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June 11, 2008
Escaping From Alcatraz, Day 1 - ROAD TRIP!
After months of training and prep, the Escape From Alcatraz triathlon finally happened on Sunday, June 8. My good friend Jeff and I both participated, and I'm proud to say that I am not a) dead, b) crippled, or c) in the belly of a shark somewhere in the San Francisco Bay.
In fact, the thing was a hell of a lot of fun.
As per usual, here are some trip notes - in this case, from Friday, the 6th (aka, "Day 1")
- The general plan is that Elaine, Jeff, Barb and I will drive down Friday with the bikes and the wetsuits and the gear and the hey hey hey, spend Saturday getting oriented, do the race Sunday morning, sleep Sunday afternoon, and then be all touristy-n'-shit for Monday/Tuesday. This means, of course, that we've got to actually get to San Francisco through that most time-honored of all American pastimes - ROAD TRIP!
- It's a long drive, and a long day, so we'd intended to be on the road by 6 AM sharp. Instead, after a few too many rounds of Mario Kart Wii the night before (where, it must be said, I got my ass handed to me), we elected to, uh delay by getting up 6, and had a strong plan to be out the door at 7.
- (We actually left the condo at 7:30.)
- You can't road trip on an empty stomach, so we headed to Zoka for coffee and heavenly, bacon-egg-cheese panini breakfast.
- Zoka is slow, so we got on the road - for realsies - by 8 AM. The good news is that this means we only have 12.5 hours to go if we don't stop for gas, bathroom breaks, or food.
- Both couples have passenger cars (read: not enough space for the four of us, plus bikes and other business), so Jeff rented a Toyota Highlander for the trip. It's a pretty sweet ride - great handling, great amenities, lots of cup holders, the usual. The Highlander also has an auxiliary jack for the stereo, so the four of us took turns hijacking the sound system with our own respective iPods.
- The weather was awful as we left Seattle - nasty, blattering, wet-to-the-bone rain that makes it hard to see much of anything. Ugh.
- 10 AM: We're telling knock knock jokes. My new favorite: "Knock knock?" "Who's there?" "Smell mop."
- (Say the punchline. You'll laugh.)
- We pass by the Great Wolf Lodge in Centralia, which appears out of nowhere like some kind of crazy casino/kid's wonderland (which is pretty much what it is). Imagine huge waterslides and a Northwest timber motif, and you've basically got it. All I can think is, "when did they put that in?"
- 10:45 AM: "Wish You Were Here" is fantastic road trip music.
- 11 AM: We hit Portland. The weather continues to be awful.
- An hour south of Portland, we see the Enchanted Forest theme park, which looks like a Park Time Forgot - run down, a rickety coaster, fading signage. The weather isn't helping, of course - who wants to go to a theme park in this kind of rain? - but I can't help wonder who the customers for the place are. What parents bring their kids here? Those "Funtastic" traveling carnivals in supermarket parking lots look like a better deal.
- 12:15 PM. We begin playing Tenacious D.
- Roughly 200 miles in to Oregon, it finally stops raining.
- Roughly 10 miles later, it starts again.
- We're hungry, and start using the iPhone to look for lunch recommendations. We get all excited about trying Burgerville in Albany, but miss the off-ramp as I dick around with the mapping application (the iPhone's "current location" always thinks I'm heading north on I-5, which leads to entertaining directions, to say the least.). We find an awesome wiki with restaurant recommendations for Eugene, and settle on the Cornucopia.
- Cornucopia is fantastic. The waitress says they're "known for their burgers" and she wasn't kidding - the BBQ bacon burger is to die for, and their beer selection is astounding. The three of us begin extolling the virtues of the open road, new restaurants, and Oregon in general.
- Another note on Oregon: everybody in Oregon - and I mean everybody is incredibly nice. The lady taking our order, the lady pumping our gas, the crazy homeless guy, everybody. It's not in a Stepford Wives kind of way, either; people just seem relaxed and happy.
- Traveling for any substantial distance on the interstate makes you realize that roads are really about trucks, not cars. I mean, we see lots of cars, sure, but mostly our fellow travelers are trucks going about their business, delivering trees/cookies/aluminum tubing/packages, you name it. It's like peeking behind the curtain of commerce, and seeing how the machinery really works.
- By the way, every trucking company is looking for drivers right now.
- We stopped at the Beanery in Ashland, Oregon, for a caffeine buzz. Maybe it was just because we'd been in the car all day (and were thus punchy), but the four of us could not stop giggling about two drinks - "Pooh's Picnic" and "Flavored Steamer" - followed one another on the readerboard.
- (I do recommend the mocha with Mexican chocolate. Fantastimo.)
- As we left Ashland, the rain stopped. (For good, this time, as it happens.)
- 5:42 PM - We enter California, and begin vigorous debate about the proper pronunciation of "Yreka".
- Dinner is at In-N-Out Burger.
- 9:57 PM. We're 60 miles from Sacramento. It's dark outside, and we're actively stopping at rest areas to jump around and keep our energy up.
- Howard Jones' "No One Is To Blame" comes on the stereo, and we all start singing along, like some cut scene from Reality Bites
- 11:35 PM: We zip through Berkeley, CA and find ourselves paying a $4 toll to cross in to San Francisco across the Bay Bridge.
- The city is beautiful at night - elegant, vibrant, sprawling, fantastic. It's the coolest thing we've seen all day.
- 11:55 PM: With a heavy, happy smile, Jeff pulls in to the hotel lot, parks, and kills the engine.
"We're here."
Posted by Gavin Shearer at June 11, 2008 8:38 PM. Posted to Fitness | Travel.
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When did you start eating meat again?
Posted by: Richard Barrett at June 12, 2008 6:42 AM
Yreka is pronounced sort of like it's spelled "why-ree-kah". Not to be confused with Eureka, on the CA coast.
How do you know this wisdom Schelley? Family connections! Grandparents lived in Yreka, and I've spent a lot of time in that area. I'm surprised that giggles didn't start when you saw the signs for Weed...
Posted by: schelley at June 14, 2008 4:49 PM
Congrats on finishing Escape from Alcatraz! Sounds like the road trip was fun. Are we gonna get notes on the race itself?
Posted by: netsirk at June 15, 2008 9:25 AM
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