Grants Pass, Oregon To Seattle Washington!

Changing from one climate to the next can be challenging.  Especially if you are like me and don't like to be cold or wet; or cold AND wet.  Oregon was the foggy place I expected it to be much like Seattle.  And given the time of year it is, I didn't much expect it to be warm.  But the fog can be unnerving when you have to drive it.  I was glad Scootard was the driver! haha

We passed through this little historic town called Coburg which was littered with antique shops.  We stopped at this one to see what was inside.  I'm still thinking "garden" even though the car was just about packed to the hilt and the "garden" was back in Oklahoma....:-)

It was very "girly" inside if you know what I mean.  A lot of antigue trinkets and stuff.  But the lady was very nice and very knowledgeable about the history of the house which was standing in that very sopt since 1896.

Ok...gotta go!  We need to get to Washington since we told some friends we would meet them for dinner...

The sign said, "Oregon Thanks You".....so I said ''Your Welcome"....:-).

We finally got to Washington.  I remember being in Tacoma riding Ms Vicky.  It was my first long distance trip on a scooter.  We were headed for Portland on that trip.  I have a blog about that one too!  sheesh.  What a ride that was!

There were a lot of bridges along the way......I like bridges....:-)

And before you knew it; actually many hours from when we started out in the morning, we made it to Renton, Washington.  We stayed at the hotel on our long scooter ride to Portand.  It was weird to be back by way of car this time.

The sun was setting by the time we got checked in and called our friends to let them know where to meet us....

We headed for a very popular resturant that we had eaten at a few times before.  The food is usually very good but often too large of portions to finish in one sitting.  I was glad the fire place was on as it was quite chilly outside.  We had to drive to a city called Tukwila, Washington to get to it.

Our friends were running a bit late because of traffic, so we decided to check out the menu while we waited.

Yay!!  They made it...:-)  Thanks for meeting us on such a short notice!

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I decided to order something I had never seen "put together" before.  I order a jerk chicken and sweet potatoes dish with mango salsa or something like that.  It was very good.  I don't know everyone else had.  I was face first in my own food! haha

This restaurant is also known for its huge deserts...

That is ONE piece of cake.  If you want to take it with you, it goes into something that resembles a shoe box! Chris bought a piece once and it took him two days and help from two people to finish it.  I rest my case.

 So, we ordered this instead...ha.  These was pretty large serving sizes as well.  It took all four of us sharing both deserts to finish them.  I think when we left , there was still one piece of cheesecake left.

And so, after some great food with some great folks, it was time to say goodbye, get some sleep and head for the border the next day.

Stay tuned!

From San Bruno, California To Grants Pass, Oregon

It was time to head further north and we were ready to NOT live out of our suitcases for a nice long while.

Scootard was getting really excited!

We headed across the San Mateo bridge driving into a big overcast sky.

The city of Oakland, Ca was already buzzing beneath us as we whizzed by.  Not that we got a really early start or anything.  So, I guess that's why! ha

I noticed that the hills seemed to be taking on that "velvet" look that I described in previous post at the beginning of this 6 month long adventure.  Some were still vacationing while others were on their way back home.

We weren't driving that long when the skies starting to look a bit ominous.....

It was cold outside and I hoped that the rain wouldn't last long as me and "cold-wet" are not friends....:-(.

It didn't last very long at all.  However, it was kinda off and on as we traveled onward to Oregon.  These are Cherry Blossom trees.  I didn't know that the trees actually got cherries on them!  I thought that was just a name given because of the pink blossoms......

It seemed that the further we went, the greener things got.....:-).

 I mean, you gotta love that!

And then it rained again.  It didn't last long, but the cold air was really coming off of those mountains.....
sheesh!!  Brrrrrrrrr!!

We thought this was a shot of the Sacramento River.  Turns out it was Lake Shasta.

Seeing all of these mountains was a stark contrast to the desert that we had driven so many mile through...(twice).

And a little while after we came through the rain, we came upon this!  I had NEVER seen a rainbow that big and clear in my life!  I was in such awe that I almost missed the picture.  I tried to get the camera to focus better, but after all, it is just  point and shoot.....:-(.  We were just North of Mount Shasta when we saw it.

a few miles later the skies cleared up and this is what we saw......:-).  Nice - eh?

I almost missed this shot, but these rocks are called Castle Crags. When you are coming up on them they are huge!  But the road side is sprinkled with evergreen trees and it was had to get the camera and get it focused without almost missing the entire shot.  I only managed to get the tips of them though....:-(
 

We didn't know if this was Mount Shasta or Black Butte at the time, but Chris found it on the map and confirmed it to be Black Butte.

We stopped in the town of Mount Shasta to get some gas and use the rest room.  It was WINTER in Mount Shasta!

We were not sure of this one either, but we think it is South Oregon Butte...How in  the world did it get that flat on top?  Looks like a bad hair cut on a Marine! haha

You know you have made it to the Pacific North West when you see truck loads of coffee going down the highway...haha

Several hours later, we finally made it to Grants Pass, Oregon where we found something to eat for dinner and stretched a bit.

Because it was late, we eat light as neither of us wanted to entertain the possibility of "gut bomb" from eating too heavy, too late in the evening.

Getting to the hotel came none too soon as it had been a long day and were tired.  But we had made the first leg of the trip home.....:-)

It was time for a good night's sleep before doing it again the next day.

Stay tuned!

Big City San Francisco- The Finale!

We lost several days and several opportunities on our trip that we wanted to cover before heading back to Canada.  So, after discussing what would be the most practical thing to do at this time, we decided on Pier 39 at my brother's suggestion and then the Conservatory of Flowers.

So we started off on our last adventure day in San Francisco hoping to be able to leave California with less of a bad taste in our mouths than what we had the previous two days.  This is a shot of downtown San Bruno where we stayed the last few days.

The train station was surprisingly close to the hotel, so it only took about 5 minutes to get there.

San Francisco, here we come!

And here comes our train....yay!

We arrived at our "starting point" and had to catch another bus from there.......

crossing the street in San Fran is an interesting experience since the trains run right down the middle of the thing!  You'd better be cross when that little hand turns yellow....haha

Scootard has to figure out which bus to take to get to Pier 39

When I saw this, I could not believe that I was possibly looking at the biggest bow and arrow I had ever seen!  I couldn't even get the whole thing in the frame....haha

After getting off of the one mode, we had to take an escalator to get to the other thingee....

This is Spear Street.  Scooter Central!  However, San Fran reminds me of Seattle in that it is very hilly in some areas.  I would not be at all comfortable riding Ms Vicky in some of the places we saw like Powell Street for instance.  

We didn't get a chance to go into this building, but I thought the picture was nice if you can see beyond all of the trolley wires.

We made it to the trolley and headed for the pier.  This trolley was first used in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  It was very funny as when I was a young girl I used to ride these to and from school.  So, to be sitting in one after so many years was very weird.

And Scootard was taking in all of the scenery.....:-)

We passed an out door market that was busy with people buying and selling their goods....:-).

The entire trip was just over an hour, but we arrived at the Pier ready to see what it had to offer.....:-)

 
And it was very busy with people like us.  I thought about one of my daughters who happens to be a musician and plays the guitar when I saw the over sized instruments at the head of the pier....:-)

and then it really starting getting interesting.  I mean who thinks of this stuff???

Spring seemed to be in full bloom even though there was a slight chill in the air.  Notice the coats and jackets?

If you have ever seen the movie Forrest Gump, you will know what this sign is referring to....hahaha.  I first saw one of these resturants in Mexico a couple of years ago.  They actually have signs for you to signal a service person that say "Run Forrest Run!" and another one that says "Stop, Forrest Stop"!  hahaha
 

Alcatraz Island was right across the bay and you could see it clearly.  We had discussed taking the tour there at some point.  They even had this gift shop dedicated to it...

We took the elevator to the second tier to see what was there.  I was able to get a better view of the marina from there..

 But before we went up, we saw this sling thingee that this girl was riding or flying or whatever you do in a sling thing.

And man oh man was she ever having a great time.  She was screaming "Weeeeeeeee!!!" with every sling, or fling she experienced.  Although I have been para sailing, It just seemed a bit to brisk to me to go flying, slinging or flinging through the air!   

Of course the theme of Pier 39 was seafood of whatever kind you wanted from crab to swordfish.....

Now, who thought of this ????? haha

Not bad....:-).  A Sea horsey.......

We stopped outside of this place considering lunch, but decided we needed something with a little more substance after we reviewed the menu.

 I thought this was a nice touch for the kiddies....:-)

ok, this is possible for lunch.  I thought the name was unique.  And then I saw why they called it that.

Holy Moly!  who cleans up after these guys?  hahaha

They even have a "night light"....ha.  What a life!

 But we finally decided on a place called Neptune's for lunch.  We were starving by then.

and of course "the locals" were always near by waiting for someone to notice them and give them a treat.

We had a splendid view of Alcatraz Island and discussed taking the tour boat over to it and see what was what.  I mean after all, that was Al Capone's last legal residence!

but after thinking about the 2 hours of walking and the fact that it was freezing on that boat, we decided to let it go without us on it!

For an appetizer, we order some Lobster Macaroni and Cheese.  It was a little disappointing.

Scootard ordered something kind of seafood medley dish.  I took one bite and I was done with it......;-(.  I love seafood, but that was the worst tasting scallop that had ever passed my lips.  Yuck!

I don't know what I ordered, but it "ok"....nothing spectacular though.  It occurred to me that we didn't have veggies.  But I was quite turned off by then.

We decided that it was time to go if we were going to make it to our next stop before they closed.  We passed this guy on the way out.....It's a good thing it was free!  It was kinda lame.....

Scootard wanted desert, but these are hard plastic!  ha... I can't turn my head for a moment! ha

they had the strangest things around the Pier.  We passed a huge bus like thingee that was really a vendor selling "stuff".

I kept hearing music that sounded like rythm and blues and wondered where it was coming from.  Then we saw this guy when we stopped to get some coffee.  He was playing the harmonica AND playing the guitar at the same time.  He had a very striking voice full bodied and soulful.

By now, my feet were tired and we needed a break.  I sat down and so did these guys; right next to me...:-).  See how close they are to the camera?  One of them actually nestled down beside me in the sun and stayed until I got up to leave......:-).

Scootard fed them cookies that we had with our coffee....Then they ALL starting showing up and somebody told the gulls!  We left...hahaha

 And I took what was left of my coffee with me!

The topiary thingees were everywhere......  These had not filled in yet.

I took this shot on the way to the bus stop. I hope that one day my little garden looks this good....:-)

I noticed this the first time we were here last month.  The trees have been cut down to the "nubbins"...It gives the appearance of a hundred "ET" fingers pointing into the air.....hahaha

after getting twisted around a couple of times, we made our way to the bus. I think  Scootard knocked his noggin..haha.

We asked the bus driver to please announce our stop as we were not familiar with the area.  We has a lot of small talk since our ride was going to be about 20 minutes.  He was a riot...haha.  He told us that he was going to be vacationing just like us in about a week for a .....a week!  He was tired! haha
  

and there it was!  The Conservatory of Flowers.  If you remember, at the start of this trip, the goal was to visit as many places as I could that were in a game I played.  This was one of the places.....:-).

This is a picture of some of the grounds which were so large that we did not get a chance to walk the whole thing.

We wondered what it was going to cost to go in.  We found out once inside that Tuesday was the "free day".  I like "free"...free is good sometimes...:-)

I wonder what strange sites I would see.  I love flowers and am always amazed at what natural beauty they can hold.  This was the wall that greeted us when we walked through the doors.

I think this was two plants that had grown together.

I don't know why these reminded me of windmills.....:-)

These look like cream sickles on prozack.....ha

and in one room there was set up a train station of sorts with various little homes and settings surrounding them.

they even had a sucken ship complete with smoke.....:-)

The trains were running too, by the way....:-)

They had this TNT station set up.  There is a yellow button by Scootard that he pushed to set off the TNT and the barrel starting shaking and you could he the voice of men yelling telling everybody else to watch out....hahaha.  It was too funny...

Now THIS is a topiary that I would like to have in my yard!

These reminded me of hearts, but I know that this was not the bleeding heart plant.  I don't know what any of them were except maybe the one in the background I think is a strawberry begonia.

 hummmm.  Now that different....

and that is very different.  I've never seen anything like that either.  Have you?

I like lily pads......:-).

Now THIS was something else.  Scootard told me that this is a "Pitcher Plant" and that it is filled with nectar in the base of it.  Flies and other insects are drawn in to it and become trapped in the fluid and are consumed by the plant.

So, I reached up and took a "blind shot" of the inside of the plant simply by placing my lens over the mouth of the plant.  And this is what was inside....EEEKKK!!!

The Conservatory was going to close at 4:30 and it was 25 after 4:00.  We decided to take a couple of more shots on the way out.
 

We thanked the lady at the front for a lovely day and started to make our way back to the entrance.

I loved this shot as well and wanted to get closer to the flowers with my little "point and shot" camera.

 We had to walk a few blocks to get back to a bus stop that would take us where we needed to be.  Some of the buildings in San Francisco are very impressive.....  

These are just a couple of the ones that we saw.  Scootard was able to get a shot of the historic "Painted Ladies" while we went flying by on a bus.  I missed the shot....:-(.

We arrived back and City Hall and had to catch another bus going to the CalTrain station.

And here we found ourselves at the begining of this Big City Adventure once again having worn ourselves to a frazzle and ready to head back North to Canada...

This was the Finale of our Big City Adventure. Thanks for coming along!  Now, for the long drive home.....

stay tuned.