Oregon to California

After a lovely morning in Eugene Oregon yesterday, I headed to the 101 and down the Oregon coast to California.

Around lunchtime, I noticed a sign along the coast that said "oysters" so I followed the arrows to a shack on the water where a guy still dressed in rubber coveralls from bringing in the morning catch shucked me the freshest oysters I've ever had!

I'm blogging from my phone and am eager to get to the beach and enjoy tge sunshine before another afternoon on the road, So I'm just gonna post the pics below rather than try and explain each one. But you'll get the gist!

This is really happening...

I've been so busy the past few weeks with saying goodbye to Seattle that I've barely had time to think about the fact that I'm DRIVING ACROSS THE COUNTRY for the next month.

Despite the endless stream of goodbyes I've been through this month, It didn't hit me that I was actually leaving Seattle until I was sitting in the waiting room at Jiffy Lube, my car out in the garage, packed to the gills with everything I've not sold, shipped, or given away since moving out of my apartment at the end of August. There I am, sobbing and snotting all over the place, and the poor jiffy-luber, a greasy, fifty-something guy walks in to ring me up and just does not know what to do with this emotional wreck sitting in front of him. Bless his heart.

But the good news is... I got twenty bucks taken off of my signature service,  and had 6 hours on the road to get it together. I took full advantage to all of the sweet road trip gifts friends gave me-- bought a pumpkin spice latte and a tank of gas, ate some Theo chocolate, listened to some awesome mix-cds and a few chapters of Harry Potter (my first time ever hearing/reading it!), and booked some hostels for the San Francisco portion of my trip (one is in the city and the other is in a lighthouse just a little way down the coast-- how cool is that??). Tomorrow, I'm cutting over from Eugene, Oregon (home of the Oregon Ducks and my lovely friend Chelsea V.) to highway 101, which will wind me down the coast and into the Redwoods, where I'll stay with my friend Lauryn before heading to San Fran and on down to LA to pick up my momma for the southwest leg of my trip (Grand Canyon, anyone?).

Check my route out here and get excited for future posts about my upcoming travel adventures:


View Larger Map

Goodbye Summer, Goodbye Seattle.

 As my disappearance from the blogosphere might suggest-- It's been a busy summer. I spent the first half of it deliberating over whether or not I would be leaving the west coast in the fall. One day it was, yes, I'm staying, the next it was no, time to go, and so on for about a month, but once the long-belabored decision to move was finally made, I savored every last moment of my time in the months of August and September-- spending quality time with wonderful friends and crossing items off of my Pacific Northwest bucket list.

A secret no one tells you about Seattle is that though the 9 months of rain can be pretty unbearable at times, people stick around because the Summers are so sublime. If I could spend every August of the rest of my life here, I would. The sun shines, but it's never sticky-hot like back east, just temperate and breezy. Mountain views that have previously been hidden in fog and clouds appear at every turn. And faces that have worn a scowl since October are suddenly freckled and grinning from ear to ear.  My past two months have been filled to the brim with sunny day trips, afternoon adventures, and smiling faces.

But alas, the summer is over (literally-- the rain started today) and for reasons I don't have time, space, or energy to put on the internet right now, the time has come for me to leave this city that I really have grown to love. I'm headed back to Virginia for a while-- going to hang with mama and papa Roquemore for a few months while I save up some money and pray through my next steps.

I leave tomorrow on my trip home, exactly two years and three days after I first arrived. Since I took the mid-western route out here, I'm gonna drive south this go-round and check out this cool place I've heard of called California. Then I'll head through the desert and canyons of Nevada/Arizona/New Mexico and deep into the the heart of Texas, where I plan to catch up with my extended family before making my way back up the eastern seaboard. I should be back in VA by late October/early November and expect quite a few adventures along the way.. so keep it tuned here for updates from the road.

 But first, to all my Seattle friends... words cannot even begin to express how blessed I have been to spend my time in this city with you. The past two years have been a season of major soul searching and growing for me and you have been with me through the lowest and highest moments of my life so far. I've learned so much from the friendships I've begun (because friends are friends forever thanks to Facebook) here and can't wait to see where the years take us all.

Now, off to figure out how I'm going fit all of my stuff in my car for a month...