Settling In

What do ghosts use to clean their hair?

Sham-BOO!

Happy Halloween! We’ve been in CA for 3 days now and it has been a whirlwind.  Pat  has been all over the Bay area for interviews and networking, and Amy’s been working both in the city and from home. We'd like to point out that the Red Sox won the World Series when we lived in Boston last year, and this year the Giants won, sooooo it's probably because of us.  

We arrived on Tuesday after an oh-so-not-exciting night in Reno.  The drive into California, and then onto Pleasanton, was super easy compared to what we had been doing before.  We were warmly greeted by Erica and went out for a delicious lunch at Blue Agave!  We have never had such good Mexican food, it was amazing! 

Finally starting to see trees again!!

Super excited to be in CA!!

Our first lunch in CA

After lunch, we got half way unpacked, taking the roof top bag down and unloading some of our clothes.  We were super excited for a good night’s sleep before heading in to San Francisco the next morning.  

Rich and Erica were so kind to give us all this great info on the area

Rich cruising in on his scooter 

Gizmo, are our new roomie, is quite the snuggler, if you couldn't tell

Zanzibar the kitty, meow!

On Wednesday, we both went into the city via the BART.  The MBTA could take a fewww lessons from this place.  It is so clean, on time, and organized, basically everything the MBTA is not.  It took us a little under an hour to get into the city.  Amy’s office is in the financial district, and it looks a little bit like Boston’s.  It was a long day for both of us with work/interviews and so after taking a quick little walk around Amy’s office at the end of day, we headed back home. 

Pat did a little exploring on Tuesday 

Yesterday, we had signed up to play in a pick-up soccer game back in the city.  So, we headed out early, hearing that the traffic around here is pretty horrible.  Unfortunately, we never quite found the field, after driving the streets of San Francisco for two hours, and so we turned around.  Those hills are NO JOKE.  Big shout out to Marky Kacps, for showing Amy how to use the E-brake on a steep hill.  While the ride was a nightmare, we did get a good look around the city, and we learned that Amy can drive the streets of SF in a stick shift, without stalling (knock on wood).  

Coming across the Bay Bridge last night

We’re excited to have a low key night with trick-or-treaters and hanging with our gracious hosts, Rich and Erica, and their cute little family of Gizmo, Koda, and Zanzibar.  Also, you guys should check out Erica's new non-profit, Miradi Wild. 

Our unbelievably kind hosts, Erica and Rich!

Also, we’re so so so excited for them that they have a little one on the way in April!!!! And, in other exciting news, we’re ecstatic that our friends Catherine and Chris are engaged!!!!!  

Sorry Catherine, we just had to steal your photo, SO excited for you two!!

Such a big week for us and all these wonderful people!

Happy Halloween!!!

A&P

Almost there...

Yesterday afternoon we arrived in Reno around 4 pm after what felt like a quick 7 hour drive.  We were pretty excited to cross into the Pacific timezone about an hour and a half into our drive.  Everyone had warned us about keeping an eye on our gas, and an eye out for gas stations, in Kansas, but honestly Utah/Nevada was WAY worse.  You could easily go 120 miles with no sign of anything. The ride was pretty, the colors and brush were much different from our previous days on the road.  At one point, our GPS showed a huge body of water next to us, and when we turned to look it was completely dried up.  Guess that's what a real drought looks like!

View as we were leaving Utah

This is a video of us coming out of the mountains in Nevada.  Isn't nearly what it was when we were coming into Salt Lake City, but we thought it might give you an idea of what it's been like in our teeny little car.

Reno is definitely an interesting place. It's a lot of strip malls, and obviously, casinos.  We decided to lay low and eat dinner when the old folks do at 5 pm.  We did a little snooping on Yelp and found a great Thai place  that delivered and so it was Pad Thai, Coconut Curry Soup, and some Pot Stickers for us.

Our little dinner spot! This room is probably bigger than any apartment we'll find!!

After that we called it a night and were in bed by 7:30 pm.  We're off this morning for the last leg of our trip!!! It will take us about 3-4 hours to get from Reno to Pleasanton.  I'll start in my new office tomorrow and Pat is hitting the ground running getting back in touch with some of the connections he made while we were still in Boston.  We'll post again tonight!

A&P

Beers in the "Holy City"

Sunday morning we both slept in late, and then joined Cameron at the Green Pig Pub to watch the Chelsea vs. Manchester United soccer game.  Pat and Cameron typically text each other during the BPL games, and so were entirely excited to be able to watch the game together.  Cameron explained to us, over the tiniest Bloody Mary's you have ever seen that the rules around alcohol in SLC are incredibly strict.  Any type of mixed drink can only have one shot of alcohol in it and you cannot buy a shot the way you might be able to in Boston.  He added that some of the beers actually have a smaller amount of alcohol in them (i.e. 3.2 % as opposed to 4% and up).  Nevertheless, we were still able to try some delicious local beers later in the day. 

After a nice brunch, while watching the game, we headed back to the hotel to get a little more rest.  Cameron and Pat hunkered down on the couch to watch a little NatGeo, and Amy went to take a nap. We all must have been exhausted because 3 hours later, we woke up! I don’t think either of us has slept like that since college.  Either way, it was wonderful.  

After our little tiger snooze, we decided to take the afternoon to explore the city a little more.  We went down to Temple Square, where we saw the Tabernacle (where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs) the Temple, an Assembly Hall, and we also took a walk through the visitor center.  It was an interesting experience for us both, as we felt out of place, but also in awe of the stunning architecture and design.  It probably sounds a little dramatic, but you kind of get the feeling that you're being watched while walking around this area.  There are a noticeable amount of security cameras inside the buildings, as well as on every single street light.  After walking around and taking quite a few photos, we took a drive through some of the neighborhoods in Salt Lake City.  Cameron had mentioned to us that there isn’t really any distinction between “city” and “suburbia” and he was certainly right.  As you drive away from the city, you immediately come upon these very cute homes in cozy neighborhoods.  

The Assembly Hall

Inside the Tabernacle

The Tabernacle from the outside

 

The temple from the front. You can see the Angel Moroni in gold up top

Our last stop for the afternoon was the Utah State Capitol building.  The views from this building, and the building itself, were all stunning.  We sat for about a half hour and just enjoyed the fresh air and the surrounding mountains. 

The view from the plaza in front of the Capitol building

RIP for all the little dead buggies we've collected

Cameron was kind enough to make us a home cooked meal, inspired by his time living in Dallas.  We had some delicious chicken with sautéed jalapeños, corn, peppers, and tomatoes, along with a little avocado. After being on the road for 5 days, we were both ecstatic to have a real meal.  

From there, we went out to a bar called Gracie’s to have a beer with Cameron.  Cameron's roommates are Mormon and out of respect to them, we refrained from having a beer with dinner.  When we arrived at the bar, we discovered that there was a live band playing, and it was such a fun time.  The group was called the Henhouse Prowlers, and they played a lot of folk/bluegrass music.  

Cameron, Pat, and Cameron's friend Ingrid

Pat grew quite the mustache in SLC

Some late night goodbyes :-(

We had a wonderful time with Cameron in Salt Lake City, and it’s a beautiful place, but not our city.  We’re looking forward to a quiet night in Reno, and then the last leg of our trip into San Francisco!!!! 

More to come,

A & P 

We're not in Kansas anymore...

Saturday morning, after a quick breakfast of delicious bagels in a parking lot, we were off to Salt Lake City.  

Cleaning our gross windshield to get the day started

The view leaving Colorado Springs

Mmmm...bagels

Mike Ives, look! 10th Mountain Division in CO

After looking at our maps and the length of time it would take us on varying routes, we elected to go north through Denver, up to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and then over to Salt Lake City.  Unfortunately, we got off to a rough start on the road, getting stuck in HORRIFIC traffic in Denver.  We discovered that it was the result of a four car pile up, and after getting past that, things opened up.  However, later on, while still in Colorado, we saw another accident; a tractor trailer bent in half with a small car crunched.  This one was so bad that traffic on the other side of the highway had been brought to a complete halt, with people outside their cars walking around.  

The view from the passenger seat

Eventually, we took a brief stop in Cheyenne for lunch.  We found a little sandwich shop called the Bread Basket, where we had some soup and some cookies, and quickly hopped back on the road.  

This was nestled in a residential area

From there we spent the rest of daylight climbing mountains and rapidly descending out of them, all while dealing with gusts of wind 35+ mph.  Needless to say it was terrifying.  But, while we were freaked out, it was some of the most beautiful scenery either of us has ever seen in our lives…truly breathtaking.  

We had the opportunity to watch the sunset while on the road, and again, just stunning.  

However, after the sun set, and we got closer to Salt Lake City, things got scarier.  In almost complete darkness/blackness (honestly neither of us knew it could be SO DARK outside), we started coming out of the mountains into Salt Lake City.  The roads were constantly curving, and you had no choice but to keep bombing down them at 75 mph, as all other trucks/cars on the road were going that fast, if not faster.  After some tears (on Amy’s part) and some impressive white knuckle driving from Pat, we safely arrived in Salt Lake, and were warmly welcomed by our friend Cameron at the hotel.  We quickly unloaded the car, changed, and had a late dinner at the Beer Hive.  As we settled in for the night, we made the decision to move our reservation in Reno out a day, and take Sunday to recover/recharge/relax in Salt Lake City.  

Old truckers never die, they just get a new Peterbilt

On Friday, we spent most of the day driving "up" Kansas.  

 

Scenery starting to change a bit from previous days

The whole state was a slight incline leading into Colorado. Needless to say, our mileage was nottttt so great.  Overall it was pretty easy ride.  Pat recovered from being hit by the car (this also happened again Friday morning, only this time with the trunk…twice).  He enjoyed some leftover BBQ in the car, and was happier than a pig in shit.  The ride into Colorado Springs was absolutely stunning.  We arrived at our friend Kevin’s house in the late afternoon, and after getting settled in and taking a drive through the area, we went out to dinner.  

The view from Kevin's backyard

Not the best lighting--Pat, Kevin, and his friend Chris

After dinner, we went out with some of Kevin’s friends and enjoyed some beers and pool before turning in for the night.  

Trying the local brews

The next morning, we embarked on our longest and scariest ride yet....

The view we woke up to

Quick Update!

Hi All!  We arrived safely in Salt Lake City last night after having spent the previous night in Colorado Springs.  We'll be adding some posts later today!

A & P

Should we give up, or should we just keep chasing semis??

So today we drove from Terre Haute, Indiana to Topeka, Kansas.  It was a pretty long, boring ride, mostly looking at fields and the side of semis the whole way.

Fields in Illinois

Crossing the Mississippi

Drew Davis, if you're reading this, Amy stole those sunglasses from you at the Hunt circa 2012.  Sorry :-(

Getting close to Topeka...

The most eventful part was when I (Amy here!) hit Pat with the car backing into a spot at the hotel.  I may have been a little hangry... oops! He's okay, no worries.

In any case, once we arrived, we unloaded and headed out to the Blind Tiger Brewery for dinner.

Our view at dinner

This place was insane! It was so so so unbelievably delicious.  We had a sampler flight of beers with fried pickles and burnt ends (rib meat).  After that we got brisket and smoked chicken.

If you're ever driving through Topeka, go here. Otherwise, we're having another quiet night, heading out  early in the morning to stay with our friend, Kevin, in Colorado Springs.  In the meantime, we thought we'd share some of our East Coast observations of the Mid-West....

1. Gravy is white.
2. FedEx Semi drivers are absolutely terrible on the road.
3. Churches look like storage warehouses and/or fast food restaurants.
4. We've seen more Bob Evans than we ever knew existed, and we're still not quite sure what they are.
5. If you don't look like you're from the Mid-West, people watch you eat.
6. Cream is your only option at Starbucks (RIP Skim Milk).
7. Gas is less than $3 dollars!!
8.  Everyone, literally everyone, is incredibly kind.

Until tomorrow,
A & P