Humboldt County

We woke up in a Wal-Mart parking lot(we are not supporters of Wal-Mart but are glad they share their giant lots with travelers), used the restroom and ate some fruit for breakfast before finishing our ride to beautiful and unique Humboldt County, California to visit our good friend Melissa. Melissa is another Philadelphian who has been living on the west coast for a few years now. After a very scenic drive through the Redwoods, we climbed a windy road up a steep mountain and eventually down a driveway greeted by Melissa and her adorable pup, Sophia.

San Francisco – MewithoutYou

This wouldn’t be our first time seeing MewithoutYou perform, and this definitely wouldn’t be our first time seeing them play at a venue so far from our home (we once crossed paths and saw them play in Munich, Germany, and another time by luck in Omaha, NE). The deal is that MWY tour a lot, and when we travel, coincidentally, we happen to be in or near the same cities. It just so happened that the band has been touring to support their newest album, “It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All A Dream! It’s Alright” (which is awesome), and we were both heading into California around the same time. We have been friends with these guys since our high school days, and have been so happy for all of their success with the band over the past few years. Aaron and the band have also been somewhat of the inspiration for us to travel using WVO (waste vegetable oil) as they do the same in their tour bus.

Long Beach, California

Sunni in India

A year ago we made our second trip to India. We spent 6 weeks traveling around northern India, and 17 of those days we spent with a small group of people touring Rajasthan. We made a good friend on that trip and have remained in contact with him since then. Visiting with him was one of our goals while on the west coast. We met Sunni at his home where he has lived all his life. He took us for a walk along the ocean, and a tour of the neighborhood Naples. Later, we met his family and had dinner. Amy took a walk with Sunni’s mother to check out the plentiful gardens on their block and in their backyard filled with growing vegetables and fruits- very cool. We spent the night and left in the early morning. It was exciting to see Sunni again, to see what he has been up to, where he lives, and to meet his wonderful family.

Got Grease?

We were warned a few times that it would be hard to find unclaimed grease throughout California, and gas prices are usually much higher there. So, a couple of weeks before our arrival in San Diego we sent an email thru fillup4free to a person who stated there was a network of grease car owners in the SD area who may have extra WVO to give away for free. After corresponding with Frank, he sent out a mass email to a few other grease car owners and WVO collectors in the area. Then I received a call from Ned who said he could give us enough to fill our tank, so we arranged to meet with him. It was great to see fillup4free work like it did, and just like the couchsurfing network, it will be very fulfilling to give back to the cause once we settle down.

San Diego

Before heading out to San Diego to visit Jose and Katy, we grabbed a $1.99 falafel wrap at Ali Baba’s and made a pit stop at Buffalo Exchange. We made our way across the desert and thru some mountains to a much milder climate. It was nice to see some friends so far away from home- Jose and Katy had just moved from Philadelphia to San Diego about the same time we left for our journey. Upon our arrival, Katy put us up in her parents’ luxurious condo in the VERY hilly neighborhood of Mission Hills. Jose also had a couple of friends coming to visit for a bit, and Amy’s birthday was the upcoming Sunday, so we geared up for a few days of festivities. It was so great to spend time with our good friends from back east, meet their friends, play some games inside and outside, prepare delicious meals and drinks, check out Katy’s prints (and take one with us!), hang out, and have an adventure out at the National Air Guitar competition while we visited!