An Aerial View of CalPoly and the PAC

A great aerial video made by Jason Lee, a fellow worker at CalPoly and the PAC.


Cal Poly Aerial from Vector Life on Vimeo.

Bel Frites is no more!

I just heard on facebook that Bel Frites is gone.  I enjoyed this San Luis Obispo establishment, but I guess not enough.  Fresh cut fries with a myriad of dipping sauces to appeal to any palette are the only items on the menu.  Besides a varied selection of  beers by the bottle.

The saddest thing for me is that it got to my ears on Small Business Saturday.

Great concept.  Good luck.

2013 TravelingDog Calendar

Cover Shot of the 2013 TravelingDog Calendar
BuddyJack & Luther in Olympia, Washington

It's that time of year to give thanks to who and what we have in our lives.  It's also the time to start to roll out the 11th Annual TravelingDog Calendar.

Capital Dogs!

I thought I would offer the shots that did not make the calendar.  Some of them are outtakes.  Some others I just decided they did not fit into the theme.  Ten capitals in 23 days.  Forty more to make a complete set, but that's going to take a while.  In the mean time, enjoy your day with family and friends.

Happy Thanksgiving!

from

The TravelingDogs

Luther in Sacramento

Luther in Carson City

BuddyJack in Boise

Luther in Boise

Luther in Helena

BuddyJack in Helena

BuddyJack in Edmonton

Luther at the Start of the Alaskan Highway

BJ & Lu at the End

BuddyJack in Salem

BJ in Victoria

BJ and the Fire Hydrant

Marriage Across the States!

It ends on the Oregon Coast

I know.  I know.  Writing these posts after we have returned months before may be hard to grasp for the few who read them.  Especially the ones we see on a regular basis.  But, I do these for our memories, a snapshot of of our journeys in digital form.

It is often the little things that we forget.  The fact that all along our latest adventure and up until today, there have been two spiders living with us in the side mirrors of the Escape.  Tom has named them Charlie and Charlotte.  We've never seen them.  We have only got into into the car every morning and find their webs crisscrossing the mirrors.  We've wiped them away a number of times only for them to come back the next day.  Those two spiders have stayed with us through the torrential downpours, the loose gravel, the blistering heat, the ferries and the capitals.

Years from today, those spiders will only be a faded memory.  By writing about them here, I get to look back and remember.  I also get to look back and see where we have been, together.  Two Dudes and Two Dogs.

Our last day on the road was long.  Still 12 hours left, but I was determined to get home.  We packed our car for the last time on this journey.  The dogs so knew the routine.  No whining today.  There was a short dog walk before we headed out.  And then the road.

We stopped along the way at an Oregon beach.  It was void of people and down a small ledge.  Perfect for a dog run and some ball.  Once the car doors were open, both dogs ran down to the sand.  Then back to us.  Then back down.  Closer to the water then back to us.  Ball!  Ball!  Ball!

Our two dogs love the water.  They'd stay all day if they had there druthers.  We still had half the length of California to get through.  It was time to say goodbye to the shore and begin to head inland towards the heat of Summer.

As we headed inland, down the 101, the heat rose quickly.  98.  100.  104.  108!  It was hot and our Escape just couldn't keep up.  The a/c was failing.  Tom was driving and I was trying my best to figure out why.  Reading the manual for tips.  Searching the web for ideas.  Nothing.

We were both pretty concerned for the dogs.  With the temps at the level it was, we had some fast food for lunch.  We parked under a tree for some some shaded relief.  We stopped only for a short bit and then off on the road again.  This time, though, with ice in our soda cups.  The dogs were panting and I was feeding the dogs some ice, trying to keep them cool.

This lasted for hours.  It wasn't until we neared the Bay Area that there was a touch of relief.  The CA coast was a respite that I wish lasted, but as we headed away from the bay, the temperature headed back up again.  We would not see relief again until the sun began to set.  On the day and our trip.

We arrived home around 10 PM to a clean home.  Fresh linens on the bed due to Tom's thoroughness.  A few showers later, we felt at home.  Three weeks on the road was enough.  The unpacking and the laundry will wait til morning.

The dogs knew where home was.  From history, I knew that it would be a habit to break with them whenever they heard the word car.  It doesn't always mean a road trip.  Tonight, though, they jumped for joy when they got to the house.

We figured we would leave them some time to rest.  For us, a drink.  Or two.  Done!

Oregon and it's Capital

We headed out of Washington for our 2 plus hour drive to Salem, Oregon, our final capital before arriving home.  The sun was breaking out and the heat that we had avoided throughout our trip was building.

We found the capital building quickly, thanks to our iPhone and all of it's apps.  No dome on this one, but still a rotunda.  There was a long garden in from of the capital with an abundance of flowers,   hedges, grassy areas and fountains.

As we approached the building, we saw the Liberty Bell replica that we had seen at the other capitals we had visited.  To the East of the building was a display of all the US flags in a circle.  We walked along the path, with dogs in tow and located the flags with personal meaning for us (MA, CA, VT, IL).

In the front of the capital building were two large reliefs referencing to the history of the state.  On the backs of these two reliefs were etchings of more history, showing maps of different eras.

To the left and right of the main entrance, more etchings in the marble about Oregon's government and it's citizens and their equality.

As usual, Tom kept an eye on the dogs as I went into the building to check it out.  At the center of the grand entrance was the state seal on the floor surrounded by stanchions.  Directly above was the rotunda.  To the left was the Senate and to the right was the House.  Many of the walls were adorned with images of important moments in the state's history.

I joined Tom and the dogs outside.  It was mid day and it was time to get some nosh.  I had heard of the  Word of Mouth Neighborhood Bistro on a fellow bloggers website that I wanted to check out.  It was only a few blocks away, so we headed over some lunch.

The bistro was located within a former house.  The weather was getting hotter, so I looked for a parking space with some shade.  There was a small strip mall located right next door, so I parked under a tree, rolled down the windows for the dogs and we proceeded to the restaurant.

Upon approaching the restaurant, there was a sign telling us that one should not park where we parked or you will get towed.  Their parking lot was full at the restaurant, so I decided to check with one of the  tenants of the strip mall, a dry cleaning store.

I entered their store and asked the woman if she would mind.  Her reply let me know that it was not  here store that had issues but the tattoo parlor on the end, which was closed.  I still didn't feel comfortable staying there, so I drove down the street, looking for shade.  I found a spot under a very large tree and parked.

Tom had found a seat in the front room and was looking at the menu.  They were only open for breakfast and lunch and we looked more closely at the breakfast menu.  I ordered the filet mignon chicken fried steak and Tom got one of the hash dishes.

While waiting for our meals, we talked with our server and told her where we were coming from and where we were headed.  She offered us some hints about which way to go.  She also confirmed that they had creme brûlée french toast on the menu after Tom saw a sign on he wall.

I am a huge fan of creme brûlée!  Huge!  We were simply elated and surprised when our server brought us a sample on the house.  We saved it for dessert after having some wonderful meals.  All in all, a great stop at a wonderful local restaurant serving mostly local ingredients.

We headed out, stopping for gas, and then tried to follow our servers directions towards the shore.  Tom had wanted to get home via Route 1.  I would have rather drive down the 101.  It was a Saturday and we were only 800 miles away from home.  I figured we could punch through it and get home that night.  Tom won the battle in which way to go.

We traveled down the highway a bit and took the turn that the server told us to.  It was supposed to be scenic and a great drive.  What we got instead was a detour as there was an issue on the road ahead.  The detour had us take a 60 mile winding road down to the coast.

It took us over three hours to get there.  On top of that, as we took the left down Rt. 1, all of the campsites were booked.   One after the other, No Vacancy!  Who knew the Oregon coast was so well traveled.

We eventually found a spot in the early evening at the Eel Creek Campground.  We set up camp, hopefully for the last time.  I did a quick check and found that we had traveled for hours and made a whopping 60 miles less distance back to home.  Let's just say I was less than amused at the fact.

We drove into Coos Bay to get some dinner as our supplies in the car had dwindled.  We found a pizza joint that really is not worth mentioning.  As we waited for our order, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some ice and milk for our coffee the next morning.

It was very dark on the way back to camp, so dark that we could not find our campground.  Oregon should spend a little more money on signage me thinks.

We eventually found it and laid ourselves to bed after some pizza and beer.  A few pizza bones for the dogs and we were out.  Our last night camping on a blow up mattress.  No more flashlights or fires.  The tires lasted.  Just one more day on the road.  What could go wrong now?