Return of the Great Blond Hype

June 17, 2008

Hello ladies and gents, friends and family, creepy pedophile dudes that read our blog and are terribly disappointed:

Now that we have reached Day 18, I think it’s a good time for a brief summary of some things that I have realized since we have started our journey.

Number 1: There is absolutely nothing in the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. Outside of a few large cities (probably the capital) there is very little civilization in these states. You know your state has nothing in it when there are advertisements for a drug store 123 miles away.

Number 2: Canada gets a bad rap. Having been to Canada two other times prior to this trip and enjoying it, I was not surprised that on my third trip, I liked it even more. Calgary is awesome. It is about an hour away from Banff (also awesome) and yet still has everything you’d expect and like about a big city. First plus, the women: Canadian women were very nice and very blonde. Maybe not a plus for everyone, but one for me. Another plus is their love of hockey. A major con, however, is little or no knowledge of baseball. They have adopted our poor eating habits with our fast food chains; it’s about time they get baseball. Also, British Columbia is absolutely stunning and worth a trip for those that are into mountains and all that other outdoorsy stuff.

Number 3: Northern California is scary. The redwood forest was really cool. The drifters that inhabit the town outside of the forest, not so much. I think Arnold needs to redraw the state line.

Number 4: In-N-Out burger is damn good. I’ve always wanted to try it and it definitely delivered. I will probably make us go there many times throughout our stay in California.

Number 5: Blond beard = not attractive. Yes, I have not shaved, and also yes, I look like a complete clown. I am hoping that it will be very sunny in California so that it (and me in general) will be hard to see in the light.

Quote of the day:

Me (reading billboard on the side of the road in Nor Cal): Jesus loves you, Bruer.

John: That’s nice of him.

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Posted by Justin

Exit 791

June 17, 2008

Yesterday was another quiet “in-between” day, not too much to report.

We left Portland yesterday morning and drove about 325 miles to Crescent City, California, a small town near the northern border of the state, next to the redwood forests.

This morning, we’re going to do one of the short hour-long trails in the nearby state park, before beginning the trek down to San Francisco. We have about 350 miles to go, of which we’ll probably do about 300 today. That would leave us with a short drive on Wednesday morning to get into the city, in time for the 12:45 game between the Giants and the Tigers at AT&T Park — one of the parks we’re all really looking forward to seeing for the first time.

Took care of some laundry last night, so when we get somewhere tonight, we can relax and watch the basketball game. If we get through the forest by around noon, we should be able to make it to a hotel somewhere near Santa Rosa by about 6.

We were kind of amazed yesterday driving in to see the first California exit numbered 791 as we entered the state. Over the next two weeks, we’ll cover all approximately 800 miles of the state — from the top here today, all the way to San Diego.

But the three of us are really looking forward to a slower pace, given the almost 4,500 miles we’ve covered in the last two and a half weeks so far.

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Posted by Phil