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Month: October 2012

First part coming to an end

It is now time for us to leave main land America where we have spent almost 2 years. First 1.5 years in Phoenix and then 5 months on the road in the States and Canada. We are looking forward to our “vacation in the vacation” on Hawaii before going on to New Zealand for new adventures. It feels good to be on our way, the past weeks has been a bit just waiting to go on. We have spent time selling the car and giving things away that does not fit in our bags. This means leaving has been on our minds for a long time.

Our stay in the USA and Canada was the first part of our trip and the second part, New Zealand, is coming closer. We will be traveling with a different car, still one you can sleep in which is necessary for the budget to work, in a new country. We need to find out where it is ok to spend the night, where to shop and what food is good. It has been easy in America since, after living in Phoenix, we were very familiar with everything and knew what to look for and expect. We are looking forward to everything being new and exciting.

This was the last place we visited before returning the rental car. It is the boardwalk at Redondo Beach, LA. A very nice place I had never heard of before but really worth visiting. A nice pier with restaurants and shops and less touristy than Santa Monica.

West Coast America in pictures

It has taken us about a month to go from Vancouver to Santa Barbara where we are now. In just a few days we are leaving main land America and will fly to Hawaii for a few weeks. During this month we have done a lot of different things. We have visited cities, beaches, wineries and friends. I have collected photos for you to look at instead of text to read. Enjoy!

Vancouver to LA

Adjusting to the environment

A couple of weeks ago we realized something. We like hiking peaks, ridges and anything with a view really. Hiking through a lot of forest we usually do because we have to just to get above the tree line which is where it gets interesting (we think). We have avoided all trails that are completely in the forest and flat and it was easy to do so as long as we were in the mountains. Now we find ourselves more along beaches and rolling hills rather than steep mountains. This makes it harder for us to find something we want to do and we end up drinking a lot of coffee and tea instead of moving. We had to stop buying brie cheese, bread and chocolate because I was gaining weight. Something has to be done, obviously, because I really like those three things.

One day we hiked through a pretty nice forest in order to watch fish jump up a water fall. That was cool, but the hike was quite boring. We discussed though how nice it would be to run on a trail like that. Imagine instead of running on streets or on a treadmill, which we are used to, we could run on this soft and interesting trail with rocks, roots and steps. This is where we decided we needed some more gear.

Nice trail for running on Vancouver Island.

Since we had left our running shoes at home we had to go shopping. Our running shoes are made for pavement so they would not be very suitable anyway. We needed something that can handle water, mud, rocks and slippery roots. Off we went to our favorite store, REI, and bought shoes and backpacks. The backpacks we have are intended for hiking and a lot more weight so they did not work either. Out we came 500 dollars poorer but with equipment that will keep us busy and fit during our travels.

On the beach at Ozette.

We tried our new gear at Ozette in Olympic National Park. Here we found a loop, a 3 mile trail leading out to the beach, along the beach for 3 miles and then 3 miles back on another trail. We ran the first 3 miles, walked along the beach which was filled with drift wood and rocks, and ran back again. It was great! Hiking through the forest to get to the beach would have been boring but now it was fun! The trail was like a board walk through thick, lush, moist forest. Anyone who have played Temple Run knows what I am talking about. This was like the live version except minus the coins, power ups and monkeys chasing you (well, I did have Andy running behind me…)

Having a break before running back.

We have done a few more runs along the coast and it is really quite fun. I have noticed that my cardio fitness might not be the best but we have time to improve that…