Random thoughts/ month 6

I can’t believe we’ve been on the road for 6 months!! That’s (potentially) half of our travel time. And we’re STILL in the US! This month we:

+ had a blast in Seattle. It’s easily one of our favorite cities. In the 5 days spent there, we visited with the Friedmans, Laura and her beau Jeremy, my Miami friend Brian and Hani’s Boston buddy Mermer and her husband Akram. We ate, drank, walked the Saturday market, and ate and drank some more, with the obligatory stop at Pikes Place. A deliciously fattening food extravaganza!

+ toured “famous” landmarks from some fab movies in Astoria, OR. I made Hani stop so I could snap pictures at the elementary school from Kindergarden Cop and historic house from The Goonies. He did not do the truffle shuffle.

+ discovered Cannon Beach, OR, a beautiful little town right on the water with pristine beaches that are dog friendly. The girls had a great time chasing seagulls and playing in the sand.

+ ate out way through Portland. We stayed with an old high school friend, Yair and his wife Christine, who have both been in the food industry out there for years. Our favorite Portland food by far was Yair’s food truck: ChickpeaDX. The falafel was to die for! A must eat if you’re in the area.

+ had a random connection via Instagram. While parked in downtown Portland, someone had snapped a picture of Skyhorse and posted it on Instagram. Someone recognized the truck as ours and tagged us in the post. Convos/emails/texts ensued and we met Antonio, a creative designer who captured the picture. We had a wonderful time with him and his brother, and were gifted some fab hats from his newest collection. Hani is obsessed with them!

+ drove the PCH from Washington through Cali. We had some gorgeous weather as we saw sea lions, jaw dropping cliffs and enormous rock formations in the ocean.

+ spent 7 days in SF bouncing from our parking area in Daly City, outside Hani’s brother Amad’s place, to my sister Estee’s apartment in SF. Thankfully, we were able to borrow her car so Skyhorse was not actually taken into the city. We walked downtown SF, had a spa day, ate at some delicious places, did a day trip to Tiburon and Sausalito and had much needed down time.

+ celebrated Hani’s 35th birthday on October 12 with friends and family. We went to the farmers market and walked the piers during the day and had a big birthday dinner that night. It was awesome!

It was also the first time since our wedding in December that all of the siblings were together.

+ drank and lot of wine and some bubbles. With all the breweries we’ve been hitting, I was craving some good wines so off to Sonoma/ Kenwood we went!

+ spent quality time with one of our favorite old co-workers John. He came out to San Fran with his daughter on Hani’s birthday and then we spent a day with him in Vacaville and Old Sacramento. We ended up doing what we would have done with John had we been hanging with him in Key West–a movie at the independent theater.

+ “did” Yosemite. I can’t really say we saw the park because we didn’t really give it a fair shot. At that point, we were cold and not in the mood to explore. Plus, we’ve been spoiled by seeing animals right under our noses at other parks and the breathtaking views of Alaska and Canada. Yosemite just didn’t compare.

+ finally met Jack and Casa Azul in person! Jack was featured on RV Crazy with his homemade camper a few years back and Hani contacted him. From that began a long distance relationship planning and brainstorming our camper build. We stayed on his property for 3 days working on the truck, getting feedback and spending time with him. We left with some great tips for our upcoming border crossing and a detailed map of Baja. Thanks again Jack!!

+ are now in LA to see some friends for the week before my parents arrive to travel with us for a bit. And then onward to Baja!

Random thoughts/month 5

This month we:

+ got a new GoPro! Yes, those suckers are indestructible in water, weather, and drops but apparently not to software updates. After an hour on the phone with a tech, a new one was shipped to us in Valdez, where we had to call the FedEx driver’s cell phone and arrange to meet up on the side of the highway to get the package. Ahhh, small town living!

+ watched a family of 4 adult bears catch and eat loads of salmon from a river while 3 baby bears climbed a nearby tree. It was amazing.

+ ran the generator practically every night, which is way too much. Hani designed the truck so that during the day, we flick a switch that turns on the solar panels to heat up the water. Problem is, in Alaska we didn’t get a lot of sun. So every night we had to run the generator to get hot water. Not very environmentally friendly but neither alternative of being stinky or taking cold showers was really an option.

+ also along those lines, had the heater going every night, just to get the chill and dampness out.

+ saw a whole lot of glaciers and even walked on one. Alaska is just packed with glacial activity and we couldn’t pass up a chance to see every one we came across. They are completely magnificent!

+ loved Haines. This small town is right on the water and has the most phenomenal views of mountains and glaciers and the ocean. In the few days we spent there, we saw bears and loads of bald eagles, caught the annual screening of White Fang (filmed in Haines), met the most amazing family living extremely remotely (post on that soon), saw the most intense collection of hammers, and finally bought a growler of a delicious brew at Haines Brewing Company.

+ wore our West Marine foul weather jackets fairly regularly and bought rain boots. They are clunky and manly but nothing beats having dry toes 🙂 Now, they are stowed away, hopefully never to be used again.

+ rode the Alaska Marine Highway (ferry). We debated whether or not to take the ferry because it’s so expensive but it was definitely worth it. It was a gorgeous ride, gave Hani a break from driving, and we got to visit cities we wouldn’t have had we drove. We hopped on the ferry in Haines and spent 10 days between Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan, exiting in Prince Rupert, Canada. Each island was completely different geographically and culturally, with a huge influence from the First Nation people, spectacular totem poles, and peaceful views of the ocean.

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+ replaced the starter. For a few days, it took a bit of work to get Skyhorse cranked up. We WD40-ed the crap out of that area, which helped for a while. And then, on the day we were catching the weekly ferry out of Sitka, we couldn’t start the truck at all. We were in a remote area where we barely had a phone signal and 3 hours before our ferry left. After working on the starter for almost 2 hours, Hani said to call AAA. Those must have been the magic words because Skyhorse cranked after that! By some miracle, we made it on and off the ferry to arrive in Ketchikan with enough sun (a 2 day long monsoon followed) for Hani to replace the starter. Too close of a call on that one.

+ finished up Alaska and re-entered BC Canada. Alaska was truly amazing and we visited pretty much every place we wanted to. Then we blew through Canada in less than a week. I would have liked to spend more time in Vancouver but Hani nixed that. Its a pain to maneuver Skyhorse in big cities. We did have some fab eats though (Thai, Maylasian, French pastries and Middle Eastern), always a #1 in our book!

+ are back in the US and excited for cheaper fuel, fantastic eats and brews and most importantly meeting up with friends and family! We spent a few days in Bellingham and now are in Seattle for the weekend, maybe longer. If you live in Washington, Oregon or California, let us know. We could be coming to your town next!