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Down time in Portland

On our way through Idaho, we stopped in Boise for a few days to visit friends and enjoyed the hospitality of our good friend, Mike Coleman. Dave has a large crew of friends in the area so we spent a little time with everyone and enjoyed relaxing. And on Friday, we made the long trek through snow and ice to Portland for a few days of unpacking, repacking and getting organized before we fly to Bangkok, Thailand on Wednesday.

A Summary of Part I of our trip - The Roadtrip:

Total miles (since leaving MT) - 8,881
Total $ spent on gas - $936.67 (Ouch!)
Number of national parks visited - 15
Favorite national parks - Yosemite (CA); Joshua Tree (CA); Black Canyon of the Gunnison (CO)
Trip highlights - Visiting friends and family; CA wine country; Flagstaff, AZ; Santa Fe, NM; Southwestern Colorado (Million Dollar Highway); Lander, WY; All of the national parks we visited
Towns we'd consider living in - Arcata, CA; Flagstaff, AZ; Ouray, CO; Rigby, ID (the Blue Heron Inn, to be precise)
Tips for the road - Books on CD are mandatory when spending that much time together! Chocolate covered espresso beans give you the perfect jolt for the long stretches. Stay at least two nights in the places you really want to see (we did not do this most of the time but wish we had). If possible, always stay in hotels with a little charm instead of the standard chain hotels, which are incredibly dull and never cozy (or stay in a tent!).
Best accomodations - Staying with friends along the way was the best; Treebones Resort in Big Sur; Camping in Joshua Tree; Hassayampa Inn in Prescott, AZ; Dad's house in Midway, UT; Blue Heron Inn in Rigby, ID
Best meals - Any home cooked meals along the way; Ethiopian in Sacramento, CA; In N Out Burger somewhere in CA; Kiki Sushi in San Diego; Maria's New Mexican Kitchen in Santa Fe, NM; Boulder Teahouse in Boulder, CO; 8th Avenue Steakhouse in Steamboat Springs, CO; Billy's Burgers in Jackson, WY; Breakfast at Blue Heron Inn

On another note, our friends just started an outdoor apparel company based out of Boise and their stuff is high performance and has very unique designs. The company is called Core Concepts and if you can't find their stuff in a store near you, you should definitely check out their website - http://www.corelayers.com/. We plan to start ordering lots of stuff from them as soon as we're once again employed!

The next time we log in will be from somewhere in SE Asia. Until then, keep in touch via email. Cheers!

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