Tag: roadtrip

For the first time in a while the morning had started before I had even woken up. Charles had taken the car for an oil change and let me and Joesph sleep longer. I got up and packed up. Charles’ mom had prepared an absolutely delicious warm breakfast, so we would be fueled up before hitting the road. I also got to see their garden and meet Charles’ sister, who is also a rising sophmore at MIT! Once the car was back, we packed it up. Then we said goodbye to Charles and left him with his family, and drove away. And then there were two.

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Seattle, WA to Curlew Lake State Park, WA

292mi

We left Seattle.

After some driving, we filled up on gas. I noticed our gas tank door wouldn’t close, so we taped it shut for now (spoiler: it would fix itself a couple of days later). And then we stopped for a break at a cafe, where Joseph got a Chai latte and something to eat. On the way there there were a bunch of cyclists doing some event, which we were happy to see.

After that I spent some time blogging in the car. And by that I mean Joseph was thinking of his blogs, saying  them out loud, and me typing them down in my laptop.

As we went further the views got prettier. The forest appeared, then the mountains and lakes. Then we arrived at the North Cascades National Park and stopped by the Visitor Center to get a map.

Equipped with the knowledge of where and what we checked out a very nice view right by the center and then started the drive through the park. We first stopped at Gorge Creek Falls and Gorge Dam. The water flowing from the dam was a interesting kind of greenish blue with white underneath. A hanging bridge took us over the river to where the falls where.

Then we continued, enjoying the views from the car, to Diablo Lake, where I was commited to take a plunge. Once we made it to the lake, we discovered that, despite the warm day, the water was quite cold. The first time I went in I did not swim. Then Joseph, who is more affected by cold bodies of water than I am, also went in the water and then quickly got himself out of there. I ate some crisp peaches that Charles’ family had given us and then I felt ready to give the lake another go. I’m happy to report that the second time was much easier and I could swim around. The views were great, although filled with paddle boarders.

At this point we were once again behind our imagined schedule that would let us arrive to our campsite in daylight. So we stopped at some overlooks, but kept on moving through the park. In search for bathrooms, we stumbled across a closed campsite. There we found bathrooms, but more importantly we found some mountain ash trees, or rowans. I was really excited to find plants I knew so far from home, the bright orange berries were both bitter and nostalgic.

After that we made it out of the park. We drove for a while, until we stumbled upon Sheri’s Sweet Shop in Whintrop. It seemed ljke the kind of place that once people stop by they love it so much they come back again and again. Joseph got a smoothie, which he says might be the best one on the trip yet, and then we got some chocolates.

The sun was getting lower and lower, so we got back on the road. The forest disappeared for a stretch, but we found some farm eggs in a self serve cooler on the side of the road. There was one last 12 egg carton left, so we scrambled together whatever cash we had and got them.

The final stop of our day was by Anderson’s Grocery in Republic. There was a street concert going on, but we were short on time, so we got some groceries and headed to the campsite.

Our campsite at Curlew Lake State Park was right by the lake. I got dark as we were setting up our tent and stove. We were going to make pasta, but the our propane-powered camping stove was not working. So we pivoted to make sandwiches for dinner. I went for a swim in the dark lake. The water was warm, so I just lay there for a while and looked up to the stars. I befriended some Ukrainian and Russian girls in the bathrooms, who were in a church camp.Then we showered and got ready for bed. We had another full day ahead of us. Before going to sleep I sat outside for a bit longer trying to take pictures of the night sky.

I awoke next to Tian for the last time in what will probably be a very long time. Ishaq was sleeping on the floor. I had set an alarm for 6:25am to wake everyone up at 6:30am and hurry them out of the house by 7am. It was 6:15am. As of early yesterday, there were only seven of us here.

I thought for a moment about not waking anyone up at all, so they would miss their flights and today wouldn’t be possibly the last day I see some of them. But I shooed away these delusions and got to waking people up. The next hour was spent packing, repacking and getting ready. We repacked the car to fit 3 passengers and Ishaq’s bike and at 7:30am Tian, Sarah and Ishaq were sent off to a friend’s apartment or the airport. And then there were four.

Charles did the driving. Joseph, Ruth and me stayed to pack up all the other Spokes belongings and tidy up a bit. Once the car returned we did some reorganising and ultimately all four of us were able to squeeze in. Ruth was dropped off at her sister’s. (The only reason I survived this goodbye is because she is returning to Boston, so I instead said seeya, seeya.) And then there were three.

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Now, Joseph should have mentioned this in a previous blog that might or might not be published yet, but we are performing a private delivery of Spokes belongings to Cambridge. And Charles is going to Seattle to his family, so the three of us are taking two days to drive up there.

Which brings us to the new format of these blogs and today’s agenda:

San Francisco, CA to Humbug Mountain State Park, OR

426 mi

Charles took the morning driving shift. We left San Francisco and I wondered if I would ever find myself there again. It’s plausable that that would happen. But also completely realistic that it wouldn’t.

The beginning of the drive we talked, running on adrenaline from the logistics and goodbyes. But the tired caught up to us. Joseph dosed off. And Charles also caught his eyes becoming heavy. So they swapped and Joseph continued the driving, powered by a gas station milkshake. We made a very important stop by the Bill Cypher statue. For those who are not Gravity Falls fans, after the show ended there was a treasure hunt for this statue depicting the main villain who (spoilers!!!) by the end was petrified into this statue.

Then we checked out Humbolt Redwoods State Park and the huge trees. It was pretty crazy. The trees really were quite big. The scenery from the road was also really cool. It looked like how in my head big, old forests are drawn in children’s books. Sometimes it would feel like we might hit one of the huge trees on the side of the road, they were almost like walls.

Then we found an awesome beach on the side of the road and touched the Pacific ocean. The vastness seeped into my already overflowing mind, shoved everything else out of the way and had a calming effect. There was only us and the big blue nothingness.

Continuing North we went through the Redwoods National Park. We didn’t have quite as much time to spend here, but we stopped to see some more big trees. It was a blast!

By this point the sun was setting and we had succesfully failed to get to our campsite during daylight. We caught some of the last sun rays at another beautiful beach. And then drove the last stretch in the darkness, got some 12 inch subs for dinner, somehow found our campsite in the dark, tried to quietly set up camp, saw a bunch of stars and went to sleep.