West Coast road trip - Day 1
The idea of sitting in the car for hours on end has never been appealing to me. It feels suffocating and I get restless. I am also a bit of a planner. So why did I decide to go on a 10-day road trip where the only things planned were the flights there and back and the rental car? Because adventure, photography and love. I want to always try new things, travel different places and challenge myself. Also, if you know me, I am obsessed with the West Coast. I probably couldn't have done this with anyone other than Atif. :) We tend to enjoy similar things and share a style of exploring. We're always curious, talking to people, documenting, and seeking the story.
We rented a convertible, didn't book any hotels and decided we'd just drive. It turned out to be a pretty amazing adventure. I'll share some photos here each day for each day of the trip with a little bit of story.
Because of some complication with getting the car we wanted and at the price we wanted, we started our trip separately. Atif flew to LA a day before I left just to grab the car and drive it 16 hours up to Seattle! Clearly he doesn't feel the same way about long drives as I do. The next day I flew into Seattle. Throughout our journey it seemed that everyone was doing this drive S to N. I'm still not sure why, anyone know?
He picked me up from the airport and we drove to Inn at Queen Anne- a hotel I found on hoteltonight.com while I waited for him at the airport. It's an app that gives you hotel deals for night of and up to 7 days out based on your location. It's pretty sweet and efficient. We get to the Inn to drop off our stuff and it sort of smelled funky but it worked. Location was sweet. We walked to the needle then hit up Pike Place Market. Seafood on the West Coast is it, seriously. Ate a delicious Pumpkin cookie which was actually like a mini cake, imbibed, saw the disgusting gum wall (why is this a thing?), and took a ferry across the water and back just to see the views. Had pre-dinner drinks at the restaurant/bar Pesos, which the hostess said is the hottest single scene in the area. So of course we observed. America inside and outside of the NYC bubble is fascinating. Especially our society's obsession with romantic companionship. Had dinner at Toulouse Petite. It was like having dinner at a club- sort of weird but awesome people watching. The DJ was blasting all sorts of music that didn't seem to go together and a lot of people were dancing in their seats or actually dancing. Is this a form of nightlife I've never seen before? They were doing that at Pesos too.
Atif had been awake for a really long time and had consumed more Red Bull and coffee than anyone should. This combination of events is not ideal. So we called it a night.
Photos of me taken by @atifateeq