The Coast to The Lake

Leaving Portland, I headed south towards Eugene (where the University of Oregon is located). I have always had a passion for running and growing up one of my idols was Steve Prefontain. For those of you who don't know, he was a very famous distance runner who could run a mile in 4 minuets flat, with even splits. He was the test subject for early shoe designs, which later became the first Nike running shoe. As a distance runner in high school, I was more than excited to have the opportunity to visit his home track and see where trained.

Pre!

When I got there, track practice was just ending. As I suited up and headed towards the track I started thinking about how I once tripped while running wind sprints in college and broke my collarbone. Not only was this a great way to start off my freshman year but it also earned me the nickname “The Clavicle Athlete” since the spill took place in front of my entire pledge class. Hoping that no one would stop me from getting out on the track, I proceeded to run a few laps in Pre's honor.

Jog with a soft "J"

After Eugene, I started driving out towards the coast. I passed through Coo's Bay, where Pre grew up and also where Penn Bradford was born... if you don't know Penn you can find him on Facebook (watch out, he’s a poker!). 

I ended up driving until just before dark and stopped in Gold Beach, Oregon to stay the night. I am pretty sure I was the only person in the hotel considering my car was the lone man in the parking lot. After a quick bite to eat I went down to the beach where the hotel hot tub was located. Though I was the only guest at the hotel, I quickly realized that the hot tub was a popular place for the locals to come and take a quick dip. While taking a soak I was fortunate enough to meet a couple that talked extensively for 2 hours about their son and their business and everything else that was going on in their lives but never stopped to even asked me where I was from or where I was going. I guess it’s a good thing that this guy loves his life so much!

Coastline

The next morning I woke up to blue skies and crashing waves. I was eager to get in the car and head south down the coast. After about 30 miles, I crossed into California where I was greeted by the Redwood National Forest. It’s crazy to be driving with not a cloud in the sky and all the sudden hit a forest where you have to turn on your headlights in order to see the road.

Redwoods

After a few hours of enjoying the coast I headed east towards Lake Tahoe. As some of you could have guessed, I have been through some pretty crazy weather on this trip but the Acura has been able to handle pretty much everything that mother nature has thrown at it… until now. All day I had been driving with the windows down, blaring music and thinking about how awesome the west coast is when all the sudden it started raining. About an hour and a half outside of Tahoe I noticed that the temperature was beginning to drop and that snow was starting to fall. NBD, I had driven in this before. Being cautious (but still making good time) I rounded the corner to find a huge roadblock. For the first time during my trip, I was forced to turn around to go get chains for my tires. After hitting up a few gas stations I finally found what I was looking for at K-mart (FYI- the K-marts in California are just as crappy as the K-marts in the south). I have heard about these chains, but for a kid from Memphis, I had no clue what to do or how to even get these things on my car. About an hour later I arrived back at the roadblock, armed with my tire chains and having absolutely no idea of what to do.

My car is a BEAST!

Luckily, the lady that was stopping everyone and checking for chains/4 wheel drive was nice enough to come over and give me a quick tutorial on how to put these things on. While she sat there and watched me struggle, she sucked down her Marlboro Red and told me about the one time she came to Atlanta and how her wallet stolen. To make a long story short, the stop was a little bit awkward due to the fact that I kept referring to her as “Sir” until she corrected me as to what her sex was as I was finishing up with the chains.

FYI - I trimmed the beard!

The rest of the drive into Lake Tahoe was slow and slippery. From the time it started snowing until I pulled into my hotel, it must have snowed 10 inches… all I knew is that the next day was going to be a great ski day!

Lake Tahoe

Ski Patrol digging out the signs and their patrol house

I was able to get about 5 hours sleep before my alarm went off at 7. I had been watching the weather over the past week and knew that the snow here was going to be epic. I wanted to make it up for first chair and since I had never skied Squaw Valley, I wanted to have plenty of time to check out the mountain before it opened. When I arrived, I learned that Squaw Valley had hit 600 inches of snow for the season, which has only happened 3 other times. It was a very, very good day!

Hike to the top of the bowl

Tired and sore, I decided to head towards Sacramento since there was another storm blowing in that night and I didn’t want to get stuck in Tahoe City. Sacramento is about an hour from Lake Tahoe so I pulled in right before sunset. Once again, I lucked out on hotwire and got a room at the Hyatt-Regency. My room had an amazing view of the Capitol building and the hotel hot tub had pool side service!

Dippin' the toe!

After a beer and a soak I got cleaned up and headed out for some sushi. I am not sure what the place was called but it was the only restaurant in downtown Sacramento with people inside. Once you get used to it, making friends at a bar is pretty easy but gets very tiring. One thing I miss about Atlanta is that I can go out and already know people. As I write this blog I am in San Diego so I am actually about to start heading back East. In about a month I will be able to kick my feet up and relax in Atlanta while sucking down oysters at Fontaines and enjoying the weather!

Portland, OR

Pioneer Square

So after an incredible day, I pulled into Portland. Tired and hungry, I was pretty happy to arrive at the hotel. So I am not sure if I have talked much about where I have been staying but Hotwire.com is the jam. I basically book rooms day by day, and since I have never been to most of the places I am visiting, Hotwire is great due to the fact that I can pick a price and an area of town that looks interesting and then roll the dice! I usually end up paying about $60 - $80 bucks a night for a sweet ass hotel. The only time I have not been thrilled with where I am staying was Sioux Falls… but that whole town is weird. I ended up staying at the Westin in Pioneer Square – very nice! Usually, I wake up at about 6:30 every morning and get going but for the first time on this trip I was able to sleep till 11.

Bought this sweet tee..

Portland, where do I start? Right off the bat I realized that this was a very unique place. The way the city was designed restricts it from growing outside of a certain area making a city of just under half a million seem like a thriving metropolis.

Another thing that I noticed about this city was the high number of white people I saw walking around. In fact, Portland is the 3rd whitest city in the world and 3rd safest city in the United States.

Jason & Luster

Honestly, the best thing about Portland was the amount of craft breweries. There are over 30 inside the city limits alone. On St. Patty’s day I met up with a good friend that now lives in Portland. We hopped from brewery to brewery enjoying good conversation and laughing about stories from college. Luster is one of those guys who you can go 2 or 3 years without talking to and then once you see him it seems like no time has passed at all.

Portland also has a large number of food carts. Anywhere there is an empty lot, 5-10 food carts are packed in offering anything from burritos to waffle tacos (which is a folded waffle with syrup, sausage & pecans… there are other varieties too).

Waffle Taco!

Overall Portland was a blast!

"Who Stopped Da Wain" - Seattle, Washington

Missing the trees!

So my last few days in Whitefish were pretty much all about skiing. I am gonna miss that place, especially now that I know how to ski it like a local! We pushed out of town on Sunday afternoon and headed towards Seattle. A few things occurred to me as we entered the most Northwestern State in the continuous 48:

1)    That I had just skied for over a month straight… What an amazing experience!
2)    That there was water hitting my windshield – It had not rained on me since I was leaving Louisville, KY. I wasn’t even sure if my wipers still worked!
3)    That this was going to be the best part of my journey. From here on the only city’s that I have been to are Salt Lake & Dallas. Let’s meets some new people!

As we pulled into the city, it also hit me that the last place that I had seen with buildings over 4 stories was Minneapolis, MN. Sarah had decided to take a few days off work so it was exciting to have someone to travel with. First place we headed was the Pike Street Public Market.

Market

Weaving in and out of the narrow maze known as the market, we saw everything from fresh fish caught earlier that morning to magic shops, spice shops, head shops, and pretty much every other shop imaginable. We even saw a small Asian man playing the ukulele while singing “Who Stopped the Rain” with his thick, broken accent. We were in tears as we got further away from him but his voice stayed as flat and loud as when we were standing right next to him. My only regret is that I did not get this fine young man on video.

Space Needle

Next was the Space Needle – Which in 1961 was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River before the rest of the “Wild West” got its head out of its ass and started building some buildings!

It was a pretty nice day for Seattle (meaning the sun was breaking through the clouds) so the city and surrounding areas were very visible. The only thing that would have made the day better was if Mt. Rainier was visible just south of the city. I am going to try and post a picture I took and then find a stock photo of what Seattle looks like on a clear day so the two people who read/skim this blog can see what it’s like!

I did have a moment where I started thinking about how the only downside to me traveling and doing all this tourist stuff is that if I ever come back to one of these places with Friends/Girlfriends/Wife/Kids/Family then I will have to wait in the same long lines again. Lines are not a bad thing if you don’t expect them… but if you have ever been to the Empire State Building in NYC you understand how awful it is to know what lies around the next corner… more lines!!!

All this tourist stuff was starting to make us hungry so we headed to the piers to grab some seafood. We ended up The Crab Pot, a little place that specializes in… you guessed it – Crab Pots! (And they are freaking good at it too!)

Chow Down!

After a few Oyster shooters and some food, we headed back to the hotel to hit up the hot tub (which was located on the 28th floor and overlooked the Puget Sound) and get ready for the evening!
There is a large Russian population in Seattle so it seemed like every suggestion we received for going out was accompanied by a thick, smooth soviet accent. After following the Russians advice we realized this… never trust a Russian!

View from the hot tub

 The night was a total bust… either we were pointed in the wrong direction or we started drinking too early. I am gonna go ahead and blame it on the drinking and let the Russians off the hook since we started drinking at 2:30 and were in a cab on our way home by 10:30, 30 minuets before the band/DJ was supposed to start.

The next morning we were moving slow. I have not been hung-over in a while so a nice long Bower (SP??) was defiantly in the cards. For those of you that don’t know… a Bower is a Bath/Shower and they are freaking amazing. That and a few Advil will get you right back to where you need to be.
Our first mission was to find a breakfast place that would not make us feel worse. We found a pretty cool place down in Pioneer Square, I had an Omelet with winter squash in it… it was pretty tasty!

Ole Business sign from Underground

Under the Streets

Underground

After breakfast we took a historical tour of underground Seattle. I know some people might not be into history but this tour was well worth $15 and an hour and a half of my time. When Seattle was founded, the newcomers did not understand what “high tide” means (Kind of like how Bama fans don’t know what “roll tide” means or Tennessee doesn’t understand what “winning” means).  Every night when the tide would come in, downtown would flood. After a few years of this, Seattle got a 2nd chance due to a fire that wiped the entire city out. What did they do… build it back the same way that it was before. After a few decades they realized that it was in their best interest to raise the city, put in a sewer, and kiss the tides goodbye. They did this by raising the streets by 12 feet and then raising the sidewalks leaving an underground city full of passages and secret rooms that soon turned into Brothels, Opium Dens and Speakeasy’s. The underground network was so large that the city imposed a “Sin Tax” to help create some revenue. The “Sin tax” was responsible for 87% of the city’s new construction and expansion. So basically sex built Seattle. In fact the reason there is a public school system is because of a $275,000 dollar endowment that came from one of the city’s top Whore’s when she passed away. It was the equivalent of $15 million in today’s dollars!

The Lady on the left was the top hooker in all of Seattle - Left $275,000 and the one in the black dress  is a dude (I think)

After the Tour, we went to a brewhouse for lunch and then it was time to put Sarah back on the train to Whitefish. I had such a great time hanging with her for the past month and thank her for everything!

 I did come across a kilt store that was pretty interesting. A good kilt will run you about $235 bucks and you can buy an attachment that holds 5 beers!

That night I headed back to the market to pick up some gifts for friends and to hit up the first Starbucks. I spent a little more time there then I expected due to the fact that the barista was pretty cute. I took about 3 sips of my coffee before spilling it all over the front of my shirt while trying to take the picture below.

1st Starbucks

I did come across a group of girls from Ole Miss that were running around with Mustaches on… I snapped a picture of one of them.

The next morning I woke up and hopped on the Ferry to the Olympic peninsula. I have never been on a Ferry so I was more than excited about the experience. Once back on dry land I drove to Port Angeles to grab lunch with my best friends uncle who lives there. We had an awesome lunch and he gave me a little direction on stuff to check out on my way down to Portland. I didn’t know what I was about to get into.

Ferry from Seattle

Driving through Olympic National Park (where the Twilight movies were set & filmed) I was absolutely blown away by how lush and green the vegetation was. I didn’t realize until I was informed at lunch that this area is actually a rain forest. I took my time driving through this area and stopped for a few hikes. 

Nothing would prepare me for what I was about to see. The last time I saw the Pacific Ocean I was 4 years old… so I don’t really remember it. I knew that there was about a 10-mile stretch where I would drive along the Washing Coast before heading inland towards Portland. I was absolutely blown away as I turned a corner and caught my first glimpse of waves. I noticed a road that accessed Ruby Beach, so I took it and then hiked down to check it out. I spent about an hour down on this beach… just drooling. I am gonna post a few pictures of this beach since one picture will not do it justice.

Ruby Beach - Washington Coast

Ruby Beach - Washington Coast

After my beach experience I headed towards Portland. I am so excited to be right here, right now… Living life and the dream!

Gum Wall in Seattle

Big Sky to Jackson: A Ski-cation from my Ski-cation

Watch for Cliffs!

So Friday the 25th of February I set off to meet up with my cousins in Big Sky, Montana. I was able to ski the morning and then head south to go ahead and get then condo ready for Lee to arrive from Salt Lake City and Sarah from Whitefish. Saturday morning, Lee and I strapped on our skis and started exploring the “Largest ski area in the United States".

Nuckolls sandwich - Atop Loan Peak

Big Sky is a pretty cool place, there are 21 lifts spread out over 2 mountains. The bigger of the two mountains is Loan Peak and the summit is right at 11,500 feet. This is a big deal because there is a Tram that takes you straight up to the summit and then you have about 1,500 vertical feet that you ski down. Not only is it steep but there are a ton of rocks to keep an eye out for.

Cousin Lee hanging on for her life

Sarah enforcing the buddy system

After skiing, we went out for drinks and my birthday dinner. As great as the skiing was, the town of Big Sky is not the most happening place. We managed to find a sushi joint that not only offered SPAM sushi but also offered so us much Saki that it would have made an old Japanese man rip off his shirt and break dance.

Me on top of Loan Peak

On Monday, we skied the morning and then hit the road to head home. It was great to be able to spend my birthday weekend with my cousins and having a great time.

Watch for giant Snowballs

The drive from Big Sky, Montana into Jackson, Wyoming is nothing short of spectacular. It’s about a three-hour drive that takes you around the outer rim of Yellowstone National Park and right into the Grand Tetons.

Jackson Hole Resort

Once in Jackson I went straight to my friend Derick’s place and then to the Snake River Brewing Company to grab a few beers. Derick is an awesome dude and a great snowboarder. Its also nice that he has a good group of friends in Jackson, so right off the bat I had people to ski with. Derick had warned me about Jackson Hole as it was ranked the most challenging place to ski by Ski Magazine.

On the lift

Tuesday morning, I took it upon myself to see what all the hype was about Jackson Hole. After a brief orientation to the mountain I headed up. Its not that Jackson is a place where only experts can ski, but with over 50% of the mountain labeled with a black diamond, its easy to find yourself in a sticky situation.

Paul hitting a feature

 That night we met up with a friend named Alex. Alex and I ended up hitting it off right away due to our mutual love for heavy metal. I rarely ever listen to this type of music anymore but I used to be obsessed. After dinner we drank some and then headed to a concert where the shots were flowing and every good looking girl in Jackson came out to party!

Paul pelts Will

The weekend was a blast. A few friends were in town from Atlanta so we all decided to explore what all Jackson had to offer. After walking around town and checking out the Tetons we headed to the mountain village to drink some beer. The best part about Jackson Hole is that in the village, there are a ton of little bars where you can grab a beer for $3.50 a pint. This is typical until you find out what the locals do, which is head to this little hidden grocery store in the basement of a ski shack, grab a 6 pack of PBR tall boys for $5.81 then head back outside to stand around a homemade Igloo bar (made of Ice/snow) which holds a few kegs and is right in front of where a band is playing…Pretty nice way to end a day on the mountain.

The Grand Tetons

While skiing on Saturday we noticed a nice group of locals out fro an afternoon ski, naturally we joined them and ended up skiing with these locals for a few runs. The group consisted of about 20 girls all wearing day-glow tights and drinking beer. One dude had somehow worked his way into the group by offering to be the picture guy, and capturing the entire day with his nice camera... if that guy doesn't get lucky off that deal then there is something wrong with him!

Hot 80's Babes!

Saturday night we ate at the “Best Mexican place in town that Derick had never been to”. We all decided to order Jumbo Texas Margaritas and the night went down hill from there. We all browned out right after the food arrived but we do remember that the 7 hamburgers that we ordered off the “side item” menu never arrived, that you cannot look straight drinking out of a straw and that the kid that knew all the finishing moves on Mortal Combat when we were in 3rd grade has always and will always be the guy to beat. F’n Danny! The night ended poorly as we erased whatever was on the whiteboard in the front of the restaurant and drew a dictation (Only 2 people will know what I am referring to) and a shark.

Derick looking manly

After passing out at 9:30 we were all bright eyed and busy tailed when Derick woke us up at 6:30AM to let us know that there was 17” of snow waiting for us at the mountain and that we would need to get going if we wanted first chair. Moving very quickly we were in line shortly after 8AM. I even had time to head to the rental shop and rent a pair of fat powder skis.

Line Behind us waiting for first chair

We ended up being about 20th gondola up and the line did not shrink all morning. We ended up skiing the same line 4 times in a row. Hitting fresh powder the entire time.

Hiking up to the Bowl

Afterwards we headed to the “North Woods”, a deeply wooded area that was pretty much straight up and down. This is probably the most beautiful place I had ever skied, I felt like I was in Narnia. Once you get out of the woods you hit this long, steep gully that made me feel like I was skiing in a ravine. I could go on and on about Jackson but I will keep those stories for another time.

Derick hitting a jump

After spending a week in Jackson I have decided that it is defiantly a very desirable place to live and that the people there are so into skiing its not even funny. Before I left town we went and got the best breakfast burrito I have ever had… it had hash browns in them. On my way back to Whitefish I found myself excited to get back and explore the mountain more. The past few days of skiing have been the best ever, I have never had a day where I did not stay on the trail, now I cant wait to get into the trees and make my own trail.

Jared getting some air

I leave for Seattle on Sunday so I better get all this trail blazing outta my system by then… if not there might be blogs on all the skiing I do in Washington, Oregon & Northern California (which is where Lake Tahoe is).

Deep thoughts