First time ever in San Fran and what do I do? Book it to see where the Tanner family lived back in the day, of course. Forgive me — I do have my dumb touristic moments. But can you really blame me? A childhood spent bonding with Uncle Jesse, however single sided this bond may be, made it more of an unintentional pilgrimage. And they are indeed lovely ladies in a beautiful upscale neighborhood overlooking a very green park. A decent place to, say, raise three little blond girls where the only constant irritation is that Kimmy Gibler (who is actually rather endearing) next door.
Addendum: as any decent city should have, a sweet wall of graffiti.
In an effort to break up the long ass train ride from Portland to San Francisco, we made a pit stop in Klamath Falls, Oregon. This is possibly the most podunk town I have ever willingly visited. Like, a population of 20,000. Like, if it were upstate NY there would be more cows than people. Fortunately fate was on our side upon arrival when we found a beautiful blond-haired blue-eyed boy who looked like he was about to cry into his beer. Enter: the pixie warrior duo to turn that frown upside down (forgive me). We made friends and he humored us by playing tour guide the next day and taking us to Crater Lake. A world wonder. A collapsed volcano. And an island that goes by the name of ‘Wizard.’ Who knew? Unfortunately Harry Potter was nowhere to be found.
Second stop this summer: Portland, Oregon. Most notable outing: wine tasting in the beautiful Willamette Valley at White Rose and Stoller Vineyards. Delectable pinots from this region. And a delectable connoisseur named Gavin at White Rose. Go and see for yourself.
This summer I spent six weeks backpacking through the states with my dear friend Eliza (the lovely lady pictured below). First stop was Seattle to visit my old roommate Vince (also below). The beginning of our trip happened to coincide with the commencement of the FIFA World Cup. The working title of our adventure became the West Coast World Cup Pub Crawl 2010 although it’s not technically accurate because we watched the final game in El Paso, Texas.
At any rate, aside from the psycho seagulls we came across along the waterfront that had us laughing for weeks afterward once we were out of pecking range, Seattle treated us well. Good times with good friends, old and new. Not to mention that Seattle is a major soccer city so our timing was impeccable. A beautiful start to a tour of the US.
Way back in May I spent a couple of weeks in my hometown in upstate New York. Although I would kill myself of boredom if I ever were forced to live there again, it’s an awesome place to visit in the summer because of it’s central location to all things great outdoors. A very old friend of mine (Hi, Al!) picked me up at about 5am one morning so we could go for a 10 mile hike up and down Giant Mountain. I hadn’t been to the Adirondacks in a few years and kind of forgot how pretty it is up there. And what a lovely reminder that day was.
This side trip from Rio actually took place back in April right before I decided to return to the states. The reason I am only now posting these images several months later is because I was on another backpacking adventure through the US of A for the first half of the summer. It’s hard to believe that a year ago I was busting my ass in an office 5 days a week. This summer has been similar to those of my childhood with the added bonus that I can now drink legally. Yes, life has indeed been a vacation this year. But the party is coming to an end. It’s time I get productive again, although hopefully I will not be shackled to a desk slaving away in corporate America. If I have learned one thing from this time off, it’s that there is no room in a corporate structure for the creative process to flourish. It’s a simple sentiment, but one that has become all too clear in the last few months.
Anyway. Tangent over. Back to the lovely paradise town of Paraty. If ever you happen to visit Rio de Janeiro, you absolutely must take a few days to visit this colonial town that is about 4 hours away. It’s a quiet, safe, and beautiful colonial town that provides a nice break from the more crime-ridden metropolis. I could have stayed here forever.
Also of note: Paraty is filled with cachaça shops. I had the pleasure of making friends with several of the owners and had many a taste test in the duration of my stay. Just take care when stepping out of the stores and onto the rocky pathways that are difficult enough to navigate when sober.
Lima was my last stop on the way back to Rio. I only spent two days here in the flower filled neighborhood of Miraflores, but it was a much needed respite and had some cool things to offer, as well. Namely the sweet view of the coastline. It was nice to be back at sea level where the weather was much warmer and the air smelled of salty goodness.
There was a minor problem that occupied my first day in Cusco – I did not in any way expect Maccu Picchu to have reopened. I had stayed in La Paz for too long and only had three days before I was scheduled to catch a flight to Lima. My fellow travelers were dead set on going to the Picchu and of course I wanted to go as well, but one glance at this beautiful city full of Inca ruins and Spanish colonial art and I knew I needed some time here. I devoted an entire afternoon to an internet cafe’s international phone to change my flights to Lima and then back to Rio. That afternoon was successful and after my dear Aussie friends left me upon our return from Maccu Picchu, I spent another week wandering around this magical city. In other words, it worked out amazingly well.
I’ve already written about the unexpected trek through dangerous territory to get to this city in the sky. It was rough going, but upon entering the gates, it was breathtaking and totally worth it. And also much larger than I had anticipated. For being such a vertically challenged people, the Incas must have been extremely fit from running up and down steep steps all day. I was certainly sucking wind (and blaming it on the altitude).
After dragging ourselves away from La Paz, we made a day long pit stop in Copacabana to see the highest navigable lake in the world — Lake Titicaca. I have no idea what the name translates to, but the obvious gutter jokes make for a lot of laughs. The town of Copacabana is quite lovely and I would’ve like to have spent more time hanging out there, but we had already booked a tour to see Isla del Sol. That trip turned out to be quite anticlimactic and I don’t suggest going there unless you plan to stay the night. The two hour boat ride each way to hit an island that is nothing but a tourist trap made for a crabby group of people ready to kiss Bolivia goodbye.
