06

We are currently in San Francisco, staying with the one and only Samantha Cohen. She has been an amazing host, and even made us pie to be eaten upon our arrival!!

We were in Eugene for a little under a week. We spent our time wisely, sending construction paper and glitter postcards to our loved ones, playing upwords, and hanging out with the bronzed founder of Eugene outside of the library. We also did slightly more interesting things! We explored Eugene by bikes one day, visiting record stores, book stores, cafes, and just riding around in general. We biked around on the University of Oregon campus, which is totally beautiful. The whole city is a grid, so bikes were a really great way to see things and just enjoy time outside.

Another day we drove out to Fall Creek and hiked.

We did a 6 mile trail through it, with a main objective of not stepping on any slugs, which were everywhere and enormous. We went swimming in the creek at a really nice swimming spot, and it was cold but necessary.

The hike took us through the shady woods, following a trail until it got to a point where there had been a fire in 2003, letting sunlight get through and leaving the trees pretty barren at the tops. It was really crazy to be hiking forever along a shaded trail, and then suddenly come into a bright and sunny part of the very same trail.

I’ve always sworn on everything I possess that the Pizza Research Institute in Eugene makes the best vegan pizza in this galaxy, and I have yet to feel challenged or proven wrong on it.

I probably first had it 6 years ago, and as a rule have tried to have it every time I’m in Eugene. Cheryl, my aunt Betsy and I shared a Vegan Chef’s Special pizza one of the first nights we were there, and it was everything I ever dream about. The PRI makes their vegan cheese from scratch, and tops their pizzas with such an array of unconventional and surprising toppings that sometimes it feels incorrect to even call it “pizza.” But! It is. And it’s the best.

Cheryl’s neighbor and childhood/high school best friend from Rochester just happened to be staying in Eugene as well at the time. And was staying just a few blocks from us at my aunt’s house! Taking advantage of the universe aligning so wonderfully, we all got together and talked once, and then got pizza together the night before we left.

We discovered a patisserie that made a bunch of vegan baked goods, and went there for coffee/cheesecake/vicious letter-writing sessions one afternoon. The marionberry cheesecake was amazing, as expected. And it was the first time I had coffee since the Double R in Washington, so that was pretty nice, too. And I think we both wrote some nice letters, fueled by such great things, to top it all off.

On July 31, we decided that we needed to follow the tradition of baking a cake every month of the year. We made a pineapple upsidown cake, and it was way tasty.

Cheryl and I made dinner for us and Betsy one night, and then went off to the local art cinema to see “The Fall,” a pretty breathtaking and imaginative film. Highly recommended, it was visually captivating and the storyline was really engaging and different.

It was really nice to stay with my aunt and see her, even if it was just for a couple of days. Also, it was great to see my cousins Eli and Che, albeit briefly as they are in way busy summer mode. Talking to my aunt was so important to me, as I only see her once a year usually, if at all. And staying with her was really comfortable. I’ve always liked Eugene so much.

We left Eugene and headed to Crater Lake. One of the only national parks I had ever been to before this trip, I guess I hold a special place for it in me. We drove into it, and ran up to a viewpoint to get the initial “…Wow…”s out of our systems.

We drove around it, stopping at various viewpoints, and then taking a hike up the Sun Notch Trail to catch a better look at it.

We went and checked in at the campgrounds, and then I got a topographic contour map of crater lake bandana, and became a trusty honorary park ranger.

Cheryl visited with the locals, and I tried to track down some wildlife via cement tracks.

After that we set up camp and and then went back and hiked up a trail to catch the sunset.

It was windy and freezing, which the pictures won’t accurately convey, but it was beautiful nonetheless.

When it was set, we went back to the campsite and hung out, and then had a really good night sleep.

In the morning we packed up and headed to Arcata. We drove through the Redwoods, which, at the risk of severe understatement, are really G-D big. Like, huge. Driving through them was at some points laughable, due to the horrible condition of the roads, and the puzzling surrounding forestry. But yeah, they’re big. Really big.

When we got out of the Redwoods, we were able to drive along the coast, which led us to stop at a beach so Cheryl could put her feet in the Pacific for the very first time ever. It was a momentous occasion. I’m excited that we’re going to be in the ocean many more times before this trip is over.

We got into Arcata around 6, and had dinner at a nice vegetarian café. We then went around exploring, and found a great big co-op, and a statue of William McKinley. Only one of those things was exciting. We discovered at dinner that Cheryl’s friend Craig was playing the show we were going to that night, so that was unexpected and exciting. Arcata is a college town that is sort of like New Paltz in attitude, but much much bigger. We got to the show, which was at a house called “The Greenhouse.” The living room was packed in with people, and a woman was already playing. After her, a group called the Family Tree played folky banjo songs about beards and traveling, and did a wonderful Daniel Johnston cover. Craig played after them, and he does really nice guitar pop songs that I really love, even after only seeing him twice. Best Friends Forever was the reason we went to the show, and they played last. We were getting really excited for the most fun set of our lives (BFF tends to play that way), and were not disappointed. They played most everything we wanted to hear and we danced and sang alongside people doing the same thing, and it was really great to feel somewhat at home among a bunch of people in some town we had never been in before. I tried to photograph them, which was hard due to poor lighting and being up so close, so the following picture is a poor representation of what they looked like, and doesn’t even contain Jess the bass/recorder player. I’m sincerely sorry for the lack of a better picture, but this will have to do.

After the show, Craig offered for us to stay with his friends and him in Arcata. We stayed in this beautiful 70’s style wood-covered house with shag carpets, a couple of cats, and a bunch of cozy couches.

The girls and guy who lived there were super friendly and accommodating and amazing to us, and we’re consistently so grateful for people being so hospitable. We hung out when we got there and talked about sharks and myths getting busted, and then went to bed. I think Craig is one of the nicest and friendliest people I’ve met on this trip. In the morning we talked with people some more and then finally set off towards San Francisco.

We stopped at two wineries along the way. One was an organic winery, and the other was the first U.S. Carbon neutral winery, that was run by biodiesel and solar and wind power. They both had really great wines, and it was nice to be able to learn more and visit places that work organically.

We stopped to see enormous Paul Bunyan and Babe statues along the way at some major tourist trap somewhere. They came out of nowhere and were impossible to drive by. I have a regrettable interest in most anything that’s an oversized replica, so I couldn’t help but take the detour.

We took the coastal highway 1 down into San Francisco, but had to take a crazy back-road to get to it from 101. The crazy back-road was incredibly curvy and steep and often times, only the width of one lane, so it was a really insane and crazy way to drive. Cheryl and I were constantly just marveling at how the road turned next, and trying to not fall off the side of it into a deep valley of absolutely nothingness. When we finally got to the coastal highway, we were incredibly grateful to be done with the ridiculous road that got us there, but still had a windy and slow going trip ahead of us. Since it was hugging the ocean, though, it was worth it, and much more scenic and easy to love.

We got into San Francisco at around 10pm, and were greeted by Sam and her housemates. It was so good to see her, and she had dinner for us waiting, as well as homemade cherry pie, as I said! We hung out for a little bit and then all went to bed. She had to work today teaching rocket science to children, so we explored SF ourselves in her absence.

We took the BART downtown and walked around on Valencia. We visited thrift stores and record shops, and had lunch at a vegan place called Herbivore. We visited 826 Valencia, the McSweeney’s Pirate Store (http://www.826valencia.org/store/), which was quite the interesting place to spend some time.

The proceeds for all the pirate accessories they sell go towards their writing projects and programs for children. NYC has a Superhero store, Chicago has a Spy Store, and SF has a Pirate Store. There were fake beards for sale, shark teeth, maps, various planks, and endless other accessories.

To see more about the cause, check it out here: www.826valencia.org.

We got things to make breakfast for dinner, and then headed back to Sam’s to meet her after work. We made pancakes and potatoes and had a breakfast feast. My best friend Kelli from high school lives in San Francisco now, after graduating from a clown conservatory (clown college!), and she was doing a clown cabaret show that night. Cheryl, Sam and I drove to it after dinner, and had no idea what a night of clown entertainment we had in store for us. Kelli was great, and so was everyone else, and we had a really good time. We came back to Sam’s, really hyped up on clown energy. Right now we’re going to bed, and tomorrow we’re going to be meeting up with Kelli to visit museums, as Tuesday is "free museum" and "hang out with your best friend from high school" day!

Love,
Kate