"Not all those who wander are lost"
- JRR Tolkien

A very true quote....unless however you've been in the car with us over the last few weeks. We've had an incredible knack for getting lost lately despite modern-day conveniences such as the mapquest app on my iphone AND having a library full of good ol' fashioned maps in the car! Regardless, it is all part of the journey...

While 98 square feet has been parked in one location for 20 days now,WE certainly haven't been. Since our last post we've beem to Monterey, Carmel, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, San Jose, Saratoga, Cupertino, Los Gatos and Alcatraz Island! 

Santa Cruz
We had a blast playing on the Santa Cruz pier with T's cousin, Curt, and his daughters -  Britney and Amber.  A day of crazy rides, mini-golf and piggybacks...we were amazed at how much food small children can consume and how exhausted we were when we got home!

We also conducted an "interview" with Britney - so be sure to check it out: http://youtu.be/j576WnL4ZeU


 

Tracy & Britney ready for take-off

 

Tracy & Amber ride the horses

 
 

Amy & Amber take on the wild dragon!

 

Splashdown - Curt discovers riding alone actually gets you MORE wet!

 

Tracy & Amber go for a drive!

Monterey
Beautiful wharf with lots of wildlife and we hit it just right by showing up at lunch time since all the restaurants offer free clam chowder samples!   Pelicans were just hanging out on the wharf and seemed to be completely unaware that humans actually inhabited this space.  The sea lions were "barking" and posing for pics.  And we just enjoyed some time walking along the wharf and taking in the sites, smells and tastes!  

From here, it was a short hop to the 17 mile drive which offered spectacular views of Monterey Bay, mavelous homes that are more like small countries, and amazing golf courses like Pebble Beach!  Great stuff around every corner!


 

The wharf - quaint and cute!

 

Free clam chowder samples AND giant ice cream cones

The pelicans really didn't care that you were only 2 feet from them!

So adorable - sea lions strike a pose!

They love playing in the water and showing off

 

That's not a beach - just giant sand traps at Spyglass Hills

 

Lone Cypress - pretty amazing it just grows on a rock!

Carmel
The town of Carmel may just be my favorite little seaside town thus far!  Something cool and quaint to find around every corner!  After enjoying the infamous 17-mile drive, we soaked in some sun on a white sandy beach sandwiched between the Pacific and Pebble Beach Golf Course.  Then we strolled through the streets enjoying the shops, galleries and sights.  After having a cocktail at Hog's Breath, we rounded out the day with a fantastic dinner at Il Fornaio. 

Right on Carmel beach - our dream home. Our offer of $1 was sadly not accepted.

White sandy beach with Pebble Beach in the background

Adorable little houses everywhere

 

Loved this little sign we found in someone's garden!

 

Drinks at Hog's Breath by the outdoor fire.  Cozy!!

San Francisco
Two words:  Fog & Hills!!  

San Francisco lives inside it's own little weather bubble....it's very strange!  Beautiful and sunny 5 minutes outside the city.....and then you cross over into a thick wall of fog.  In fact, many days you can just watch the fog roll over the hills and into the valley just outside of the city border.  Despite that, SF is a very nice city and I've always loved the look of row houses!!  Luckily we happened to have pure sunshine on Pier 39 - where we enjoyed lunch and the Jimmy Buffet vibes at Wipe-out Bar & Grill and did some shopping.

When they say that SF is defined by its hills.....they weren't kidding!  I'm thinking the cocktails at lunch must have influenced my insane decision for us to hike up to check out Lombard street - the crookedest street in the world....at least it made me feel better about buying a big loaf of Sourdough afterwards (which originated in SF)!

Take a drive with us down Lombard Street:  http://youtu.be/tbCBgLo0_-E

 

Pier 39 used to have thousands of Sea Lions -  they literally overtook the pier.  For some reason,  the Sea Lions have moved farther north.  They think it's because their food sources moved, but  regardless of how many were there, it was still fun  to sit and watch them play, sleep and "argue"

 

The infamous Fisherman's Wharf sign

 

The pictures don't capture exactly how steep these hills are!!!

 

Lombard Street

Fog rolling over the hills - the ocean is on the other side

Alcatraz
Whether or not you have a passion for history, visiting Alcatraz is a must if you find yourself near San Francisco.  I'm going to let the pics speak for themselves on this one....

View of SF from the ferry - sunny at Pier 39

Eerie picture of the halls

The warden's house - it burned down after Alcatraz was closed - Indians were living on the island.

Visiting hours - I don't think I like being locked up.

Is she trying to look mean or sexy?  I'm still not sure.

 

The outdoor "playground" - trying to look tough so  other inmates won't mess with us!

 

The cells

14 is my lucky number - but this was "the Hole" Solitary confinement and total darkness when the door closed.  And rumors of paranormal activity in that cell....let me out!

The Rock - fogged in as our ferry pulled up

Sugarland
Friday night we went to see Sugarland in concert at Shoreline Amphitheater - an amazing outdoor concert venue near the bay.  Vonda Shepard opened the show and then handed the stage over to Jennifer and Kristian who charmed us with their talent and love for performing!  We thought it apropos to share this Sugarland song with you as we're out on the road finding our "something more"!
http://youtu.be/Gp5foT32tKM

Beautiful night outside on the lawn at the concert!

Aunt Cath and Dave
We thank them for their generous hospitality!  We've been spoiled by real showers, living space and a TV - it'll be an adjustment to get back into 98 square feet again!  We had a fabulous dinner at La Fondue together and we look forward to visiting them again!

Dinner for 4, but we ate enough for 8

Chocoloate Fondue with a  splash of some highly flammable liquer! YUM!

It's off to southern California where the following awaits us:

• Waves crashing in Big Sur
• Dune Buggy riding in Pismo Beach
• Walks on the beach in Santa Barbara (T's favorite!)
• Attending live tapings of 3 shows - including Chelsea Lately, which we're super excited about!

Until the next exit...

Amy & Tracy

Clear glacier water

Pretty waterfalls around every corner

Rushing water is so beautiful

Enjoying a cool bridge over the river

Arch tunnel through the rock

Waterfall streams down and right under the road

"Wall of water" splashes onto road

Snow-capped mountains command the sky

While we didn't spend too long in Washington, we had a fantastic time catching up with our friend Jennifer over dinner...hadn't seen her in 5+ years and it was an evening of laughs!

Crappy waiter - but good food and good company!

Loved seeing the ocean again, but it was a bit brisk near the water!

Portland, Oregon:
Our trip to Portland was like old home week for Tracy who got to see many of her former colleagues at Nike!  A visit to Headquarters allowed me to see why she always loved coming out here for business trips...what an inspiring place to work!  The campus was crawling with employees taking advantage of the countless opportunities Nike gives them to be active during their day at work: 

multiple soccer fields * lap pools * climbing wall * spinning room * yoga
weights & cardio room * beach volleyball * tee box & putting green * biking/running trails (and they supply the bikes!)...and so much more!

A stroll through the city to see some sights and then an AMAZING dinner at 3 Doors Down with her friend Mark was the perfect way to end a very nice visit in this area...despite not having any Malibu in the house!

Mia Hamm building - I had to stand here just to show how huge this picture was!

Pele - King of my favorite sport

C'mon in, the water's fine!  Nice view, too!

 

Mini-cupcake break in the city

 











Oregon Coast:
Stunning!  I have always felt incredibly lucky to live in a state with a beautiful coast.....but I have to say, Oregon may have Maine topped on this one!  Leisurely traveling down 101, we stopped and enjoyed various sites and activities – including Sea Lion Cave which was really cool, but the highlight was probably sandboarding in the dunes (check out our videos - yes, you can laugh out loud - we did)!!   We even got to stay in 2 campgrounds that were just steps from the beach :)

Catchin' some good sand!

http://youtu.be/XL-Uf8BKqFE

http://youtu.be/jHHGeyC0xRw

We actually took an elevator down to the cave!

They were cute, very vocal, and super stinky!  But fun to watch the ones playing in the water.

Beautiful sea stacks

The waves here remind me of fireworks

  

Sunset over the ocean from our campground


















From Oregon, we crossed into Cali and visited the amazing Redwood National Forest.....we'll share that adventure in our next post!  

Until the next exit...

Amy & Tracy

We made it!  We've officially driven from coast to coast....and are thrilled to see our pal the ocean again!  Our adventure is FAR from over though....we visited a good friend up in Bellingham, WA and are now in Portland, OR exploring the area and saying hello to some of Tracy's former co-workers at Nike.  From here, we will trek on down the entire west coast and then spin 98 square feet due east and hit the pedal, exploring the southern part of the US on the way back!
Having made it "half way", we thought this may be an excellent time to share some current trip stats with you all!  We hope you enjoy!


Well, that's it for now.  More fun stuff to come and we'll update some stats as we get further along in the trip.  

Until the next exit...

Amy & Tracy

Wow, a lot has transpired with us Happy Campers since last we blogged.  Now that we're out on the open road with no family visits planned for a while, we've realized we'll have a LOT more pictures to share (we took 175 just yesterday!!).  Since blogs have a limited loading capacity - we'll figure out a way to share more pics via shutterfly or flickr or something like that very soon!  


Then it was The Badlands

Yes, they were bad...as in bad-ass!  All we saw was corn, moo-moo's and hay (or as Amy likes to say...haaaaay) for endless miles in South Dakota.  Then you head into the Badlands and you can't believe you're in the same country, let alone the same state.  Unfortunately it was 108 degrees the day we drove through, so we didn't get to do much except stop and take pics, but it was an amazing drive!  And yes, Amy did get out of the car despite the Rattlesnake warnings!  Pics do not do this place justice!