Tag Washington

This has been an interesting year of short excursions around America, several road trips and a few flights across country. We’ve traveled across numerous states and have seen a great deal of geographic variance as well as changes in people, food, music and culture. This really is a big country and sometimes, especially when it comes to places like Texas and the U.P, little alcoves of America seem like their own little countries. Here is a roundup of some of the places we visited this year.

Travel to the Olympic National Forest in Washington, USA

I traveled out to Washington for a wedding and was overjoyed that it was an outdoor affair full of swords, ferns and coffee. It was a wedding that fit the beautiful surroundings of Port Angeles. The redwoods were tall, thick and stunning, and the lakes raging like the rest of the wilderness around the national forest. Coffee, the main staple of the Seattle-dweller, is strong and drunk black. The people are so in love with the outdoors that they carry backpacks instead of purses, and wear boots instead of heels. That’s a win in my book. Overall rating of the scenery, people and food: 9 out of 10.

Travel to Ocean City, Maryland, USA

Visiting Ocean City in winter is an odd adventure. It is like visiting a carnival before it opens. The clowns and bearded ladies are still there, but they aren’t yet smiling for the crowds. I walked along the beach and was the only person out there being pelleted by the whipping wind and freezing waves. Domesticated squirrels would run up to my legs and beg for food while disenchanted locals would push them out of their way with booted toes. If you ever wondered, restaurants at the beach are overpriced year round– not just in the summer.

Travel to Beaufort, North Carolina, USA

We spent a week at the beach and rented a small house on the shore within a stone’s throw of public access. It was a glorious blur of sand, sunscreen, and bright colors. We go every year and every year it gets busier and the crowds get thicker and the seagulls get more aggressive. It’s a beautiful spot, but since it is getting so crowded I imagine it won’t be beautiful for long!

Road Trip to Justin, Texas, USA

I drove myself, my mother and my toddler to Justin, Texas from North Carolina. We stopped in Nashville, Texarkana and finally Justin. If you have never driven in Texas be forewarned the road signals hang horizontally across wires and (surprise) I got a ticket for running a red light when I thought the yellow was one of those flashing warning things. Anyways, live and learn. I also learned that Texas had a boatload of excess money that they use to put in TONS of spaghetti-roads and then decorate them with the lone star. No, I didn’t end up buying any boots– although  I did look! Also, if you ever fly out of Dallas– be warned that it is the most chaotic airport this side of Heathrow. I had to pay just to drop my mother off at her terminal! Not a fan of the airport, but I’m quite a fan of the rest of Texas that I saw.

Travel to Marquette, Michigan, USA

We come up to the U.P every once in a while to visit family and this year we were fortunate enough to come up to the U.P twice, once in the summer and once in the frozen winter. Winter is my favorite season and the U.P is about the best place to experience it. ATVing in the snow, snowshoeing, ice fishing, sledding, and all kinds of other frozen festivities await you in Marquette and the surrounding towns. Hey, Jeff Daniels spends his time up here, so it can’t be all bad!

Travel to Beech Mountain, North Carolina, USA

Since we live relatively close to the mountains of North Carolina, we get to make a few trips a year up to Beech Mountain, near Boone. It’s a delightful small down with all the amenities nearby of a major metropolis. On top of Beech Mountain is the highest bar on the east coast, I hear tell. Yes, we’ve been there. You have to ski your way down after a few very strong, locally brewed drafts. Well, you don’t have to but it’s way more fun!

Travel to Washington, District of Columbia, USA

We went to Washington D.C a few times in 2014, mostly because we have friends in the city. It’s an amazing capital and truly befitting the country. All the major museums are free and it’s a delight to get to explore so much history for free– as it should be! There is always something fun going on. Last time up in DC I saw a group of people preaching the good word, loudly– almost violently, in China Town. At other times there are demonstrations near the White House. On one other trip I was fortunate enough to get to stay out in Leesburg, where we did a night time stroll of the town’s haunted sites (yes, it was Halloween!).

Happy 2015. May the year bring you more travel, more freedom to roam and a better appreciation of the wide, wide world!

Merry Christmas, Cube Abandoners!
We hope the year ahead is as stunning, rich, and full as the year behind us soon will be. With warm moments spent with friends and family, and a life that fills full and happy.

2013 was a transition year for ATC. We traveled quite a bit in the USA, our motherland, but only traveled abroad twice, to our northern and southern neighbors. 2013 saw our first trip to Cancun, Mexico, and stunning winter visit to Niagara Falls, Canada. You can find a whole album of trip pics from Cancun in the gallery!

Inside the USA we traveled from Michigan to the east coast, then straight across the nation stopping in Nashville (go country music!) to Memphis (where we met soul singer Al Green) to the Presidential Library in Arkansas, to Oklahoma (where the world’s largest McDonald’s is) and on to Colorado (where the Garden of the Gods was a big attraction) to Utah, Idaho and then Oregon (go ducks!) and on to Washington state, where we were saturated in a light but constant drizzle.

After a few weeks in Washington we did the trip in reverse along the northern route, hitting the long stretch across Montana and the fun sites of South Dakota (Rushmore, Wall Drug and Corn Palace) and then on to visit family in Minnesota, Illinois and then out to the coast again. A full circular tour of the motherland, and a wonderful one.

Michael and Lauren also got married this year in the southern USA. Thank you to all our lovely friends and family who traveled from around the planet to be in, and attend our nuptials. It means the world to us that you came from around the blue planet to be at our humble event.

Now we’re in North Carolina, situated in the Piedmont area between the mountains and the ocean. You’ll find us outside with our daughter or inside, writing this blog and gazing at maps as we plan future adventures.

With the new year dawning, we have some exciting plans for travel within the USA. This massive country has so much to offer, so many amazing national parks, sites and of course splattered across the USA there is one of the largest of everything imaginable, from frying pans to balls of twine…and we want to see them all.

We hope your holidays are full of joy and fun!
Merry Christmas, from Abandon the Cube!

Of course the moment we hit I-5 and headed North we were struck by the most amazing rain storm. This only gives credit to the rumor that it rains all the time in Washington. I’ve tried to convince Mike that people over hype the rain, but every time the poor lad has been in Washington he’s been drenched to the bone. Bad timing or global warming?—Or could it just be that Washington is a rainforest of beauty that needs a bit of rain to keep it so wonderfully green. Mike prefers to think of it as vampire territory where everyone has blue-tinted skin and edgy dispositions (as well as an addiction to meth, cults and an affinity for collecting broken cars for lawn ornamentation.)

Washington, the Evergreen State, is just that—it’s green forever. No matter which way you look it’s hard to see a color other than green. Of course, if you cross the mountains and head East you’ll find a desert out near Spokane. But who would go out there when the rainforests, mountains and shores are to the West?

We spent several weeks exploring the many ways to stay dry in a rainforest. What we came up with was this—don’t go outside. If you do, you’ll get drenched. Even on a sunny day Washington is wet. They call it “liquid sunshine,” but of course it isn’t sunny, Washingtonians just don’t know any better, bless their souls.

We also spent a few great weekends in Oregon, which is just like Washington, but with more dedicated hippies. Eugene, where Nike has it’s headquarters, is full of vegan restaurants, dreadlocks and birthing centers covered in dream catchers. It’s a lovely place for anyone who votes blue (or refrains from voting because it’s too much a part of the establishment).

We took a drive up to Seattle one weekend and ended up visiting the Matador restaurant as well as the Kickin’ Boot. Both are awesome, by the way. And Seattle remains one of my favorite cities in the world. If it weren’t so expensive it’d be a great place to strike a claim. But alas, the land is so green, so beautiful that it’s much coveted and in that regard, unaffordable.

Trying to Hug a Redwood

I’ve always wanted to go to the Redwood National Forest in Northern California.  While we were out in the Pacific Northwest, we decided that it would be the perfect time to go.  So we packed up the car and picked up some friends in Eugene on the way down.

After the Greyback experience in Oregon, we packed up and crossed the border into California the next day.  Immediately, we were forced to pull over and go through a sort of customs.  We were a little concerned, as we had an entire car full of trash containing beer and wine bottles from the previous night of camping.  Luckily, a very mild Department of Agriculture employee walked out and asked us if we were carrying any fruits into California.  I paused, not wanting to get the apples we had saved for breakfast confiscated by the Agriculture Gestapo, but said, “we have some apples.”  Apparently, you can not transport citrus or avocados into California. Luckily we got away with the apples and continued our weekend venture down to the Redwood Forest.

The drive down to Crescent City was beautiful.  We went through several forests and drove down roads which wrapped around downs and large hills for the duration of a little more than an hours drive.  First thing we noticed was the curve speed / warning signs in California are not really recommendations like most places in the US.  You pretty much have to go exactly that speed, or less, around the curves to avoid rolling your car.  It was a pretty intense drive.  Right before you reach Crescent City, if you are coming form the North, you will go through a redwood forest grove with a small pull over area for cars.  We highly recommend you stop here and take the 3-5 mile hike through the groves.  It was well worth it and had trees that were completely different than elsewhere in the forest.

Fallen Redwood

We also did the famous “drive-thru tree,” which the Park Ranger was pretty upset about and said they would never do that to a tree.  However, this tree is on private property and it is still a good experience to drive an entire vehicle, in this case a van, through a tree with plenty of room to spare.    There are signs all over Highway 101 for the tree; the 101 is a highly recommended as it goes right through the national and state parks.  Make sure you stop at the information center in Crescent City as the rangers there will give you the perfect trip tailored to you time schedule.

They also recommended several camping spots in the State Parks.  We chose one and drove off 101 for about 30 minutes and came to a cliff overlooking the Pacific.  We parked our car, and hiked all of our supplies up the hill to find a phenomenal campsite surrounded by redwoods with a view of the ocean.  We could hear the Pacific rolling below us all night long while laughing and talking over a few drinks.  The majesty of the redwoods and their unworldly presence was an amazing experience making it easy to understand how sci-fi and fantasy writers have used the Redwood Forest as inspiration for their books and movies.  Planet Endor, in Return of the Jedi was filmed in the Redwood National Forest.  A perfect set for what truly looks like another world.

Here we go! Just the FACTS about why the West Coast is literally a billion times cooler than the East Coast:

1) Movies about the West Coast are usually uplifting, fun and feature scantly clad youths frolicking along the beaches. Movies about the East Coast usually highlight a primary character who has turned selfish and egotistical while striving for some sort of monetary or business related goal.

2) The East Coast has a rich history that includes the earliest days of America’s past. Meanwhile, the West Coast is still wild, untamed and rugged– so are the people who live north of California. People like D.B Cooper and Kurt Cobain.

3) The West Coast produces way better music. Now that’s just a fact.

4) The West Coast, if you get rid of California, is full of people who love the environment. There are ample forests, of the evergreen and rain varieties, as well as untamed beaches, rugged mountain peaks and even ferns that grow out of tree branches. The East Coast has Krispy Kreame.

5) The West Coast has Hollywood. The East Coast has Disney World.

6) The West Coast had the gold rush. The East Coast had a tea party.

7) The West Coast has vampires and werewolves, the East Coast has Pennsylvania Avenue.

8.) The West Coast has the King crab, and salmon. The East Coast has lobster– nature’s ugliest creature.

9) The West Coast has the leading ocean. Now for those non-geologists that’s a plate tectonic joke.

10) You never hear people talk about the dream of moving out East. Our nation’s manifest destiny was literally driven by people moving to the West Coast.

With the exception of Chicago, the entire non-coastal USA is literally just a highway to and from the coasts.

What better way to spend the Armageddon, then waiting it out safely underground? Apparently I’m not the first person to think of this. Washington State is renown for its end-of-worlders, and recently I met someone who worked in construction, building underground shelters for folks who live in constant fear. These shelters, or “UGs” as the builders call them, cost more than most people’s primary homes, and are built to withstand large eruptions or man-made blasts. They are usually constructed under a barn or other large object to conceal construction, and are stocked with yummy end-of-days foods like dehydrated eggs and grains in large 5 gallon tubs. The end of the world business is quite a lucrative one, apparently, as these specialty tubs of food and supplies have a huge profit margin. The Sea Egg (in the image to the left) is just such an underground shelter. It is essentially a bubble deep under ground, where earthquakes, eruptions or anything else cannot penetrate. The home can be built by two people with re-bar and concrete, and the plans can be bought online or else a professional team can add the greater comforts (and style) if you hire it done.

But underground homes are not the only alternative should Armageddon strike. Underwater homes are just one additional alternative. Ocean real-estate is cheap (aka-free) and the construction costs are not as steep as you might think. Already, chic underwater hotels are attracting attention internationally. you simply run your boat or swim out to a pipe in the water, climb down the pipe into your home. An additional model has people swimming or scuba diving down into a wet room and coming up inside your underwater home. This alternative is a ways off, and in the testing stages on most designs. For now, the do-it-yourself underground sea egg, or hiring a local UG construction company may be more practical and logical.

From my family’s home in Washington State you can see Mt. Rainier. It’s one of the most majestic sights on the West Coast at almost 14,500 feet, and is the highest mountain in the Cascade range (and in the continental, contiguous USA). More than 13,000 people a year climb the active volcano in Pierce County, making it one of the most visited alpine climbing destinations in the USA. But more importantly, the mountain is a feature in the background in Washington that takes everyone’s breath away on a daily basis…. well, on the days you can see through the rain. It is only 50 miles from Seattle, and visible from almost anywhere along the Western Washington area. In our small town, the mountain is so prominent in the background that it dwarfs every feature, even the massive evergreens that grow on almost every square inch of ground not taken by houses or roads. If you come into Washington via the north on Amtrak you get one of the areas most beautiful and stunning views– Mt. Rainier in the background as the train curves around the Puget Sound, with amazing views of the mountain reflecting off the water. Evergreen trees are everywhere, and when my train was pulling around one corner a bald eagle swept over the treeline for an afternoon fishing hunt. Yes, it is breathtaking.

Something strange about Mt. Rainier though, is that several people a year die climbing the mountain. Personally, I think this is because Americans climbing here don’t think of the mountain as exotic or dangerous because it is always in the background. Despite the cuteness of the mountain, and how prevalent it is in daily life here in Washington, you get several folks a year who go up the mountain without the right equipment, and without any training. Just because it is within driving distance of your house doesn’t make it safer than Kilimanjaro or K2. I mean, it’s a an active volcano covered in glaciers—what’s safe about that?   White outs are common on the mountain, and locals think the volcano could erupt at any time. Of the several deaths a year that are reported, most are attributed to avalanche, falls, rock and ice drops and hypothermia, which makes one of the most uninviting of destinations in Washington. Any serious climber would only tackle Mt. Rainier after successfully summiting several other smaller and more manageable mountains.

While it has always been a beautiful and meaningful part of the background, it is also a dangerous and extreme destination, and one I’m happy to visit again and again…albeit with the right equipment and usually, without leaving the paths.

When you are on the road, you occasionally find yourself in between places or in limbo waiting for the next leg of your trip.  That is where we have found ourselves for the next month or two as we wait for the Mongol Rally start date.  Currently, we are both out on the West Coast in the Seattle / Tacoma area.  Since we are still traveling, and the rally does not start until July 24, we can’t really get a job or search for any serious job during this time period – especially because of the current economic situation.

Route map?

We have taken this opportunity to catch up with family and friends and we’ve been traveling around the United States and trying to see as much of the US as we can, although we will still miss a lot because of its enormity.  What we can do is work on some projects at home or help out our friends and folks.  We are currently undertaking a variety of projects from painting the exterior of the house, which is hard in the State of Washington because it is always raining, but it is a great opportunity to fix up things without spending too much money.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to go to Lowe’s or Home Depot and look for things on sale, discount, or discontinued products.  We have been able to repaint several rooms with $5 paint – previously mixed and returned because they didn’t like the color.  So for about $5 – %15 dollars we can repaint a room with what would normally cost $90 for the paint.  If you are redoing a bathroom, look for discounted marble counters, surrounds, flooring, or tiles.  My brother-in-law introduced this to me as he is quite the deal finder.  It helps to have an open mind about your room or what you are trying to change.  It may not be exactly what you want, but it can be a huge improvement to your home, and for as little as a few hundred dollars, you can easily make 4 digit value increases to your home.

Ask your relatives if they have any left over supplies such as brick, tile, or drywall.  You never know what someone may keep around.  We were lucky enough to have a relative give us their remaining marble tiles, which looked awesome and we can cover over 700 square feet with them.  Even though we didn’t think they would fit with the style of the home, once we got them there we found a place to make them work.  As long as you are personally willing to put in the time and research to teach yourself and learn how to do these projects. eHow is a great place to start, but you usually will want more detailed information.  Search a variety of websites and also consider going to your local library to find guides for tiling, flooring, carpeting, decking, etc.  If all else fails, go to a book store and buy Fill in the Blank, for Dummies. Moreover, don’t forget to ask for assistance at your depot stores as they are usually well informed and will be more than willing to help explain to you exactly what you need and how to do it.

We are planning to redo a gutted bathroom and refinish the hardwood floors in the hallway – all things that can be done on the cheap but make huge a remarkable changes to your home.  Make sure to call ahead and reserve the proper equipment for these jobs like an orbital sander and edger or tile equipment.  You may also want to check out www.youtube.com for what you are doing as they may have a step by step video for all of you visual learners.

Refinishing a hardwood floor:  http://www.ehow.com/how_1856_refinish-hardwood-floor.html

Tiling a Bathroom Floor: http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/intro/0,,672069,00.html

We are still hoping to do some traveling while out hear, stay tuned for information on the regional National Parks.

Progreso

I suppose reading the blog might have been confusing recently for some of our more attentive readers. We posted blogs from Canada and Chicago nearly simultaneously, one praising the Olympic ski runs at Whistler, the other lauding a drive from North Carolina to Chicago. Meanwhile, posts from Mexico and Texas are also popping up. If you’ve been confused, you’re probably not the only one. Here’s what has happened since ATC returned to America:

We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida- a beautiful and warm place complete with scenic palm trees and overpriced taxi rides – in early November, 2009. From Florida, we traveled by Amtrak to Columbia, South Carolina where our train arrived at the ungodly hour of 4:00am. We walked through the last of the hurricane season in Columbia while finding a hotel, and in the morning we booked it north….to North Carolina. We spent several days in the Carolinas visiting relatives and reacquainting ourselves with Krispy Kreame doughnuts and Starbucks coffee—two things sorely lacking in Serbia. No joke, the Serbians could use a few tasty treats to cheer them up a bit.

After our family time in NC, we rented a car and drove to Rockford, IL for some more family time before ATC was split as Lauren went to Minnesota and then Washington (and Canada) while Mike went to New Hampshire. Thus, the blog has postings from the slopes of Whistler, BC and the hills of New Hampshire almost simultaneously.

With the holidays safely behind us, Lauren and Mike have reunited and even managed to drive from Illinois down to Texas, where they were lucky enough to meet up with some Old China Hands (friends from Shanghai) who currently reside in Austin. Continuing on, they traveled south to find warmer weather and calmer skies on the gulf coast of Texas, where they launch mini-trips into Mexico weekly.

So, here I write from a windy but beautiful beach on South Padre Island, TX as the gulf waves crash before me and the salty sand and wind blow my hair into my eyes. The gin and tonics flow freely here, and while little on South Padre Island remains open past 4pm (this being a retirement community) I’m happy to report that this writer has finally found a quiet place to write, reflect and detangle.