The internet wasn’t working on Day 17, so it gets skipped altogether. Poor day 17.

We’re back home after spending the night in Morro Bay. It was nice to go back there and have some good seafood on the bay. A sea lion swam by right outside our window.

License plates are here for my car, so I can officially sell it/get rid of it. Before I do that though, I’m taking it in to the dealer tomorrow morning to see if anything can be done to fix my problems. I’ve read about a fix that might work, might not. Have to see.

The puppy is back home, the walls are all still here (thanks Kevin), and I’m off to continue my new found practice of writing before going to bed. In about a week I’ve climbed another 5,000 words to 30k. At that rate I can finish somewhere between 3-5 months! Here’s hoping it can continue once I go back to work.

Glad to be back!

Today we visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I’d been there when I was around 8, but I hardly remembered it. It’s not a very big place, and we saw everything in about 3 hours. Then we walked around Cannery Row where there are different shops and restaurants. Most of the day we lounged around the hotel and watched movies on cable.

Tonight is our second to last night on the trip. We’re off to Morro Bay tomorrow before heading home. It should be a fairly easy drive to help wind down the trip.

Today we drove through San Francisco and we’re staying two nights in Morgan Hill about an hour south of the bay area. We drove over the golden gate bridge and took some pictures.

Tonight we ate with Stacie’s cousin Jess and hung out at her house. It was nice and relaxing.

Tomorrow we’re off to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I’ll be looking for a humpback whale magnet.

Were are in the beach town of Fort Bragg tonight, a little ways north of San Francisco. Tonight we met up with Stacie’s parents who are driving the opposite direction as us to go to a wedding in Eureka. We ate dinner with them tonight and I got to sample a few different beers at the Northcoast Brewery here in Mendocino County.

Today’s drive was on Highway 1 right alone the ocean. It was a really pretty view, but very slow going and windy roads. Tomorrow we’re heading down through San Francisco, going to take a look at the Golden Gate bridge, and then on to a city called Morgan Hill. Stacie has family there, so we’ll visit with them tomorrow night.

I hope none of you are native born resident of Crescent City, CA, or in anyway have great affection towards this city, because it’s really a dump.

We drove down through Oregon and into the most northern section of California today. We drove through some beautiful redwoods and took a few pictures, and tonight we’re staying in Crescent City.

When we planned most of this trip, there were a few places to stay there were convenient, and Crescent City is one of them. We didn’t do a lot of research though, and just went for it. But man, this place is a dump. Whatever you do, stay away from Crescent City.

Tomorrow we’re driving down the coast to Fort Bragg. On the way we should see more beautiful redwoods. Laters.

Edit 1: And as I go back to edit this post, there are guys walking down the street cussing at each other and decided it would be a good idea to fight in the street. Holy crap this city sucks.

Edit 2: And no lie, as I edit this post a second time, we have to listen to the moans and groans of the people in the room next to us. All I can say is she’s having a good time. Unbelievable.

I started to include this in my Day 12 post, but it warranted a separate post of its own. And heck, I’ve got a writing category even!

I’ve decided to write every day, otherwise this book won’t be done for five years. Even a small goal of a few hundred words a day will get the book done in a year (which doesn’t sound as long as it once did). I find myself having a better idea of where the story is going, and the words are jumping onto the page faster, which makes it a lot easier. I hit 25,000 words the other night, which felt good. You can only read so much about “how” to write a book, because once you actually start writing it you learn so much. What makes for an exciting series of events, how characters should react to different scenarios, and most importantly pace. A book is a marathon when it comes to writing, and it’s hard to figure out at first how fast or slow you’re going. Go to slow, and you’ll have a Harry Potter length book but only half a story. Go to fast, and events will jump around too quickly without giving readers a chance to relate to your characters.

If I’ve learned anything though, it’s that you don’t have to be a genius with the written language. Sure you need to be able to form a sentence and use grammar correctly, but it’s all about the story. Is the reader interested enough to keep turning the page? When something happens to a character does the reader care? Can the reader picture in their mind the events unfolding on the pages in front of them? That’s what makes a book a good read.

Today we visited Crater Lake, about an hour north of Klamath Falls in Oregon. Out of all the sites we’ve seen on our trip, this is by far the most “wow” of them all. The lake is about 6 miles across, and 2000 feet deep in spots. The crater is from an old volcano that basically spewed all the magma it had, and then collapsed. Very neat.

Tonight we went back to Wingers for dinner…again. Stacie got a coupon on our bill last night for a free dessert, so we got that and more wings.

Technically we arrived to Klamath Falls in Oregon today, but the title of my post is about a restaurant called Wingers.

They don’t have any in California, but they have the BEST wings EVER. They were super crispy and the sauce was amazing. I had the spicy fire wings, and they were HOT. My mouth burned and my eyes watered a little. Very good.

Something I must complain about here in Oregon is that it is illegal for a person to pump their own gas. Apparently Oregon and New Jersey think the average citizen is too stupid to pump their gas, so instead they make gas stations hire people to pump your gas. Stupid.

Right now I’m watching my first Dodgers game in a couple weeks, and they’ve been doing terrible. I’d be surprised if they can right the ship and make a run at the playoffs, but they’re in a big transition. They’ve got some awesome young players, and a bunch of fuddy duddies. The old guys look older than they ever have before. Not to mention half the pitching staff is broken.

Tomorrow is Crater Lake. Should be a pretty day and we might do a few short hikes to better see the place.