Vancouver, Seattle, SF part 2

Monday, August 17: Hannah, Jeff, Laura, and I got ready to leave at 9 and actually left around that time. I drove and we went across the Lion's Gate Bridge then along the highway to Squamish. We stopped at Murrin Lake and stayed there for several hours. Jeff and I went up the hillside then he kept going and I went along and went around the lake then down a long path which I jogged on. Then I sat and read by the lakeside. Later on I ate lunch and Jeff got back then we went bouldering and scrambling up some rocks. Then we went to Shannon Falls which was very pretty. We drove by the Stawamish Chief, which is a huge cliff face which people climb up. Jeff drove back and we went to Laura's. Then Hannah, Jeff, and I walked to Safeway for dinner stuff and Jeff went to take Laura to work and Hannah and I went to a little café. Then back to Laura's and I made myself a box of mac and cheese. After that Amy returned (she had wandered in the city for the day) and we went to Granville Island. We caught the tail end of the Public Market but everything else was closed. Jeff, Andrea (Laura's sister), and I got some gelato. We sat on a dock for a while then walked around and met up with Gavin and Liisa. Then we went to see the sunset at English Bay and walk around in the gay district. We got some food (Beard Papa's, and Jeff got some falafel). Then went to a Korean place and did karaoke for an hour in a room which was fun but I had to pay for 3 people. Sally came and sang with us too. Afterwards Amy and I got some subs at Subway, then we all went to bed.

Tuesday, August 18: We got up and left Laura's around 10:30 or so and went to Lynn Canyon Park and walked over the suspension bridge which was pretty and terrifying (for me). Then we left Vancouver. The drive wasn't long but we had to wait at the border for quite a while. We got through no problem though and went on towards Seattle. We went to Babeland, a vibrator store, so that people could get some stuff. Then we tried to go to Mighty O Donuts but failed because it was closed. So we went to a café next door and got wireless and made a plan. We went to Bengal Tiger, an Indian restaurant, for dinner. It was quite good (I got vegetarian tikka masala) but really hot in the restaurant (turn on some fans, maybe?). Then we went down the street to Green Lake and watched the sun set. After that we tried to find a Motel 6 by the airport and ended up actually at the airport but got to the Motel 6 eventually.

Wednesday, August 19: We were all up and out by 10 and went straight to Pike Place Market. We spent an hour there and it was amazing. So many vendors, so many free samples. There was a cool antique shop nearby and a great artisanal cheese place. There were some cool street performers. We saw someone selling really awesome animal hats made of recycled polarfleece. Lots of fruit, interesting pastas, and plenty of fish. We went up to the place where they throw the fish but didn't stick around long enough to see anything. After that Jeff and I got grilled cheese sandwiches at the cheese place (called Beecher's, it claims to have the best cheddar in America and it very well might), then we went to Pizza Pi for Amy to get vegan pizza. The grilled cheese sandwiches, which had 2 types of cheese, basil, and tomato, were the best I've ever had! Next we went to Mighty O Donuts, which is all vegan. It's delicious! I got a sprinkled donut. After that we went to Discovery Park and over to West Point Lighthouse. There was a pretty beach and view of the Puget Sound. We then drove to Portland, passing through downtown Seattle and by the Space Needle. Jeff and I grabbed subs at Subway for dinner. We got into Portland and put our stuff in Hannah's house. Then Hannah drove us half an hour or more to her friend Cailin's apartment and she was cool; we played Ticket to Ride and played with her roommate's dog, but we were there for far too long. Then came back to Hannah's and slept in the little room again.

Thursday, August 20: We got up early to drive back to Yuba City. It was a long drive and not terribly exciting. Got Taco Bell for lunch and Subway for dinner. Watched Waiting for Guffman at Amy's and then went to bed.

Friday, August 21: Got up and Amy took us to Sacramento, then we bussed to San Francisco. We took the city bus to Patrick's apartment and hung out for a bit. Then we went to Ike's Place for dinner. I got a sandwich with veggie turkey, raspberry poppyseed French dressing, Havarti, and some veggies - delicious. We ate in Dolores Park and watched people playing with dogs and doing capoeira. Then we went to Tartine, a well-liked SF bakery. I got a chocolate chip cookie, which was very good and had extremely rich chocolate almost throughout the cookie. After that we came back to Patrick's and watched some Survivorman. There is a street food festival tomorrow that we are probably going to.

Saturday, August 22: I slept in a bit later than Jeff because I didn't sleep much due to a toothache. We had bagels around noon. We then set out for the SF Street Food Festival on Folsom between 25th and 26th. We decided to walk there and walked most of the way down Mission, which was pretty cool. The festival was jam-packed but had lots of good looking food. The lines were ridiculous, though, so we didn't get anything there. We walked around the block to look for some restaurants and ended up at Quickly Froyo, some sort of Asian crepery with lots of fried stuff. We both got avocado pesto crepes, Jeff's with fresh fruit and mine with fries. It was delicious, but I had trouble eating it due to my tooth. We had stopped at Walgreen's on the way to the festival and I had gotten some Anbesol so I was able to numb my tooth after lunch. We walked back through the festival but it was still really crowded so we decided to do some sightseeing. We took the BART to near Chinatown and walked through Chinatown. It was really cool, and we walked in a lot of awesome colorful packed-to-the-brim souvenir shops. We then walked up Columbus to find the City Lights Bookstore. We went the wrong way at first but got there eventually. We sat reading poetry there for a while, and a guy criticized my taste in poetry. Eventually our batteries were recharged and I decided I'd like some Italian for dinner. Luckily we were right at North Beach, the Italian neighborhood. We walked past lots of expensive places including the Stinking Rose, a garlic themed restaurant. We ended up at Pomodoro, because it had the cheapest fettucine alfredo. It ended up being on penne but was delicious and there was good soft warm bread with delicious stuff to dip in. Then we made our way back by bus to Patrick's and went to bed.

Sunday, August 23: Today was our Exploratorium day. Thanks to Amy's sister Becky, we (Jeff and Patrick and I) got in free. Before that we had bagels for breakfast. We bussed over to the Exploratorium and along the way found a thing set up where you could try out Wii Sports Resort which was fun. Finally we were near the Golden Gate Bridge! The Exploratorium was amazing and fun. So many crazy exhibits, all interactive! Neat. Though you had to fight off children to do anything. Oh well. We stayed until they closed then started to head back. I still hadn't eaten any lunch and wasn't feeling so great. We stopped at a KFC/Taco Bell and I got a snack (mac n cheese and 2 soft tacos with beans) as did Patrick and Jeff. We then stopped by Japantown and I got a tiny notebook and a couple adorable erasers. Next we went back to Patrick's and looked for where to go to dinner. We decided on Burma SuperStar and bussed there. However, there was an hour wait. But they had a sister restaurant, B-Star, just a block and a half away. It had a smaller menu but it was very good. It was quiet and a nice atmosphere and the food was delicious. I got a medium-sized bowl of butternut squash soup. It was sort of like a bisque, and had cumin, coconut milk, basil oil, and sunflower seeds. Amazing! And exactly the right amount of food. I also got ginger lemonade, which was fizzy, and just gingery enough. Awesome! Now we're watching Food Network at Patrick's. Tomorrow we leave for NoVa - kind of sad! Tal called me today about room stuff - I'm moving in so soon!