What I Learned on my Trip to the West Coast

10.  Get rid of the old rat poison pail and invest in a real Kitchen Compost Canister.
9.  Get a salad spinner.
8.  Start carting cloth bags and old plastic bags to the grocery store. Plastic bags have been banned in San Francisco, and they charge a 10 cent tax if you need a paper bag!
7.  Rent a bike and take a ride.
6.  If you're Dan, you'd skip the stupid bike and rent an ATV.
5.  Celebrate your dining room table's wood and get rid of the table cloth.
4. While you're at it, forget buying paper napkins and just go with cloth.
3.  There's no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.
2.  Skip the taxi cab and call a cool, classy black Uber car.

and the number one thing I learned (from my 17 year old) on my trip to the west coast...

1.  Ten days is too long to spend with your parents and without Xbox.

Ten Days is Too Long

December sunrise picture, east central Illinois. Who says you have to leave home to appreciate Mother Nature? 

We flew into Portland, OR on Christmas Day.  It cost only $7.50 for the 3 of us to ride the light rail into the city! It rained the whole time we were there, but we felt better about ourselves after reading "There's so such thing as bad weather, only soft people" at the Nike store.

The Columbia River Gorge, located north and east of Portland, borders the state of Washington.  We drove to the gorge on the Washington side and returned on the Oregon side so that Dan and I could claim another state visited.

Ahh, nothing like traveling with a teenager.

Columbia River Gorge area.

Dan wanted to tour the University of Oregon.  We didn't realize that Animal House was filmed here, nor did Dan know what Animal House was!

Our rental car was a Ford Flex.  Tom was sure to park it between 2 Priuses.

So this is where they make those funny folding bikes!  We even met Alan Scholz, the owner.

We went ATV-ing at the Oregon Dunes. Dan & Tom liked this a whole lot.

Bandon, OR - this motel was perched on top of a cliff overlooking the Pacific.

Here's the view out our window!

Thank goodness our paparazzo was along to snap pictures.

Coastal redwoods in Oregon and California.  These trees can grow higher than 300 feet.  They make their own fog, too.

Ukiah, CA. 

Out for dinner at Shamus T Bones, Eureka, CA

Cool things always start in California. This is Arcata's unique wastewater treatment facility, marsh, and wildlife sanctuary.  

Enjoying some breakfast.

Good morning!

Union Square Park, San Francisco.  Taking down the Christmas Tree.

Chinatown boasts their t-shirt deals (notice the 99 cents in tiny print).

Transamerican Pyramid, San Francisco

The sign on the wall says, "If at first you don't succeed, call an airstrike."

Tom

Coit Tower: we marched up to the top for some spectacular views of the city by the bay. Notice that cars may only be parked at 90 degrees on these steep hills.  You can see members of our entourage skipping up the hill on the right.

All that work called for some well-earned IPAs.

The view from the back porch.

Wasn't there a movie from Sonoma, CA called SIDEWAYS?  We had a lovely visit with Kathy and Rob Arnold! 

Someone had the hair-brained idea to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge.   

Seeking dessert

Perhaps Dan's second happiest moment of the trip (after the ATVs) was crawling into MF's over-sized chair to watch TV.