Day 6 – Lodi CA to Fresno CA, via Yosemite National Park

After a particularly nasty hotel breakfast today we headed off towards
Yosemite along highway 99. Then onto 120 where we completely missed a turn
and ended up in Jamestown about 10 miles north of where we wanted to be. So
we had breakfast there and then headed back to the turnoff.
Driving towards Yosemite we noticed a
sign saying
kiwi tavern, and thought
thats weird, so we had to stop at Chinese Camp (population 150) to check out
the place. Once we noticed
the flag we had to go inside and have a chat.
It turns out that the the owner was a Kiwi expat from Gisborne who had been
living there for 12 years.
After a chat and an orange juice we continued on to Yosemite, which even
though it was pouring with rain was spectacular. We took lots of photos and
looked around the visitor centers.
After looking around there we got on highway 41 and headed south to Fresno
and got a room for the night. We went to TGIF courtesy of the some vouchers
we got as wedding presents (thanks Daschbach and Kreke).
3440 Steps today

Day 5 – Eureka CA to Lodi CA

After another hotel breakfast we headed south down 101 until we hit Fortuna
then we cut east on route 36. Stopping to eat in Wildwood (population 35)
where we were the only people not wearing knives. We then carried on until
we hit I5 at red bluff and turned south. Finally stopping in Lido to have
some food, do some laundry and get some sleep.

We did the laundry at Rancho San Miguel and went to get dinner from the
mexican supermarket there. Had fantastic burritos and I had about 50 litres
of Horchata. Debbie if you read this, as the only person of hispanic
ancestry I know I want to ask you, what the hell is the story with the big
plastic velour covered piggy banks?

3845 steps today.

Day 4 Coos Bay, OR to Eureka, CA

No internet day

After breakfast at our hotel in Coos Bay we headed south along highway 101.
We stopped at a zoo place and patted animals and looked at bear and elk.
Photos here.
We had lunch in a great diner in Port Orford where we managed to
get $2 off
our lunch bill by each answering a trivia question correctly. Next we drove
through a whole lot of redwoods and saw big trees and lots of elk.
Once we arrived at Eureka we checked into a hotel and then hit the mall for
dinner and bought some new cd’s to listen to in the car.
6871 steps today.

Day 3

After a fantastic free breakfast we headed off for our next destination,
Coos Bay Oregon. We drove south along I-5 until we hit Salem then took 22
west then 18 west to Lincoln city. After lunch and some shopping in the
outlets there we headed south along 101. Amazingly beautiful scenery, Oregon
is a really pretty state. We ended up in the best western hotel in Coos Bay,
nothing fancy but it does have broadband, so im uploading some photos now.

Photos are here
, more will be added as we go along.
Oh and according to pedometer 4923 steps today.

Day 2

Seattle to Vancouver WA,

This morning we drove into Seattle and went to the Pike Place markets. I had
clam strips and fries for breakfast, Laurel stuck to the less adventurous
cheese toasted sandwich. After wandering around the markets for a while and
watching people throw salmon around (literally) we hit the road south.
Laurel was feeling to tired to drive by about Tacoma so I took over driving,
we left the interstate and headed out to highway 101 down the coast.
Stopping in Astoria for a look around and dinner. We then took highway 30
to Portland then on to Vancouver where we got completely lost looking for
the hotel.

According to the pedometer I walked 3307 steps today.
Oh btw the dodge sucked, the stereo was broken and the alignment was rooted,
so we traded it for some chevrolet car which drives much better.

Im Married!!

Well the wedding is all over now and I think it went pretty well. Everyone
seemed to have fun which is the main thing. It was great to see all our
friends from all over the place getting on well together.
We are off on our honeymoon now so I’m gonna keep a bit of a trip diary.

Seattle
We arrived here yesterday around 11.30am Pacific time, after spending the
day before trying to fit stuff in our packs, and running round saying good
bye to people. So we arrived having had 2 hours sleep and with a wicked lack
of caffeine headache (well I did anyway). We got our bags, walked around
trying to find the rental car desk .. we finally did (it was in another
whole building) and got ourselves some transport. We ended up with a dodge
grand caravan for the same price as a full size ( 4 free upgrades) people
like honeymooners it seems 🙂
We then checked into our hotel and fell asleep, woke up, ate mexican food,
swam in the pool, and fell asleep again.
Our next destination is Vancouver Washington (just north of Portland) by way
of the coast. We’ll probably put some photos up then.

Milk based drinks updated list

  1. Eatnpark – Cafe Mocha Java
  2. Eatnpark – Chai Milkshake
  3. Hersheys – Creamy Chocolate Milk
  4. Borders – Mocha Freeze
  5. Dairy Queen – Marshmallow Milkshake
  6. Dairy Queen – Chocolate Moolatte
  7. Berkeley Farms – Chocolate Milk Chug
  8. Dairy Queen – French Vanila Moolatte
  9. Deans – Chocolate Milk Chug
  10. Turners – Chocolate Milk
  11. Giant Eagle – Chocolate Milk
  12. Gloria Jeans – Mint Chocolate Bomb

The Kerry vs Bush bumper sticker pole

One of the other things im doing to amuse myself is trying to use bumper
stickers to gauge the support for each of the candidates.
Im pleased to say that after 3 days its
Kerry 10 – Dubya 6

UPDATE 2004/10/06: Kerry 21 vs Bush 14

As of today Kerry has taken a good lead.

UPDATE 2004/10/14: Final Pennsylvania Tally

Kerry 36 vs Bush 29
Lets see what I spot around seattle today.

UPDATE 2004/10/14: Washington

Kerry 8 vs Bush 4

UPDATE 2004/10/15: Oregon the smart state

So far its Kerry 24 vs Bush 6