I left my heart in San Francisco…
I just realized that I don’t really know how to spell San Francisco. I hope that’s right…
Anyways, since is the first blog of my vacation, and it’s Day 5, I’ll speed through the first couple of days:
Day 1: We made it to Lethbridge. We got lost trying to find our way back to the hotel. Worst gas station, ironically called The Gas King, exists in Lethbridge. I sleep on the floor because there are 5 of us. I’m very sore the next morning.
Day 2: I hate The Road to the Sun. It’s in Waterton Park in Montana and it’s super high. LIke, 5,000 feet in the air high. I hae panic attacks all the way up and down the mountain. Vacations are supposed to be stress-free. Not so. We drive and and drive and drive all the way to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. People don’t pronounce the name correctly. Why would they? They’re American, not French. Here we find people who write their licenses on pieces of paper and stick them onto their cars. Interesting… I get a cot tonight!
Day 3: We make it to the Oregon Coast, Cannon Beach specifically, after a drive along the Columbia River and guessing our way through Portland. They don’t have well-marked highways in Oregon. We were in an industrial park for awhile, but it turned out to be the right way. Getting in and out of San Francisco was way easier than trying to navigate through Portland. Cannon Beach is like Waskesiu. We eat at this little seafood grill and I have steak. The ocean is amazing. But scary. Looking out into the ocean and seeing nothing and having no idea what’s going on underneath it scares the living daylights out of me. Another cot!
Day 4: Today is the longest day of driving ever. Highway 101 is the road that never ends. But it would be faster if we didn’t drive right along the coast on towering cliffs, that, 3 feet away from the edge of your vehicle, plunge into the Pacific Ocean. I’m scared the whole day. We find an outlet mall. I shop. I am happy for a brief hour. We do see some sea lions – for $8.00. What a rip off. We make it to Crescent City, California by day’s end. What a dump of a city. We ate at Denny’s, and it was worse than the gas station in Lethbridge. I have to sleep on the floor, but it’s a soft floor. Just before I fall asleep, I wonder if black widow spiders exist in California. It takes me awhile to fall asleep after that.
Day 5: Today. We’re now in Morgan Hill, California, outside of San Jose. The drive is better today. We stop in the Redwoods this morning. Another rip off. $13.50 to see big trees. I buy a cedar box because cedar smells so good. But it’s foggy the whole morning, so I can’t see the tops of the trees. Today’s road is curvier than yesterday’s, surprisingly. So, I take some Gravol. Good thing. We eat at Applebee’s. Not bad. We pass the Golden Gate Bridge without seeing it. That stupid fog rolled in again, and we saw the orange on the bridge, but not the top, and not what was underneath it. I was glad. Bridges scare me. Bridges in an earthquake zone: terrifying (remember: my imagination is much too vivid and creative for its own good). We find a Target. I shop. I am happy. Another cot!
A few other miscellaneous items:
I know the Riders suck right now. I’ve been reading about them.
There are no good chocolate bars in the US. No Caramilk, Jersey Milk or Smarties. It sucks.
I’m only buying postcards this trip. No silly souvenier-y things that I’m never going to look at again.
My brother keeps asking me: “What is wrong with you?” My sister says, “What’s happened to you?” And I keep telling her to “Tuck and roll” out of the van when she annoys me. Will we make it home without a major fight? That is yet to be seen…
Tomorrow we head for L.A. And then it’s Disneyland. And more shopping. And I will be happy.
