Tips from CR on Seattle

I had lunch with Chris yesterday, and since he spent a few years in Seattle, he recommends Hales Ales.

It's an unassuming place, but I was really impressed with their product, and that is the important part. Hales Ales: http://www.halesales.com/

Fine stuff. From there you can walk around the campus of the UW (nice architecture in some places, and cheap good Thai food along the main drag nearby). The area also has a fish place that provides nice views of the city if you get the right table (Ivar's - get the NW wood smoked salmon). You'll need to go up Mt. Ranier either to Paradise, a popular drive up spot and parking area for dayhike trailheads or one of the other approaches. You must go to Mt St. Helens. It's just too bizarre even after all these years. I also think a trip to Seattle is not complete without driving your car from soggy Seattle east across the Cascades and into Yakima Valley for a day of wine tasting. It may not be quite the pedigeree of Napa, but it's great fun, a total change of climate, a pretty unique drive, and the wines are damn good and getting higher score every year from Wine Spectator. Perhaps you can stop there on your way west, but it's only a couple hours from Seattle so an easy day trip if you wake up early and want to taste 20 wines. We enjoy Silver Lake Winery (they have a Malbec that I still dream about), Barnard Griffen (informal and the guy who owns it was always wasted when we were there), and a few others. No shortage of them around there, and that's not even teh Columbia Valley where there are dozens and dozens of high class joints.

Turn it up, Turn it up, Turn it up!

Having recently joined the "church of the iPod," as our friend Joey says, we need to get a good Traveling Tunes playlist. Obviously, much of the work of Bruce will be in there, what with his preoccupation and fascination with travelling the highways in '69 Chevys. I want tunes that make the hours of riding fun, loud, exciting, and fast!

Here is an interesting iPod statistic, found in today's NYTimes:

Last year, Apple sold 32 million iPods, or one every second. But for every $3 spent on an iPod, at least $1 is spent on an accessory...

Memories, part 2

A big part of this trip for me is the opportunity to just BE. Be me, be relaxed, be spontaneous, be calm, be in love, be healthy, be strong... Lisa

Memories

What memories do you want to have at the end of your days?

That's what I've been thinking about lately. Sometimes the scope of what we are doing is a bit overwhelming, but I have to just remind myself about why I want to do this. What memories do I want to have? Memories of travel and adventure, of beauty and wonders, of new places and odd people, of little towns, big cities, towering mountains and vast skies. I want memories of laughing uncontrollably, of staring at the stars with my love at my side, of watching whales in the Pacific, of standing at the cliff's edge watching the surf crash in beneath us, of the sun setting behind the Rocky Mountains, of the highway rising ahead of us... you get the picture. I want natural beauty all around me and I want to take that journey and create that adventure and make it all happen for us.

Name That Tour!

We're off! Well, not yet, but we're starting to seriously plan and get organized about our lap around America. But we need a tour name for the t-shirt. We've come up with these so far, so email us if you have a better one or to let us know which one you like!

The Hiding on the Backstreets Tour
The Disappearing Down Flamingo Lane Tour
The McAllipoolooza Tour
The One Step Ahead Tour
The McAllis-Tour
The Sweating-It-Out-In-The-Streets-Of-A-Runaway-American-Dream Tour
The Tearing Up The Highway Like A Big Old Dinasaur Tour