We started out our day in the Crescent City by exploring the French Quarter.  A bit of aimless wandering and we found ourselves at Jackson Square, anchored by Saint Louis Cathedral, and also the location of the Louisiana State Museum.  There were two main exhibits in the museum; the first floor was a poignant remembrance of Hurricane Katrina from the tropical depression forming over the Bahamas all the way through landfall, flood control failure, personal struggles, recovery, urban replanning, forecasting science, and the engineering of present and potentially future flood control systems, while the second floor held a much more upbeat exhibit about the history of Mardi Gras and carnivals in New Orleans, including turn-of-the-century dance cards and invitations to the krewes’ formal balls.

     Leaving the museum we realized that we were getting a bit hungry for a late lunch, so our wandering began to include looking for a place to eat.  After seeing more of the French Quarter, and even walking the famous Bourbon Street, we ended up at Johnny’s Po-Boys, consistently named one of the best po-boy restaurants in the city.  The reviews did not lie, and our po-boys were delicious.  After this mid-afternoon meal we wanted to rest for a bit, and headed back to the hotel to take advantage of the pool/hot tub/sauna and again watched the sun set over the Mississippi River from our room.

     Refreshed and ready for a night out, we went downstairs, where we enjoyed bar food and cocktails at the Café Adelaide and Swizzle Stick Bar.  The shrimp and tasso corndogs, shrimp and okra gumbo, and bacon encrusted oysters paired with an Adelaide Swizzle and a Sazerac made for a perfect last dinner in New Orleans (this time around).

     From the hotel, we walked through the French Quarter, where many bars and shops were already closed, for some reason we have yet to figure out.  So, we headed for the music of Frenchmen Street, where we first went to the Spotted Cat Music Club.  The Smokin' Time Jazz Club was playing in the window of the intimate club while swing dancers showed off their best moves on the floor.  At the Spotted Cat, we met up with Charla’s classmate Paul, who is at the end of his forty-five-day journey around America on Amtrak, and his friends Kunal and Erin.  While the band took a break, we stepped across the street to Café Negril, where we caught their funk band’s last song as they closed shop for the evening.  Walking back towards the River, we found the Balcony Music Club, where a fantastic band was still rocking the house.  Their set mixed some classic jazz tunes you would expect to hear in NOLA with some funky brass/rock hiphop tunes, like a cover of “Get Low,” that surprised and delighted the crowd.  Our night started winding down, as we hung out at Molly’s to swap travel stories and then made our way to Café du Monde for a late night bag of beignets, which we ate as we walked back to the Loews.

     As has been the pattern when we are staying with our friends, we got a late start out of Dallas.  We were all treated to a scrumptious breakfast courtesy of Charla and Katie; deliciously fluffy scrambled eggs and potatoes from Charla and bacon from Katie.  (While they were cooking, Chris and Chase were busy out on the town procuring Lindt truffles, so the boys were also working on important tasks.)

     After a couple hours on I-20 heading out of town, we decided it was time for a snack and pulled over at a rest area to make sandwiches.  Much to our surprise (or, maybe we shouldn’t have been shocked), each picnic table at the rest area was built to resemble a giant oil derrick on the side of the highway.  Oh, Texas…

     Not far from the rest area, we crossed the Louisiana state line and then were soon in Shreveport.  Although the Louisiana tourism booklet we picked up near the border suggested a lot to do there, Sunday night was not exactly an ideal time for a visit, as the majority of attractions were museums that would not be open until the next morning.  We cruised through the city a bit, however, and decided to stop at the River Walk.  The park is situated across from Bossier City and near some interesting metal bridges made for swinging and lifting to allow various ships down the Red River.  While there, we also glimpsed a few old fashioned steamboats at rest (ahem, these days, riverboat casinos).

     From Shreveport, we traveled south on I-49.  We were excited (and surely they were too) when we saw another car on the road with a Vassar license plate frame, this one a black mini SUV with Texas tags.  While Chase slowed down so that our windows could meet, Charla made a sign saying “We went to Vassar too!” to hold up in the window.  As soon as the two other travelers saw it, both drivers started honking while thumbs-ups and lots of waving went on in the passenger seats.  After seeing the Vassar vehicle, our night was fairly quiet, as we made our way to the Kisatchie National Forest to set up our tent and have dinner.

_      Our day started with a huge breakfast, unlike any that we have cooked on our little camp stove.  Katie and Charla made pancakes, fried potatoes, and bacon.  If you couldn’t tell by the Chick-Fil-A, we are back in the South!

_      After breakfast, we ventured downtown with Chris to visit Dealy Plaza and the Sixth Floor Museum at the former Texas School Book Depository.  While in our travels, we have both experienced some incredible museums, this one was outstanding for its ability to arouse both questions and emotions.  As we exited the elevator on the sixth floor, we began our audio-guided tour with some background on the political and cultural climate of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, including some original movie posters, newspapers, and novels.  After that, we toured through the sections on John F. Kennedy’s campaign, election, presidency, and Dallas tour and then arrived at the window where Lee Harvey Oswald supposedly sat as the motorcade rounded the hairpin turn from Elm Street, which was recreated with school book boxes.  The rest of the museum included videos and displays about the world’s reactions to JFK’s death and his legacy as well as the investigations into the events of that day in November 1963—from evidence, the Zapruder film timeline, and further conjectures about possible conspiracy theories.  The tour ended with a short film featuring Walter Cronkite, the famous voice of CBS news, that left the three of us pensive as we left the museum.

_      We planned to walk around Dealy Plaza a bit more, but a thunderstorm had set in for the night.  The rain poured down as the National Weather Service repeatedly issued flash flood warnings for our area.  Trying to work our way out of downtown was difficult, as all the traffic lights were out of order and many roads were impassable due to standing water.  Dallas’s sprawling infrastructure and insufficient highway systems weren’t helping the matter either, but we somehow made it back to the apartment in time to grill up the rest of the tilapia in the rain, as well as enjoy corn and potatoes.  We ended off the evening with a healthy dose of MarioKart 64, the go-kart driving game from the 90’s on Nintendo64.  During college Chase and Chris spent the a significant portion of time playing all of the racetracks in “Versus” mode, so it was great to rekindle old rivalries and again speed towards the checkered flag.

_      Heading east on Highway 380 out of Brownfield, we drove through several other small towns before connecting on Highway 82 to I-20.  I-20 led us to a nice rest area at Stink Creek, where we made breakfast on our trusty Coleman camp stove.  Our egg sandwiches were far from stinky, and we were ready to head to Dallas.

_      After breakfast, we had the pleasure of meeting Officer Hubbard of the Texas Highway Patrol.  Unfortunately, we met Officer Hubbard on the shoulder of I-20 shortly after we had been driving 80 miles per hour in a 75 mile-per-hour-zone.  After answering a few cursory questions and letting Officer Hubbard take Chase’s Alaska drivers’ license back to his patrol car, Chase received a typewritten warning about his speed (but not a speeding ticket, with no points on his license and nothing added to his record).  Interestingly enough, the warning goes so far as to imply that the Texas Department of Public Safety feels that Chase is a good citizen, which left us both feeling happy.

_      The next exit of the interstate made us feel even happier, as we happened upon our first Chick-Fil-A of the trip.  Chick-Fil-A is a fast food chicken restaurant in the South (they didn’t invent chicken, just the chicken sandwich) which does not have any locations in Alaska; Chase hadn’t eaten at a Chick-Fil-A since last year when he left the Lower 48.  Ever since the trip started, we had a deal that we’d stop to eat at the first one we saw.  Despite just recently eating breakfast, it was time to make good on the deal.  After a small meal of chicken strips and Chick-Fil-A’s famous waffle fries, we were back on the road towards Dallas.

_      As we neared Dallas, we came to the realization that the city road planners don’t really understand how to use the four cardinal directions.  First of all, we were heading to an apartment building that was located on East Northwest Highway.  Even more perplexing, to get to East Northwest, we had to drive on I-35 East North.  Somehow we found our way and arrived at Chris and Mary’s apartment.  Chris welcomed us with some Shiner, a local Texan beer, and we immediately began reminiscing about our college experience.  The four of us all attended Vassar College (Chris and Chase were roommates for a while), so we definitely had a lot to talk about.  Unfortunately, Mary has been waylaid by a knee injury and is spending a lot of time in bed.  We also met Chris and Mary’s roommate Katie, and we all ended up getting along swimmingly.

     We interrupted our trip down Memory Lane to run to the store and grab food for a barbecue.  But, our idea of a barbecue suddenly veered slightly off course and turned into a seafood feast since shrimp was a good price and tilapia filets were “buy one two-pound package, get three free.”  Charla boiled a pound and a half of shrimp for us all, while Chris grilled up four pounds of tilapia for a delicious dinner with friends.

_      We had stopped in Tuba City for gas, and the gas station attendant had told Chase that highway 264 was a straight shot out into the desert wilderness and camping would be easy along the road.  Unfortunately, much to the contrary, the road was notably twisty and curvy around rock formations; this prevented us from making good time and made it harder to eat the ice cream we had bought in Tuba City.  Furthermore, the road was very highly populated, with towns every few miles and nowhere to pull off and camp.  Because of that we drove later than we normally do, passing into New Mexico after dark to camp in the Cibola National Forest. 

_       “Later” is kind of relative though, because we didn’t exactly have a clear idea of what time it was.  Arizona is in Pacific time, though the state does not follow Daylight Savings Time, though the Navajo Nation Reservation does follow Daylight Savings Time, though some towns in the reservation don’t, and then New Mexico is in Mountain Time and is different altogether!  Rather than trying to keep it straight, we just set up camp and slept when we were tired.

_      Like many other mornings on this trip, we started out today with breakfast sandwiches; this time from the Great Harvest Bread Company in downtown Bend.  (Tomato and spinach were only a dollar extra, but well worth it.)  After breakfast we made our way to the Deschutes Brewery, hoping to enjoy the visitor center and a tour.  Surprisingly, we arrived 45 minutes before they opened.  That gave us time to talk to the bartenders, who gave us a Bend Ale Trail map and sent us on our way.  We had no idea that Bend had nine breweries!

_      After a quick gas fill-up, we were on our way out of town heading east on Highway 20.  We once again entered the crazy high desert terrain from yesterday.  We agreed that we never imagined this kind of topography would exist in Oregon, as it instead conjures ideas of the Southwest.  Another gas top off in Burns (because you never know where the next station will be in the desert) and we were heading south on Highway 78.  Our friend Chris, from Talkeetna, had told us to be on the lookout for hot springs in this area, and we quickly came to Crystal Crane Hot Springs.  We were looking for something natural, not commercial, but we soon changed our mind on hot springs entirely; when the air temperature is this hot, 101 degree water just doesn’t feel pleasant.

_      Pulling away from Crystal Crane the sky acquired a pink hue and the sun began to turn red.  Apparently there is a forest fire burning in Fields, and the smoke from the fire is creating a haze throughout the eastern reaches of the state.  As the haze caused dusk to come earlier than normal, we pulled off the road and found a great spot to camp on top of a butte overlooking the Steens Mountains.  Once again from the top of our butte we were able to enjoy some amazing stargazing and watch the Perseid meteor show.

     In other news, we finally found the most elusive license plate for our license plate game:  Hawaii!  It was on a car just sitting there in downtown Bend.  (Click here to see how the game is progressing.)  Coincidentally, before we even said anything about it, the gas station attendant in Burns also mentioned that he had seen a Hawaii license plate pull through today for the first time in a long while.  Maybe there are some Hawaiians out there doing the same drive we are, at least from Portland to Las Vegas.  If you see the silver Honda Pilot with the Alaska tag and the bike on the back, honk your horn!

Note:  While touring the Bend Ale Trail, we shared small size samples over the course of several hours and with two meals.  Please enjoy the Ale Trail responsibly and don't drink and drive!

     We started our day at Tiny’s, a trendy little coffee shop near Elliot and Brad’s apartment that featured delicious breakfast sandwiches and good coffee.  There, we said good bye to Brad and made moves to our last stop in Portland, the city’s staple where good things come in pink boxes.  We could not possibly leave without trying Voodoo Doughnut (Too)!  When we pulled into the parking lot, Charla spotted a Voodoo Doughnut tuk tuk.  She didn’t even need to try one of their creations before she was in love.  We waited in the short line (much shorter than the one wrapping around the block in front of the original Voodoo shop we had checked out on our first night) and then faced a difficult decision:  what to order?  Chase settled on the Portland Cream and the Maple Bacon Bar (yes, that’s bacon on a doughnut!) while Charla went the sweet route with a Captain My Captain, covered in Cap’n Crunch cereal, and an Oreo King, topped with Oreo crumbles and chocolate.

     A few miles on I-84 led us to Highway 26, a scenic road that took us through Mt. Hood National Forest.  To get an even better view of the snow topped mountain, we cruised up to Timberline Lodge.  There were skiers and riders walking around the lodge, and Chase started aching for a ride.  If only the winter gear were more accessible in the Pilot right now!  Meanwhile, Charla was channeling her inner film buff and getting a little scared just thinking of The Shining, which filmed its outside shots here.

     After leaving Timberline and driving southeast, we started to experience a dramatic change of topography and temperature.  From the cool mountain climes that promoted the growth of much greenery, we entered into the hot and dry high desert where the only green we saw grew up around irrigation systems.  Coming into Bend, we came back into a lot of vegetation, as the Deschutes River and National Forest are nearby.

     Miles back, in Kirkland, Washington, Charla spotted her first Jimmy John’s since returning from Southeast Asia, but we went out for a great Thai meal with Alison instead.  The craving had not gone away, so we went straight to Jimmy’s when we arrived in Bend.  After loading up on sandwiches, we walked around downtown and the riverside before going to the Deschutes Brew Pub to sample the local brews.  In addition to the Chainbreaker White IPA and Spencer’s Gold Ale, the bar staff gave us directions to a camping spot in the National Forest.  We ended up pulling off the road a bit before their favorite locale by Tumalo Creek for a good place to watch the Perseid meteor shower that was just getting into swing.

_     Our day began with texts from Elliot: “Make me a breakfast sammich!”  Over egg sammiches, we made plans for the day to go to “the river,” a Portlander term for any river surrounding the city.  After making friends with Grace and Benji, we followed them to the Washougal River just over the Washington border.  We were on I-5 for just a few minutes before taking a state road that led to the dusty, gravel Forest Service roads.   Grace led us to a spot perfect for swimming and catching some sun, a place where the current slowed around the rocks scattered throughout the middle of the river.  Just upriver was a large swimming hole surrounded by rock faces perfect for jumping.  The sun dipped below the surrounding mountains in the mid-afternoon, so we moved from our secluded spot to Dougan Falls, a more populated spot but one that had better sun.  Dougan Falls was a series of short waterfalls that you could swim under, climb up, and play around.  Unfortunately, it was nearing time for Benji to go to work, so the whole crew returned to the city to drop him off.

_      Back in Portland, we made a stop for some groceries for a quick dinner at sunset overlooking the Coast Range from a beautiful apartment that Grace was housesitting.  After dinner, we retreated to the complex’s pool and hot tub.  We expected the river water to be cold, but even though the pool was relatively warm, it felt cold to us and we stayed in the hot tub.

     At Elliot and Brad’s, we caught up on the day’s Olympic events.  It has been interesting watching the Olympics while traveling; each day that we are able to hear Olympics news it is biased by our location.  While driving through Canada we were listening to results of Canadian athletes, and we listened to some of the controversial Olympics moments involving Canadian teams.  The Canadian badminton team (Bruce-Li, Michelle Bruce and Alexandra Li) was thrust into the international spotlight after a host of other teams were disqualified, while the Canadian women’s soccer team lost their semi-final to the US by a questioned call to the ref.  Once we crossed the border these stories were never focused upon again, and this evening in particular the big story was that the US team had 40 athletes with Oregon ties (including Ashton Eaton, who had just won the gold in the decathlon).  Overall, we haven’t been able to keep up with the Olympics as much as we would’ve liked, but the local flavor definitely has made it more interesting when we are able.

_      We woke up rocked by the waves of floatplanes taking off beside Noelle’s floating home on Lake Union.  We hung out with Noelle while she made us a delicious breakfast, and then we walked around her dock to check out the different floating homes in her “community.”  After a late start out of Seattle, we rocketed down to Portland on I-5.

_      We arrived at Elliot and Brad’s apartment and our hosts gave us a nice tour of historic Irvington, the neighborhood in which they live.  The four of us shared a “bucket,” a delicious concoction whose recipe we brought back from Southeast Asia earlier this summer.  Once we had had our bucket and were ready for a fun evening we jumped on the MAX train for a trip downtown into Portland.  Portland is known for its variety of food carts and casual street food, and we decided to go for the real local experience by devouring Egyptian food.  The Egyptian food made us thirsty, so Elliot brought us to Momo’s, his regular after-work watering hole, where we were met by some of his co-workers for a few drinks and a lot of laughs.

     The tour of Portland continued after Momo’s as we were brought to public squares and historic areas downtown.  One of the most interesting was a square where if you stood in a specific spot within a circular brick structure you could hear your echo even though those standing around you could only hear your regular voice.  From there, a quick MAX ride brought us back to Irvington and a comfortable bed.

_      Once again, we had the pleasure of packing up camp in the rain; we went to sleep with a nice lightning show above and assume the rain started shortly afterward.  The benefit of a rainy morning is that it got us on the road nice and early!  After a couple of hours we drove out of the rain and stopped at an overlook near Big Bar Lake to cook up some breakfast.  After passing through British Columbia’s agricultural district for a couple hours, we made it off Highway 29 and onto the Trans-Canada Highway to drive through the Fraser Canyon.  The Fraser Canyon is a narrow, rocky canyon cut by the Fraser River, and the two-lane road follows the path of the river while clinging to the side of the cliff.

_      Once through the Canyon we had one last Canadian stop in Chilliwack, by far our most successful shopping attempt of the trip.  We were able to do a last-minute stop for Canadian chocolates and beer not available south of the border, as well as some other errands that needed to be run.  We sped immediately from Chilliwack to Abbotsford, where we crossed the border for the last time into the Lower 48!  Another easy border crossing (where we did declare our Timbits, or donut holes from Tim Horton’s), we found ourselves in Sumas, Washington. 

_      Two hours of interstate travel later we stopped in Kirkland, Washington, to visit our friend Alison.  It was great to reconnect, and we took a walk through beautiful Kirkland past the Wilde Rover, the scene of past adventures of Charla and Allison.  Our destination this evening was just next door at Hanuman Thai Café, Charla’s first Thai food since leaving Thailand earlier this summer.  The prices were a little higher than Bangkok street-food (though also significantly lower than prices in Talkeetna), but Charla still approved of the cuisine.  Later that evening we headed into Seattle to visit Noelle, one of Chase’s friends from Talkeetna.  We quickly all became friends and slept soundly that night rocked by the waves of Lake Union.