By now you should have all seen my lovely new(ish) Volvo V50 in
our trip photos (if not, please refer to the Vancouver at Last post). Anyway,
in one year I have managed to put a number of miles on it between Santa
Barbara, Ca and Whistler, BC so my little wag got new shoes for Christmas!
They are Riken Raptors made by the folks over at Michelin… I
haven’t found much on them in the infinite wisdom of the internet so I’ll let
you know how it goes.
...or at least Ashland, OR to Seattle, WA - a belated recap of the drive!
1. The people of Oregon cannot drive.
Marissa, who has the worst vision, and is prone to road rage, was assigned the task of driving the length of the Beaver State (Oregon). After being cut off by an enormous RV, and almost dying, we were forced to give them the California hello- Marissa laid on the horn while Chrissy rolled down the window and flipped them the bird.
2. The people of Oregon cannot pump their own gas.
When a man approaches your vehicle at a gas station in Oregon, don't be alarmed. He is just there to pump your gas. Apparently, it is against the law to pump your own gas. This practice made us all extremely nervous for some reason...could be all those horror stories that revolve around gas stations, women, and strange men. Anyway, none of us knew this, so our appropriate response, obviously, was to tip the guy $5 and a bag of Ray's Own Brand beef jerky and get out of there!
3. Oregonians do not use product in their hair, but they do use an incredible amount of air fresheners in their cars.
If you need another reason to plan your trip to British Columbia, consider that for one dollar US you will get one dollar and twenty four cents Canadian. It's like getting $24 for free every time you spend $100!
Click here for US Dollar to Canadian Dollar currency conversions.
As of today, the exchange rate is in favor of the US dollar...trust me this won't last.
Wait wait wait, I’m still a little rusty at this whole blogging thing and I totally skipped over the part where we whisked ourselves at breakneck speed through Pike’s Place Market on our way out of Seattle. We found a nice little bronze pig and created a photo op for your viewing pleasure.
Special thanks to Chrissy’s friend who took the picture –
sorry I don’t remember your name but I do recall that I really liked your
jacket.
The weather was par for the course – blustery and rainy. After almost losing our footing more than a few times on the slick, sloping sidewalks, we made it to the covered walkway which of Pike’s Place Market and perused some of the goods and services. We also hit the original Starbucks and a pastry place that sold some delectable, cream filled bites of wonderful.
-reese
While oil prices hover around $50 per barrel, keeping gasoline prices down, I highly recommend going on that road trip you've been dreaming about! I'm serious. Go now! Don't wait for prices to go up again!
Ok so let’s see, what happened next… oh yes, we crossed the border with only 1 pee pee emergency, meaning one of our fellow travelers made a break for the public restroom while traffic seemed pretty heavy. When she finally got inside, the queue for the border crossing started to move which resulted in some car chasing hilarity.
From there we trucked it on up north as the sun set making our way to Vancouver amidst exited giggles and general excitement at actually having made it to Canada as well as discussions about the conversion of kilometers to miles and just what exactly the speed limit was. After a few wrong turns, we made it to the hotel, grabbed a drink down in the lobby...
And went to what was touted as the best Chinese restaurant that was not in the China Town proper where we promptly tricked our poor waiter into a photo op.
-reese
Hello all! It's been a while but we have returned from the ether to continue posting about our trip. It will all become clear in a while - we hit a few bumps in the road that took over the top priority spot but let's journey on shall we?!
P.S. In the intervening months, I have been far from idle! in fact, I have finally taught the dog to roll over. check it out:
-reese
I can't believe I haven't visited this place sooner. The Experience Music Project encompassed many of the things that I love about music, encapsulated in a Frank Gehry creation. I like to think that if you could map the architecture of the mind, it would look like a Gehry building in all its shiny curvaceous glory.

Guitar Tornado or "Guitar-Nado"
Also, to top of my already fried senses, the museum also included a huge Science Fiction museum that had housed a lot of my childhood friends from daytime television.
Tom, Judy, and John: I got yelled at for taking this picture, but I dedicate this one to you.
reese
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