A Little Bit Behind

Hey all! I'm (Jesse) writing to you from the laptop bay in the Ace Hotel lobby in Portland. There were a couple points over the past couple days we missed and I am feeling like they should be shared. Maura lovingly got me a cup of joe this am, seeing my cranky face at 8am probably did it. Anyway - let's just go back to that day we left Napa for a second. Let me tell you that we decided to pull off the highway for food and had no idea what we were in for. Shasta Lakes is a tiny bumble town with a few random places to get grub and some auto parts stores...So, when we paid our check and waved goodbye to the waitresses I was NOT prepared for the conversation that followed. I know Maura let you all know a BIT about it. But let me tell you, as someone who took this woman at her word, she was trying to scare my hair straight. She proceeded to say something to the effect of "where are you all headed?" We let her know our plan of heading through Mt. Shasta to Klamath and her face crinkles: "do you girls have chains for your car?". I knew what chains were, which is why I was freaked...Maura thought the woman had just stepped off the funny farm. She said her friend had just come through the mountain pass and that it was a total whiteout up there. She gives us many phone numbers to call for the road conditions and tells me that I have 90 minutes of VERY treacherous driving ahead. Listen, I went to Syracuse, snow is not a freaking issue, but this woman made it seem like we were taking our LIVES in our hands. Maura had the good sense to completely ignore her comments, but I chose to believe her. We stopped to get CHAINS and met Sheryl. Sheryl looked kinda like a dude and she and her colleague ask us all about medical marijuana in New York and our car. She turns to this dude next to her and goes "You know they have all that fancy stuff over there like plows and salt. They have that snow where you can just drive through it! Your car doesn't spin off the road. Not like here." Needless to say I had to pee because I was yet again FREAKING OUT. To make a long story short, Maura drove us through the pass. NO SNOW, NO NEED FOR CHAINS and yes folks the people of Shasta Lakes are maybe a little off.

On another note, last night we arrived in Portland. It was a gorgeous drive into the city and it's a very hip and cute place to hang out. We got to the Ace Hotel, an Eco-Friendly hotel, and checked in. The building is styled with very industrial fixtures and furniture. There is a photo booth in the lobby and the elevator is lined with raw wood. Walking to your room almost looks like walking through army barracks. The rooms are VERY chic and artfully decorated. Simple is the key here. There is a local coffee shop next door called Stumptown...currently fueling this post actually! Oooo Johnny Cash just came on. Haha.

We took a long walk around last night, it was very quiet in the areas we walked and we finally sat down at a place up the street called Jake's. Well, the hostess instantly latched onto us and told us all about her take on Portland. I got a great local beer, Full Sail, and we got really good bar food. MUCH needed after the long day we had. Anyway, we're heading out to find some brunch and take a bike ride! More from Portland later...