Andrew - The self proclaimed driving machine... he must love his Subaru!

Cat - I can't believe I took my new Honda cross country without a decent camera!

Dieter - Dogs love trucks! Dogs love trucks!

Maarten - Dutch exchange student. “It’s niiiiice” Amazingly sweet and tall too... he’s 6' 9"!

Martine - Dutch exchange student. Took way too much teasing from the boys about looking like Camaron Diaz and believing she saw kangaroos on the drive.

Wouter - Dutch exchange student. Dry sense of humor and pride in Holland kept us all entertained.

Fun Dutch Facts from Wouter!
+ The Dutch invented split pea soup (it's their national soup and is popular after ice skating).
+ The Dutch invented the Compact Disc.
+ The Dutch invented cole slaw (it's Dutch for cabbage salad).
+ Phillips is a Dutch company.
+ The famous blue tiles of windmills and such are generally used to decorate the bathroom wall or kitchen wall.

Photos

Davis, California

Visiting Marta on Saturday Night
We drove from Seattle to Davis, CA in miles of rain, and got to sunny Davis in time for it to start raining there too. However, the tiring drive and the ceaseless rain didn't keep up from going out to Froggies to see Marta and meet her friend Kevin. Pictured: Me, Marta, Andrew, Maarten, Martine, and Wouter

Orange County, California

Dinner with Dieter's Parents on Sunday
The fun family... Cal, Krys, and Dieter.

San Diego, California

Our Destination!
We stayed at the HI hostel in downtown San Diego in the historic Gaslamp District. The first shared dorms we had were kind of disappointing, but then when the six of us were put in two private rooms to share, things greatly improved. The free breakfast of pancakes and oranges wasn't bad either.

Balboa Park Desert Garden
San Diego weather was sunny and warm, in other words it was perfect! We visited the Desert Garden to see some gorgeous flora!

Balboa Park Desert Garden
Nature boy pets a cactus.

Balboa Park Desert Garden
Group photo in the Desert Garden.

       Balboa Park

       Balboa Park

Balboa Park
Tuesday was free museum day at the park for the auto museum, but I opted to spend my time wandering the grounds and taking pictures.

Balboa Park
Andrew and Dieter off to hit a museum.

Balboa Park
"The artist and his muse"

Balboa Park
Mosaic dragon play sculpture.

Mission Beach
Dieter and I. Don't let the blue sky fool you... while it was indeed sunny, it was also super windy.

Mission Beach
Musicians serenade the crowds on the promenade.

Mission Beach
Wouter, Martine, and Maarten brave the windy beach for a chance at getting some sun.

Mission Beach
The board walk offered shelter from the wind on the carousel and roller coaster in Belmont Park.

La Jolla Beach
We watched the sunset and drank on La Jolla beach.

La Jolla Beach
The guys were quite excited to see a photo shoot happening near by for a swimsuit model.

La Jolla Beach
Me and Dieter.

Flick-flack
In the US we say back flip; in Holland they say flick flack.

Flick-flack
Here Dieter takes advice from Martine and tries time and again to gracefully complete a front flip.

Flick-flack
After many semi-graceful attempts, Dieter gives up after the sun goes down.

Torry Pines State Park
We drove out to Torry Pines to see the hang gliders, but instead we saw a movie crew shooting the pilot for some TV show called the Crush or something.

Torry Pines State Park
We hiked on trails around the mountain and along the water. Beautiful area!

Tijuana, Mexico

Viva la Tijuana!
Statue at La Ave. Revolucion welcoming visitors.

Shopping...
I only bought a bottle of vanilla, but was quite tempted to buy a $6 Mexican wrestling mask. I can't believe I missed my chance!

Better than shopping...
We knew the real reason to visit was to eat authentic, yummy Mexican food!

Group Shot
Wandering the hillside...

And who could forget?
The highlight of the visit into Mexico was finding a bar that offered FREE RIDES ON A MECHANICAL BULL! Here's Dieter... the brave one who got roped into going first.

Yee-haw!
Cat

Whoa!
Wouter

Ouch!
Andrew (the only injury of the day)

Los Angeles, California

Meg and Me
We made a quick trip to LA and got to see my old roomie Meg! She told us stories about law school (she's graduating in May!!) and stories about her little brother getting roles in movies and always hanging out with Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. Crazy.

More pictures of Hollywood coming later once my film is developed...

San Francisco, California

Friday night I got to see my friend Alan and stay with him for a night! We went to a random house party somewhere in Castro at some guy Simon's house, then we went to a bar called Hush Hush for the best dance music I've heard in years! Saturday we got to enjoy the most spectacular warm and sunny weather SF has seen in a very long time! Saturday night we had dinner at Naan-N-Curry, the best self serve curry restaurant I've ever been to! That night we stayed with Dieter's cousin Chris and then left early Sunday morning for the long 19 hour drive home. (Sadly, our SF trip was so short we didn't have time to see Nick, Vinnie, Julie, or Joey).

Photos coming later once my film is developed...

See photos from California Spring Break Road Trip 2002

See photos from California Spring Break Road Trip 1998

The End!