Driving and Killing Time

Since returning from the Dalton Highway we knew we needed to head in the general direction of south. After running into some hiccups along the way including seth losing his wallet and me and Mat's bank freezing our debit cards every transaction, we found ourselves needing a few 'adulting' days. While figuring all of this out, we realized we would have to take our sweet time getting to Los Angeles, CA to wait for new cards and Seth's new ID to show up at a relatives house. 

On the way down we decided to take the Cassiar Highway as our route south in Canada. This road was honestly kind of disappointing. It was described as being wonderfully scenic with narrow windy roads. The winding hilly roads got annoying after awhile, and the scenery was just like driving the ALCAN. Some people told us it was dangerous because of the turns and road conditions, but after driving the Dalton, it was a cake walk. We can't even take 'Bump' signs seriously now after experiencing how bad they were on the Dalton. It took two days to finish the Cassiar Highway since we were able to drive long distances at a time. After the Cassiar, we decided to drive on a Canadian interstate.

After a couple hundred miles, we decided to take a scenic byway just to get off of the monotonous view of the Canadian interstate. It was a had a really awesome view of mountains and then deep canyons alongside the road. We made camp for the night alongside a river. In the morning we decided to take a 120km long 4x4 trail equivalent to being the scenic byway of the scenic byway we had already been on. The trail started out great! It followed along another river with many waterfalls joining into it with spectacular views of the mountains. About half way through the trail started splitting off into a whole bunch of different routes. Yikes. We were originally trying to find some hot springs we had heard of from a local, but we never did find them. Along the way we found out that there was a huge logging industry here and the road we were taking went right through some the places they stacked the wood. 

Mountains on 4x4 trail in Canada

Waterfall on 4x4 trail in Canada

Waterfall on 4x4 trail in Canada

This is about when things started getting hairy... We had driven about half way through when it was no longer discernible which way we would take. All paths looked equally wrong. One route was a dirt path only wide enough for a skinny vehicle with four foot tall plants growing in a field into the woods, the other route ended at a dam, and another route went up a big hill, only to end abruptly after less than half a mile. So, we gambled and took the dirt path thinking we were probably going to have to turn back. Apparently it was right! We kept looking for kilometer marker signs, and after missing them for about 10km, we finally found one! Although it was written on a styrofoam plate and stapled to a tree, we then knew it was the right path. This happened three more times where the trail would  split and become quite interpretive. In all it took us about 6 hours to drive only 120km. The views and scenery made it worth it. That night we drove into Vancouver and rested at a hotel. :)

Bridge into Vancouver

After crossing the Canadian boarder the next day, we drove into Seattle. Here we stopped for food and went to the Chihuly Garden and Glass. It was my heaven. Unfortunately, I can't post the pictures of his work, but it was amazing. Breathtaking. Inspiring. The way he used bright color and shape to create pieces inspired by the sea or gardens was pure genius. From there we went to the Space Needle only a few hundred yards away. 

Since then we visited Portland, OR and went to a really cool outdoor craft market, the worlds largest bookstore, ate wonderful Italian food, and then outside of the city we hiked a short distance to a waterfall. The next morning we went to Haystack Rock on Canon Beach, WA. The rock formations along the beach were incredible and we had fun searching the tide pools for creatures of the deep. Later  we drove to Medford, OR to meet up with a friend of Seth's. We met up at a cool Irish bar called The Four Daughters, then went back to his house for drinks. After leaving Medford in the morning, we decided to drive through the Redwood Forest. The Avenue of the Giants takes you through some of the most lush green forest with the tallest and widest trees you can imagine. There are many places to stop, look, and hike to these huge trees. We posted some pictures of us standing in or beside the trees on our Facebook page already. 

Haystack Rock (right)

Rock formation at Canon Beach

Star fish in a tide pool.

From there we kept driving on Highway 1 along the California coast. This has beautiful views of the ocean below, and stops through any small towns with cute gift shops and restaurants. On the 29th we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, but as usual, it was too foggy to see more than 50 feet up in the air. We decided to stop for food at the Golden Gate Grill and Tap. This was located on the third floor of the building, with a tap room on the second floor. It had hundreds of different beers, a few games, and delicious food. We decided we would definitely go again. 

After this we went on to Pismo Beach. Pismo is a city where people can drive out onto the beach and camp. It was only $10 to camp for the night with no specific time to be out the next day. Since the holiday weekend was coming up, it was rather busy, and we had to drive miles down the beach to camp. More inland were dunes where many dune buggies, and ATVs could go have fun. 

Once in LA, we found out we had more days to waste before our things would arrive in the mail. Mat got to tour Icon Collective (the school he's going to in January). It was located in a building that used to be a real production studio 15 or more years ago. The previous studio did recordings for artists like Beyonce, Nine Inch Nails, Earth Wind and Fire, and Marvin Gaye. We spent one day walking the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and then bought tickets for the Wax Museum, World Record Museum, and Ripley's Believe it or Not! for only a $30 bundle price per person. Why not? We saw some cool stuff! The next day was spent at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Thank you to Chris for the season passes so Mat and I got in for free! We only had to pay for Seth to get in! We went on a whole bunch of rollercoasters, but our favorite was called Full Throttle. I can't ruin it for you, but it's so fun. Later that night we went to an EDM show at a club called The Exchange. On the 4th we drove to Laguna Niguel to visit family and get our important mail. A big shout out to Uncle Jerry and Auntie Rene for letting us use their address! Thank you! It was pleasant getting to see them for the first time since middle school. It was a nice relaxing meal with good company. 

That night we decided that we needed to go to Colorado to get the title for the Jeep. Earlier in the week we had found out that we would need the title for boarder crossings and shipping the vehicle across the Darien Gap. We made it to Las Vegas and stayed in a gas station parking lot. Never in our lives have we seen so many fireworks going off in all directions for the Fourth of July. From there we crossed into Arizona and Utah to get to Colorado.

Our day spent in Colorado was mainly just to get the title and figure out what we might need for the upcoming cross into Mexico. After running errands and eating, we made our way toward the Alpine Loop outside Lake City, CO. The Alpine Loop is a 4x4 off road trail that warns against any vehicle without a lift kit and 4WD. We drove up Cinnamon Pass at 12,600 ft elevation and then up Engineer Pass at 12,800 ft elevation. It was a 40 mile trail usually only wide enough for one car, and in many places there was a cliff on the other side. We also had to navigate over large rock formations in the trail and drive through small river crossings. It was a fun time and great experience. I drive a short distance at the beginning, climbing a few rocks and crossing a river until it was Mat's turn. Mat drove a long way up steep hills, passing other vehicles on precarious ledges, and navigating around tight switchbacks. Seth took over for the last leg and finished out Engineer Pass. Along the way we saw abandoned mines and ghost towns from when the mining industry failed in those areas. It was Seth's third time doing the Alpine Loop, and our first. 

Alpine Loop trail

Summit of Cinnamon Pass

Summit of Engineer Pass

From there we made a mad dash south to El Paso, TX where we plan on crossing the boarder into Mexico. We decided to get a hotel for the two days prior to do more research and planning for what is to come. Our cell phones will not work outside the U.S., so we will only be able to update our Facebook and this blog when we have wifi. We will get a Trac phone to make short calls, but we will not be able to use it much. We will update when we are in Mexico!