Pacific Northwest

After Yosemite, we decided to drive up Highway 5 instead of driving up along the coast on Highway 1. It was a tough decision, but we didn't have much time. Although many people told us the drive on 5 was boring and ugly, we still found it very nice. We stayed in a little place in Yreka, California one night and had some of the best Mexican food we've had. Ed especially loved it because it was spicy. He had pork with guacamole. Jeanette had arroz con pollo. Oregon was beautiful...very mountainous and green. We stayed in Portland and loved it. It is a very walkable city. We walked through the Pearl District, where Ed was in heaven because there were tons of breweries. We then walked through the Nob District, which had lots of unique shops and restaurants. We then walked down by the water before walking back to the Pearl District to eat at Rogue Brewery. Ed was a little tipsy by the end of dinner, but loved the beer (especially the Smoke Ale) and his Kobe beef balls smothered in blue cheese and his beer cheese soup. We ate outside then headed back to the hotel. The next day we walked through a few more artsy districts before driving up to Vancouver.

Vancouver was beautiful, especially the areas surrounding the city. The city was under quite a bit of road and city construction as they are hosting the winter olympics in 2010. We walked over a long suspension bridge, climbed the Grouse Grind because it cost $35 to take the gondola to the top of the mountain, but climbing up it was free. We thought it was going to be an easy walk, but were in for a surprise when we realized how steep it was. We hiked up over 2000 feet in 2.5 kilometers. At the top of the mountain, we got free access to the shows and caught the end of a lumberjack show in which a guy climbed to the top of a pole with his two axes, then ziplined across a wire only holding on with the axes before finally getting down. We also saw two grizzly bears in the grizzly habitat and some birds for the wild bird show. We could have kept walking up other mountains, but didn't have much time in Vancouver, so headed down on the gondola, which only cost $5 to get to the bottom. We then drove to Horseshoe Bay, which is where the ferry leaves for Vancouver Island, which we unfortunately didn't get to. Horseshoe Bay was a really cute town with restaurants and a few shops overlooking the bay and mountains. We ate outside on the grass overlooking the water. We then headed into the city and walked around for a while before getting some pizza and cupcakes, watching the sunset at a beach, and then watching a magician who was pretty good. Ed's favorite line was when the guy started counting to three in all different languages and proceeded to state that in Alabama, they say, "Uh, one, uh one more, then another one more" and then to knock once, twice, then three times to simulate how Jehovah Witness' count. We then went back to the hotel. We headed to the city again the next day and walked around down there. We walked around Stanley Park, Robson Street, walked down by the water, went through gastown (really cute) and caught a BMX show while walking through China Town.

The next day we were interrogated by the US customs officer for several minutes before getting back into the US. We then headed into Seattle and went to Pike's Place Market, which was awesome. We saw the fish throwing, then walked around and looked at all the fruit, vegetables, flowers, and crafts. Soon after, we met up with our friend Chris from college. He showed us around a little more, taking us to the amusement park surrounding the Space Needle, then down to his brewery where we got a tour of Big Time brewery. We saw what Chris did on a regular basis, then went in search of dinner. After attempting to eat at a Mexican restaurant on the water (it was closed), we walked around the university district in search of food and wound up at a Thai restaurant. It was yummy. We then headed back to Chris' house and watched the Olympics. We headed out for breakfast with Chris the next morning at a German bar (it was quite good) before beginning our trek down to Bozeman, MT.