Berk'ley and Frisco

Good morning! Writing from Berkeley, California. Friends of Philippe's family have kindly taken us in for a couple of nights, so we rose bright & early for breakfast with them today - something made sweet by good nights' rest in a real bed.

Since we last wrote, we've (obviously) made it out to the Pacific coast and down through half of California. We spent one night at a truck stop motel in Oregon, and were quick to leave in the morning, across the river to Washington, fresh fruits from a roadside stand, and around Mount Hood, which was really pretty!

In Portland, we stayed at a funky youth hostel, very organic and tree-huggy, like the city itself. On our street we enjoyed a British comedy over pizza and beer (in-cinema!) and left for the coast the next day. Portland is a comfortable place, but probably more interesting if you know a local to show you around!

We have invented some interesting dishes on the road. One of our favourites so far was a chocolate fondue: take one box of Lindt 70% thins and leave in hot car for extended period of time. Dip fresh black cherries. Or, smoked bread: our attempt at toasting over a campfire. It's been interesting! We've taken to calling these things the Adventures of Cheese Boy and Maple Girl. A new name for the blog?

Once on the beautiful coast, we passed Newport and found a campground (actually, shared a site) deep in some mossy woods, up a creek (no pun intended). The host was a loud, self-described redneck who took it upon himself to unite the campers into a latenight party, which ended up convening around our firepit. A group of hippies back from some newage freak festival joined in for s'mores, and we met three Swiss guys who are on a similar roadtrip. It was nice to meet some new people!

The following two nights we continued south, hugging the seashore more and more - Cape Blanco juts out from the 101, and we enjoyed a nearly-empty beach (<- see Phi run!) at sunset, and an unplanned private tour of the lighthouse perched on the cliff in the morning. Then we found a site literally on the beach in the Redwoods park, where we'd driven under towering 300-foot canopies and past 15-foot tree trunks - it's hard to put yourself on that kind of scale! From that site we also took a lovely walk through Fern Canyon, and saw more elk up-close, which seems to be normal out here!

So here we are, amongst more and more palms, although the weather has cooled off. We are so lucky to have such sweet, accommodating people putting us up at the last minute! Yesterday we spent in San Francisco, taking a boat tour of the Bay, and meeting up with the Swiss guys for a rock concert in the evening. We've decided to continue south on the coast, probably to see another friend in Malibu! In the meantime, we may make it to Monterey and get tent-pitchin' again.

Thinking of you all back home, and hoping your summers are going well!