North America

Pea Soup Anderson’s rest stop for the ages

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Who hasn’t stopped here before? If you are from California then your travels have surely found you stuck in the doldrums of I-5 traveling north or south. California is a glorious state full of seriously amazing stuff. However, the in between bits are boring as all heck. And the state is big…very big. It takes forever to get from one end to the other despite what your GPS says.

One fun way to break up the long drive is to stop at Pea Soup Anderson’s for a Danish, some coffee, and a bathroom break. If you are lucky and have the time you can stop for a bowl of soup to give you the energy you will need to get up over the Grapevine and deal with the misery that is LA traffic.

   
    
 

Seattle gets prettier every time…

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Seattle gets prettier every time I go there.  In fact, it probably doesn’t get enough credit for its beauty.   A city surrounded by water and lovely mountains deserves attention.  And when you add world class attractions, public art, top rate museums, markets, and delicious food it really is a perfectly lovely way to spend a weekend.  (I suppose when the rain and clouds settle in for most of the year people might think different but it seems every time I visit I bring the glorious weather with me!)

My husband and I flew up for the weekend to visit the Lemay car museum.  (Another post for another day.)  While in town we visited the space needle, the aquarium, Pike’s Place market, the underground tour, and the EMP museum (Music, sci-fi, and pop culture.  What’s not to like there?).

The highlight of the trip for me was stumbling across the Pink Door Italian restaurant.  We just happened to be walking by and saw people eating on a beautiful balcony with an amazing view of the bay.  We walked around trying to find the entrance to the restaurant and couldn’t find anything but a pink door with no name.  We opened it and voila!  I’ll never eat anywhere else in Seattle again!

http://www.empmuseum.org/

Home

http://www.pikeplacefish.com/

https://www.undergroundtour.com/

http://thepinkdoor.net/

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Three Stadiums one trip

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My brother and our high school friend Eddie decided to take a baseball vacation. Why not? We flew to New York City to see a Yankees game before they tore down the old stadium. We also tried to take in a Mets game. Then we hopped on the train to go to the hallowed ground of the Boston Red Sox. The trip was just a ton of fun as any sports adventure should be.

My favorite part was tasting hot dogs at all three stadiums. Boston took the prize there for sure placing their dog on a piece of white bread folded over! This almost inspired me to visit the rest of the stadiums to taste their dogs but I thought of my waistline and decided to stick to my current plan instead.

It was great to see a game at Yankees stadium before they tore it down despite the fact it felt like it was 147 degrees outside. At one point, on the verge of heat stroke, I took a moment in the shade. It was there I met an old timer who had been going to the stadium since he was a kid. I asked him about his thoughts on building the new Yankees stadium. He thought the old stadium was just fine thank you very much. The way he looked at it the new stadium would only make it a better experience for those with money who would be in the new luxury boxes. Well, I can’t say that I disagreed with him there! I can only imagine what it was like watching the stadium you had visited for the last fifty years get torn down.

We took in a Mets game but were rained out! Thankfully I still got a hot dog at least!  (I’ll post hot dog photos some day if I can ever find them.  I know I took them!)

And then there was the Sox! Boston just has a great vibe about it. The stadium is old school and the fans are die hard. Hilariously and par for the course our seats were partially obscured by a structural post. But, it didn’t hinder our fun. Neal Diamond singing Sweet Caroline in person, well a recorded version anyway, is to Boston like the National anthem is for every other baseball stadium. I am pretty sure we called our other brother Sean when it played singing it in to his ear!

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Voodoo Donut – Portland – To go or not to go…

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I have a love/hate relationship with places or things as touristy as Voodoo donuts in Portland,Oregon. The idea of it sounds awesome. But, that is where everyone goes, right? I feel like I would miss out on something cool and distinctly “Portland” if I failed to go. But, at the same time waiting in line for 20 minutes for a donut just seems crazy. I don’t even like donuts!

My decision was made for me when the large group I was traveling with ALL wanted to go there. So, we rode the MAX in to town and had a glorious time anticipating which donut all of us would choose. (I chose a delightful vanilla donut with vanilla frosting and small M&Ms on it. One of us chose peanut butter and jelly, another maple bacon, fruit donuts, old fashions, and more…) While waiting in line a street ping pong tournament was happening just outside the store. Passersby could ping pong with the actual Mayor. And, if that wasn’t enough, Voodoo donuts hired a magician to entertain the crowd. (And he wasn’t half bad!)

The highlight for me was watching everyone’s face dig in to their pink box full of specialty picked donuts. Our Danish exchange student Johannes even had to pick the “Tex Ass” challenge, a donut the equivalent of six donuts in size, merely so he could have his picture taken with it. He managed to pack that entire donut away without being sick! (Ahh, to be sixteen with that kind of metabolism again.)

So, was it worth it? I was left with the typical regret one feels after eating a donut. But, the experience was unusual, and fun, and full of energy and totally Portland.

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Keep Portland Weird

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I love Portland. I love the weather, the food, the beer, the people, McMenamins, the Columbia…but, this time around I found something new. The food cart! I don’t remember seeing them last time I came. If they are new they certainly accessorize Portland’s fun vibe. It’s fun to have so many good choices all within one city block. Our large group got to choose what sounded good to them and we picnicked in a nearby park. Bon appetite!

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Waterfalls and Banana Slugs

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Banana slugs are bright colored and weird and snotty and awesome. Well…with one exception. When you decide to go on a Russian Gulch (http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=432) fern canyon/waterfall hike a little late in the day on a short winter day without a flashlight. It appears that b.slugs, we are friends we can call them that, like to come out at night in massive quantities. Their seemingly bright colors are totally impossible to see in the dark. For about the last 45 minutes of our walk we were white knuckling the fact every single step we took might squash one of these unseen glorious creatures. As someone who doesn’t even particularly care to squash spiders you can imagine my dismay. I checked my shoes at the car and they weren’t slimed! I’ll take that as all the evidence I need to prove no slugs were harmed in the making of this post. At least that’s what I am telling myself.

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Heartburn and Cool Cars

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Every year Rocklin has a charity event called Hot Chili and Cool Cars. Officials shut down Pacific street to make way for chili booths and streets full of vendors and show cars.

I have never attended a chili cook off before and certainly never one in this heat! Nevertheless we tasted multiple cup fulls of chili finally dropping a ballot for our favorite one. After it’s all said and done chili won’t sound good to me again until winter I think.

With eye fulls of cool and interesting cars and a free snow cone we were done for the day. People watching was good as always with my favorite person accessorizing her outfit with a live lizard riding her buzom. To each there own!

And if you want my advice when the chili guy warns you that his chili is hot he isn’t kidding!

  

My happy place…part one – Garden of Eden Botanical garden in Maui, Hana Highway

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I truly have many happy places sprinkled all over the world. But. the Garden of Eden Botanical garden in Maui was certainly a special one. http://mauigardenofeden.com . Traveling down the Hana Highway we decided to make an unplanned stop here because I have an affinity for botanical gardens. Well it was here that I took some of my favorite photos! (Don’t get too excited those photos will come another day…) The main photo here has always been one of my favorite views! It seems to have everything to make just about anyone feel at peace.

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Are we alone?

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Ever wonder if there is anyone or anything else out there? A great place to test your theory is Area 51 and the lonely stretch of Nevada highway 375 that straddles it. It’s easy to see why the place is shrouded in mystery. Hundreds of miles of lonely highway next to a secret military base. But who am I to judge? We stopped for the worst lunch possible at the Little Alienn coffee shop made famous in the movie Paul. http://littlealeinn.com . It was there I bought the mug that would later seriously burn my hand angrily coming out of the microwave. Maybe there is more to this alien thing??

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