pots and pans to attempt to scare him away, but in about 30 minutes he reappeared except this time with a gang of fellow bandits. It was a constant struggle through dinner to keep the animals at bay, but once the food was put away, they seemed to turn their attention back to the dumpster down the road. We fell asleep to the barks of the sealions and the hoots of owls, and got ready to enter back into society and the hustle and bustle of San Francisco.

Day 6 stats:
294 miles driven
78 hairpin turns
13 crazy raccoons
1 wet bat

Land of the Giants

2009-08-05T16:19:00.000-07:00

Cape Blanco, Or to Orick, Ca
We went for a hike on the beach this morning, and it looked like a driftwood graveyard. Amidst all of the fog, dunes, elk bugles, and dead trees it didn’t take too much imagination to wonder where the ideas for ghost stories came from. We came back to the campsite for some breakfast and got back on the road headed South. Our first detour for the final skate park stop in Oregon was Brookings where a 9-year-old girl dropping in at the 8-foot section of the bowl humbled Mickael. She humbly told us that she taught herself in only 3 years….it didn’t hurt either that she lived directly across the street. A few more miles and we were in California where we were greeted almost immediately by the giant redwoods at the Jedediah Smith Redwoods National Park. We had all seen photos of redwoods in books and photos, but to see these things up close is amazing. Everything in the forest is huge even the ferns and clovers, it was like you stepped back in time during the Jurassic period and expected to see a velociraptor around the next corner. We then stopped in Crescent City to get some food and firewood for the night. Crescent City was full of great people watching although it made us unsure of what they put in the water around here. We drove around for a while not actually sure of where our campsite at Gold Bluffs was, but we finally found it after driving down this 4 mile dirt path. Unfortunately the campsite was full, but we befriended 2 girls from Michigan who were nice enough to share their space with us for some beer…..after driving down that road and the thought of nowhere to sleep we thought this was a fair trade. The campsite was yards from the ocean, so we settled down and made a driftwood fire and fell asleep listening to the waves crash against the shore.

Day 5 stats
131 miles driven
26 feet wide trees
2 hippies
1 humbled skateboarder

Beers for Breakfast

2009-08-05T15:37:00.000-07:00

Cape Lookout, Or to Cape Blanco, Or
We went for a hike this morning on the beach and after a few minutes were enclosed in such a dense fog that we had no way of knowing where the beach access was. After jump-starting our neighbor’s car, we headed back out on the road with our first stop being the Rogue Brewery makers of Dead Guy Ale and other great beverages. We were too late for the brewery tour, but still got a chance to see everything since the only way into the store was through the inner workings of the brewery. We then headed out to Seal Rock, and even though the area was absent of seals at the time it was full of crazy rock formations and agates. Our next stop was Waldport where we stopped at another local skate park (Oregon is littered with skate parks) for Mickael to skate, and he had the park all to himself. I’m not an expert on parks, but the ones out here are anything like the ones on the East Coast, all the kids and adults are friendly and parents are out encouraging their kids to be active. Also all the parks have huge bowls built in which makes the skate boarding out here more like surfing with smooth transitions versus the choppy style of the East coast. Speaking of skateboarding our next stop was at the sandboarding (I had no idea this even existed) capital of the US at the Oregon Dunes National Park. We pulled the car over just outside Florence, Or and headed up this sand hill only to emerge upon a vast landscape of endless sand dunes that stretched for miles down the coast flanked by the ocean, lakes and rivers. We stopped for lunch in Coos Bay at a great natural café and took in everything around us on their outdoor patio. Each town that we have driven through has had it’s own identity and we haven’t seen the same thing twice. We ended up camping out at Cape Blanco State Park, and it was freezing. We ended up wearing everything that we owned to make it through the night.

Day 4 stats
187 miles
40 miles of dunes
27 skater punks
3 degrees Celsius at night

One Eyed Willy and the Truffle Shuffle

2009-08-05T14:28:00.000-07:00

Portland, Or to Cape Lookout, Or
6 a.m. came early this morning for most of us except for Mike who was like a child on Christmas morning..or I guess Chanukah in this case…ready to go skate Burnside without any crowds. After an hour of skating, we needed some breakfast and headed over the bridge to the legendary Voodoo doughnuts. Even early in the morning the line was out the door, but it was well worth the wait. Nikki got the “Old Dirty Bastard” a sugary confection covered in Oreos and peanut butter, while Brionna got the “Portland crème” a classic crème doughnut, I got the “Captain my Captain, a donut submerged in Captain Crunch cereal, and Mickael got the Technicolor creation “Miami Viceberry which upon eating instantly caused a minor seizure. One thing we noticed while waiting in line though was that the amount of bicyclists here in Portland is amazing. It seems like everyone around here partakes in some type of riding whether it be on their road, mountain, bmx, city, or track bike. After our doughnuts, we were thirsty and what goes great with doughnuts?...coffee! We headed over to a locally run coffee shop, Fine Grind, recommended by some friends in Santa Barbara run by artist Joe Shay and his wife Keiko. They have done a great job with the space turning it also into a gallery feature works by local and national artists as well as some pieces by Joe himself. After talking to Joe and Keiko for a while, we got back on the road and headed toward the coast. Our first stop was Seaside, a small touristy town that still had its roots deep in supporting the local fishermen. The beach was a great welcome committee to the coast with the cool fog covering everything creating a very intimate yet eerie feeling. We drove down the coast ducking in and out of the fog continually playing a game of hide and seek with the ocean. We emerged through the fog at Ecola State Park to catch a glimpse of haystack rock where they filmed the movie Goonies, and almost everywhere we turned seemed to have been a location of the movie. Further down the coast was Tillamook home to Tillamook cheese where we were going to stop until we pulled into the parking lot only to realize that the creamery was like the “South of the Border” of Oregon. We headed down to the more local institution Blue Heron French Cheese complete with petting zoo and great Brie. We camped out for the night at Cape Lookout State Park with a campsite 100 yards from the ocean nestled in the woods. Nikki and Brionna made a great fire and after eating we all passed out after a long day of traveling.

Day 3 stats
138 miles
89 type of donuts
14 chickens
2 Oregon cheese makers

Skateparks and Microbrews

2009-07-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

Medford, Or to Portland, Or
We left the metropolis of Medford with the Rose City in our sights. We stopped once to fuel up and were in awe that even the gas stations here were beautiful with babbling brooks full of wildflowers behind them. Portland was amazing….it is a city that has the appeal of a small town, but with the variety of a major urban area. It’s full of independent shops selling local products, a variety of restaurants, and all kinds of boutique hotels and music venues. We spent the night at an old motel just outside of the city called the Palms, which was an older motel with an old neon sign and a great location right next to the light rail. After unpacking we headed downtown to eat and we sent to this pizza place called Rocco’s by a guy we befriended on the train named Kevin. He was a 2 year transplant to the city and had lived the past few years of his life on trains headed up and down the coast. Rocco’s was a no frills pizza place, but the food was just what we needed to fuel up for a downtown walking tour. We then went to Powell’s books where Mickael picked up a few local zines and headed through Chinatown and the arts district. We then headed over to the Eastside of the city to Burnside skate park which was the first D.I.Y. skate park not funded by the public, and it was pretty amazing to see even for us non-skaters. We then headed down the street to check out the local music fest PDX-POP where some metalcore band was playing, and we continued back to the hotel. For dinner we ended up going back into the city to eat dinner at Clyde Commons, which is the restaurant bar that’s part of the Ace Hotel, a new boutique hotel reasonably priced with various themed rooms. The food was amazing, and the best part was it was all locally sourced. After dinner we headed back to the hotel waling around downtown feeling very secure…in fact at no time in Portland did we ever see a “bad” part of town. We headed off to bed and geared up for more exploring tomorrow.

Day 2 stats:
221 miles
112 microbrews
5 books bought
1 awesome city

The Journey Continues: Part Deux

2009-07-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

LAX to Medford, Or

12:10 am-Mike and Brionna finally made it after 2 hours of delayed airport action. We greeted them at the gate with California offerings of In & Out burger and Santa Barbara cupcakes from Crushcakes (yours are better Jessica). It was good to see them even though it has only been a few weeks away from Richmond. We drove back to Santa Barbara for the night and got a few hours of sleep before we headed up the coast. Gilroy, Ca was our first destination as we headed to their heralded Garlic fest. The garlic fest is defiantly something you should check out if you are a lover of all things garlic, they even have garlic ice cream which Nikki was a huge fan. You could get anything garlic you ever wanted, but we ended up all sharing some garlic fries, pesto pasta (the best thing in my opinion), marinated mushrooms, pepper steak, and sautéed calamari. Once our garlic appetite was satiated and our breath very fragrant, we hopped back on the road. Heading through the valley, we passed by acres of farmland full of orange, lemon, and cherry groves. After a few hours of driving, we pulled into Williams, Ca a small town in the middle of nowhere, but home to some of the best Mexican food we have ever tasted. We also took advantage of the perfect light setting, and took our cover shot for our band. 5 hours and 3 hotels later we ended up getting a few hours rest at the Medford Inn.

Day 1 Stats:
697 miles
200 cloves of garlic
15 ghost towns
4 good friends

Californication

2009-07-17T22:37:00.000-07:00

Day 10
Flagstaff, AZ to Santa Barbara, CA

As I predicted last night, we didn’t encounter any type of supernatural beings, but we did hear lots of traffic in the hallway but never validated it as ghost or human. We were both too tired. Napoleon slept through the night as well, which is odd because he has been barking at every strange sound or odd movement in the unhaunted locations. We took a walk around downtown Flagstaff this morning all 6 blocks of it, and found a cute place for breakfast called Martenne’s. The sign stated it was home to the Chilaquiles, and neither of us have had these, but we are always down for a good breakfast. The food was once again amazing; it was the traditional Southwestern Mexican cuisine that you can only find out here. Spicy, colorful, and very very tasty. Hopping back into the car, we knew that the end was in sight. We stopped only twice today in out trip just to fuel up but they were both very brief due to Napoleon’s reaction to heat. Midway between his breakfast he stopped eating (which is rare for him) and looked up at me with a sudden sense of panic and erupted into an uncontrolled panting session. He was seeking out shade anywhere he could in the 110-degree weather, and the asphalt couldn't provide him with any relief. Nikki informed me that when I walked around the car, Napoleon followed me in hopes that I would be letting him in the air conditioned car…but instead, as soon as his feet hit the asphalt, he slammed his brakes on and ran back under the tree. We finally arrived into Santa Barbara around 5:30. We made it, after 10 days of traveling we pulled up to Nikki’s (and possibly my) new apt. It is perfect, full of sunshine, has a yard/patio, kitchen, across the street from the only dog park, next to the bike path, and most importantly Trader Joe’s! Tomorrow out POD arrives and we’ll go exploring around the area….don’t worry we’ll update the blog to show our findings. Also, in a week our friends Mike and Brionna are coming out here to go exploring up the PCH with us. The blog will continue with guest editions, and our first stop is going to be Gilroy for the Garlic festival..seriously. Thanks again everyone for all the love and support.

Total stats:
3847 miles driven
144.5 gallons of gas
22 rest stops
7 National Parks
3 arguments
1 great trip (see how tired Napoleon is)

Navajo Nation

2009-07-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

Day 9
Gallup, NM to Flagstaff, AZ

Northern New Mexico and Arizona continued to amaze us today. The land out here is beautiful and very enticing. It definitely isn’t the desert that I imagined where Wiley Coyote crafted his always ill-fated plans. We had some time in the morning to explore Gallup and stopped by a couple of the local trading posts. The trading posts still have the barter system in effect where a lot of the local Indians either come and trade their art for items or sell it to the stores for resale. One of the oldest trading posts in Gallup is Richardson Trading Co. that was opened in 1908. I ended up purchasing two kashina dolls that I’ll post pictures of when I unpack them tomorrow. One is a broadface figure, and the other is a long-haired kashina. We had great help from Larry Fulbright at the store, who was a wealth of information about not only the symbolism, but also about the artists and sites of origin. We also found out from him that there is resurgence in the youth contining the traditions of the elders, and their pieces invoke a certain essence of youthfulness and flair that can be seen especially in the hand woven rugs. After our mini art history lesson, we headed to Fort Defiance, which straddles the NM/AZ border to check out the IHS clinic. The hospital is a brand new facility and is state of the art, and looked like a great place to work. We continued on to the Petrified Forrest Nat’l Park where not only is this park home to petrified trees (which just look like brown stones), but it was also on the fringe of the painted desert that was full of striations of different hues of earth all formed from natural causes…the photos we have don’t do the place justice. We ended up back on Route 66 for a few miles after the park, and once again it was like we stepped back in time. We passed by the wigwam motel that was full of classic cadillacs, trucks, and hotrods, and we could instantly see how Pixar was inspired to create the movie Cars. An hour later we were in Flagstaff, which was another hidden gem on our travels. This place was full of culture, good food, and one creepy hotel. We pulled into our hotel the Monte Vista (more on it later) and walked around town looking for a place to eat. As many of you know by now, we like to eat local food, and Diablo Burger was no exception. Diablo Burger’s ingredients all come from within 40 miles of Flagstaff, and they are all “magical.” The burgers were cooked perfectly, and the frites were seasoned delicately with a touch of salt and rosemary. DB’s owner, Derek, was also very friendly coming out to talk with us for a few minutes, even though he was initially attracted to Napoleon exuding all of his cuteness. If you are in town I would highly recommend paying them a visit. Stuffed, we walked around downtown to the ampitheater, which tonight happened to be full of Salsa dancers, but may be used for local bands or movies depending on the night. We contemplated hopping in the mix, but decided we would both get cramps from the feveriously fast dance moves and just headed back to the Monte Vista for the night. The hotel was one of the first hotels in Flagstaff and was the popular choice of such Hollywood Legends as John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, and Debbie Reynolds. A scene from Casablanca was also filmed there, but the greatest draw for the hotel is the ghosts. Now if you know me, you know I hate scary things, Nikki on the other hand is the opposite, so she did some investigating by way of the internet, and found out that the two most haunted rooms in the hotel were across the hall and adjacent to us. The room across the hall, 302, is fabled to have a women seen staring at the occupants sitting in the lone rocking chair in the comer, while the room adjacent to us, 305, is said to have ghosts who suffocate male occupants of the room. We’ll see how well I sleep tonight. Nikki, on the other hand, is waiting in anticipation for the bellboy ghost to come knocking on our door asking for “room service.”

Day 9 stats:
208 miles
806 trees that looked like rocks
14 dinosaurs
0 ghosts for now

?estamos alli todavia?

2009-07-14T20:12:00.000-07:00

Day 8
Santa Fe, NM to Gallup, NM

Santa Fe is just as a vibrant city during the day as it was in the night. This town is the town where artists go to die. I couldn't keep count the number of the women who looked like they sprung from the pages of Chico's and Coldwater Creek. We spent the morning exploring around the hotel, and happened upon revitalized industrial part of the city (think Mancester only with nicer buildings and fewer guns.) The area used to be the old rail yard of Santa Fe, and now was teeming with city parks full of child friendly areas, farmer markets, art galleries, and beautiful gardens. Also, everyone we passed was enamored with Napoleon with people telling s stories left and right about how they know someone with a pug, boston terrier, english bulldog...of course no one ever has a frenchie. Unfortunately, Napoleon wasn't allowed in the market areas, the only strike we had against the city, so we decided to head back downtown to check out some of the local Navajo artists. Downtown was even more colorful during the day as well. Around every corner there was a street vendor selling handmade silver and turquoise jewelry or kachina dolls. We ventured into Sun Country Traders where I picked up a carving of a rooster wearing hi-tops from Navajo artist Matt Yellowman. He just had some pieces picked up by the Smithsonian, so hopefully it will be an heirloom. After a light lunch at Sage Bakery, we headed back on the road finally heading West again. We stopped by El Malpais National Monument. This 42 miles stretch of road was part lava beds part gigantic sand bluffs and home to a small natural arch. We saw about 3 people in an hour and it made me wonder why such an amazing area was absent of visitors, a stark contrast to Rocky Mountain a few days ago. We ditched the camping idea after thunderstorms and a flood advisory loomed on the horizon and are spending the night in Gallup. Gallup looked like it was an oasis in the days of Route 66, but now is a ghost town full of pawn shops and boarded up motels. It also may very well be future place of employment. Tomorrow Nikki is being a good sidekick and tagging along while I go play grown up for a few job interviews..wish me luck!
Day 8 stats:
246 miles
217 types of chilli
156 market vendors
1 step closer to the end

The Road Less Traveled

2009-07-13T23:12:00.000-07:00

Day 7
Frisco, Co to Santa Fe, NM

I don't know what it is about the west, but everyone is always active. In the past few days here rarely a moment goes by where you don't see someone riding a bike, running, or going paddling/rock climbing/hiking nearby. It's a great habit to pick up, so Nikki and I decided to go on a bike ride with my sister in the morning, and then do some kayaking in Lake Dillion. Lake Dillion is this huge man made lake that has water in it the temperature of ice, but it made for an awesome place to kayak. The lake is full of wildlife and tons of little secluded islands for you to explore. Well we paddled around the lake for about and hour and decided to turn around. It was at this moment that we heard a nice loud crack of thunder and noticed a huge storm coming up right over the ridge from the West. It's amazing how a nice and tranquil lake can develop a nasty chop with whitecaps at the blink of an eye here. We went from enjoying the morning to paddling like we were trying out for the Olympics in about 2 minutes. We made it back to the dock just in time and took shelter in the local bar. The temperature dropped about 20 degrees in a matter of minutes and then the deluge was upon us. After most of the storm had passed, we decided to ride in the rain back to the house which we soon decided was a bad idea after we all developed ice cream headaches from the freezing rain. Of course once we made it back to the house, the rain stopped and the sun was shining again. We packed the car, and let Napoleon say his goodbyes to Barley and his new friends from around the neighborhood. We took the scenic route south and and through places like Leadville and Buena vista. It's amazing how quickly the landscape changes from mountains to plains. We entered the "land of enchantment" and immediately saw what was so enchanting about it. Around every turn, even though there were very few of them, there was something new to see. The desert was actually very green with tons of little knee high bushes covering the ground. Finally we reached Santa Fe and as soon as we entered the town, we fell in love with this place. Everyone was walking everywhere, there were art galleries on every turn, there are green spaces in all the nooks and crannies, the weather is great, the people are friendly, and lots of good local food. It's no wonder that Bill Richardson would have rather stayed here than go to Washington D.C. After we settled into our hotel, we ended up walking to downtown where we ate at Cafe Pasqual's. The food was a perfect welcome and introduction to the area. If you have time you can ask us about it, I don't want this to be another food dissertation. Plus they just finishing having the Folk art market here on Sunday and this place is teeming with all of these artists. We are definitely coming back in the future for it. Today we are doing more exploring of Santa Fe and then camping tonight in the Cibola National Forrest, so if we don't post in a few days send out a search party. Thanks everyone for all you comments and calls..we miss you!
Day 7 stats
321 miles
127 folk artists
23 casinos
3 ice cream headaches

Dog Days of Summer

2009-07-12T21:18:00.000-07:00

Day 6
Frisco, Co

Today was great. Again we didn't have to drive anywhere and got to get up as late as we wanted...well we woke up at 8:00, but it is the idea that matters. Today started off with an awesome breakfast at this place called Butterhorn Bakery & Cafe that would rival almost any Richmond establishment (Blacksheep not included).
Not to turn this into a food blog, but today we will just take a detour for a few moments today here and there....so Nikki had the Butterhorn's take on eggs benedict with a croissant on the bottom, poached eggs, ham, avocado, and a roasted red pepper coulis. I had some whole wheat pancakes covered in a compote with fresh blueberries, strawberries, and maple syrup candied walnuts....AWESOME! Sorry we ate it too quickly for photos. After breakfast, we went back to the house where my sister had just arrived from Ft. Collins on a brewery tour. We decided to take the dogs out on a hike, and so we headed up to Rainbow Lake. Napoleon loves it up here, and surprisingly he can breathe pretty well at altitude. I thought he was going to collapse after half a mile but he kept up with his big cousin Barley all day. The dogs had a great time at the lake, and Napoleon even got into the water up to his chest, a big step for a dog who hates the rain and stepping in puddles. We got back to the house and went on over to Breckenridge to attempt to ride the alpine slide, but as soon as we got there it started raining. We instead went sightseeing and walked up and down main street. Nikki and Emily were immediately distracted by the smell of chocolate at a nearby crepe cart, and so they decided it was time for a snack. Once again the food didn't disappoint, and the crepes were gobbled up in 20 feet. After almost lapsing into a food coma in the corner of the street we made it to the car, and ended up back at the house for some relaxing. After a few hours, it was time to eat again...not that any of us were hungry, it was just that time. After Emily and Ben slaved in the kitchen for a few hours, we ended up stuffed with pasta salad, bison burgers, corn salad, and some type of Paula Dean style(must contain at minimum 1 stick of butter/person) dip that was de-li-cious. As I am writing this blog, everyone is very full with smiles on their faces, and the dogs are asleep and dreaming about their day. We'll stay here for the morning tomorrow to go kayaking if the weather holds up and then off to Santa Fe, not only the highest but also the oldest state capital (thanks Dad). It's been a great visit here, and Ben and Emily have been great...can't wait to come back for Christmas!

Day 6 Stats
18467 feet walked
3670 Calories consumed
4 full and happy people
2 tired dogs

Taste the Rockies

2009-07-12T09:52:00.000-07:00

Day 5
Lusk, WY to Frisco,CO

Today started with us checking out the metropolis of Lusk, we were done in 10 minutes. As usual though as we were checking out of the hotel, our surfboards caused great intrigue among the locals who were very nice and full of questions. We finished packing the car and then smuggled Napoleon out of the hotel room. No pets were allowed so I turned him into a big pile of laundry that I put on my lap in the front seat (I got my inspiration from ET).
We headed south through the Cowboy State, and about 2 hours later we were in Wyoming. While the Western part of Wyoming is full of stuff to do, the eastern part doesn't have too much to offer, as you can see by our photos. The highlight was Nikki wishing on the gigantic sized dandelions found at the rest stops.
Once were we in Coloroado, we were suddenly rushed back into society by the sudden influx of the outlet malls at Loveland. After not seeing anything like this in about 4 days was kind of a shock, and it made me wonder why people don't travel more often to enjoy life outside shopping and strip malls...ok back off the soapbox and more to the trip. We took a detour and drove through Rocky Mtn National Park on the way to Frisco. This place was amazing, but I imagine it is a lot like driving through Yellowstone. The views were amazing and the place was abundant with wildlife. There were elk around every corner, and you would think that people would have never seen an animal in their life as to how some people were driving. People would stop directly in the middle of the road or even better be driving down the wrong side of this narrow 2 lane road to get a photo of an elk that they thought was 1000x better than the one they just took a photo of 3 minutes earlier. I on the other hand was more concerned of driving off the side of the road and careening thousands of feet down into the valley below...talk about stressful. The road had no guardrails and made 180 hairpin turns about every 1/4 mile, but the views were worth it.
We made it out of the park alive and ended up in Frisco about an hour later. Napoleon was greeted at the door by his cousin Barley, and couldn't have been happier to get out of the car. The same went for us. We rode bikes into town for a great dinner at the Himalayan Cafe, a Nepalese restaurant, and the food was amazing. We rode bikes around town for a bit and then back to the house to pass out. Tomorrow my sister gets back in town, and we're going to go explore Summit county.

Day 5 stats
354 miles
248 outlet stores
134 elk
1 dead butterfly

America...F*** Yeah!

2009-07-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

Day 4: Okoboji to Lusk, WY via Mt. Rushmore, Devil’s Tower

Today started off wet yet again, it seemed like we were never going to get a break from the rain. However, after we said our goodbyes to the Meyer’s who shipped us off with some awesome hamburgers from their cattle, the sun finally decided to come out for our hot drive across the plains….and it was a long drive.

There isn’t a whole lot to see driving along I-90 in South Dakota except for lots of billboards, and there are only 3 types. Ones for the Corn Palace, Ones for Mt. Rushmore, and ones for this placed call Wall Drug that outnumbered the latter. We got sucked into all 3. Also, each one of these locations was strategically placed across the state so that you would have to drive through the whole state to experience them all, a great marketing plan. However, I feel bad for North Dakota since they have none of the above locations, and so I bet none of the visitors.
So as we cruised to Mitchell, SD, the home of the Corn Palace, and wound up in Tourist trap #1. First off, the Palace doesn’t have any grandeur of those you may think of when the word comes to mind, and second, it wasn’t made of corn. The Corn Palace is a convention center with various themed murals around it made from corncobs stapled to the plywood walls. Doesn’t sounds like any Palace I’d like to be king in. There was a silver lining though. They have a delectable treat that can only be purchased there (thanks Courtney G.) called caramel cob. It is what it sounds like and is delicious.
Stop #2 was the Badlands Natl. Park. This place was pretty amazing although before we could start driving through it Nikki had to finish her last few pages of Twilight. The Badlands are made up of about 30 miles of huge dirt and rock spires that run in this huge twisted maze….you definitely can see why they got their name. At the end of the Badlands the town of Wall awaits you before you hop back on I-90. It is full of all things a good South Dakota town should be like large dinosaurs, mini golf, go carts, make your own t-shirts, and live cowboy shows. Only in America can you mini golf in almost every town across the country.
We fueled up and then headed off to the grand finale of the state, Mt Rushmore, and it didn’t disappoint. Now I know why Gary and his Team America would call this place home base. It exudes nationalism and patriotism from all areas of the park including mini golf at the base of the mountain. Nikki forced me to indulge in some of these tourist activities and we went alpine sledding. It was awesome (see video) and well worth it, I think South Dakota should make a 4th type of billboard for this place. We ended up finishing way earlier than I thought, and so we decided to squeeze in one more site so we hoped back in the car and went to Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. I’ll let the pictures do the talking for this place. Finally we ended up in Lusk, WY for the night and after Nikki once again lulled me into driving the whole day, I was ready shut my eyes for a bit. Tomorrow we are off to my sister and brother-in-laws in Frisco by way of Rocky Mountain Natl. Park, and Barnes and Noble so Nikki can pick up the second book of her new addiction (Seriously Brionna thanks again).
***also we lost some photos along the way so we don't have any photos to capture the Corn Palace in all it's glory

Day 4 Stats
754 Miles
10,234 corn cobs
98 seconds of downhill bliss
4 heads of stone
1 eagle pass

...and then we rested

2009-07-09T22:11:00.000-07:00

Day 3
Okoboji and Meyer's Cattle Farm in Ringsted, IA

Today was a treat for us. Today we felt like Mike Rowe, without the dirty part...for the most part. Nikki woke up this morning to the rain(again) and was really excited because she got to wear her boots. I was excited because last night Jeremy had promised that today we would go see the farm toys. I knew about tractors and trucks, but would have no idea what man machines were in store for me today.
All of Jeremy's family is in farming, his Grandfather, Uncle, Dad, have been in the farming business for a long time. Their farm is in this place in the middle of nowhere, really the middle of nowhere check the map. The roads to get there were dirt, and I think we saw one or two cars on the way out there, come to think of it, one of those cars was an ATV. They farm cattle,corn, and soybeans. We first stopped by Jeremy's Grandfather's house where there were some vintage tractors, huge silos, and some 18 wheelers. Jeremy was way excited to take us around in the 18 wheeler since he just passed his CDL driver license test a few weeks ago, and he impressed us with his backing up skills. Our next stop was his off site storage shed. Wow...farm equipment is awesome! There were these giant machines called combines that attached to this thing called a bean head, and then I got to sit and start some other huge tractor that had all 8 wheels turn at the same time. Finally we stopped by the cows. Nikki was the only brave soul to venture out in the "mud" since she had her boots on. We drove back to Okoboji grilled some steaks and vegetables. It was good to have a meal that wasn't all shades of brown. So far on our trip our diet has consisted of, granola bars, goldfish, oatmeal, fig newtons, and coffee. Tomorrow we'll be back on that diet as we venture off to Mt Rushmore, or "the heads" as it's affectionately called around here. Courtney and Jeremy were great hosts, and their daughter, Riley was great too. She has gotten so big, and I think she was better behaved than Napoleon. If you ever find yourself up in this part of Iowa, stop by Okoboji, and if you need a dentist I know just the person for you to see.

Day 3 stats:
50 miles driven
80 cows
5 tractors
3 combines
way too many corn and soybean plants
1 awesome host family

Storm Chasers

2009-07-09T20:16:00.000-07:00

Day 2
Louisville to Okoboji
...It's in Iowa for all you who have never been there.

Today started off with the nice hotel staff at Motel 6 helping us load the car while jokingly asking if Nikki and I could teach them how to "hang ten." Also a few seconds later a guest walked up to us smoking his breakfast cigarette, noticed the boards, and shook his hand giving us the hang loose symbol simultaneously telling us, "kowabunga dudes!" I knew we were going into an unfamiliar land.
We made it quickly through Louisville under a light drizzle and entered the Hoosier state. We knew we had entered the heartland just a few miles into the state line. Almost every water tower from here on out across the state had a clear message to send the the passing vehicles, here was home to American water. It's good to know we're not importing everything these days. The rain continued, increasing into huge drops, and for the rest of the day the windshield wipers constantly played a game of catch up to mother nature. We next hit Illinois where we would were constantly entertained by roadside poems such as this one
When Gun Control
Has Us Beat
Criminals Will
Run the Street
GunsSaveLife.Com
These witty rhymes were often followed by a billboard or sign advertising the local Adult store. Obviously the people of Illinois feel very strongly about their right to "bare" it all.
The highlight of the day though was stopping at the Iowa 80 Truckstop. The largest truck stop in the whole world, and it's even been shown on the travel channel. They had a dentist, 800 truck parking spots, tons of snacks, military patches,truck parts, and even the amazon.com's
3 wolf and moon ts hirt that is know to change people's lives. After and hour of wasting time people watching, Nikki decided to drive after she had read about half of Twilight (thanks Brionna). She decided to start off her stint with a dance off which she declared herself the winner even though I contested. I'll let you be the judge. Nikki took us into Iowa where there was no shortage of corn and soybeans, and about 4 hours later, just to watch the sunset, we finally arrived in the NW corner of the state at the lovely lake city of Okoboji. Courtney and Jeremy were excited that we made it, and we were glad to finally get out of the car. It was a long day, and while neither of us ever found out what a Hoosier was, but we knew that Indiana was full of them.

Day two stats:
760 miles
627 XXX stores
57 windmills
7 rest stops
1 winner and 1 loser..it's ok you can tell Nikki the truth

The Journey Begins

2009-07-09T18:58:00.000-07:00

Day UNO

Orangy Neenja will make guest appearances since he's our guiding light.
We begin our journey. Cappy drove the first leg, and I followed up the rear...cause you know, you always save the best for last. ^_~

Ok now for the breakdown of the day. We left the beach to crying mother's although I think most of Mrs. Leone's tears were for more Napoleon. We cruised up to Richmond, where Nikki indulged in tater tots and the infamous Godzirra roll from Sticky Rice. Nikki soon fell into a food coma (which I soon realize will occur at least 4-5 times a day with or without food). We cruised through West Virginia where nothing was too "wild and wonderful" as the sign advertised. The Ninja has been helping us pay for gas along the way (I don't ask where his money comes from) but hasn't offered to drive yet. We ended up making it all the way to Louisville at the end of the day. We called a creepy Motel 6 home for the night, where the most gracious staff allowed us to keep our boards and bike in their office behind the bullet proof glass. We didn't let that deter us though, and slept soundly after the office staff told us that this security precaution along with the 14 video camera in the lobby were "overkill" and we were in a "very friendly area." We'll be up at 7 to do it all over again tomorrow, although hopefully Nikki will go into fewer comas.

Day one stats:
668 miles
10.5 hours of driving
5 rest stops
3 dead deer