Friday, August 24, 2007

Photos from Day Two

So after leaving our place late, getting stuck in Friday LA traffic, we finally made it up near San Francisco and stayed the night in a hotel in Dublin. At the first hotel we went to (not a trashy one either) one of the attendants at the counter was screaming at a coworker "You're so stupid, I don't know what you're smoking, you're dumb!!" He walked out while I was standing there with my wallet open and nobody came to help me. So I walked out too. We eventually ended up at the Holiday Inn Express where we were given a discounted rate by one of Apollo's "homies."

The high point of my night? I fell off the bed. See, I was sitting on the edge with my back to the corner when I swung my other leg over and did a back flip onto the floor. I grabbed for my Chococat luggage, thinking it would give me some support or would at least would prop me up against the wall but no. I landed on my knee and then flipped down on top of my luggage and laid there crying. Apollo was concerned but I just kept giving him the "One minute" sign with my finger while I bawled into the carpet. Despite my bad experience with the bed, it turned out to be the most comfortable bed I have EVER slept on. EVER! We left this hotel late because the bed was so soft. We just laid there and talked about how soft it was. I also used up an entire box of tissues at this hotel. (I was still sick.)



Because we took our time leaving, we got caught up in traffic onto the Bay Bridge. And of course, once we got on the other side, we got lost. Why in the hell there isn't a main road that leads you from one major bridge to another, I don't know. Or signs. Why no signs?? Or how about this, in San Francisco you'll see a sign that says something like "Golden Gate Bridge, use right lane." So, you get in the right lane and you drive and drive. And that lane turns right or goes straight. And you drive. And just when you think you're lost, you see the bridge!


Once I realized where we were, I pulled off the road and we took a gander at the Palace of Fine Arts. This time we didn't even bother getting out of the car. We did a drive by tour with a couple other cars.

Oh hey, remember how I told you that the Golden Gate bridge would just suddenly appear? Well, here's the view out our sunroof while we were in traffic to get on it. I was a little edgy at this point and the traffic had made me irritable. I was glad to get over the bridge though and onto the 101 where we, you guessed it, joined more traffic. It is after all road construction season!

I'm not exactly sure what part of Cali this is in. All I know is it's near the Eel River in Northern Cali but before the Redwood Forest. Each time Aimee and I take this drive, we stop here and take pictures. This old bridge is falling apart and is actually blocked off from vehicles. Apollo's not used to my country ways and was afraid to pass the gate but pssh!! I followed the animal trails and made him come with me for this and the next photo.

Ahh, the Eel River! It seems to be ever present in Northern Cali. If you look closely, you can see the road winding at the base of that mountain. The view is better in person.

Speaking of views better in person, here's one you definitely had to see for yourself. These elk weren't that far off the road but they look like ants here. There were two bull elk in this herd, they and the cows blended in with the marsh and were soon hidden from our view. You can see the fog is already rolling in pretty heavy. The beach was just on our left on the other side of the road.

We stopped in Crescent City, home of the infamous Pelican Bay State prison, for gas and the restroom. Apollo got "the eye" from six local young men. They scoped out our car, walked by and looked in side and basically and made him nervous. He figured they thought he had just gotten out of prison or something. I was afraid that this was going to be the first of many bad experiences for him in a mostly caucasion region but thankfully, it wasn't.

During our brief pit stop in Crescent City, I kept thinking of how awful it must be in the prison there since it's always cold and damp in this coastal area. I was still coughing and hacking up lung and wondered how many people got pneumonia or bronchitis at this prison. I'm sure the crappy weather lends itself negatively to the general mood of the inmates.

We made it across the Oregon border around 9:30PM and went shopping at Fred Meyer's in Brookings for the dinner Apollo was cooking at Mom's the next day. He was stunned to learn liquor isn't sold in regular grocery stores in Oregon. Stunned!! I think the clincher was when he learned the liquor store had closed at 7:00PM. He walked around in a speechless daze for a few minutes, trying to figure out what he was going to do about that. We got in to Mom's around...oh, 2:00 or 2:30AM? I'm not sure, I was pretty out of it.

Alright, more later. (So much for no long winded stories. Ha!)

2 comments:

-K- said...

Wow - when you click on to the photo you can see the elks more easily.

Jen said...

Pretty pictures :)