Los Angeles (Day 9): Home again!!!

So finally after nine days of driving, walking, busing, and exploring, I've made it back to my home in Los Angeles. Like always, it's nice to be home after a vacation. Anyway, I thought I would compile a reflective list of the places I went and the things I saw!

• Portland Oregon:
• Memorable experience: Rocco's Pizza in the wonderfully eclectic neighborhood of where downtown transitions into residential
• Like LA: Laid-back residents who can be extremely approachable and friendly!
• Unlike LA: You can actually see the hills surrounding the city
• Future visits?: I could see spending a solid week up here.
  
• Vancouver, British Columbia
• Memorable experience: Biking Stanley Park!!!
  
• Like LA: Bustling and crazy night-life scene that attracts a young crowd.
  
• Unlike LA: You can actually walk to places you'd like to go to.
  
• Future visits?: It'd be a great place to spend a summer doing an internship in (not that I could see myself doing an internship ever... :) )
• Seattle, Washington
• Memorable experience: Volunteer Park / Capitol Hill
  
• Like LA: It's easy to get lost in the tourist traps that lurk in major areas through this city.
  
• Unlike LA: Downtown actually meets the Puget sound, creating a beautiful city center right on the waterfront.
  
• Future visits?: Again, maybe a week sometime.
• San Francisco, California
• Memorable experience: Haight-Ashbury / Golden Gate Park
  
• Like LA: Another California city with a "California" reputation, a laid-back artistic community and a large business and professional population.
  
• Unlike LA: I can walk around in the summer without getting sweaty.
  
• Future visits?: This would be a cool place to maybe work in a hostel during some future summer. Just a random thought

Anyway, thanks for reading all these postings of my road trip. I'll continue to post for the rest of my summer (which comes to a screeching halt this Monday), and then decide whether I want to (or have time for) a personal blog and a professional blog. We'll see!

Road Trip Photos

Having basically finished my stays in Portland and Vancouver, I've now uploaded my photos to the web! You can view them as slide-shows, print them, or even download them to your hard drive. Just please don't sell them on eBay (unless you offer me at least 45% commission).

Portland Photos (click here)

Vancouver Photos (click here)

Vancouver, BC (Day 4): A Step Back in Time

Gastown. 6:32pm. Why are people staring? Does something miraculous occur at 6:32pm? Well, no not really, but what we are all staring at is a fully-functional steam clock. What in the world is a steam clock, you may ask? Well, it's basically a steam-locomotive that tells time and doesn't go anywhere. This fact apparently doesn't deter hordes of people who gather around this modern (as in "modernity", i.e. anything post-Enlightenment) engineering marvel gawking at water and pistons and iron. Was I impressed? Well, let's just say I can picture native Vancouverites gathering on their rooftops, spying down on Gastown, with pipe in one hand and glass of gin in the other, laughing at how silly American tourists can be :). "Look Martha, we got one again...."

Vancouver, BC (Day 4): Stanley Park....WOW!!!

Bright and early (at 7:30am), I got up excited to explore Vancouver. In preparation for this trip, I determined that the best vehicle from which to see the city would be a bicycle. Luckily, the local merchants know this too, and as a result, there are several places to rent bicycles right in the middle of downtown. For $19.04 in USD, I was able to rent a squeaky, but sturdy mountain bike for the day. Anyway, I quickly rode over to Stanley Park, and proceeded around the peninsula in a counter-clockwise direction (i.e. in the positive direction for you math nerds out there...). The park was absolutely beautiful!!! Beaches, bridges, bike paths, and bark (on lots and lots of trees)...it really felt like stepping into a completely different world. After finishing the park, I biked down to Jericho Beach, and sat and took a wonderful short little nap right in the park. After the nap, I headed east to Granville Street and then over the Granville St. Bridge, and then back to the bike shop. I'll definitely put some of these photos up soon for you to see! Anyway, I'm about to head out for the evening and see what's going on around here shortly. Catch you all later!!!

Vancouver, BC (Day 3): A little bit of humor

So needless to say, the hostel that I'm staying at in Vancouver, nestled in the heart of Granville St., is slightly more irreverent than it's American counterpart. This evening, after exchanging some American cash for it's melodiously colorful (or should I say colourful) equivalent, I headed north to the Coal Harbor, where I was able to watch some seaplanes both take off and land right on the edge of downtown. I've got to say, the view is spectacular, and this mesh of nature and urbanity is seamless! Don't worry, I'll post my photos later on for all to see. Anyway, I'm pretty tired after driving all day and walking all evening so I'm hitting the hay. Sounds good, eh???

Vancouver, BC (Day 3): Crossing the Border

So today, I did something for the third time ever in my life -- crossing the border into Canada by car. After waiting in line for approximately 45 minutes, I drove up to the customs agent who inspected my passport, and tried to make himself feel intimidating by asking me pointed questions, like why in the world I would drive all the way to Vancouver based only on the notion that I heard it was great from a few friends of mine. "An awfully long way to drive based on a hunch" is how he phrased it exactly. Anyway, he finally gave up when he asked what I did for a living and when I responded he realized that yes, I do have all this free time to prance up and down the coast. Oh well....I guess that's just his job :)

WCRT: T - 18 hours!!!

My bags are packed. My car has been serviced. I'm ready to go! Tomorrow at "o-dark-thirty", I head out in my amazing Honda Civic into the vastness that is the Pacific Northwest. The major stops include Portland, Vancouver (Canada), Seattle, and San Francisco. I anticipate the entire trip to take approximately 9 days, filled with exploring, relaxing and taking in the amazing beauty that lies in stark contrast to the urban jungle in which I currently live! Luckily, the longest drive is the early in the trip (the first day), which will be the fifteen hour trek from Los Angeles to Portland, OR. However, having google-mapped (which is a surpirsing new verb to enter the English language) the route, it is no longer than the drive from Central NY to Central Iowa, a journey that our family undertook on more than one occasion growing up! Anyway, there will be lots more posts in the upcoming week letting you all know what I'm up to there in the NW!