Mall of America Pictures

San Diego

I drove down to San Diego over the extended weekend which was really fun.  Went out to dinner at a place called Islands which we don’t have here in the Bay Area on Saturday night.  Played some poker with M&M’s, peanuts, and raisins for a while and went to my hotel which ended up being overbooked so they gave my room away.  They put me at a nice place across town free of charge which ended up working out but I paid for it with lack of sleep as I didn’t get into my room until 1am.  On Sunday I went to a church that has to have one of the best views possible because it is up on a hill and all of the windows overlook the ocean.  I liked the pastor a lot and got quite a few things out of the sermon.  Sunday afternoon I drove around and saw a lot of beaches, a lot of ocean, a lot of towns I don’t remember the names of, Seaworld (the outside of it) and seals.  Legoland isn’t too too far from Seaworld and it looks like Tyler would love going there when he gets older.  Sunday night I ate downtown and got some ice cream (can’t go wrong with that).  Laura, they had the USS Midway docked downtown and I think you can take tours on it which made me think of you and Skyler.  By the time I got downtown it was dark so the pictures I took won’t do it justice.  On Monday I-5 closed through the grapevine so I had to take 101-N the entire way home which turned a 7 hour drive into an all day and night event.  Made it home safe this morning and had a great time.

Stumptown Coffee On Hawthorne Boulevard

Went to Stumptown Coffee this morning with my parents on Hawthorne Boulevard in Portland.  The one on Division Street has coffee roasting but we missed a few turns and decided to go to another one (next time I come for a visit I’ll go to the one on Division Street).  It was a smaller cafe than the one downtown but being on Hawthorne Boulevard it was definitely more “artsy”.  I took the above pictures.  🙂

Bob’s Red Mill

My mom, dad, nephew Evan, and I went to Bob’s Red Mill for breakfast this morning.  If you are ever in the Portland, OR area you should definitely visit and get some breakfast.  They opened a huge visitor’s center across the street from their mill which sells products they produce as well as serve breakfast and lunch.

Thanksgiving 2008

If you don’t already know I am up in Portland, OR for Thanksgiving to visit my family this year.  I left the house at 5:05am yesterday and was expecting to hit rush hour traffic in Sacramento but I guess it being a holiday week the traffic was really light.  I drove past Weed, CA where I normally stop for lunch and gas because at 9am I wasn’t hungry and with a Honda Civic I get great gas mileage.  In fact I didn’t have to stop for gas until Grants Pass, OR which is a whopping 392 miles.  Another bonus was I only paid 1.89 a gallon for gas so the bill came to $21.00.  Although I didn’t go to Weed I took a picture of the sign for you.  🙂  Being that I am traveling alone this year I didn’t have anyone rational to tell me they want to stop.  I’m always someone wanting to test my limits and decided stopping wasn’t an option and after filling up with gas (and a bathroom break) in Grants Pass, OR I drove the rest of the way to Portland.  I got into Portland at 3pm and was amazed that I still had a half a tank of gas left.  When I normally drive up to Portland I take a Saturn Vue which requires you fill up at least twice.  So that means I was able to get up to Portland on pretzels, corn nuts, water, and a little more than $30 in gas.  Since technology hasn’t allowed me to blog and drive at the same time (safely at least) all I could do was listen to my iPod and take pictures.

Once I got there my mom and nephew Evan were there to greet me.  They have been having Evan practice “Uncle Jeremy” which turns out to be “Meeemeee Uh Uh” when he says it which is the most adorable thing in the world if you ask me.  Evan is super smart and as soon as my mom told him I was the infamous Meemee uh uh he instantly associated me with that name.  I would leave the room and he would say “Meeemee uh uh”?  Of course then returning he would say Meeemee uh uh!  We went to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory which is so awesome.  This morning we are going to Bob’s Red Mill for breakfast and I’ll blog about that later because it seriously can’t be beat for a breakfast place.

Pismo Beach

Lana, her mom and sister went to Pismo Beach on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  Below are some pictures from their trip.

San Francisco Pictures

Lana and I walked everywhere in San Francisco yesterday for our anniversary.

  • We tried to get iPhones at the Apple Store, but our contract isn’t up until December.  Pulled up my website from the iPhones we were playing around with in the store and watched a Tyler video I was telling Lana about on the BART ride into the city, which was fun.
  • We walked down to the Ferry Building because we hadn’t been inside it yet.  We were going to try some cheese at the Cowgirl Creamery but it was so busy because of the holiday weekend we didn’t try/buy anything.
  • By that time, we were getting hungry, so we walked down Embarcadero and found a nice restaurant on the water called One Market.  It had a patio out back, and we had a great lunch, I’d recommend it.
  • Then we walked over to Chinatown and saw the sites.  We didn’t buy anything, just walked and walked.
  • About that time, you know me, it was time for some ice cream, so we walked over to Ghirardelli Square.  It took forever to get a table and then even longer to get ice cream but in the end we prevailed.
  • By that time, it was time to start heading back to BART, so we walked over to Coit Tower and took some backstreets to see the neighborhoods.
  • Went to the store and got a bottle of Onix wine and a few groceries.  It is a peppery wine (which we like) and it definitely has some notes of cherry.  I like wines “with a kick” and I liked it.  I would give it a solid 8 out of 10.
  • Below are some pictures I took yesterday.  I didn’t break out the camera too much.