The title is not the best intro to this post, but i will get to where this is coming from. But first up i left you after 3 nights in Seattle. Our last full day in Seattle, we were going to head to the Museum of Flight in the morning then pretty much had planned on whatever comes to mind the rest of the day.
Well After much to and fro, we decided on Museum of Flight, then a tour of Safeco Field, then off on our own for the rest of the evening. Museum of Flight was going to be good, but rushed as we had to be back in Seattle for the field tour. But I was willing to make that sacrifice. What I didn’t plan on was Brad winning tickets on arrival to tour the new Boeing Bee. A WW2 B17F that was located at the musuem. What a score. The tour was great and i was definately more into it than Brad was.
So a good way to end my #avgeek time in Seattle. I was in heaven. I spent a bit more $$$ in the gift store on some geeky stuff (including a Pan Am Passport Cover!). We headed back to the City to Safeco field and did a tour of the ground which was interesting. After that I left Brad to walk back the 5-6kms back to the hotel. Brad was heading to the Space Needle, i was heading downtown and depending on weather I was going to detour. Detour I did. I ended up at the best kept secret in Seattle.
My new friend Christina had told me about the Columbia Centre as an alternative to the overpriced Space Needle. She was right. This place is not as good of a view (bout 280 degrees compared to full 360) but it is higher (73 floors up) and 1/4 of the price. The cost of admission $5 for adults. The guy on the desk let me in for $3. Couple of tips though. If your thirsty, they have a Starbucks on Level 40 with great views and its free. Also there are no signs to the Skydeck so just head to the lifts and head up, or ask the guy on security (which is what I did).
All in all a fantastic day!
Yesterday we were due to check out of our hotel in Seattle, head across town to the National Car Rental Depot (at the Hilton) and pick up our car. It was time for a Road Trip. We were going to spend the next 3 days driving south to San Francisco. I had never done a road trip of this length before and to be doing it in the USA on the best interstate Road System (in my opinion) and to be doing it on the wrong side of the road. Totally awesome! When picking up the Car i was given 4 choices. Chevy Impala, Chevy Malibu, Nissan Altima or Dodge Charger. Pass, Pass, Pass, HELLO!!
This car is awesome, I love it. Smartkey system means we dont even need to insert a key into any ignition at all, I just keep it in my pocket the whole time! awesome++ Its got all the bells and whistles and makes the drive so easy. What doesn’t help is Portland’s streets. Every street downtown is one way and its a freaking hassle, as some streets wont even allow turns at all, so it was a made house and meant we did not even get to do some stuff and I was majorly stressed trying to navigate and drive as Brad couldn’t read the map we had.
We found a AAA and got a much better map but it still wasn’t the best. But there was a few saving graces in Portland, and I will list them in order of epicness:
1. Voodoo Doughnuts
2. Street Food
3. NO SALES TAX
Lets cover the no sales tax first. This was a good thing, with no sales tax, our $$$ at an epic level it meant one thing. SHOPPING TIME! I had been putting the shopping off for months and months telling myself I can just get it in the USA cheaper. And i was right. For instance I got two pairs of Oakley Sunglasses over here for $300. Back home both sunglasses would set me back a total of $500. with the conversion i will probably only pay about $280 or so. AWESOME++
Picked up some football jerseys and a heap of running gear both Nike and Under Armour. I also bought 2 pairs of shoes (throwing away one pair that ive been wearing so far) and a few polo shirts. Add this into the tshirts and other stuff I bought at Boeing and a few other things, this has been awesome so far. Also picked up a new pair of Noise Cancelling headphones and lots of other small things. Love it! total spend in Oregon… $1500.
Now we come to the food side of things. Lets discuss the Street Food. Some people think the street food capital of the USA is Portland, and I had high hopes. It did not dissapoint. In our little harshness of trying to find something quickly while negotiating the Portland Streets, I just picked one little area where there is a heap of Food Trucks/Carts and just went for it, I’ll eat whatever is dished out to me. Well I scored. Ended up seeing a sign that said “Voted Portlands Best Burger” at a cart called “Happy Grillmore”. That seems like 2 wins to me. An awesome burger AND an awesome name. They had a Blackbean & Chipotle Vegie Burger. YUM! and it was DELICIOUS! Street Food FTMFW!
The last thing Portland has going for it. Voodoo Doughnuts. I do not need to say much more than this place makes THE BEST DOUGHNUTS EVER. I mean it. I don’t care what anyone else says, these doughnuts are like Crack. I had a doughnut that was recommended by the server as her favourite called the “Old Dirty Bastard” which was a cake Doughnut, with Chocolate Frosting, Crushed Oreos and Peanut Butter. OMFG best thing known to man. It should be just called “edible crack” I wasn’t going to go for a run this morning but after the doughnut/crack last night, I just had to! Only ran 3.8km which is lower than what i normally do, but me no care.
Today after the last bits of shopping we continued on the Road Trip south along US101 along the Oregon Coast. It was beautiful and the driving was good. Lots of beautiful scenery. We made a pact to just find a small diner for lunch and go for a road trip staple, PIE.
Had a piece of Very Berry Pie in Reedsport at a place called “Dan’s”. They advertised the best pie in town. It was worth it. Diet go to hell. I can afford it. Unfortunately though we miscalculated and could of continued on past Roseburg this evening (we had a prepaid rate) and gone for either Medford or hell even somewhere over the border. This little Miscalculation means we have about roughly 500 miles to cover tommorrow along I5 and that means skipping Napa Valley. So one thing on my list has now been cancelled unfortunately, but my diet thanks me for skipping the wine.
Anyway time for bed, very early morning tomorrow. Keep an eye out for Tweets under the hashtag of #roadtripI5 tommorrow.