Point South SC to Charleston SC to Traveler's Rest SC

 Knowing it was a short day allowed us to sleep in and enjoy our morning. It was nice to just sit at the camp table for a little while, even if the blog post I was trying to write wouldn't post to the internet.

I drove us the short distance to Charleston, South Carolina, practically bouncing in my seat. Charleston is, I believe, my favorite city in the USA. Or my favorite city that I have been to. My first trip was years ago, I went with a friend to see the last three concerts of the band Jump, Little Children (Charleston natives). The concerts were incredible, but in the meantime we wandered the city and both fell in love with it. I went back with two other friends and spent half the week in Savannah and half the week in Charleston and fell in love again.

 Something about the old buildings, palm trees, cobblestone streets and GAS LAMPS (!) just makes me happy. Marion Square was holding a Farmer's Market/Craft Fair that morning and we went there first, looking at the photos and crafts and debating the crepes. Then we walked the other direction towards the water and stopped to eat at Sticky Fingers. Delicious.

 Completely full from lunch, we walked to the water where I dipped my toes into the Pineapple Fountain and we blocked our cameras from the spray of water from the fountains the kids were playing in. It was nice and calming just to walk and hold hands and take photos and enjoy ourselves.

Next we went to Market Street and looked at the crafts and wares, some local shops and finally had dessert at Kaminsky's. A dessert place, Kaminsky's only serves desserts, alcohol, and specialty drinks that combine both. Matt had a piece of chocolate chip cherry pie and I had two small desserts - one orange creamsicle and one chocolate and white chocolate mousse. So so delicious.

Now truly stuffed we walked back to our car and drove to my friend Beck's house in Traveler's Rest SC. There we visited and watched movie trailers, chatted about movies and jobs and trips, played with the dog and relaxed. We spent the next day chilling and doing much of the same. We also took time to spray paint our mascots... which backfired. Turns out you need to prime them first or they stay sticky.

 The second day in Traveler's Rest was the Fourth of July and we stayed for a second night to go see fireworks and delay the trip home and visit more. The above photo was taken with light refraction glasses held in front of the camera lens. It does some really cool things to the fireworks.

Amicalola Falls GA to Savannah GA to South Point SC

The closer we got to Savannah the more the clouds made room for blue skies. Savannah is one of those cities that I really should spend more time in. I've been there three times, but never for more than a couple days -and usually just for a couple hours.

I love the weeping willows lining the streets and the cute little coffee shops and the pirate city by the riverfront complete with hearse ghost tours and real trolleys. A lot of Savannah, though, is business-like and not very touristy. It's a strange place, but I like it.

I took Matt to Moon River Brewery for a late lunch, a place that my friends and I had liked so much last time we ate there more than once over two or three days. The food was delicious as I remembered and we even tried an awesome appetizer featuring sweet potato fries and a vanilla frosting like dip.

We wandered the windy riverfront and ducked into touristy shops galore. There were so many galleries to look in, we kept getting distracted with the art. Some of it was well known and some more local, all of it great to look at and be inspired by. Then met up with my friend Melanie and wandered a little farther into the city. There is a street that reminds me of Quincy Market (only because it is open only to foot traffic) that we wandered down and we passed by Paula Deen's restaurant (and the ridiculous line to get in) as well. Unfortunately, things were starting to close so we headed out and towards the KOA an hour away.

At the KOA we were pleased to find out that our tent wasn't as wet as we thought and that it would definitely dry for the next day. We also had a really successful fire, I think our first of the trip, and it was a good night.

Arcata California to Yakima Washington

 At Breakfast on Day 12, I sat chatting with an older couple from Southern California. They were on their way to visit their grandchildren in Oregon. The woman had never really been outside of Southern California and was asking me questions about the snow we get in Connecticut. I couldn't imagine living my whole life and never going anywhere outside of my home town.

 While in the Redwoods we drove through another tree.

and we visited Pauly Bunyon and Babe the Big Blue Ox. They were much bigger than they look in this photo, can you see the people near Babe?

After a few overcast days, we were delighted to find blue skies as we moved farther away from the coastline. We followed a beautiful river through the mountains for a while, and were amazed by more beautiful trees and mountains as we finished off California and started into Oregon.

Once in Oregon we immediately started seeing signs of civilization; tiny little towns, herb shops and thrift stores abounded. We thought about driving a little out of the way to see the beach that Goonies was filmed on, but ended up deciding against it. Which was probably for the best since we hit about an hour of traffic once we reached Portland.

Portland, Oregon, for those who don't know (as I didn't) has a sky tram for public transportation! We saw it above the highway and I was fascinated and a little scared. I'm not a fan of heights.

We drove straight through Oregon and into Washington where we encountered a bizarre stretch of land which featured rolling hills on one side of the highway and craggy, rocky hills on the other. We also drove past a series of windmills, which made me smile, and eventually arrived in Yakima.

Why Yakima, you ask? Because one of my very first best friends lives there and I hadn't seen here in probably more than a decade. It was great to see her and meet her fiance and his son. We sat around chatting and just relaxing most of the time, walked around downtown Yakima the next morning. It's a cute town to walk around, though not very big.

I don't have very many photos for this time frame, for some reason. I think part of it is that I was driving and part of it was that we were going longer distances and didn't have as much time to stop places. Around here, also, was when I really started thinking about home and what is going to happen when I get back. I'm hoping that this trip refreshes me and helps me think of new ways to promote myself and also find a job of some kind. I'm excited to go through all the photos I've taken and see what ones I can use, which I can sell and which I just want to print for myself. There are A LOT to go through. It should be an adventure of it's own.