An update

Just an update to give apologies. To my one reader. (Hey Becca).

Please pardon the mess. I'm not really cut out for the blogging thing but it's still on my mind. I do intend to give it some attention in the somewhat near future.

White strawberries

I've been staring at some strawberry plants thinking they're taking forever to turn red.. then I just noticed they were already shriveling up. They never turned red! Apparently they weren't supposed to. Did you know white strawberries exist?

A wonderful place

So there's this amazing cafe by the name of Snapdragon. Today for brunch (really my third breakfast since I've been up since six. I planted in the garden and got stuff done already!) I got lentil stew with Swiss chard, poached egg and fresh baked bread. Oh and feta. I'm overjoyed. It's so delicious. They are brilliant!

And that's a cinnamon roll stuffed with pear and rhubarb.

Nothing to complain about

Good coffee, everywhere!

Wash Away

Today was my first rainy day! It's been sunny since I got here!
But today has been a nice gentle and saturating rain.

Nothing like the perfect song to match your day:

Although now I see blue sky taking over... I spoke too soon.

Home!

So I'm actually on an island near Seattle and everything is by ferry. It can be a challenge I've heard, but I'm not complaining!

Out of Lalla? Go get some Mo

Stopped to see my dad's brothers and family, my uncles and cousins in Molalla, Oregon. Another gorgeous day in the west. We went to an Elk farm! Summer is unusually early... I guess we brought the sunshine with us!

Next stop is the last... !

Avenue of the Giants

Second check off my bucket list! See the Redwood forest.

Crescent City

We made it to Crescent city, a breezy little town outside of Redwood forest. We had the best breakfast thus far. Dad had a seafood omelet - cod crab and scallops - covered in hollandaise. And I had salmon, eggs, hash browns, fresh tomatoes and pancakes (this is nothing, I can eat a huge breakfast). If anyone ever thought salmon was fishy, they need to go there and eat what I had. It was amazing.

We then went to see the seals on the docks: (we heard them first - so funny!)

Wine country

5:10 and we realized all the wineries are closed or closing. We just passed a sign for Rivino winery and called them to see if we could stop by. "Just cleaning up but sure you can stop." Whew, almost missed that must-do!

It turned out to be fantastic too so we bought some bottles and made it worth their while. They had a viognier with a long list of awards and a 100% cabernet franc. Delicious!

San Francisco

Great food again. Of course. Pure seafood lunch, with a side a seaweed.

Headed for the Frisco Bay

On our way to San Francisco, picked up tons of local good food, sooooo cheap!
This sign prompted a u-turn:

Apparently, this is the artichoke capital of the world. Fine by me, I'll take 10.

One day up near Salinas

Stopping for the night in Salinas outside of San Francisco...

Ventura Highway in the sunshine

Heading up the coast on US 1 ...

America - Ventura Highway

Santa Monica

I like this place. I get the California thing. Great food. Hello Pacific Ocean!

California!!

So excited to cross the border into California. Interesting, it's still somewhat desert, but by the first stop for gas in Blythe across the border it was instant palm trees! Tall ones! And people wearing flip flops! We're back on the coast, phew. Riding into the sunset to stop somewhere outside of L.A. :

(sprawling windmill farm...)

"Left his home in Tuscon Arizona..."

We stopped south of Phoenix to see friends and had some relaxing and necessary down time. So nice to see friends you haven't in a while and it's comfortable, just where you left off.

Saw my first real cactus! Hillsides of them...

p.s. .. I don't know about his "dry heat" thing, seems more like a brewery for spontaneous combustion to me.

Sedona AZ

Wow. Did we land on Mars? That's what Sedona feels like. Out of this world scenery, I'd dare say more impressive than the Grand Canyon. And the people are a little.. well to quote a local.. "quirky." Nestled in the heart of amazing piles of mountainous red red rock is this pristine and artsy town. The drive down through 89A was something I'd love to do again. Quite a few creekside campsites that I could spend some time in awe.

My pictures really fail. It was really more like a 360 of this:

GRAND Canyon !

Made it into Grand Canyon village at 11 pm. Stayed at Yavapai lodge and it was very comfortable. We couldn't swing getting a permit to hike over night :( . But we hiked down a couple miles on the South Kaibab trail and it was stunning. Perfect weather, cool in the shade and warm sun on our backs. Chatted with a variety of folks down and back up, even raced a couple the last jaunt to the top. As expected, photos do not do it justice.

Gallup TX

Quaint town with some history. We stopped for dinner at historic El Rancho hotel, an old attraction for Hollywood stars. Food was decent enough but the nostalgic atmosphere was something to see.