The Long Trip Home

We dropped by the Yug for our final meal in Mexico. We each got Club sandwiches, but neither of us could finish them. Maybe they were bigger, or maybe the butterflies in our stomachs were taking up all of the space. After saying goodbye to Angel, we went back to the hotel, gathered up our luggage, and caught a safe taxi to the airport. (The hotel staff assured us that they had a professional relationship with the driver.)

Our American passports didn't catch any attention at all, even though they lacked a stamp and we didn't have visas. Phew! We waited in the terminal for our plane, but had to keep moving to stay away from the yucky smokers. We were relieved when the provisional gate we were given was changed, and we got to move to a more isolated area of the airport.

The flight to Houston was pretty easy. We even had a vegetarian meal! Granted, it was vegetables (broccoli and carrots) in between two pieces of bread, but it was vegetarian. (We think it's part of a conspiracy among flesh-eaters to make vegetarianism look unappealing.)

We arrived at Houston, and made it through immigration and customs without any issues. Both the woman at the immigration counter and the man at the customs counter were intrigued by the $2 worth of chocolate that we declared.

We caught our plane, and waited in line for our longest taxi ever, at forty-five minutes. We had to wait for at least ten other planes before we could take off. So much for getting home early.

The plane landed in Baltimore at around 8pm. We grabbed our luggage and rushed to the light rail, which runs every thirty minutes. We arrived at the station with a couple of minutes to spare, and pretty soon we were on our way home!!

A Much-Needed Home-Cooked Meal

We spent a little time at the hotel before making our way to Amalio's nephew's and niece-in-law's place, which was a short walk from the hotel. Ok, we hadn't planned on that happening. Are we living a charmed life?

Ljubica (or Yubi, if that's easier for you to pronounce) and Javier prepared a lovely meal for us. We started with lemonade, before working our way up to the tequila. We ate salad with corn, tomatoes, and carrots in a caesar-style dressing, croissants, fresh guacamole, and fried plantains with rice. (The last dish tracing its heritage to Cuba, and not Mexico.) The food was very tasty, and the company was unmatched.

We spoke for a long time on any number of subjects: Nethack, vegetarianism, Mexico's nascent folic acid campaign, Buddhism, Myers-Briggs personality tests, Mexico City politics, rennet (or why your cheese might not be vegetarian), cows' milk and twinning in humans, and raising children, to name a few of the topics.

We paused briefly for vegan Sweet Tamales. Mmmm, tamales. We made another brief pause for almonds and grapes, too!

Our hosts' son, Victor, had eaten a separate, kid-friendly meal in the living room, decked out in his Spiderman pajamas. Yubi had asked Javier to help put their son in bed, and so Javier did, but not before playing the shortest game of soccer on record. Jason made a very unsuccessful joke about how Americans put their kids to bed by taking them into their bedrooms, whereas Mexicans put their kids to bed by playing soccer with them. The joke seemed funny at the time, especially under the influence of the tequila, but not every joke can be a winner. =(

We didn't make it out of their place until almost midnight! We had so much to talk about, and so many games to play. (Javier showed us his modded Xbox with Commodore 64 and Atari 2600 emulators, and Shel just had to beat Adventure.

We said goodbye to our new friends and had a safe walk home to the hotel. It seemed that everyone we met along the way tried to sell us something or invite us into a club: 'No, gracias, buenas noches', and we got back to the hotel, called in a wake-up call, and went to bed.

Happy Birthday to Shelly

We woke up on the morning of the 20th, and remembered that it was Shelly's 27th birthday. Happy Birthday, Shel!

Needing to buy gifts, we decided to dress down in order to visit the markets: you don't want to give anyone the impression that you're a wealthy American. We stopped by the Mercado Insurgentes on the way to the Yug. Wow, the vendors in that market sure are pushy! We kept explaining that we were hungry ('perdon, pero todavía no hemos desayunado, y tenemos mucha hambre'). That seemed to get us off the hook. They were pushing us out of the market once we said these words.

We walked over to the Yug for some grub. Shel had the Aztec soup and Spaghetti; Jason had the Moctezuma soup and the soy hamburger. The food was delicious, as usual, and the waiter, Angel, was sweet, as always.

After breakfast, we headed out to the Mercado de Artesanías de la Cuidadela, on Amalio's advice. Thanks, Amalio! We were a little unsure at first, because we entered the gate and headed to the left, where some of the articles are manufactured, instead of to the right, where all of the many vendors are located. We had been searching Mexico City for the kind of markets we had seen in Puebla, and the Mercado was just the ticket. We managed to buy gifts for everyone in one fell swoop.

We had planned to stop by other markets, but we had already found everything we needed, and so we went back to the hotel instead.

Last Night in Mexico City

It´s late, and we´re tired. We´ll post a proper account of our last full day in Mexico City once we get back home tomorrow night!

Happy Birthday to JJ

We woke up on the morning of the 19th, and remembered that it was Jason's 28th birthday. Happy Birthday, JJ!

Needing some sustenance, we walked over to the Yug and had the Club Sandwiches and cafe de olla. (The waiter, the same from yesterday, said they didn't have cafe de olla, but they did have coffee and cinammon, and so we just combined the two. What's the difference?) The waiter poured the cinnamon into the coffee at our table, until we said 'está bien' (ok). We explained to him that, in the States, people say 'cuando' (when) when they want you to stop. He had a good laugh at that. (Later, when pouring us more coffee, he said 'cuando' when he was done. ;)

We caught the Paseo de la Reforma towards the South and headed Northeast towards the Zócalo. We passed the Palacio de Bellas Artes, walked into some stores, and grabbed some bebidas (drinks) at the VIP, a very popular fast food restaurant with tie-ins to the Justice League franchise. We were walking for about five hours!

We tried to grab a bite to eat at the vegetarian place near Javier's, but they were closed, so we opted for King Falafel. Shel had a pita sandwich with falafel; Jason had the falafel platter with hummus and tabouleh. The falafel was much better than expected. (The falafel we had in Vancouver was terrible!)

We stopped by an Internet Cafe to blog ($1/hour.) We'll be heading back to the hotel for some rest, before heading out to the Mercado de Artesanias tomorrow.

Internet Connection Fun

Don't stay at the NH Hotel, at least not the one in the Zona Rosa in Mexico City. Orbitz had said that the hotel has two room types: Executive and Standard. Executive rooms cost about $50 more per night, and have in-room wireless Internet access. Standard rooms have wired Internet access. Or so we thought.

We couldn't get the wireless connection to work from our Standard room (we didn't really expect to be able to use the wireless connection), but a wired connection was nowhere to be found. The wireless connection in the lobby works, but requires us to pay money. Apparently, the wireless connection in the Executive rooms costs money, too. Why would someone pay $50 more per night to be given the privilege to purchase Internet access? Why was every other hotel we stayed at able to offer Internet access for free?

Jason tried complaining to the clerk in Spanish. The website indicated that in-room Internet access would be available, and mentioned nothing about cost. After a couple of minutes, we begin to talk in English to the clerk who checked us in, and who speaks flawless English. The other clerk asks Jason, 'Why you not tell me you spoke English?' He responds in Spanish, 'What, don't I know how to speak Spanish?' 'Yes', she says, 'but we may have been able to solve the problem faster if we had spoken in English.' Jason says, 'Well, it looks like no solution exists in English or Spanish.'

Ay, pinche buey; the clerk must enjoy eating at the Snobistro down the street. We got the feeling that we were being treated like second-class citizens. We went to our room and tried to forget the whole mess.

We decided to try out the outside heated pool, but it began lightning shortly after we hopped in. We tried watching TV, but the satellite wasn't working well due to the aforementioned storm. We opted for storm watching, which was almost guaranteed to work, before heading off to bed.

Phone Card Fun

Feeling a little tired, we went back to the hotel to try out the phone card. Unfortunately, it will not work from the hotel room. Jason calls the operator, who explains how to dial out of the room. Hmmm, we tried doing it that way already. We head to the lobby, where they explain that pre-paid cards won't work in the rooms. We will need to call from a pay phone. The first payphone in the lobby gives the same problem; the second payphone in the lobby sounds terrible; the third payphone works! But, it won't let us call a local number. We'll have to call our Mexico City friends from the hotel room.

We manage to call Shel's dad and Jason's sister from the payphone, although the calling card doesn't seem to have nearly as many minutes as promised. Next, we'll work on getting the Internet connection working.

No Means No

Shel wanted to grab a treat, so we went to a cafe and picked up a couple of treats. The total came to 7 pesos ($0.70). Not bad! We paid for our food and grabbed a table. A waiter brought over a menu, and we decided to order two cups of cafe de olla (coffee with cinnamon).

The waiter brought out our coffee, and asked if we would like pan (bread). 'No, gracias', we replied. We were surprised when the waiter brought out pan anyway, and lots of it! And, this isn't just pan, but pan dulce, and consists of about seven or eight large sweets, like donuts and bearclaws. But, we weren't too worried, since we knew it wouldn't cost much. We ate about half of it, bagged about a quarter of it, and threw out the rest (which were coated in butter...ewww.)

The tab came to 35 pesos ($3.50), a very decent price for a dessert meal!

Yug Restaurant

On Amalio's niece-in-law's advice, we ate at the Yug. Shel had the soy hamburger with papas fritas (french fries), with a glass of mandarin juice; Jason had the vegetarian meat with refritos (refried beans) and guacamole, with a chocolate frío con agua (cold chocolate with water). The food was great!

We walked around the Zona Rosa for a while. We made our way over to the Paseo de la Reforma and saw the beautiful Angel de la Independencia. And, needing to call people back home, we searched long and hard for a decent phone card.

Estrella Roja

After saying our hasta luegos to the rest of the group, Amalio, his wife, and their sons boarded a couple of taxis with us, and we all made our way to the bus station. We purchased a couple of tickets on the Estrella Roja for the airport in Mexico City, and checked-in our bags. We bought a large bottle of water for 13 pesos, and gave the guy a 200 peso bill. At first, he only gave us 87 pesos in change. This water had better be good for $13! He quickly recognized his mistake and gave us back the rest of the change.

On the bus, we watched an old X-Files episode in Spanish, and 'The Father of the Bride' in English with Spanish subtitles. We missed the last part of the movie, however, because the bus ride was only 2-and-a-half hours long.

We purchased a taxi coupon at a sitio (place) in the airport, which is much safer than catching a cab off the street; taxi robbery is the most common crime against foreigners in Mexico City.

We arrived safely at the NH Hotel in the Zona Rosa. We were to find out that the reservation had been unsuccessful, the first such occurrence on our trip. We managed to get a room, though.

The wireless internet access refused to work, however, and the room doesn't seem to have wired internet access as promised, which is just as well because the laptop is refusing to work now. =( We've been reduced to blogging from the computers in the lobby.

It wasn´'t until a little after midnight that we made it to bed. We were very tired, and slept until about 10 am.

Last Afternoon in Puebla

Having spent the morning around many other people, we decided to explore the Zocalo by oursleves. Many Mexican cities have a Zocalo, which is a plaza surrounded by the cathedral and the government building.

A man insisted on cleaning Jason´s sneakers, for a rather expensive 45 pesos ($4.50). Everything else in Puebla seems to cost only 15 pesos. We walked back to the hotel and waited for Amalio. Waiting in one place in Puebla makes you an easy target for all of the street vendors. We were able to fend some of them off, but one of them approached us and insisted we try her chocolate. It was very tasty, so of course we had to buy some. She actually had change for a 100 peso bill, but she gave me back too much money. We managed to figure it out, though.

We met Amalio and Paul and headed out for the Zocalo. We bought our nephew, Billy, a silbato de cotorro, which will allow him to make very annoying bird calls. It was a bargain at 10 pesos. We tried to find Ruby a Pokemon watch, but we couldn't find one.

Jason had wanted to try some palomitas con chile (chili popcorn), and we managed to find the place selling it. The bag cost only 8 pesos. It doesn't feel like you're spending real money when you're in Puebla!

Amalio stopped by a booth to get his picture taken. For 30 pesos, the machine will take you're picture and allow you to superimpose any number of ridiculous hairdos on top of it. He chose four crazy hairstyles and printed them out. I wish we could post them to the blog!

Last Morning in Puebla

We met Amalio and his mother, sister, and sons in the hotel restaurant for breakfast. We had pan tostada (toast) con marmelada (jelly), plántana (banana), and té (chamomile). Shel also got an order of hotcakes.

We left the hotel for Analco, where the market is held on Sunday. We had a bird tell our futures by pulling little slips of paper out of a box. We ate small pancakes made of corn and drank lemon water. We bought saffron, too.

We met the rest of the gang for lunch, where we had quesadillas sin queso con champiñones (which were rather flavorless), and enchiladas con mole, which were very tasty, and were served with mexican rice.

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel. On the way, we saw a group of people dancing on a stage. One of them looked rather like Saddam Hussein! We took a picture of him to share with you. We also took a picture of a chihuahua trying to pull another chihuahua in a stroller! We'll post the pictures tonight.

A Mexican Wedding

We took cabs to the wedding site, which is a half-hour away from the hotel. The bill came to 80 pesos ($8). Again, not bad.

We ate great food: noodles with mole, tofu with broccoflower, mushrooms, and onions in a hot sauce, some fruit cup thing, and some spicy after-lunch thing. We washed everything down with horchata, tequila, and cerveza. The caterers did an excellent job of making sure our needs were met.

We played frisbee with Amalio's sons, Eric and John, and Amalio's nephew, Javier. We listened to the mariachis play for Amalio's daughter, Rigel, and her husband, Paul. We danced and juggled limes and danced some more.

The party started winding down, and so we caught another cab back to the hotel. It's nearly midnight here. We'll be getting up early tomorrow morning to sightsee. Afterwards, we'll be taking the Estrella Roja bus to Mexico City, where we'll be staying at the NH Hotel in the Zona Rosa.

El desayuno en Puebla

We should start by noting that the laptop screen is on the fritz. It has done this before. It is very hard to read what we are typing, and probably impossible for us to read your emails or comments. Hopefully, the problem will resolve itself soon.

Anyway, we had a terrible night of sleep. The revelers were up until six in the morning, partying in the plaza by our hotel window. Too bad!

We woke up and got ready for the day by watching shows in Spanish, like the Care Bears and Stuart Littly. We headed outside to The Italian Coffee Company, where we orded two teas and a biscotti, in Spanish, of course. The guy behind the counter asked us what kind of tea we wanted (green tea), and if we wanted it cold or not. No, not cold, hot. The tea is only available cold or 'a tiempo' (at room temperature.) We order the teas at room temperature; only later do we discover that the teas are bottled teas, and that of course it makes sense to have that kind of tea cold or at room temperature. The only money we have is the $200 bill (pesos) that we got from our new friends the night before. The clerk asked if we have a smaller bill. Alas, we do not. He hands the money to his friend, who runs out of the store and comes back with smaller bills. We add a biscotti to our order and make our way outside.

The newstand by the cafe is selling all sorts of great things to read in Spanish, like La Novela Policiaca and Memin Pinguin. Cool! I've been looking for Memin everywhere in the States.

We drink most of our teas and start heading back to the hotel. Who should we happen to bump into but Amalio? He takes us to a restaruant for plates full of papaya, canteloupe, and waterelon. His brother-in-law, Hector, joins us, and we start combing the city in search of the electronic parts Hector needs for his camera. We saw all kinds of people selling DVDs, CDs, clothing, food, trinkets, and the like. We bought the kitties a little mousy toy for 10 pesos ($1). Not bad!

We finished up our morning exploration of Puebla by checking out a local cathedral, built with the blood of the poor.

We got back to the hotel and prepared for the wedding.

El Hotel Colonial en Puebla

We arrived at the Hotel Colonial, only to see our good friend Amalio in the lobby. Wow! He was the first person we recognized since we started our trip the previous week. Has it only been a week?

Anyway, we were so excited to see Amalio, a familiar face in an unfamiliar town in an unfamiliar country. He helped us get checked into our beautiful room, and then he played the host and took us around his home town. The town is full of people celebrating Mexico's Independence Day.

We needed a good meal, and Amalio delivered. He took us to many of the stands around the downtown, and bought us:

-Hibiscus tea
-Quesadillas sin queso (the tortillas were made on the spot, and filled with pumpkin flour, mushrooms, tomatoes, and salsa)
-A corn soup with a spicy chile sauce and the same ingredients used in the tortillas
-Bean tostadas with potatoes and salsa verde
-A cinnamon pastry
-A dessert made of chocolate and water (mmmm, tasty!!!)

What a guy!

We went back to the hotel, and met Amalio's nephew and his wife and child, and his daughter, and went back out on the town. His nephew took us to a restaurant where we had tequila, a sour lemon drink, and a sangrita, which tasted like a Bloody Mary.

Back at the hotel, we enjoyed the fireworks we could see outside of our hotel window. How romantic!

Tomorrow, we'll be attending the wedding between Amalio's daughter, Rigel, and her fiancee, Paul.

The Road to Puebla

We left the Bristol this morning, and made our way to the Greyhound station across the street. We had gotten our actual tickets the night before, and so all we had to do was wait for the bus. And wait we did! The bus was a half-hour late.

We made our way to San Ysidro, where we got to push a button to figure out if our bags would be checked. Jason pushed the button. 'Pase'. No check for Jason. Shel pushed the button. 'Pase'. No check for Shel, either. Hooray!

We got to the airport, checked our bags, and sat in the waiting area until the plane was ready. We met a couple of other Americans on their way to Puebla; they were also catching the plane in Tijuana because it was much cheaper than flying from San Diego.

The plane made stops in Hermosillo and Guadalajara before arriving in Puebla. We ate plenty of cacahuetas estilo japonesa (Japanese-style peanuts) on the way.

At the airport in Puebla, we caught a taxi to the hotel with our new friends, Richard and Larry. They sold us 200 pesos for $20, and they even paid for the taxi! Thanks, guys!

Vamos a Mexico

We'll be hiking it over to the Greyhound station tomorrow morning. It's a short walk, as the station is right across the street from the hotel. Funny how things work out, huh? It's almost like someone planned it that way.

We'll be leaving the San Diego Greyhound station for Tijuana at 7:45 am. Let's see how well we sleep tonight.

Lessons Learned

-San Francisco is hilly. Really hilly. And cold. And foggy.
-Santa Cruz's Mystery Spot doesn't want to be found.
-Carmel buildings and houses don't have street numbers.
-Big Sur roads can be tricky: keep your eyes on the road.
-Malibu isn't as pleasant as you might think.
-Venice Beach vendors will sell you Salvia Divinorum.
-San Diegan pedestrians can cross some intersections diagonally.
-People get more specific with their requests for money the further south you travel. A request for spare change in San Francisco becomes a request for a dime for a coffee or a soda in San Diego.
-Californians love their bikes (bikes, tandem bikes, bikes for two, unicycles, recumbent bikes, those bikes with one large front tire and one small back tire), and they will ride them everywhere.
-California has an abundance of great vegan restaurants.

AND

-The Hotel Colonial in Puebla has WiFi, so we'll be able to talk and blog like usual!!

Vegan Drive-Thru Restaurant

We stopped back at the hotel, where Shel posted the fourth set of our pictures to the web, before heading out for lunch. We tried to go to Veg-N-Out, but they stopped serving lunch at 3pm and didn't start serving dinner until 5pm. We walked through Balboa Park, looking for a way to another restaurant on 5th Avenue. We walked around the San Diego Zoo for a little while. That's around the zoo, not the through the zoo. We needed to walk around the perimeter in order to reach a path that could get us to 5th Avenue. Tickets are $22 a piece, and even though my anti-Semitic San Diegan friend likes the San Diego Zoo, it would have been cheaper to catch a cab than to walk through the zoo. (Marc, the aforementioned friend, has many Jewish friends, but one day, intending to say he didn't like zoos, said he 'didn't like Jews.')

We got to the restaurant, Kung Food Express, and had a terrific meal at the first vegan restaurant with a drive-thru we had ever seen. We got the 'Chicken' Parmesan, pumpkin stew, essential greens, herbed mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy, soyrizo, and a delicious blondie. We even split a Blue Sky Cherry Vanilla Organic soda. The food was served buffet style. We started off with two plates but ended up going back for a delicious third. Mmmmm, tasty vegan drive-thru restaurant food. Yum!!!

After catching the #3 bus back to the hotel, we relaxed and prepared for the second leg of our vacation. Tomorrow, we catch a Greyhound Bus to Tijuana, and then catch a plane to Puebla, Mexico!

Breakfast at Rancho's

We decided that it was about time we had a proper breakfast. We bought a couple of Day Tripper passes (all day bus and trolley passes in San Diego), and caught a bus to Rancho's in Ocean Beach. We just missed the bus we wanted by a minute, and so we had to wait a half-hour for the next bus. =(

Shel got the vegan pancakes with blueberries, with a orange/strawberry/mango smoothie; Jason got the soy chorizo with tofu, potatoes, refritos, and a whole grain tortilla, with an horchata. Breakfast was filling and very yummy!!

After breakfast, we stopped by Stephanie's Bakery for a couple of vegan treats. We got a chocolate chip cookie and a blueberry cream cheese streudel. We're going to eat those tonight.

Back to the Hotel

We had driven a total of 658 miles over our four day trip down Highway 1. The last 100 miles were particularly draining. We took the free shuttle over to the airport, and caught a cab to the hotel.

After checking in, we found a restaurant close to the hotel, Royal Thai. We started with the Vegetarian Satay, skewers of seitan, tofu, peppers, mushrooms, and onions, with a peanut sauce. Shel had the Lard Nay, fried noodles with seitan, broccoli, and carrots in a soy sauce gravy; Jason got the old Thai standby, Pad Thai. We were a little disappointed that the 'mock meats' were tofu and seitan. While these are meat substitutes, they don't replace meat in texture and flavor. The food was decent, though.

The Long Haul

We left for San Diego on Highway 1. Shel started the drive through Long Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and Laguna Beach. On the way, we saw our second $1 Chinese Restaurant. We weren't interested in finding out the details.

The going was really slow, and ate through about half of the time we had given ourselves to reach San Diego. The trip to San Diego was only supposed to take two-and-a-half hours, and we had spent 2 hours doing only half of the trip. Hopefully, the traffic would improve once Laguna Beach and Dana Point gave way to I-5.

We switched drivers, and now Jason found himself 78 miles away from San Diego with just over an hour left to spare. We got more and more nervous as the 8 o'clock deadline for the return of the rental car neared.

As we approached the airport, where we were to return the rental car, we noted that the tank was only half-full. It was 7:57, and the car was due back at 8:00. The car rental company was going to charge us over $6 per gallon to fill up the tank. We pulled into an overcrowded gas station. Jason filled up the tank while Shel got directions from the attendant.

The car rental place was only a block away! We had used up two precious minutes filling up the gas tank. We pulled into the car return area at exactly 8pm. Yay!

The attendant who checked in the car laughed at the thought that a person with the last name of Ford had rented a Chevy. Boy, that joke never does get old, does it?

Venice and Muscle Beaches

We continued along the pedestrian path on our way from the pier to Venice Beach. The boardwalk in Venice Beach attracts a very interesting crowd. One of the many people looking for handouts sported a sign asking for 'Money for Lube', and he shouted 'Support the Masturbation Nation' as we walked past. Others had signs asking for money for the occasional 'nug', which we can only imagine has something to do with marijuana.

We did manage to find a place selling Boba tea, and so we split a green apple boba tea. Mmmm, boba tea.

We continued on further to Muscle Beach, where a fitness company makes their equipment available for free for use by the public, so that passersby can see how big and strong one can get by using their equipment. We didn't see any really big guys, though, only an old man doing some exercises with light freeweights.

After Muscle Beach, we made our way back to the main road and caught the 25-cent Tide Shuttle back to the parking garage. We gave ourselves about 4 hours to make the 2-and-a-half hour trip to San Diego.

The Santa Monica Pier

After checking out of the hotel in Santa Monica, we headed out to the pier. The parking garage was suprisingly affordable: the first two hours are free, and each additional half-hour is $1, up to a maximum of $7.

We left the garage and grabbed an early lunch at Real Food Daily. We split the Lentil-Walnut Pate, and each got The Club, 'a lightly breaded seitan served club-style on toasted sourdough bread with tempeh bacon, lettuce, tomato and vegenaise'. It was expensive: with avacado, the sandwiches came to $26 together. If you've ever wondered if a sandwich was worth so much money, you should try eating one. ;) We picked up a cookie with a jam thumbprint before heading out to the pier.

The public restrooms in Santa Monica were the worst we've seen on the trip. The stalls didn't even have doors! The sinks didn't have any soap!! Ewww. Gone were the days of fancy trough-style urinals like those we found in Solvang.

On the pier, the only ride operating was the Ferris Wheel, due to the limited seasonal schedule. We rode the Ferris Wheel by ourselves, and it spun around 8 or 9 times pretty quickly since it didn't have to wait for passengers.

After the Ferris Wheel, we tied in 9 holes of mini-golf (Jason got three holes-in-one, Shel got one). We also stopped by the arcade, where Jason trounced Shel in a game of air hockey. Air hockey skills and table tennis skills are obviously very different, since Shel always trounces Jason in table tennis, except for the one time immortalized in the picture Jason took of himself after winning his one and only table tennis game. Afterwards, we headed off to Venice Beach.

The Bristol

We made it to The Bristol in San Diego. It's late; tomorrow morning, we'll post about the day's adventures.

Of Mel Gibson and Migraines

We drove through the Santa Monica mountains, and made our way past 27-miles long Malibu. Some SUV swerved into our lane erratically, and we were sure it was Mel Gibson. (Not because we saw him, mind you, but because this someone was driving drunk in Malibu.)

We don't see the draw in Malibu. Lots of fancy houses, sure, but they're crowded together and lack the facilities of a San Francisco or a Santa Cruz or, well, just about any town we've past short of Carpinteria and Oxnard. ;)

We finally made it to the Santa Monica Best Western. We dropped off our bags, and then Shel collapsed on the bed, as she began experiencing the aura phase of a migraine. She took an ibuprofen and hid her head under a pillow for about ten minutes, until the aura passed. =(

After Shel's vision got better, we got a little dressed up, and headed to California Vegan just inside of LA on Santa Monica Boulevard.

The food was excellent, perhaps our best on the trip. Shel got the Spicy Vege Chicken Salad, which consisted of sliced soy chicken with a salad and a spicy lime dressing. Jason got the California Orange Chicken, a lightly battered and fried soy chicken in a spicy-sweet orange sauce. The dinner special came with a delicious spring roll with a maple-syrupy sauce, miso soup, a salad with peanut sauce, and fried brown rice. Quite a meal for $11.95. We finished off dinner with the Banana Spring Rolls, consisting of bananas and shredded coconut wrapper in a deep-fried pastry spring roll. It was incredibly tasty!!! =)

We got back to the hotel and crashed. Tomorrow, we make our way to our last stop in California: San Diego.

No Sleep Till Santa Monica

We left Santa Barbara at about a quarter till five, mainly because the parking spot we had found was limited to 90 minutes, and it's tough finding a parking spot in downtown Santa Barbara. Well, it's tough if you don't feel like parking in a garage.

Leaving at that time probably helped us weather the first traffic we have seen on our trip, since Highway 1 joins busier Highway 101 for a stretch on its way into Los Angeles. The traffic disappeared a couple of miles later as the activity on the coastal side of the road gave way to a spectacular (and fogless) view of the open ocean.

On a side note, we've seen many signs that read 'Vista point' on our trip. Originally, we thought 'vista' meant something akin to 'view'. It seems, though, that 'vista' entered the English via the Latin 'vistum', which must mean 'fog'. Hence, the English 'vista', or 'fogs' or 'much fog'. Most of the vista points we've seen have been the foggiest places we've ever seen.

We stopped for Gas in Carpinteria, a town whose main street runs parallel to Highway 1, which makes it easy to travel straight through the town and get back on Highway 1 on the other side, which is very good, because there's nothing you'd really want to stay and see. While this town was unremarkable, it was a paradise next to Oxnard, a miserable town that seemed to go on forever. It was doubly worse because one of the street signs indicated that Highway 1 South was both straight ahead AND to our left. How can a road split and still have both halves be the same road? We continued on until we hit a T-intersection a couple of miles ahead, with no signs for Highway 1 to be seen. We stopped and asked for directions, and, after a brief detour, got back to Highway 1.

Sunny Santa Barbara

Following our adventures in Solvang, we met back up with Highway 1 to the south, and continued on to Santa Barbara. We stopped by the mission and snapped some pictures. Inside the mission, we saw an advertisement for a local Zoo-b-que. We aren't sure we want to know what this term means. On first glance, it appears to be referring to an event at the zoo, whose ostensible purpose is to share the beauty of life with its visitors, which offers up other animals for food. Can you say compartmentalization?

We left the mission and headed off to lunch at Sojourner Cafe. Shel had the organic tofu 'egg' salad sandwich, with vegenaise, dijon, spices, and sprouts. Jason had the chili tempeh tacos, served in warm corn tortillas with rice, black beans, and guacamole. We split a bowl of corn chowder and the vegan dream shake, which might explain why we could only eat half of our meals. The food was very, very tasty.

After lunch, we walked over to State Street and walked down close to the beach. We saw a very interesting sculpture which seems to have generated some controversy, due to its depiction of the golden arches on red saw blades with arrows shot into them. Good! McDonald's is a bad company.

The weather was beautiful as we walked down State Street and checked out the Farmers' Market. It was easily the best weather we had experienced so far in California.

Bizzaro California

We stopped by Bubblegum Alley on the way out of SLO. What more can we say? It's an alley with bubblegum stuck to the walls on either side. Some people just stuck a piece of gum on the wall; others created lines or loops with their gum; still others spelled out their names with the stuff.

We finished up our SLO visit with a trip to the Mission. It looked much like the other missions, except we actually went inside this one, which contained creepy statues of Jesus and Mary in even creepier rooms with even creepier devotion candles and incense. People who believe in drinking the blood of a man-god born to a virgin two thousand years ago scares Jason like an X-Files episode, so we high-tailed it out of there.

We made our way down the Pacific Coast Highway, but made a short detour north on Highway 101 to Solvang, an authentic Danish village complete with windmills and pastry shops. Not content to shock visitors with the sight of windmills on the horizon, we were completely thrown off by the sight of a field full of ostriches. Yes, that's right, ostriches. In an authentic Danish town. Off the coast of California.

Solvang also sports one of the fanciest trough urinals Jason has ever seen. Granted, when talking about the fanciness of a trough urinal, one is necessarily speaking of relative fanciness; it appeared to have been less than 20 years old, and is probably cleaned on a regular basis. It also had a urinal cake. Like we said, fancy!

To Santa Barbara, and Beyond!

We're heading out of SLO. It's a cute place: the street signs light up at night so that you can still figure out what the roads are called. Every block downtown seems to have at least four or five teenagers sitting on the sidewalk, playing their guitars and laughing at everything (hey, it's Monday night, let's get high and play our guitars on the sidewalk!)

We'll be stopping by Bubblegum Alley on our way out of town. We'll be taking a slight detour north to Solvang before continuing south to Santa Barbara, and, eventually, Santa Monica.

We'll blog from the Best Western Gateway Hotel in Santa Monica.

SLO

We finally made our way out of Big Sur and into San Simeon. We were looking forward to seeing Hearst Castle. We knew we wouldn't make it in time for the day tour, but we thought we might be able to catch the night tour. We got to the ticket office, only to find that the night tour is only available on Friday and Saturday nights. Oh well, maybe next time. We'll have to call ahead and make sure that the Mystery Spot and the Hearst Castle will be open, and then we'll fly back out here, just for them! ;)

Off to the hotel. We checked into the Holiday Inn Express in San Luis Obispo (SLO), making sure that we turned off the car's headlights. It was still light outside; we had turned on the headlights to make ourselves more visible in the fog. After checking in, we headed back out to Linnaea's Cafe, one of the few results from our search for vegan restaurants in SLO. The helpful barrista told us that they didn't have their famous vegan chocolate cake today. We didn't go to the cafe for cake; we went to the cafe for dinner. No dinner for us: come back one year.

The barrista did point us towards the Natural Cafe, though. We split the hummus with pita. Shel got the Mighty Marinara, a tri-colored pasta with salad and garlic bread. Jason got the Zog Dog, a tofu hot dog served on a whole wheat bun with vegetarian chili. The food was decent.

We left the restaurant and headed back to Linnaea's cafe for a vanilla soy latte, and then headed back to the hotel. After settling back in, we got a phone call that we had left our lights on. Damn! We had been so careful, too. Jason went out to check on the car, but the lights weren't on. Uh-oh, battery's dead. Hmmm, that's odd, the car is starting. The battery isn't dead. Maybe they called the wrong people? A quick search through the parking lot turns up another Chevy Aveo, this one with its lights on. Phew!

Time for bed!!

Big Sur

We dropped by the Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo on our way out of idyllic Carmel. We didn't stay very long as the Mission was soon overrun by cyclists on tour.

We stopped by the Golden Buddha for lunch. We split the vegetable potstickers. Shel got the Hunan tofu; Jason got the Cashews Vegetarian. More Chinese food. At least the restaurant served brown rice. The Barnyard, the name of the complex where the restaurant is located, was very pretty. It's no wonder that shopping is the most popular hobby in Carmel.

We continued south on Highway 1 through Big Sur, and took many pictures along the way. We stopped by Pfeiffer Falls trail, and made our way up to the top. The falls were pretty, and worth the short hike. Another couple recommended we stop by Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to see the McWay Falls Overlook, if we wanted to see more of the same. Boy, did they ever miss the mark! The Pfeiffer Falls are pretty, but the McWay Falls are breathtaking, falling 80 feet into the ocean. When was the last time you saw a waterfall feed into an ocean? (Amalio, you're not allowed to answer.)

Wherever you go...

...there you are. We're on our way to San Luis Obispo. We'll stop by Big Sur for a quick hike, and then San Simeon for Hearst Castle, and then the Holiday Inn Express in San Luis Obispo. We'll blog once we get to the hotel.

Saturn Loves You

Ok, no Mystery Spot for us. At least there's always Saturn Cafe. It was quite a place. The see-through table tops reveal stuffed smurfs, Strawberry Shortcake dolls, posters for missing snorks, and all manner of unusual notices that patrons had put inside. David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust was playing in the background. How often do your get to hear that song?

Shel had trouble ordering, as our waiter, Manny, wouldn't stop dancing in front of our table. She eventually order the grilled onion burger with steak fries; Jason had the Buck Rogers, a riblet sandwich with a side of steak fries and a fennel leek soup. We split the Nachitos and a chocolate milkshake with peanut butter. The waiter, on account of our requesting the vegan option for all of our food, correctly intuited that we are vegan, which made ordering easier.

The food, as usual, was excellent. Afterwards, we made our way back south on Highway 1. We decided to pass Monterey. Although it seemed lovely from the road, the guidebook made it seem a little snooty. We thought we might be happier if we just went to the hotel in Carmel by the Sea.

After we checked into the Best Western, we walked around the city. It's a very unusual town. The storefronts were all lit up, showing off the paintings or wines or chocolates or whatevers that they contained. The streets are very well-kept. We saw a police officer giving a ticket to a teenager on a skateboard. For once, it really didn't seem that the cop could have had something more important to do.

We got into our bathing suits and went down to the heated pool for a little while, before retiring to our room and trying to post our blog entries. Is the hotel router blocking certain webpages at blogger.com? Is the Mystery Spot exerting its mysterious force over ever-larger distances?

Mystery Spot Madness

After the boardwalk, we tried our best to find the Mystery Spot. The guidebook said the Mystery Spot was 3 miles north of Santa Cruz. We're taking a road trip south on Highway 1. We didn't pass the Mystery Spot on the way into Santa Cruz. We didn't even see any signs for it. How could the Mystery Spot be three miles north of the city? This Mystery Spot is starting to seem almost too mysterious.

We tried to ask someone at the boardwalk where we could find the Mystery Spot, but he didn't seem to have any idea what we were talking about. We decided that we should head to the information center, which wasn't where the map indicated. We eventually found the information center, but it was closed! Shel could see the backside of the Mystery Spot pamphlet through the information center window, and she memorized the map. It turns out that the Mystery Spot isn't directly off of Highway 1. It's off of a road off of Highway 1.

We started heading south on Highway 1, and eventually found another information center. This center was also closed, but fortunately the pamphlets were on the outside of the office. We picked one up and checked the time. The mystery spot IS south of downtown Santa Cruz, but it's north of where we were at the information center. It was perhaps 6 or 7 miles away. Shel called the phone number on the Mystery Spot pamphlet. The last tour is at 5:05 pm; we had less than 10 minutes.

We head back up north on Highway 1, and take the exit listed on the pamphlet. We follow the instructions. Take this exit. Make a left at the third light. The clock is ticking, but we're going to make it!

And then we see the detour sign. The road we want to take is closed. The detour takes us around in circles. We call the Mystery Spot phone number again. The person who answers the phone starts bickering with his co-workers about how he's the only one who ever answers the phone. We give up: no Mystery Spot for us.

The Mystery Spot website directions state: MARKET STREET IS CLOSED, THERE IS NO ACCESS.

Why aren't any signs posted anywhere about the Mystery Spot? Why didn't the people at the Mystery Spot let us know the Mystery Spot is inaccessible? Is this all part of the mystery?

The Santa Cruz Boardwalk

We're getting a late start on the blogging. The wired internet connection was pretty spotty, so we decided to see if any wireless internet connections were available. (We didn't think to try this until this morning, though.) Hooray, wireless!

We picked up the rental car this morning, and made our way to Herbivore for one last meal in San Francisco. Shel had the tempeh bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich with house potatoes; Jason had the dessert crepe with grilled fruit and maple syrup tofu whip. The whip seemed much more like a sauce or a cream than a whip, but it was tasty nonetheless. We split a vanilla milkshake, too.

After breakfast, we made our way over to Highway 1. None of the four or five different maps that we had really helped us very much. We ended up figuring it out on our own, after a rough start.

Once on Highway 1, we had a smooth ride. Highway 1 runs really close to the ocean sometimes. Really close. It can be a little scary at times, but the scenery is worth it.

We eventually hit Santa Cruz, and made a stop by the boardwalk. The boardwalk in Santa Cruz has many more cool rides than the boardwalk in Ocean City. It has an avalanche-type ride, a couple of roller coasters, a ride called 'FireBall' which is very hard to describe but very fun to watch, a few haunted-house style rides, a ride that simulates flying like Superman, a climbing wall, any number of arcades...lots of fun stuff. We only had time for the skyride, which takes you from one end of the boardwalk to the other end, about 3 or 4 blocks away. The boardwalk also has games, rides, and shops on either side of the actual boardwalk, instead of just on one side like Ocean City.

Next up: the Mystery Spot.

On the Road Again

We're off to pick up the rental car. The Budget building is within a two minute walk of the hotel. We love it when a plan comes together.

We'll be driving down to the Best Western in Carmel by the Sea, making stops in Santa Cruz and Monterey. We'll post a blog entry once we get to the hotel tonight.

Golden Gate Park, Haight-Ashbury, and Shakespeare in the Park

After Cafe Gratitude, we made our way to the Golden Gate Park. We walked by the De Young museum before heading to the Japanese Tea Garden. We walked around for a little while before splitting a pot of jasmine tea at the cafe.

We finished our tea and made our way over to the Haight-Ashbury . We walked around for a little while before catching a bus over to Shangri-La for lunch. We started with the spring rolls. Shel had the Dried Tofu with Veggie Pork, a local favorite, and for a good reason: it was very tasty. Jason had the Sweet and Sour Spareribs, which tasted much like something you might find at Java Green. We couldn't finish all of our food, but we couldn't take it with us either, as we have neither a refrigerator nor a microwave in the hotel room. Too bad!

We caught a bus up north to the Golden Gate bridge and snapped a bunch of pictures. We then set off to find the free 'Shakespeare in the Park' performance of The Tempest in the Presidio. After a few wrong turns, we eventually found our way to the Parade Grounds at the Main Post. We bought some hot mocha and candy, and helped ourselves to a couple of the free blankets they were offering. It was pretty cold, and the blankets sure did come in handy. During the intermission, Jason went and got another blanket, and bought a sweatshirt for Shel. The performance was excellent. Afterwards, following a little bus hopping, we made it back to the hotel for our last night in San Francisco.

Tomorrow, we head out for Santa Cruz.

Cafe Gratitude

What a busy day! We started the day with breakfast at Cafe Gratitude. On our way to the cafe, Shel's emergency cell phone rang. It was her dad. We decided not to answer the phone, assuming that the call was not in fact an emergency. About a half hour later, the phone rang again. Does a second phone call constitute an emergency? Maybe, but we were not so sure. A voice mail, however, would remove all doubt.

It turns out it was a semi-emergency. Shel's dad had parked the car on the street, as the garage was full. Some unskillful person had slashed the front tires. Doh!

Shel had the 'I am Vigorous' live macadamia nut porridge, a chunky blend of young coconut, macadamia nuts, apples, vanilla and cinnamon. Jason had the 'I am Sustained' steamed quinoa with fresh fruit, cinnamon and a touch of agave. We split the 'I am Eternally Sweet' chocolate milkshake, a frosty vanilla nut milk shake made with soft serve vegan ice cream. We finished the meal with the 'I am Amazing' lemon meringue pie, a tart lemon pie with coconut meringue in a macadamia nut crust.

It was our first raw dining experience, and it was great. The restaurant had 'I am Present' stenciled on the front steps. The paintings on the wall also helped us to remain in the eternal present. The environment even helped us to weather the unpleasant tire-slashing experience: it is only suffering when you don't want to feel the pain.

The food was terrific, and very filling. Like Medicine New-Shojin Eatstation, Cafe Gratitude proved to be a unique dining experience.

Got pictures?

Yes! We've set up our first photo album of the trip. We'll be posting more pics here everyday. Enjoy!

Cable Cars, Cannabis, Coats, Choc-Aid, and Coit Tower

After lunch at Medicine New-Shojin Eatstation (that's so fun to type), we headed out to the Cable Car station for the Powell and Hyde line. We stopped by a sidewalk sale to buy Shelly a scarf, so she now seems like a real San Franciscan. A man in a business suit and sneakers stopped by to purchase a wallet to replace his aging, marijuana-leaf-emblazoned wallet. He had just come from a job interview, hoping to restart his programming career since his bail bondsman career went down the tubes. (He decided it was time to quit after being stabbed by a client.)

Jason needed to stop by a store to purchase a new winter jacket to protect against the winds. Again, we hadn't expected San Francisco to be so chilly.

We waited in line for a fairly long time in order to board the Cable Car. We took it up and down the hills, all the way up to Fisherman's Wharf. We bought Shel's mom a thank-you gift, a box of 'Choc-Aid: Chocolate for life's boo boos'. We walked along Fisherman's Wharf, took a few pictures of the Golden Gate bridge and Alcatraz, and took a tour of Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill.

We then headed over to Chinatown, but it seemed to be very quiet, especially for a Friday night. We did see four guys playing what can only be called 'soccer volleyball' in a park. Think volleyball but with soccer's rules for touching the ball. We proceeded to Nob Hill, which also seemed very quiet. Hopefully, we'll be able to find a nice place for dinner near the hotel. 

Medicine New-Shojin Eatstation

We had a wonderful lunch at Medicine New-Shojin Eatstation, in the Crocker Galleria near Union Square.

Shelly had the Clarity Foundation Set, which consisted of seasonal steamed vegetables served with a savory peanut sauce. It came with artisan tofu, miso soup, organic germinated brown rice and housemade pickles. She had a delicious lemonade with the meal.

Jason had the Tempera Foundation Set, which consisted of a basket of seasonal vegetables, tempura fried in healthy rice bran oil. It came with artisan tofu, clear cool soup with baby turnip and sour plum, and housemade pickles. The soup also came with the slimiest twig he has ever eaten in his life. (Hey, you only live once.) Jason also had a buckwheat tea, which was very nutty and unique.

We finished the meal with the most expensive dessert per unit volume we have ever had, a chocolate mousse with lime zest which cost about $7 for a small cup. It was very creamy and sweet.

The standard 17% tip is automatically figured into the bill. It was a pretty expensive meal for us, at around $50, but it was definitely the most unusual meal we had ever eaten.

Herbivore

We've just come back from Herbivore. Shel had the scrambled tofu with spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes, home fries, whole wheat toast with blackberry sauce, and a double soy latte. Jason had the corn cakes with salsa, guacamole, pinto beans, and a yerba mate chai tea.

The food was great! It was nice to get warm and have a good meal; San Francisco is colder and windier than we had thought.

We're going to go hit the hotel gym, and then we're off to Chinatown, the cable cars, Fisherman's Wharf, and Alcatraz.

Yummy!!!

It's late. We are so incredibly sleep deprived, but we just had an incredible meal at Millenium Restaurant. If anyone makes it out to San Francisco, we highly recommend it. Here's a little sample...

Bread w/ Green Lentil Spread
Potato & Okra Chowder w/ Hot peppers
Black Bean Torte w/ Watermelon and Jicama Relish
Blackberry Barbeque Tempeh w/ Marinated Cucumbers and Rice
AND (no meal is complete without it) dessert...Chocolate Almond Midnight w/ Raspberry Sauce

We also did some exploring around Union Square. A bit nippier than we expected, but definitely a nice change from the awful summer heat in Baltimore.

Tomorrow we'll be exploring more and hopefully posting lots of pictures!

Golden Era

We just came back from the Golden Era. We started with the Golden Rolls, which were filled with veggies and tofu but which didn't seem to have much flavor without the sweet and sour sauce.

Shel had the Spicy Szechuan 'Beef' with Pineapple; Jason had the Sweet and Sour 'Chicken'. The meals were pretty tasty.

We had to order the vegan flan for dessert, as we hadn't ever seen vegan flan. It was pretty good.

We wish Baltimore had just a single Asian restaurant with just a single one of the many options available at Golden Era.

Hemos Aterrizados

I figure we'd better start working on our Spanish. If I'm correct, the title lets you know that we've landed. Actually, I'm posting this from the Hotel Diva, which was kind enough to let us check in an hour early.

We are very hungry, having subsisted on airport and airplane food, and very tired, having gotten less than four hours of sleep last night and having woken up somewhere between 3 and 4 am.

We're off to our first meal in San Francisco. We'll post more later!

Off to Bed

Tomorrow morning, at around 4:30 am, we'll catch the Light Rail towards BWI. We'll be taking Flight 641 towards Atlanta, where we'll stay for a one-hour layover on our way to San Francisco on Flight 40. We should be arriving at the airport (SFO) at around noon.

From the airport, we'll be taking the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system to the Powell Street station. The hotel we'll be staying at, 'Hotel Diva', is a short walk from the station. We'll be staying at the hotel for three nights before departing for Carmel by the Sea on Sunday.

The next blog post will be from the hotel in San Francisco!

Dark and Stormy Night

This is the view of the Bromo Seltzer Tower from our new condo. This picture was taken last week, but it's too late to try to take another picture. We were supposed to be in bed by 8pm! 

Milkshake by his Bed

Here's Milkshake by his bed. It really belongs to all of the cats, but he's the only one who uses it. 

Sweetpea on the Sofa

Here's a shot of Sweetpea on the sofa. She refused to allow herself to be seen in a more interesting pose.

Loki in the Window

Here's Loki posing for the camera in our arch window. 

Zoot in the Sink

Here's a picture of Zoot taking a nap in our bathroom sink the day before our first flight. 

No More Procrastinating

We're making last-minute preparations today.

Shel's Mom will be taking care of the cats and the condo for us while we're gone. We really can't thank her enough. We were considering paying a cat sitter to feed the cats and empty the mailbox, but we thought it would be better to have someone here more often in case something cat-astrophic happens, like a pipe bursting.

We'll miss the kitties very much. We'll post pictures of them here so that, not only can you see them, but we'll get to see them whenever we begin to miss them.

Passports R Us

We left for the Passport Office in DC at 5:45 this morning and beat the traffic on 495. Fortunately, the Passport Office is across the street from Java Green, so we stopped by for breakfast. Unfortunately, neither DJ nor Cheewoo were at the restaurant. =(

We went to the Passport Office, only to discover that the next-available appointment JJ had booked was for next Tuesday! Doh! It was such a slow and rainy day, though, that the clerk felt pity for us and allowed us to proceed to the waiting room to get our passports. Hooray for same-day pickup! They even had time to reprint Shel's passport, as they had left off either the first or the second 'L' in her name, depending on how you want to look at it.

In between applying for the passports and picking them up, we had time to drop off our old DC license plates, see the Glidehouse in the Building Museum, have lunch with some friends, and dry off from the incessant and heavy rain.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a little slower so that we can finish preparing in time for our flight on Thursday morning.