Update from Oregon...

I'm a little behind, huh?

We left Moab on the 11th. Headed up Rt. 6 and followed that all the way to Ely, Nevada.

When we got to Nevada, it was around 10 when we hit the border. We saw a motel/gas station/slot machine place, so we went in, and spent a dollar in the slot machine and were done. Didn't win anything.

Ely Nevada, we stayed at a KOA that kinda sucked. The town was pretty dinky, but we had breakfast at a place with a nice waitress and another old lady with awesome hair. Pretty good breakfast too.

Then we headed to Yosemite. Lonnnnng drive. We got there around 730ish, and had to try to find a campground. Not easy. We finally saw a sign for one that was 2 miles down a windy dirt road, towards Saddlebag Lake. They had spots. We picked one, (they were all primitive) and we set up the camper. We then made food, because there was NOTHING around there, and then had to figure out the bear box situation. Did that. Then it was cold, we were on top of a mountain, around 10,000 ft, and went to bed. Woke up in the morning, had breakfast at the little lakeside cafe they had there. Packed up, and left.

In Yosemite we couldn't decide what to do. We entered the East enterance, which is far away from the popular sites. We found a visitor center, and asked the lady what and where and blah blah. We walked up a big rock, what a pain it was to get down. The elevation was still no good for us, we kept having to stop on the way up. Then we drove and drove, it takes like 2 hours from one side to the other. Finally, we saw nice swimming holes in the river, so down we went. First one was rocky and had a lot of current. The water was FREEEZING. So we went in up to our waists and then felt better and got out. Then we were driving and saw a nice sandy one with a rock to jump off. In we went. There was strong current here too, that I had to swim into and let it take me downriver so I could get to the rock. The water was pretty cold, but not as bad. There was a big family there, with kids in a raft and they were having fun. I finally got to the rock, and climbed up, and Dave made me jump off. That was okay. Then we were done. The kids in the raft got off the rope, and were going downstream, so Dave went down to make sure they didn' get too far. They were fine, just dramatic. Little girls.

Then we got out and decided we'd head down to Yosemite Valley. Got there FINALLY and it was packed with people, so we turned around. We were going to go to the Merced Grove of Giant Sequoias but it was a 2 mile steep walk there, and 2 miles back. Downhill on the way there. Blah. We were tired, and hot. So we skipped that. We figured we were going to see Redwoods anyway.

So we exited out the West side of Yosemite. Found a pizza place, had pizza, and then off to Lake Tahoe. The drive there was pretty cool.

When we got there, the address Alex had given me was I guess around 2 months ago, and they had moved, and didn't tell us. So we were sitting at their old address, trying to find them. Alex didn't answer his phone, so Dave called Fred to find out. We find out they work at a Marriott, so off we went to the Marriott. We get there and ask the girl at the front desk if Alex is working. She say no, so we ask if she knows where we can find him. She says she can call him and see if he's home since she lives with him. He doesn't answer when she calls, we tell her that we'll be staying with her then. We stand around and talk to her for a while, waiting for Jose to come back from his break. Finally he comes back, and as he is walking by us, he says hi and keeps walking. Then he sees Dave laughing, and was going to stop and say something to the Jerk who was laughing, and then "No WAY" he notices it's us. He didn't know we were coming. So he was surprised.

We head off to their house, because they had to work still. Get there, and theres Alex. We sit around, Amanda and Jose come home, Alex has work at 1030 and so does Amanda so they go to bed around 1. The rest of us are up until like, 330 just hanging out. We were in the hot tub, and watching TV and lots of stuff. Finally bed because we wanted to wake up early to go to the beach before they had to work. 7 am rolls around and no one is up. 8 am rolls around and no one is up. 9 am, Alex and Amanda get up to go to work. Dave and I got up around...10 and Jose around 11. Dave and I just sat around playing video games before he got up. When he got up, we were going to go for breakfast, but Jose couldn't find his wallet, so Dave and I went. I got an awesome grilled cheese and Dave got a waffle and bacon and eggs. Greaaaaaaat food. Then back to the house.

We played cornhole when we got there, which is basically bean bag toss. I was sooo bad at first. We played one game, but it was wayyy too hot to play another.

Jose had work at 3 anyway. So around 2 he started getting ready. Dave and I sat around until 5, when we went out exploring. Went shopping a bit, and then got food. Chinese food from a Chinese lady who was so funny. Then back to the house.

Alex and Amanda got home, and we went to the beach. We long-boarded from the road to the beach, so we didn't have to pay to drive in. Dave and I were both on one board because there were only 3 long boards. We worked it out pretty well though.

We got to the beach, sat, and watched the sun go down. Then figured we should go back to the car before it gets too dark. On the ride back to the house, we noticed mini-golf was still open. Awesome mini-golf with castles and dragons and dinosaurs and volcanoes. We did that until 1030. Then back to the house. We were going to make noodles, and sauce, but their gas was off, and to get the stove out of the camper would have been a lot of work. So we ordered Dominoes. 5 of us ate 3 pizzas, and we were all just chilling out watching tv.

Slowly people started going to bed, then it was just Alex and I awake watching Mighty Ducks. Dave and I slept on the couch, and Alex had fallen asleep on the couch, and spilled his beer, which was kinda funny, then he was off to bed.

I woke up to the sun coming in the windows near the roof, shining right into my eyes. Ridiculous.
We went out for breakfast when Amanda and Jose got back from yoga. Pretty good breakfast. Then back to the house, because Alex had work at 3. We played 2 games of cornhole, then were dying of heat so inside we went. Dave played on his computer, and hung out with Alex, I napped. Then Alex had to iron his shirt and go to work. Then it was just Dave and I chilling for a while. Jose and Amanda were napping. They finally woke up, and then we decided to go to the beach again. We went to their friends house to try to borrow another long board, but she was using it, and they found out they needed to be back at her house at 5 and it was 320 now. We quickly left.

We longboarded to the beach, didn't go too far down because they had to be back. We sat for a little while, and it was hot. Then I looked what time it was, and it was 415 already. Time to pack up and head back. Jeeeeze. Dave and I put our feet in Tahoe water, then off to the house we went. They had to rush and leave, and we hooked up the camper, and changed sparkplugs, and then left around 6. Headed west to the coast.

Dave drove, all the way. We got there around 1 I think. We camped in the Redwoods which was cool. We showered and everything else. Went to bed. Woke up in the morning, it was pretty nice. We went exploring, found the Drive Thru Tree, which we didn't fit through. Then went to find food. Found the Peg Barn? or something like that. Buncha hippies, with good food, and stuff to sell. I got a bagel with peanut butter and it was awesome. Dave got a wrap and he said it was awesome. Dave bought me a super cool hoodie, and I bought new soap and some snacks. We ate, and then we were off. The guy gave us a map and told us which was to go to see cool stuff. We headed north.

We saw signs for Confusion Hill, and it looked awesome. It was. We took tons of pictures, and went inside the house built onto the slope of the mountain. Then we needed to buy 5 bucks worth of stuff in the store to use a credit card, so we found a magnet of the drive thru tree that KIIIINDA looked like the Jeep. Cool.

On the road again. We drove and drove through tons of Redwoods, on the Avenue of the Giants. The Eel River runs along there, and we were sweating hardcore, so we found a spot to stumble down the hill and get to the river. The water was SO warm, and clear. It was awesome. We hung out in there for about a half hour then back on the road.

The trees were freakin' HUUUGE. We found some that you could walk inside and stuff. Niiice. Finally we made it to the turn off to get to the shore. We took that road, and then another road...and finally saw the Pacific Ocean. We were so far north though, that it was freezing, and windy. We took pictures, and continued driving on that road. It went along the water for a while. We went to Cape Mendecino, which is the most western point of the continental US. Pretty cool. Then climbed the mountains back to the highway. Then we headed north. I was freezing from wet shorts from swimming in the river, so when we stopped for gas, I got pants and changed. We went to Sizzler for dinner, which was pretty cool. Then I drove for 86ish miles, and then Daves turn.

I fell asleep for about an hour and a half in the car. We then had to find somewhere to camp. Finallllly found a place right next to the hiway, so it's pretty loud. We set up, and I watched Big Fish on the IPod while Dave was on the computer. Then we were out.

I woke up SWEATING TO DEATH at 930. Got up and went to check in and get the bathroom code, because I felt disgusting. Dave was still asleep, and actually JUST got up to go shower. We gotta be out of here in 30 mins, which is fine because it's hot as hell.

I wonder if anyone reads these SUPER long posts.

Later!