From Seattle to San Diego

Day 1 was a great beginning to the road trip. We started out a little heavy with tension in the car, but it quickly worked itself out. Soon we were cruising merrily to Eugene. It was a quick drive and we stopped at Lewis and Clark in Portland to eat lunch. I love the architecture at the undergrad campus there. The stone chapel and all. We arrived in Eugene around 3 and immediately decided to experience the prominent running culture. We found pre’s trail near our hostel and ran for a good hour, passing the U of O football stadium and paying homage to our hometown huskies in some incendiary pictures. Later we went out to dinner at a family style diner called turtles. Nothing special, but a good end to the first day. Now we’re back on the road and headed for the Bay! ¡Hala San Francisco!

Day 2 driving from Eugene to Berkeley. It was quite a long day but a very good one. The first part through Oregon was in dull weather but it soon cleared up after passing mt Shasta. It was an unusual sensation to be driving through springtime weather and suddenly realize that it is mid January. We made a stop in redding where we walked across the sundial bridge in beautiful weather. After that we made a pretty straight shot for Berkeley and nothing to exciting happened. We did listen to some excellent podcast called stuff you should know about topics ranging from propaganda to the peace corps to mirrors. When we arrived we met with Brandon and Nora and got acquainted with the area. We did this by walking to a main strip called shattock and posting up in, what was for me, a nostalgic little Turkish restaurant. I had delicious Iskender and showed everyone the joys of ayran… To tell the truth the food was lacking in the flavor found in the country of origin. Day 2 was a success ¡Хала!

Day 3 we spent in San Francisco. I was really looking forward to this because I’ve always found the bay area enticing. I was not disappointed. The aesthetic appeal of the city was instantly felt. We entered into the financial district amidst the high rises and yuppie coffee shops. Soon we began to make our way to telegraph hill. It was a quick acquaintance with the streets and the hills that make up the better part of the city. Our destination on telegraph was the coit tower, where we went atop and got a unique and invigorating view of the city and the bay. Afterwards we traveled via bus over to the golden gate park, and were rewarded with an excellent view of the bridge. We stopped at a cafe near the bridge and relaxed before setting off to the mission district. This is where we would begin our conquest of bay area night life. We started at a bar called Casanova which was filled with erotic pictures of topless women, most notably a glittery blue painting situated right above our table, and which provided a good whiskey and pbr special. Our next spot was to be a byob Indian restuarant. It’s exactly how it sounds. We bought a bottle of Sobieski vodka and some red bulls, ordered some Saag Paneer and tiki masala, and things got a little bit more hazy. Eventually the consensus was to move to Oakland. Our objective was the Jack London rendezvous, a bar founded in the 19th century and a provider of refuge for the man it was named after. It was fascinating to be there. The floor was tilted due to earthquakes, (nothing was ever done to fix this because it is part of the appeal). There was a display of nazi medals next to our table that were captured by a local soldier during the war. According to the display he was able to singlehandedly capture a lieutenant and 12 nazi underlings. Words cannot express how evil those medals looked. After a drink at the Jack London, we headed to a place called the Beer Revolution. This place was a top class bar for an ecclectic selection of beer. They say on their website “no corporate beer is supported or served here at the Beer Revolution!” I had a delicious coffee stout with what I was told had ” negligible amounts of caffeine. It didn’t matter I was already on a red bull and nazi medal hating high. Our last stop for the night was the delectable Home of Chicken and Waffles restaurant. The best and only way to finish this ecstatic night. A dish of Angie’s delight (the original combo) was the cherry on top. A ride on the BART back to Berkeley and this day was over, oh and what a day it was! !هالا¡

Day 4 was a well spent day on the trails of Tilden park. We made our way up a hillside in order to get a panoramic view of the beautiful scenery. For the location it really is an expansive park. The walk took us to a field where we relaxed in the warm mid winter Berkeley sun. After this we made our way back to the house we were staying at. We relaxed for the next few hours and made plans to eat out later that evening. The destination was Phil’s Sliders then CREAM ice cream sandwiches for dessert. Phil’s was a tasty little joint selling mini hamburgers and tots, both which were top quality, and CREAM was an awesome ice cream sandwich place located on the student heavy telegraph blvd next to the university of Berkeley. The motto of CREAM: Cookies Rule Everything Around Me. I got double chocolate chip filled with caramel ice cream. Agh! Such a good way to end my time in the Bay. Next stop=final destination San Diego.