Seattle and the Pacific Northwest

I stretched my time in San Francisco as long as I possibly could before I knew I had to move on.  In 17 days there I saw 18 of the 20 things to see in San Fran, based on an online travel site.  I absolutely loved my time there, but I made a decision to move to Seattle, so that is what I needed to do.  When I left San Fran, I was somewhat burnt out from all the moving around I'd been doing so my physical state was not as optimal as I would have liked it to be for beginning the most anticipated length of my journey.  From the beginning, which feels like ages ago now, it was the San Fran-to-Seattle stretch that I dreamt of most often- but when it came time to actually drive that stretch, a small part of me just wanted to get to seattle, park the car, unpack, and relax in a place I could call home (finally).  This feeling motivated me to just get there, and prevented me from any lengthy stops along the way.  So, I have decided, I will need a round two on the oregon coast with more stops, more hiking, more camping... it's on my list of things to do in the next year.
Now then, on to Seattle.  Im here now for just shy of a week and Im settling in nicely.  The weather has been incredible.  Rainy one minute, sunny the next with stretches of sun as long as a full day or as short as a few hours.  The weather is dynamic and I am really enjoying it.  For the record, a grey day in Manhattan isn't the same as a grey day in Seattle.  Imagine a grey day in NYC, with grey buildings and grey streets... the rain merely washes the dirt off the streets and creates murky puddles.   In Seattle, the clouds stay high above and the water is absorbed into the landscape.  The greens become greener and the flowers open to drink the water.  You feel ok to be out in the rain because you know that the rain is what feeds all the vegetation around you, and the vegetation and landscape is BEAUTIFUL.  Now, I know I am premature in my ultimate judgement and that I cannot fully express my opinion until I have lived through all 12 months here, but for now those are my honest thoughts.
I havent done too much yet, but Ive been spending some quality time with Jesse and Logan, getting organized in my new apartment, and exploring the areas little by little.  Today I made my first somewhat large decision and I registered for a photography course at the Photographic Center Northwest... I am not necessarily pursuing another degree, but I am also not ruling out the idea... I really love photography and have never been more excited for a class to begin...

So there are more pictures to share, but for now im going to back pedal a bit and post my journey from San Fran up north...

Driving my car through a giant redwood in Northern, CA

Some scale- look at the size of this tree!!

A bit of what it looks like along the way

A rainy redwood road.

My motel in Crescent City, CA.  It was decent, but not necessarily worth 80 dollars (after paying 50 just about everywhere, 80 seemed pricey for this "beach front" property)

Another view of the motel

A view along the way

Looking up at a redwood... the shear size of these trees was mind blowing.  Made you feel like an ant.

Hello Oregon

Riding along the 101, you saw a lot of people doing this- Im not sure how far they were biking but with the gear some of these people were carrying, it must have been far.  There were several of them along the way.

An oregon coastal road.

My home for a night in Portland, OR.  Logans good friend Johanna lived here, such a great little house.  They even had chickens out back- in the morning when I got up Johanna had left me a few fresh eggs!

The disaster that was my car upon leaving portland... My camera bag was my companion along the way, it took up the space of a passenger.  Im really glad I had all my gear for the trip- looking forward to taking my skills to the next level with this course so that my next trip can be documented even better than this one!

The back of the car... yes, that is my viking sword, you never know who you are going to run into on these lengthy trips, it is good to carry a toy sword for your protection.

The Logan Ann!  I havent seen this boat in years- last time I was on it I think i was 10 years old.  Looking forward to getting a lot of sailing in this summer

The marina

Lake Washington

a store front in Capitol Hill (i think)

Jesse (in red) and Logan, hanging out in the kitchen

Jesse is a geologist- he always brings exciting rocks home when he comes.  There are a ton of interesting ones scattered around the apartment.

Some yoga in the living room with Levi, Logan, and Jess as the anchor.

Jesse isnt a bad cook, but he isnt quite as tidy as Logan, haha.  He made some great pizza this night though- I ate it while watching the season finale of Lost...

Ill try to get some more images of Seattle up soon.  Havent really ventured out with my camera yet, but I will soon.  Hope everyone is well!

Bay to Breakers, then back on the road for a few more days

Today marks my 17th day in San Francisco.  Can you believe that?  I stayed here for more than half a month, and to be honest, if I got a set of keys to an apartment tomorrow (and a job) I could just keep on going like I have been.  I have great knowledge of the city, have been to 18 out of 20 recommended things to do while in SF and I know at least two new social circles through Luke and Charlie.  San Francisco, more than anything else, has helped to remind me that it is the people in life that bring us happiness, nothing more.  Such great people in this town.
I spent the first half of my time here staying with Charlie and Lauren in the North Beach neighborhood, then a few days in the Mission, compliments of Joe's cousin Jess who amazingly threw me her keys since she was heading out of town.  This past week I spent in the Russian Hill neighborhood with Luke, Kasey, and Tracey at their great apartment with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge from their balcony.   In total I have slept on/in two couches, three beds, and one aero bed during my time here, too many beds if I had my say but Ill take what I can get these days.  Ill be sad to leave considering how fun it has been and how comfortable I am with my new friends here, but all good things must come to an end, and I'm sure Ill be back, so it is time to push on.

 I am only 3 days away from arriving in Seattle...Tomorrow Ill get up, pack my things, reorganize my car, then head north.  My basic route is to head North from San Francisco through the redwoods, spending a night in or near Crescent City, CA, then on Tuesday head up towards Portland, hugging the coast as often as possible.  I'll most likely stay in Portland one night, and if I have it in me, i might spend another depending on how I'm feeling.  Either way, from Portland Ill  be heading up to my final destination -Seattle, Washington.  From then on out my blog will reflect new adventure up there!  


Bay to Breakers: (warning, some of the pictures below have a bit of bare tush in them- continue on at your own risk)
A brief explanation of Bay to Breakers, pulled directly from the official website (we were clearly the 'fun-loving' folks out for a great day of drinking and walking through san francisco): The 99-year old ING Bay to Breakers 12k is one of the world’s largest and oldest footraces, held annually in San Francisco, California. The name reflects the traditional course which takes tens of thousands of participants from the northeast end of the downtown area near The Embarcadero (the "bay" side of the city) to the west end of the city and the "breakers" of Ocean Beach. The 7.46 mile (12 kilometer) race features world-class athletes in addition to costumed runners and 'fun-loving' folks out for a great day of running and walking through San Francisco.
We all dressed up as vikings.  We were part of a group that had approx 200 people, all walking behind our viking ship float (which I might add was one of the best out there) We had a dj on board, HUGE speakers, and were essentially a moving dance party.

Germain, Luke, and Me

Charlie and Tracey

Charlie Tracey and Kasey

This guy loved our group

see anything out of place here?

The police had very little control... one way to describe bay to breakers is a massive parade without any supervision... imagine the things that could happen.

We had kegs in our boat with taps coming out either side

A courageous girl decided to climb up this sign... would have been ironic if she fell. 

Luke

Hot tub time machine

Germain had a blast

If you look closely at her left eye you can see my reflection

from what we saw there werent many issues with people getting hurt, but there were a couple ambulances that passed by along the way... the dj would turn down the music for a second, then crank it back up and everyone just got right back into the dance parties!

some people got a bit crazier than others

a view from our DJ's perspective at the helm.

Pulling the ship

The ship had ropes on the front and metal bars on the back so everyone could push/pull.  Going up hills was tough, and so was going down hills... especially with 15-20 people dancing up top while we pushed.

Charlie also enjoyed his first Bay to Breakers.

This guy is a bartender, and I think a comedian, he's hysterical- the mustache is real.

This guy was the scariest of all people I saw.  I have a feeling my friends Pete and Keith will like this guy.  Doesnt he look sick, like what was going on in this guys head "hmm, bay to breakers, yeah, ill grab that fake head ive got, should be good enough"

Charlie, G, Chang, and me

A great Avatar costume, all body paint and authentic looking stuff

G pushing the ship- luke catching a ride

Luke getting his dance on.

Just be thankful I didnt post the image of the front of this guy.  He is completely naked, somewhat young, and super creepy.  

another float was made out of an old car, this one was the only one louder and bigger than ours that we saw along the way.

towards the end, lots of strangers helped out in pulling the float.

The two guys in black coats were cops- this was where they instructed us to turn off the tunes and pull over the float.  Our group paid 250 dollars to register our float so that we could leave it curb side for the city to deal with after the walk.

The last push.

Charlie and a friend got up there for a picture

G talkin to Nance (my mom) after one too many drinks.  We were excited about the day so we gave her a call, something we often do when we are together for fun events.

My mom wanted a viking picture of Germain and me to use for our christmas card next year... so we took two.

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