Benjamin and Sherry's West Coast Odyssey 2006

So, just ten more days to go until vacation! Since I am pooping my pants with excitement, I wanted all of you to know what I am so excited about. We will be gone for 13 whole days on a tour of the west coast!

Day 1- Traveling to Seattle, WA.
Yes, we are flying to Seattle. This is a huge deal for me since I haven't flown since eighth grade (over eight years ago). Since Lost has been on, my plane-flying phobia has tripled in intensity.

Day 2-
A four-hour whale whatching tour at 9:00am! After the Great Orca Adventures tour, Ben and I will head back to Seattle to visit the home of Kurt Cobain (C'mon, it's the one suggestion Ben made for the whole fricken trip). Then, it's off to the Space Needle for a spectacular view of the night sky in Seattle.


Day 3-
Discover Mount Rainier and Mt. St. Helens National Parks!

I just hope that we can hike around these beautiful mountains without running into a mountain lion. This is why I recently purchased the Worst Case Scenario books (Travel, the original, and the extreme editions).

Day 4- Explore Oregon!

Day 5- Explore Nothern California!

Day 6- San Francisco Day1
We already purchased our CityPasses, which include a MUNI bus line pass (includes the trolleys) and are ready for a day of museums! We get to take a tour to Alcatraz at night!

Day 7- San Francisco Day2
Another whale-watching tour on Monterey Bay. After that, we visit the aquarium to conclude a fish-filled day!

Day 8- Napa and Sonoma Valley!!!
This will probably be Ben's least favorite day, but the scenery is fantastic! I picked several wineries based on their orchard's beauty.

Day 9- Redwood National park!

Day 10- The Oregon Coast!

Day 11- Olympic National Park in WA. With a stop of course to Aberdeen on the way (where Kurt Cobain grew up)

Day 12-
We get to see the rest of Olympic National park (it's huge) and stop at the Seattle aquarium. We conclude our vacation with a dinner cruise (yes, they have vegetarian choices).

Day 13- Back home to good ole Wisconsin.

So, you're asking yourself- Why are you going from Seattle to San Francisco to Seattle? Well, since we are flying out to Seattle, we need a car. When renting a car, one cannot simply drive it from Seattle to San Francisco without being charged a drop fee. You ask- How much can that really be you cheap-ass? First of all, I am not a cheap-ass! Where do you get off calling me that? I tip very well when I go out! And, I am wiling to pay the extra fifty-cents for name brand products when I know that they are a better quality! So there. Anyway, the drop charge is $500 (I called quite a few customer service representatives to try and get this taken off- it didn't work). Hence, the driving back to Seattle. It's not so bad- we get to see the beautiful mountainous interior of Washington, Oregon, and Northern California, as well as the coastal regions of all three states! You can still call me crazy if you like!

I would just like to add that my little white-faced cockatiel Zoe (or Zo bird) sat quietly on my shoulder the whole time I was typing this post, rubbing on my ears and neck! What a cutie! More on the most awesome bird in the world next time, on a co-post with her best friend Franklin (the most superior cat in the world- sorry Tinker and Gabe).