James Christopher Hall

600+ mile day today! We said good bye to Mark, and got on the road in search of vegan coffee and breakfast. We ended up in a town called Burley because google maps said there was a Starbucks there. Well it turns out it was one of those Starbucks that’s inside of a grocery store and John wasn’t down for that. Since he was driving I looked up another local coffee shop, it was clsoed, so I looked up another, it was also closed, this was when realized that it is Sunday. I finally found one called Nostalgia Cafe.

It didn’t look it, but it was actually open, and John ordered a vegan coffee and a vegan breakfast sandwich. I had a strawberry lemonade scone. While we waited I saw this cool poster that embodied the two most important traits of my ideal woman: loyalty, and the ability to assemble a Norden bombsight.

It was at this point that we started our turn south towards Utah. It is an extremely desolate part of the country. I didn’t take many photos because there isn’t much there, but here is one

During this stretch John and I chatted about how his smart, independent, and hot girlfriend is backpacking in Nepal and how his loins burn to be reunited with her. They ended up FaceTiming like an hour later, after we crossed into Utah, in the parking lot of our first true culinary destination: In-N-Out!

I haven’t had In-N-Out in probably 15 years, and I was shocked when we walked in and it wasn’t a complete zoo, inundated with throngs of hungry southern Californians. Our cashier, Rubi, was shocked that I was shocked, I guess she’s never worked in SoCal before. John ordered his vegan burger, and I ordered a 4x4 animal style (translation: 4 patties, 4 cheese, pickles, “sauce”, and grilled onions. I’ll let you guess which burger is mine…

While we were eating a dude pulled up in an Audi S5 like my own, except a few years newer. I chatted him up, and learned he had just bought the car, so I shared with him how to “launch” it. I hope he has fun with that.

I enjoyed Ogden, it felt very similar to Wallowa County with the mountians so high and close by.

There is not much of note for the next 400 miles. There were some cool rock formations. It was pretty hilarious though when we crossed into Wyoming from Utah. Right across the border there is a small town that is pretty much just liquor, weed, adult video stores, and fireworks!

In these high plains there isn’t much happening. We saw a lot of what must be natural gas, and oil rigs out in fields. We mostly talked about relationships, children, getting older, the plague, Mount Rushmore, and travel. We spent most of the day driving at >7,000’, with our highest right before we came down into Laramie.

After we got to our hotel in Cheyenne, I tried to scope out some running spots. Unforatunely, like in Jerome, hotels are not positioned next to scenic running routes, so I wasn’t able to run in either place. I did however get to workout in the gym’s fitness center, so that justified my In-N-Out order. Bulking!

For dinner, in honor of John’s beautiful girlfriend, we went to a Nepalese restaurant where we got to try paratha, a special layered fried bread that I heard about on youtube. I chatted with our waitress and she gave me their recipe so I could make it myself. She also caught me dancing to the indian music while seated in our booth. I must have been a good dancer because she brought us a free chilled mango dessert! I wondered aloud to John if this is what women feel like when they get free drinks…it felt good!

Driving back after dinner I took a wrong turn because I couldn’t figure out how to turn on the headlights. So we pulled over into the parking lot of an old fire station and we both got out of the car and just looked at it trying to tell if the headlights were on, this car has so many lights it’s hard to tell! Finally I met a truck driver in a conveniece store who is a UW fan (I was wearing my UW sweater). I think he thought I was a truck driver too, because he kept saying how you don’t find many truckers who went to college. Oh well, I just wanted some advil! Finally, I went for a quick soak in the hotel hot tub, while John went to the room to sleep.

Tomorrow’s departure time: 6AM

Left Walla Walla at 8:45 and drove the Audi to Elgin with my dad and his friend where I met up with John, Mark, and John’s two dogs Po and Plum. We stopped at Kauffman amish market in La Grande to pick up some sandwiches to enjoy later.

After that we got on the interstate towards Boise, where we would pick up a rental car to drive all the way to NYC. I joked aloud to John and Mark that they’d upgrade us from a midsized SUV to the ultra plush Jeep Grand Wagoneer. We made a few stops on the way for the dogs, and for the sammies. Only the smartest water for these dogs…

At the airport we went to the rental car desk and after chatting up the woman there she offered us an upgrade to…a brand new (it still had plastic wrap on the inside) Jeep Grand Wagoneer! We were pretty excited and ran out of the terminal to the parking garage to find it, and after 15 minutes and 5 floors of wandering we returned to the gal, carless, heads hung low, asking for help. Turns out we were in the wrong parking structure the whole time. Once we found the car it turned out to be even bigger in person, and we spent 15 minutes laughing over the absurdity of this car.

After getting the car we headed to Jerome/Twin Falls to stay the night, on the way we stopped at a rest area where we witnessed a neo-nazi and his motorcycle tricked out with ss bolts and swastikas. Welcome to Idaho. It was disgusting.

After checking into our hotel in Jerome, we drove into Twin Falls for dinner at Milner’s Gate. I had a fun huckleberry mojito and some ramen with maple miso fried chicken. John and Mark’s entrees were fine but with disappointing fries and onion rings. Unfortunately we were seated outside and it was very windy. So windy in fact the lime blew off the rim of my mojito, and the loaded potato chips we ordered blew off of the plate! I asked if they’d re-seat us inside, but they refused. So we quickly ate our food and left. I left my phone in the hotel so no food pics.

Tomorrow we’re going to go for a run in the morning before departing for Cheyenne.

This was the first trip I took using my Alaska Airlines free flight pass. I think I will continue to try and dine somewhere unique, and run somewhere unique on each of my trips.

Saturday

Woke up at 3AM to fly out of Walla Walla, and arrived in San Francisco a few hours later.

First stop: Mission District for a legit “mission style” burrito at Taqueria Cancun

After lunch went to the hotel but couldn’t check into the room I booked because I was too early, so the gal at the counter upgraded me! I was able to drop my bags off so I could start exploring the city.

I took the Muni street car to Ocean Beach, it was 71 F with light winds I just sat there for about an hour before walking north to Golden Gate Park.

Golden Gate park is largest park I’ve ever been to, and clearly a mecca for young people. Groups of friends grilling and playing volleyball as far as the eye can see

Next I took the bus to the Italian restaurant Delfina. This restaurant was recommended by my friend, and mentor David Obershaw. I started with the Garibaldi Miscelato to drink, and followed it up with the campo salad

For my entree I had a sage and brown butter squash pasta.

The best part was dessert: salted caramel gelato, inside of a little pavlova igloo. Then half glazed in chocolate fudge, and topped with hazelnuts.

Sunday

Got up early and went to a corner cofee shop for breakfast. I was staying in the Embarcadero. Really wild experience for me. There were about a dozen people there, but I was the only actual customer! All of the other people were door dash delivery drivers, and they all knew each other. It shocked me because in the old days, those would be neighbors gathering and getting to know each other. Kind of bummed me out.

After I ate my breakfast burrito I took the bus to the Golden Gate Bridge visitors center where I met up with David to run to Sausalito. It was an amazing, and relaxing run. Here we are before crossing the bridge

and here we are after

I’d love to do that route again: https://www.strava.com/activities/10837030611

We took the Ferry back as I had enough money on my Clipper card. And got to see Alcatraz which I didn’t expect.

After we got back to the Ferry building I went to my hotel and changed out of my running kit. I then went to China Town to get some food

I had some seafood noodle dish in this basement Chinese restaurant/lounge. Afterwards I popped into a Chinese bodega and bought some imported chewing gum before getting back on the bus, to go experience the SF cable car.

There were a lot of children and elderly on my car so I got to stand, and right at the very front too, for the whole ride. The end station was pretty close to the SF Museum of Modern Art, I’m not super into museums but figured I should go in anyway. I got there 30 minutes before closing so had to go through it fast.

I ended the day by taking the Muni to Twin Peaks and timed it perfectly for the sunset, by the time I got back to my hotel I had 2% battery left on my phone. Flew back the next morning.