Travel: Flight from SeaTac to Las Vegas

Travelling is one of the things that I value most highly in life, though I don't always have the means with which to pursue that passion with the regularity I'd like. For most of us, that's probably the case, otherwise, we'd all be off circumnavigating the globe instead of toiling away at our day jobs for 40 or so hours every week and society would probably cease to get things done for awhile. I know there are people who do get paid to travel, and while I admire (and envy) their lifestyles, but for me, currently, that's just not in the cards. I'll be reserving my travel to occasional weekends and work trips for now when funds allow, but I was recently lucky enough to be able to take a brief work trip to my hometown of Las Vegas. It feels like only just yesterday that Antho and I even made our journey up to Seattle, which is no small (or short) feat by automobile, and it took us three days of driving. Flying is certainly the more convenient way to get between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Las Vegas's own McCarran International Airport and only takes a few hours, time awkwardly wandering around waiting at the airport included. Given that I'll take nearly any excuse to travel, I was eager to take this opportunity and quickly agreed to fly down, even if it was only for a brief 48 hour window. I was able to see our good friend Mae, who throws some of the most ridiculously awesome parties I've ever had the pleasure to be invited to, along with our pal CeeDro, and I even got to devour some of my favorite tacos before packing it back in and departing for the Pacific Northwest yet again.

Flying from Seattle to Las Vegas is an excellent opportunity to witness some of the sheer diversity that mother nature has to offer, as you'll travel from the densely forested and mountainous regions up North to the Mojave desert's rocky, sandy expanses that are sometimes flecked with reds, purples or greens to contrast all that openness (or vice versa if you're doing the trip in reverse). During my flight, I got to witness snowy peaks, walls of clouds, the gentle transition of the landscape from one terrain into the next. I may have even squeezed in a brief nap, due to the fact I took the flight in the morning and had woken quite earlier than normal. Overall, I'm so glad I got the chance to fly down to Vegas for a few days and see some of my beloved friends once more, there's never enough time to enjoy the company of the people you enjoy!

A girl's gotta snack, and Waji's is an affordable option for a quick bite in SeaTac airport.

 Plenty more photos below!

Driving: Portland, Oregon, to Seattle, Washington

If I had to summarise the city of Portland, Oregon, with one phrase, I think it would have to be; 

"Does this city have enough freaking bridges?!"

This isn't necessarily a negative thing! I'm not saying it's a bad thing Portland has 12 different bridges over the Willamette River, it's just a very noticeable aspect of the city as you drive into it. Reno has a bunch of bridges, too, though I guess they're considered some of Nevada's worst, so take from that what you want.  Portland is a cool town, full of hipsters, good food, tasty beer, giant bookstores, mild climate, and all sorts of other aspects that make it a popular destination for my peers when visiting the Pacific Northwest. It's hip, it's happening, and supposedly it's a lot friendlier than Seattle! My experience in either place is too limited to really make a judgment call there, but people in Seattle have generally seemed quite a bit nicer than those in Vegas, so if they're even nicer in Portland I'm not sure I'd know how to handle it. Maybe I've been lucky, or maybe I'm such a hermit by nature that the lack of external invites for socialization hasn't phased me. Whatever the case, this visit through Portland didn't even see us come to a full stop. We weren't here for sightseeing, I'm afraid (and Antho was disappointed), we had places to be. 

Still, we definitely intend to make a trek back down to spend some time in Portland, proper like. After all, I've had the luxury of visiting the city before, even dipping into Powell's bookstore and sipping on some locally brewed coffee, but Antho has yet to enjoy the pleasures Portland has to offer. We will, and I'm excited for that time, but it's not today. Not this trip. Sorry!

 

Oregon: Driving North into Eugene

After the initial hiccups and mechanical mischief that delayed our morning a bit, we made good time heading north. As I'd mentioned already, there was a fair bit of forest to make our way through before we fully escaped the clutches of the Deschutes National Forest, but the drive was beautiful so we weren't exactly upset at this predicament. It was a bit difficult to make time to pull over for every stop, so we weren't able to make that happen, but we did try to stop and make time to enjoy the scenery every few hundred miles or so. You might think that over time, the forest would simply become more forest, stretching off into the distant horizon, but in reality, it's more nuanced than that. Shades of green and blue blend together, offset by puffs of white or sharp interjections of yellow or brown. 

The timing for our road trip worked out extremely well, too. Initially, I had wanted to leave earlier and get out of Vegas before the fall settled in, but timing simply didn't pan out with various vehicular issues popping up, work arrangements and gigs that cropped up. We only had to delay by a month or so, though, so it wasn't the worst of situations despite my melodramatically losing faith sporadically along the way. There's a lot of talking and planning involved before actually taking the leap, and with each new hurdle, there were more possibilities for cold feet to settle in and squander our chances. Leaving when we did, at the very beginning of October, however, meant we caught verdant green expanses of forest with some bright shocks of color thrown in as the leaves just began to take on their changing for the season. Pops of yellow and little flashes of orange cut through the foliage to make the drive all the more exciting. I'm glad that we were able to make the majority of the drive under the sunlight, as the days grow shorter going into the cooler months. 

Onward and upward, away we go. Off to the forests of the Northwest!

Oregon: Deschutes National Forest

Onward and upward, away we went. Oregon is one of my favorite states to visit, probably because I've only ever spent a brief interim in the state on the long journey South or North. When some of my friends lived in the state, I was happy to spend a night in Portland, and another further South near Corvallis in a small farming town. The property my friends further south were occupying backed up onto a river and had expansive fields of wildflowers that would bloom during the right time of year. And once, upon a long ago time, my friend Christina and I made a trek down to Portland area from Seattle for some hiking and waterfalls, even stopping to grab some Voodoo Donuts along the way. This time, however, was more for getting to our destination rather than idle enjoyment of the scenery, unfortunately, as the Deschutes National forest is absolutely stunning! Most of the drive, whether you're going up towards Seattle or South towards California and Nevada, however, is going to be beautiful scenic routes through the forest, generally, two lane winding routes that made us clench our cheeks at times. Not only is it massive (like, huge, as in 1.8 Million acres HUGE) but the scenery evolves as you wind your way along, from mountain lakes to dense forests, burnt plains to tunnels. And did I mention it's massive?! Yes, 1.8 MILLION acres of forest are included here in the national forest, which meant there were multiple points along our drive where I'd see signs for entering the forest, again, and balk at the fact we were still driving through it hours into our journey. No wonder the mystery of Sasquatch lingers on, unsolved. With this much terrain, in mild temperate climate, there's ample room for some fuzzy hominid with exceptionally large flippers to nest and scurry undetected. 

Sometimes the drive would see us entering small towns, forcibly slowing the traffic with their traffic lights and stop-signs, before inevitably finding our way back to the forested wilderness. When we were still in Merrill, sweet young Diana had warned us not to stop too long among the mountain ranges, as there are supposedly hungry mountains lions that linger known to have an appetite for human flesh, or so she claims. We still had to stop and take in the scenery at least once or twice during the drive, if not solely for the excuse to shake our legs out and get some stretches in. We were making pretty good time, all things considered, and we thoroughly enjoyed the densely terpene-laden air streaming into our windows as we drove. Even the squeakers would poke their snoots up for a sniff from time to time, curious about the cool evergreen scented air. 

On and on, away we go!

Reno: Surreal suburbia

Come along and join me for a bite of my favorite muffin, won't you?

All jokes aside, there's a surreal sort of nature to Reno that we discovered during our stay. There's the familiarity, of a city being somewhat akin-to-but-not-quite like our hometown, yet there's the weird throwbacks to the 80's and 90's that linger, giving an age to the city not unlike the crow's feet cracking through the thickly caked on makeup of your diner waitress clinging to decades past. We weren't finished with the city, not yet, as we still had a couple of errands to run while we were still surrounded by some vestige of civilization. On top of the usual things, like getting some snacks, vehicular fluids and checks, there was the shuffling of finances and additional fluids to purchase. Rather than try to keep driving through the dense forest of traffic cones that seemed to crop up once we left the downtown touristy area, we opted to walk to our next destinations. This allowed us the opportunity to appraise an area outside of the main drag, which is always a good idea for getting the true feel of a city beyond its neon-spackled traps.  I suppose I can see why many of my peers opted to go north and settle in Reno, but it's still a little too-close to Vegas for me to feel like I've truly escaped the vortex-like nature of the city...but for those who find this affinity appealing for nostalgic purposes, it's quite the nice touch, I suppose. 

Reno, like many cities favored by millennials, is growing. There are more little artsy-fartsy coffee shops popping up, along with multi-megaplex apartments that offer everything you could ever want or need in a residence, from gyms to pet parks. It's still a little city trying very much to feel like a bigger one, so for people who want that, it's got it in bounds. Reno isn't a bad place, not at all, and there's a lot of things to be said for consistent sunshine and cheap food and booze. Once we'd stretched our legs and tended to our various errands, however, we returned to our vehicles to strive outward and onward. While Reno certainly made for a nice pitstop, we weren't planning to settle here any time soon. 

Reno: Further explorations downtown

To be honest, Reno really does have a lot going for it. Most of the same entertainments and vices anyone could want from Vegas, like fancy dining, gambling, card games, cheap questionable meal deals, booze and slots, along with the natural beauty and outdoors entertainment of the natural splendors surrounding in both the high desert and northern california. Lake Tahoe is pretty close, I guess. Given that you're quite a ways farther north than Vegas, there are more options for skiing and snow play available, though that's not to say that Vegas is entirely lacking in those things. 

In Reno, there are vices you can fulfill and tantalize that aren't as readily accessible in it's bigger brother down South.  

These days, Reno is the closest approximation to my hometown I have available unless I wish to jump on a plane to Vegas (which would end up costing me less in the end). It's still quite a trek, however, to step foot on Nevadan soil. Maybe this should sadden me, but it doesn't, not yet. Maybe in time some aspect of the irradiated desert and it's desiccated expanses will call to me, but for now, this is more than enough pleasant nostalgia.  Suffice to say, Reno has most of the things Vegas has to offer, without the excessive crowds and much more enjoyable weather. There's still the spun-out homeless lingering in alleys, a profusion of booze flowing throughout the city and illicit substances in the veins of it's downtrodden. You can also get a $5 steak! And a hooker! You can even rock-climb the hotel you're staying in! And there's plenty of snazzy street art and beer gardens and other hip, happening things to pass the time and add to the sense of surrealness. 

Downtown Oakland

Downtown Oakland. 

Since we were here on a weekend the city center was eerily quiet as we ambled through.

Day trip to Berkeley

Welcome to Berkeley, a lovely little town north of San Francisco and Oakland, famous for having the oldest college campus in California along with it's politically liberal vibe.

While walking through Berkeley, it's evident that the town takes great pride in itself. The street lamps are adorned with baskets of flowers, the sidewalks are clean and the buildings beautiful and well maintained.

Quirky and creative individuals and businesses abound, with small cafes offering live orchestral performances or Japanese curry. One intersection has three distinct movie cinemas operating on different corners, each offering different movies. Amoeba records flagship store opened in 1990 in Berkeley, so if you're a music geek that's worth noting. It's a huge store with a robust selection and has expanded with newer locations in San Francisco (which we visited) and another in Hollywood.

While a fairly small town of permanent residents at around 100k, I imagine it's pretty safe to estimate that the population boons during college season. Several people remarked on the amusing contrast of seeing young preppie college kids mingling with a bunch of hippies, but that's the kind of atmosphere the town fosters. Everyone we spoke with was friendly and glowed with pride for their home.

Curious? I've got lots of photos for you below!

San Francisco Nob Hill & Chinatown

After our time exploring Japantown, we walked up along Nob Hill and over to Chinatown. It was quite a walk for us Vegas kids, used to our flat valley terrain, but we triumphed!

Santa Monica: Cali-trip 04-10-2015

The iconic Santa Monica Pier. 

After we got to Venice beach by bus, we decided to spend some time wandering the area and stretching our legs. After some time, we made it to the pier…we certainly had to ride the ferris wheel at some point, but the people watching alone was fantastic!

Venice Beach: Cali-trip 04-10-2015

After our show at the Whiskey a Go Go, everyone crashed at a friend's family's house in the nearby suburban area of Thousand Oaks. The next morning Antho and I set off from their area to explore L.A. and some of it's beaches together by means of public transit.

That's right, we bussed L.A.

It was actually pretty freaking awesome! 

Never underestimate public transit while traveling, guys!