Definitely NOT a yurt

Our 14th (top) floor presidential suite at the Davenport in Spokane:












All courtesy of an upgrade card and emphasizing to the reservations desk that this was the last night of our honeymoon and that we have a deep-seated love for the Davenport.

I could get used to it.


-- Posted by Andy via iPhone

The view from our table at Finnegans Family Restaurant

This place is amazing- they bring a whole coffee pot to your table (a big hit with Andy), they have great breakfast foods and don't charge extra for egg beaters, and they have fried twinkies which Andy is going to try. It's built on a historic spot where Lewis and Clark camped and it's built over a stream/river:







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Yellowstone!

We arrived in Yellowstone tonight, after a scenic drive through the Tetons. We just got back from a great dinner at the Grant Village restaurant, one of the nicer restaurants in the park. We realized part way through that this had been our first sit-down dinner in a restaurant during the course of the trip. I tried the bison meatloaf, and Jaime had the canneloni. It was perfect lodge food - they even had mixed drinks named after Yellowstone landmarks.

Now we're sitting by the campfire preparing for what is supposed to be a 27 degree night.





-- Posted by Andy via iPhone

Salt lake city

We have gotten into our hotel here in salt lake. We drove around all day, taking in all of the sites. We stopped at the Tracy Aviary, Kennecott copper mine, and the Boondocks fun center. At the last, we played mini golf and rode go carts.

We haven't been able to update for a few days because we haven't had phone service; we hope no one missed us too much! ;) we have seen such amazing and beautiful things in the past few days. The grand canyon was nice, but it was definitely dwarfed by the beauty of Zion national park.

The Hoover Dam:


A Dairy Queen we stopped at along Route 66. They has the worst service I've ever experienced and the cashier was half-dwarf:


A Pendleton horse in the souvenir section of the general store at the Grand Canyon, which only cost a measely $750. Yeah, $750.



I think pictures from Andy are in their way if they haven't already arrived.

Yellowstone tomorrow! I couldn't be more excited. Only three more states left on our trip.

By the way, did anyone know that Utah is the Beehive State? We haven't puzzled that out yet. :)
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We're still alive

Service has been spotty to say the least, but we've gone from the grand canyon



To the mouth of the canyon -





To Zion and Bryce canyons (which were much more impressive than the "grand" one):




After staying in a tipi last night, we're sitting in the Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City:





Off in a few to see the world's largest copper mine, and venturing to yellowstone tomorrow :)

-- Posted by Andy via iPhone

Failed post redo

I had typed out on my tiny phone a longer post and a technical issue led to Andy accidentally deleting it, so this is my second attempt.

Here are some photos of our hotel room in the lasvegas trump tower:















The last one, albeit sideways, demonstrates something Andy discovered today. Our door key is literally a "Trump Card", get it? Ha ha.

We have come up with a few ways to compare our stays in this hotel vs the fairmont in San Francisco, and while the latter clearly wins in terms of historical value, Trump wins in every other way. We were both incredibly shocked about the amount of thought put into the rooms design and content. We have a sub zero mini fridge and a mini flat recessed stove. For the stove there's a le crueset tea pot in the cupboard. Instead of calling down to the desk for an extra pillow or two (unneeded as there are five on the bed to begin with) there are individually wrapped clean ones in another cupboard. In the closet reside two bathrobes and even a lint brush and shoe horn. Amazing. We even got upgraded without asking and they didn't wave the fact that they were doing so in our face as the fairmont did. What's more, the fairmont upgrade offer only stood true if we were willing to take a smoking (or as they referred to it , "smoking optional") room. Here it's all nonsmoking. :)

Tonight we are going to head out to tour the strip via car to see the lights. I made scavenger hint cards for Andy, one for each major area. For example, he had to find a sequoia tree, bullet hole ridden sign, roadkill, and a granite monolith for the Yosemite, Eastern Sierras, Death Valley portion of our trip. If he finds a certain number of them he gets these coupons I made for things like $10 in junk food for the road, or a free round of bumper boats at a fun center we are going to in Utah. Tonight, for the Vegas list he has to find Elvis, a wedding chapel, a blue and green neon sign, pool cabana, and a stretch limo, amongst other things.

Wish him luck!

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The straightest road

The view in death valley, where it got up to 109 today on the car thermometer.



Now we're in the wynn buffet, eating ourselves to blissful oblivion.




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Our tent

Tonight we're staying in a super snazzy deluxe tent at the keough hot springs.







I get a distinct Albert vibe from the desk:


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Leaving San Francisco

This morning, we went from this, seeing the first brownstone west of the mississippi:




To this, 9600 feet of elevation in the Sierras:




Apparently there's also a US Marines "mountain warfare training facility" where we drove through. It looked like a set from a James Bond movie:




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Yosemite Fire

Today we were supposed to visit yosemite, however along the way from San Francisco a highway sign alerted us that our plans would need to change. A forest fire intentionally set in yosemite at the end of July has spread from the originally- intended 90 acres to over 7000. There is a major highway that runs through the park which we were depending on, and as our luck would have it the fire had spread forcing the road to be closed. We had to decide whether to drive five hours to los Angeles or the five hours to go north and all the way around the outside of the park. We chose the latter. We are now at amigos Mexican restaurant in bishop and shortly we will arrive at our luxury tent tonight! Expect photos. ;)




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On the road to Yosemite

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Cows in Mendocino

As Andy and I were driving along one particular stretch of highway one, we came across many cow signs and grates. We had come across others for elk but we never saw any so we thought we were out of luck for a cow sighting. But then:




Yeah, that's Andy taking a picture of one of the three cows we encountered. I was sure to get more than a couple of pictures.

On our way south we accidentally turned onto 101 early so we ended up in Petaluma instead of going to Point Reyes. :( there was an In n' Out burger place in Petaluma and we were both severely disappointed after everything we had heard.

Now we are in San Fran and we drove down the section of Lombard st that is all twisty and brick. We didn't intend on going but we ended up there somehow anyway. It was more enjoyable than the In n' Out. What was even more enjoyable was the free upgrade to a corner tower room here at the fairmont. The woman at the front desk told us it usually goes for $400 a night but they upgraded us for free on account of it being our honeymoon. We only paid $100 for the room since we got it on sale in the first place! Andy has photos on his phone that he will post, but we have views of both the city and the water toward north beach and Chinatown. We can hear the chiming trolley bells too. We are going to the tonga room at 6:30 and we are really looking forward to it!

Tomorrow is going to be our first true venture into a national park since you mostly just drive through the redwoods.

Before I forget to mention it, when we were in ferndale we saw the most amazing buildings but more than that, the most beautiful cemetery. Almost everyone buried there died before 1900 and because the town was founded by so many European immigrants it was designed as many of the European cemeteries are, with terraced cement slabs climbing up the hill. It was a farming town and the acre or two that the cemetery was on only became a cemetery once the land was deemed un-farmable. We forgot to get photos with our phones but we got plenty on my camera that we will be sure to share.

We hope everyone is well and I'm sure we will have new posts soon!

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Not a yurt

Our room at the Fairmont, San Francisco.



And crossing the golden gate bridge:




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Kabin

Here's the "kabin" we stayed in last night :)



... and the kelp doll I made on the beach. Jaime was unimpressed, probably because I make one at every beach.




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Eating at the rollerville cafe

We are venturing into San Francisco today- but first we are going to the point Reyes national seashore and the marine mammal center which rescues hurt sealions, seals and other animals along the coast.

Our reception up here in Mendocino has been incredibly spotty and non existant but that's sure to change as we get into the city today!

Here's Andy in the cafe, updating our blog.



We are looking forward to the fairmont hotel tonight and its Tonga Room!

Pics to follow :)

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Sampling beers at north coast brewery

Andy and I are currently waiting for our lunches at the north coast brewing co in fort Bragg, ca. Afterward we are going to glass beach where we will be sure to take a few pictures for everyone!

In order to get here we had to take route 1 which had a sign at its end declaring "22 miles of narrow twisty roads". And it definitely was.












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Washing dishes & s'mores

Last night Andy and I finally made some s'mores at the wonderful Harris Beach state park, almost right on oregon's border with California. We washed our dishes and I saw a baby slug under the spiket which Andy tried to save from the soap scum but it apparently didn't want to be saved.

Now we are on the road and on our way to the redwoods, ferndale (ca), glass beach, north coast brewing company and we are going to drive through the chandelier tree! Pics will come. :)


-- Post From My iPhone