The City of Prius Taxis

How better to arrive in San Francisco than across the Golden Gate bridge??  Walked til we dropped in the city July 29-31.  Up and down hills of neighborhoods of remarkable Spanish influenced architecture.  Buildings of every color (Savannah wants to live in a pink house now).  Checked out the Ferry Building and market (got some cool jewelry there) on the San Francisco Bay.  Mobs of tourists like us everywhere.  We rode every form of transit - electric streetcars, old fashioned trolley, buses, BART, but couldn't get on the famous cable car because of the hours long wait.  And Savannah counted all the Prius taxis we saw!  We ate our way through the city, including amazing Dim Sum in China town and risotto at Berretta's in the trendy Mission district.  We stayed with Reid's old Grinnell pal, Jack Cargas, and his wife Molly.  We had a blast with them, and Molly treated us to expert city recommendations and wonderful hospitality.  P.S.  San Francisco requires everyone to compost!

Big Red in Big Redwoods

Sometime earlier this week (honestly, we're losing track of the days!!), we spent two great days in the Redwoods National Park (park # 3).  For treehuggers like us, seeing the massive 1-2,000 year old trees was awesome.  They are magnificent, and we tried to get our family's arms around them, but only made it about a 1/4 of the circumference!  Other highlights were seeing a whale in the Klamath River, as well as elk and hawks.  We frolicked on the beach at the edge of the mighty, turbulent Pacific Ocean.  I did some sun salutations to the Western gods, while the kids got a little wet in the cold surf.

From there, we drove along the coast through winding roads until we eventually reached Mendicino and Van Dam State Park.  We camped there (a bit chilly), but enjoyed walking on the rocky beach of cliffs and fog, and also a unique pigmy forest.  And though we'd been cautioned, we did NOT smell any weed of fellow campers!

Crater Lake, Oregon

July 25, we departed Pt. Townsend early stopping along the road to enjoy a huge breakfast in Quilcine, WA.  Then, on to Portland for lunch by Pioneer Square downtown, where we bought marionberries at the farmer's market (more great public transit there!).  Finally settled in Eugene, Oregon at Cathy and Chuck Sherrick's -- Reid's second cousins.  They heaped us with good food and old stories, then sent us on our way yesterday a.m.  We wound our way through mountains and desert to Crater Lake National Park (park number two!).  Did NOT expect to see desert and snow at the same time -- Drew tried "butt glacading" down snowy slopes in shorts!  Then what an amazing spectacle of a deep, deep blue, blue lake created from an exploded volcano some 7,700 years ago.  Deepest lake in U.S.  Check it out here...

Pt. Townsend and Olympic National Park

Saturday, we took a scenic, windy ferry ride to the Olympic Peninsula to visit Reid's bro Stumpie, and Katy Ottaway, and Camille and Trey (cousins).  Sunday, we hiked up to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park (park number one!), where we lucked out into sunny weather.  Who expected to get a sunburn while throwing snowballs??!!  Huffing to the top, we got panaramic views of snow capped mountains, Mount Baker, wild flowers, and Vancouver Island, Canada.  Later, had pizza down by the pier in lovely little Pt. Townsend.  Drew and Savannah seemed all ears to the humorous, yet risque banter of Uncle Stumpie and cousin Trey!

(having trouble with internet in remote areas...will upload photos later!)

Living large in Seattle

Arrived to chilly weather in Seattle, but leaving in sunshine!  Got caught up with Raleigh friends, Bonnie Rochman (check her parenting blog at www.time.com) and Dov Pinker and kids, who live here in a funky house in a funky hood.  Went up the space needle for an awesome view of the sound, skyline and mountains, then off on the monorail to downtown Seattle.  Drew gave me a hard time for stopping and taking photos of the public transit!  Had yummy crepes in the Pike Street Market, where we also gorged on local cherries and raspberries, and sniffed the lavendar in season.  The evening was topped off with a breathtaking view (literally for me) of Mt. Ranier, who chose to show her snowy, majestic self for our pleasure.  Heading to the ferry now to cross Puget Sound.  (see us on ferry, with Mt. Baker in background).

Final planning stages for month-long trek...

Details, details.  Can't wait to head out on our month long western N. America adventure, but there sure are a lot of details to take care of.  Reid seems to think we need to have reservations (tent, friend, family or hotel) locked in every night.  Me, I'm thinking about having enough vitamins for a whole month.  And how many pairs of shoes can I bring.  Oh, and getting 3 grant proposals submitted by July 21!