Superlatives from The Oregon Trail- Summer 2010

Best Meal
Allie- Saddlebags in Boulder
Jess- Italian dinner in Denver
Katy- Saddlebags in Boulder

Fave City
AJK- Tie- Seattle/Denver

Fave Camping Excursion
A- Grand Teton
J- Badlands
K- Grand Teton

Fave Drive
AJK- Through the Rockies

Fave Bar
A- John Barleycorn, Chicago
J- Maloney's, Denver
K- The bar we got roasted at in Seattle (we all forgot the name, oops!)

Fave Hotel
AJK- Econo Lodge in Portland (due to Jess' new found friendship and location)

Fave Skyline
AJK- Chicago

Fave Tourist Attraction
A- Cannon Beach, WA
J- Pike's Market, Portland
K- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland

Funniest Moment
A- Riding in the bike taxi in Portland
J- Conversing while driving with the girl from Florida
K- Getting Roasted/Owned in Seattle

Fave Person Met Along the Way
A- Spencer and Buck (the bicycle carriers)/Doris (waitress at Tea Steak House, SD)
J- Kaiser and Bailey( Laura's roommates boxer pups)/the Econo Lodge concierge in Portland
K- Scotty Lind (rock God)

Best Text Message
AJK- From JB "we can chase each other around this city like Carmen San Diego and meet in drunken bliss"

Worst Moment
A- Losing half a toenail/getting headbutted
J- Not being able to watch the Jersey Shore/mistaking a human for a statue
K- Sleeping like a bum in Denver/listening to TomTom
AJK- Sleeping in 30 degree weather with no sleeping bag
Honorable Mention: JB- almost stepping on a bum's face

Best Roadtrip Playlist
"Freeze Frame" by J. Giels Band
"Downeaster Alexa" by Billy Joel
"Jai Ho" by the PussyCat Dolls
Anything by Celine Dion

And the Award goes to....

Allie- most likely to be headbutted, most likely to be injured, most likely to read useless fliers (i.e. Sioux Falls Bride), most likely to fake laugh

Jess- most excited to be handed a microphone, most likely to pull out a mini bottle of hairspray, most likely to headbob, most likely to color in the lines, most likely to lose at rummy

Katy- most likely to get thrown in the air while dancing, most likely to say, "I'll write you a check", most likely to read aloud with gusto, most likely to roll a 7

Tie (Katy and Jess): Most likely to see imaginary things while driving


And finally....

1 lost ATM card
2 new tires
3 continental breakfasts
4 National Parks
5 big cities
11 days
15 states
49 license plates
4,504 miles
1,000,000 cows
and endless memories later...that's a wrap :)

Buck and Spencer(Pratt)

Many apologies for the late entry. It took me this long to get back into East Coast time and back to reality. Friday, July 30th was our last day all together. So we decided to go out with a bang...sorta.

Katy left out the part, though appropriate here, because it was probably this morning as opposed to last night, when we decided to try a new form of transportation back to our hotel room after an eventful night in Seattle. After realizing it was too late to take public transportation home, I flagged down a guy on a bike, with a cart behind him. Obviously the perfect way to get home. About three minutes after picking up 3 ladies, obviously weighed down by the copious amounts of alcohol in our systems, he had to flag down a friend to take some of the weight off his cart. So Spencer and Buck our new friends pedaled away as we laughed, Jess gave out deep tissue massages, Katy demand we hold hands while in seperate carts and Katy and Jess leaping from the carts to race the bike up the hill. (I was obviously semi-in a coma from the headbutt). We had Spencer and Buck, college students, who lovingly referred to as cougars, drop us off in an area in which we thought was a couple blocks away from our hotel, which actually was a little farther and we may or may not have had to use a map to navigate us back. The last thing I remember saying before we drifted off into sleep was, "Do you think Dominoe's delivers beer?"

Katy and Jess seemed to leap out of bed ready to go...me not so much. Although I was awake for a little under 4 hours due to a hangover, we made our last day together fun. After trying to go to Voodoo Donuts (the line was around the block) we made it to Cannon Beach on the coast. What bliss. Katy described it to me as the beach in Maine, but I think that the evergreen trees adorning the background and the massive rocks added to the ambience. (Sorry Mom!) Jess even found a hill to contemplate burrito-ing down.(Though her dreams did not come true about rolling down a giant hill, she did get her caramel apple which she had been dreaming about since South Dakota).

So we ended our day back in Portland at a Pizza joint called Hotlips. Being the pizza snobs we are, we actually enjoyed the pizza a lot. The crust not quite as thin as NY, but not quite as thick as Chicago style. We drove Jess to the airport and with a tearful goodbye, Katy promised to see her at Christmas (WAH). Katy and I made it to Corvallis and watched the only thing that could cheer us up: The Jersey Shore.

I think Jess said it best when we saw her facebook status the next day- Jess Malpelli is moving to the west coast immediately post grad. best summer of my life.

Allie got headbutted.

We woke up this morning giddy from the roast the night before. Layered in jeans, tees and sweatshirts (this is summer??) we decided to spend some of the money we'd previously been thrifty with on a view of Seattle from the Sky Needle.


Upon arriving, we were able to get our picture taken. When viewing it later, we found out the workers must not have liked Jess' earrings with her outfit or the top of her head because both were edited out. The view was pretty cool, except it was foggy (of course) so the tops of the buildings ascended into the mist.


After allowing ourselves a touristy experience, we headed over to Pike Place Market. With a few disagreements over where to park on the street (lot parking was like, eight bucks!) and then which direction to walk, we found ourselves in the bustling atmosphere of what reminded me of NYC Chinatown, minus all the Chinese. There were markets for everything - seafood, fruit, coffee, souvenirs, and bakeries.


On a suggestion from Roadfood, we decided to head to Emmett Watson's Oyster Bar for lunch. YUM! This hole in the wall served up some delicious oysters, clam chowder and fish and chips. The chowder was so creamy, the soup tasted like it was made from mashed potatoes instead of cream. The menus looked liked they were hand written (although we later found out they were not).



With our belly's full, we stopped for some coffee (Allie asked for the third time in recent history what an 'Americano' was) we jumped in the car for Portland! Unfortunately the drive was riddled with traffic but when we finally got there it was worth it.

We checked into our Econo Lodge (thrifty) where Jess began her friendship with the woman behind the counter who recommended a great Lebanese restaurant called Al-Rasheed ( I swear, this could almost be a foodie blog). We ordered the Mezza platter (hummus, baba ganooj, tabbouleh, grape leaves, feta salad, a yogurt like tzitzki,falafel..) and Jess found her new found love for baba ganooj, in which she finished every scrape with lettuce leaves.

After dinner we headed back to the room to make some plans to meet up with out buddy JB and cry hysterically that we were staying in the only hotel in the universe to have HBO but no MTV (for the Jersey Shore season premiere of course!)

The rest of the night can be summed up by using a point system.

Portland has some great free transportation so we waited for the train (+1). Unfortunately while waiting we got made fun of by a gaggle of asians pointing at our fee and giggling. Was it Allie's half toenail? Mine and Jess' stubby toes and nonexistent pinkies? (-1).

The first bar we went to was a hipster bar and the bartender convinced Allie to order some tasty mixed drink with Maker's Mark (+1). However, even sober Jess and I were unable to figure out how to lock the bathroom doors (-1).


JB came(notice Jess' photography skills)!(+1) We made friends with a gay guy who insisted I dance with him (ironic considering the night before). He made me look like a dance superstar with twists, spins and dips (+1). As the night went on, his dips made my head come strikingly close to the floor (-1). He headbutted Allie in the skull by accident (-1). JB was kicked out of the bar when he pretended to hit the guy with a stool (-1).


We ended up at a karaoke bar where we stayed even after last call to sing (+1). Wannabe by the Spicegirls was a hit, and the four other people in the bar sang with us (+1). I've never seen Jess so excited to see a microphone handed to her (+1). JB got to have a second chance singing Piano Man, since his first ever karaoke experience was a disaster (+1).

POINTS TOTAL:
US: 8
Portland: 5

Overall, unlike Denver, we took Portland in our fists and crushed it. I'm going to like it here....