One year in

Ola peeps! It's been a while, as we have been on the road in the US. Having a great trip so far, and we are now in Vancouver, hanging out with my ma and pa.
We spent four days in San Fran, which we still loved. It seemed a lot quieter than last time, I don't know if that's because there has been some post GFC quietening down or because we now come from Sydney and that kind of changes your point of view on how busy things are. We stayed at the Mandarin Oriental, and got an upgrade after I complained about noise from the elevator. The new room was on the 41st floor and had three massive windows overlooking the city. We couldn't bear to sleep with the curtains closed because the view was so ace... so we didn't. It helps that it's been really grey and rainy and the sun rises at like eight, so you aren't brutalised into being awake at an obscene hour by sunlight.
Of course, we ate really well. I had the best steak of my life (prime rib the size of my head) and also the best sandie of my life in SF (from an awesome Italian deli - the guide book says it makes the kind of sandwiches the pope would get in heaven, I don't think they were far from wrong - I've possibly talked as much about this sandie as I have about any other meal I've ever had. It was freshly sliced paper thin proscuitto - like $10 worth, fresh buffalo mozarella, onions, roasted capsicum and lettuce, all toasted in an onion foccacia. And it was massive, and I wanted it to never end.)
We hit the road and spent a night at the most beautiful resort in Sanoma (which is the valley parallel to Napa). Most of the drive was grey and misty and rainy, which I love in wine country, and this resort was just amazing - big arm chairs, fire place in our room, huge bath and shower, lovely shutter windows, all a bit Spanish influenced, but not in an obvious way.
Then we hit small town America. Spent a night on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean and then the next night in a suicide inducing fishing come industrial town. We couldn't spend money there if we tried - stoped at a few places to get rates and look at rooms, but we couldn't find anything decent, so the "Lighthouse Inn" (which had nothing to do with a lighthouse) it was.
Two nights in Portland, which seemed a bit down and out to us. It's also the home of all waterproof clothing. Brand labels there are Columbia and Kathmandu, and nerdy bookworm types with attitude (and matching waterproof pants and jackets) seem to have taken over the city. People looked at me strange because I was wearing a dress (and my hot new biker boots), but whatever. Again, raining, so naturally we went shopping at Saks Fifth Ave (I bought a hot dress, Jamie a Hugo Boss jacket).
Then two nights in Seattle at a really cute Scandanavian themed hotel (yes!!!). We really liked Seattle. They have the most amazing farmers market, which is really old and obviously functional and cheap, not just pandering to the organic trendy types. Also not as sanitised as the markets in SF (which were also awesome - I actually like them better, but I'm probably more in the trendy organic category rather than the bargain hunting get your hands dirty category).
Most of the drive we did on the 101 rather than the I5 - the 101 takes a lot longer, but is right on the coast and goes through all the old redwood forests. It was really so pretty. A lot of the time it was misty, drizzly and low visiability, but that didn't really take away from it, it was still very mantic and the forest is all so dense and impenetrable. The road wound out along the coast and through the forests - really just spectacular
We did the drive south from San Fran three years ago, and I think I like the drive north more.
It doubled the cost of the hire car to take it across the border into Canada, so we dumped it in Seattle and caught the train up yesterday. Which is civilised in theory, but with my two rather large suitcases it becomes reasonably painful. Mum was waiting for us, et two very famous dogs, and Frank flew in last night. It's lovely to see them, and right now I'm in the study, and I can see mum preparing dinner, while Frank and Jamie sit at the Island bench in the kitchen having a drink and talking about shares or something equally riveting.
And really, the whole point of this post was to note that it's our first wedding anniversary today! We aren't doing anything special - the last week and a bit has been special enough, and we've eaten out every meal and been packing our bags in different hotels enough to make us both want to stay at home and have a low key night. With french champagne and bunny for dinner of course... So, I wish we could toast to today with our special peeps, but toasting with family who we rarely see is also pretty good. Thanks everyone for being a really special part of our lives for the last year and more. And thanks to my lovely hubby for making the last year so great. Marriage is so much more than I thought it would be, and I love what we have. xx
p.s. photos to come when we get home.
p.p.s. as I write this our new kitchen is all but complete!!! OMG - best ever motivation to want a holiday to end - a BRAND new kitchen. It's surreal to sit here and try to imagine what it looks like. I can't wait to see it. Needless to say, I will post about it asap after I've finished touching everything and panting.