Big Trees and Big Coastline

The first leg of our trip was Portland to San Francisco.  We took the scenic route, and then the scenic route off the scenic route. Meaning that we drove on State Route 1 on the Pacific coast for a while.

Our first view of the Pacific Ocean at Crescent City, California.

 In Grants Pass, we parted ways with I-5 to make our way to 101 and to check out the Redwood National Forest.  Driving through the redwoods was an amazing experience.  We drove through the forest with these gigantic species rising up above us and the road was curvy with switch backs and would get narrow to fit between the trees.  Then we came around a curve and the trees opened up into a vast coastline.  Redwoods continued on our left side and the coast ran along our right.  I can not fully describe the feeling of this moment; it made me realize the grandness of this earth.  Just before sunset we drove through Elk country and saw two sets of Elk grazing in meadows next to the freeway.

Kristina with the friendly kitty
 at Anderson Valley Brewery.

That night we stayed in a hotel in Eureka. We felt a little spoiled since we had originally planned to camp.  The weather was dry, but cool and very windy on the coast so camping would have been difficult. The hotel worked out nicely since we were able to get more driving time in. 

Jarrett by the Anderson
 Valley Brewery hops.

After a ways on Highway 101, Jarrett and I decided to take State Route 1 to the 128 to drive through Anderson Valley.  Highway 101 had a few narrow moments, but was mostly a freeway.  State Route 1 was very narrow, with many switch-backs.  It got pretty nerve racking at times and we drove about 25 mph or less most of the way.  I have to say, with all of that I am very glad we took this route.  The views of the coastline were spectacular!  We were able to drive through more of the Redwood forest and see lots of wine country.  The 128 had so many wineries, names I recognized, and a couple of breweries.  Jarrett’s very favorite brewery is Anderson Valley Brewing Company in Boonville, the main reason we took this detour.  We walked around the property and Jarrett got to try some great beer.  It was a nice break from the crazy driving. 

After the brewery, we continued on the 128, which met up with the 101 and took us across the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco!  We did have 1 set-back on this part of the drive.  The driver’s window in the Prius decided to no longer roll up.  This had been fixed last November, but decided to break on day 2 of our 2 month road trip.  Now we were in quite a pickle, we could not park the car (full of camping supplies) with a window down in San Francisco.  After many calls, and a random stop at the Kendall Jackson winery (my favorite winery – but we didn’t stop with so much going on), we worked the window into the up position in time to park on a hilly street in San Francisco.  We tried to take the Prius to a Toyota dealer in San Francisco, but they were too busy to look at it.  We are now in Ventura, where a dealer replaced the window belt.  We are back on track without a whistling window and ready to head further South tomorrow.

Packin Up

The journey is finally about to begin.  We haven't been working these last two weeks in the sense of getting paid, but we have done a lot of work organizing our stuff.  We have also taken a trip to Boise to drop off some of that stuff for storage for the next couple months while we are on the road trip.  This got us in the driving mode, and also gave us a taste of what will come when we move all the way to Des Moines (2,000 miles).  Oh boy, do we have a lot ahead of us.  I'm so excited!

I don't have a whole lot to say, packing up is the same for everyone.  I did get a couple nice pics on the I-84 heading back to Portland that I wanted to share.  Of course the camera did not do justice to the amazing scenery of Oregon.

This was taken heading down the pass towards Pendleton.  Eastern Oregon was a beautiful soft green instead of the normal brown.  The sun was shining on the fields yet the clouds overhead were dramatic.

Of course the Gorge by The Dalles, shot while the car was moving.   I wonder if we will see anything quite as amazing as this area.

Closing a Chapter

Today is our last day of work!

I want to say thank you to everyone for such a great 3 years.  I'm going to miss all of my co-workers!

A couple events this weekend:

Come out Saturday (tomorrow) to the Gluten Free Food Fair!  It is at All Saints Church on 39th and Glisan from 11 to 2.  There will be 40+ vendors with tasty gltuen free goodies. The cost is $5 per person and $10 per family - and you are entered into a raffle.  Jarrett and I will be volunteering, so you will likely see us somewhere.

Saturday night we are having a "quitting work party" at the Green Dragon on SE 9th.  We have reserved a couple tables starting at 8PM.  Come out and celebrate with us!

Next week the real work of packing and prepping for the road trip begins!

2 Weeks!

Since I'm sitting here counting down the minutes to lunch and the days left of work... I thought I would share some pics of Des Moines that I took when I was there for my interview.

Yup, the capitol dome is gold plated! They have a river running through the middle of the city (like Portland). This is an art piece of a fallen leaf.  Just to show that it isn't all cornfields where we are going. We will take those pics in June :)

Jarrett welcomes Jarrett to the blog

That's me on the left.

I would like to cordially invite myself to this blog, and I Corddry expect. This blog will be a way to air out our thoughts as Kristina and I cross the country and back. Maybe we'll find a dead body or my bike that Francis stole, or maybe we'll throw a ring into a lake of fire. This will be the blog to read about it... Ah yes, it will be good to hit the road again. Keep on truckin' my fellow golden flower children!

Here We Go!

April Updates

Where to start? First, please notice my updated profile and blog description. Everything is and will continue to change very quickly these next few months. I have added a calendar app on the side so you can see where we are this summer!


Jarrett and I have officially put in our 1 month notices at work. Our last day will be May 6, 2011. It is kind of strange to have such a short time left here. It is also exciting to leave on good terms with such a wonderful adventure ahead of us! We are getting more and more busy as this trip gets closer. Spring brings everyone out of their hibernation. It also marks the beginning of gardening season (yes we are still planting a garden this year). That is another post, maybe I will leave it for Jarrett to write...We are also spending time with friends and getting our fill of our favorite restaurants. I am also winding down my volunteering with the Gluten Intolerance Group. The final event will be the Gluten Free Food Fair on May 7. Come down and visit us if you are around! The fair is at All Saints Catholic Church on 39th and Glisan. You can’t go wrong with the great vendors of gluten free goodies. I am so grateful for my experiences with GIG and work over the last few years. I can’t wait to share my knowledge of gluten-free and lab workings with my new cohort at DMU!

Another thing keeping Jarrett and I busy is packing. We will be travelling light to Des Moines, taking only what fits into our 2 cars. Luckily, we are taking some sentimental items to my parent’s house in Boise to store while in Iowa. My favorite recent purchase is a bike rack for my car. We will take as much of Portland with us to Iowa as we can. I have little piles all over the house, things for the road trip, things for Idaho and things for Iowa. (Yes, I know the names of the two states are very similar. I have been confusing myself of which “I” state the pair of shoes I’m holding are going). My current big project is to go paper-free. I am working on scanning all papers from my file cabinet into my computer. It is a larger project than I anticipated, but it feels so nice to be free of those messy boxes of paper!

With all these activities, the most important to me is to spend as much time with Portland friends as possible.  All of the projects will work themselves out (yay for procrastination), but friends are the important part of my life.  So, we will be planning several going away parties in May and July and are hoping to catch up individually with friends as well.  Please help us with these if you have any ideas, we are currently in the brainstorming stages. 

Getting Closer

This week it hit me.  I will be leaving Portland in a relatively short time.  Actually 3 months, exactly!  I don't know how time all of a sudden flew by, but it did.  I can't sit idle an longer waiting for things to happen, I need to make them happen.  I need to spend time with my friends while I can, because things will be different after May.  Yeah, I plan to come back to Portland after med school, but things won't be the same.  I will be working longer hours, my friends will be in different places, as will I.  I really need to cherish the dwindling moments I have left here!
I have an eventful weekend planned, which will include working on my scrap book - which I hope to start and finish in 3 months. My first one took 4 years to finish!
I am also working on getting everything finalized for DMU.  Another submission of transcripts to the school, a background check, and the FAFSA.  The list is long, I am used to this kind of thing from the application process, so it is becoming second nature. 
Work is going fine.  I am getting better at my phlebotomy skills, and more confident with patients.  I had a first today - a patient fainted during the draw.  It was exciting but not too dramatic nor very eventful (she fell on the arm of the chair and I kept pressure on her arm.)  Every new event that I handle gets me more excited for what I will encounter in school and clincials.  I can't wait to see where this will take me!