Thoughts from the Left Coast

• The fish here on the coast is awesome. Wait a minute, I live on a coast. Why can't I get good fish there?
• A preponderance of antique shops is the surest sign that a town has nothing more to offer the world than its own discarded junk.
• Hey, look, a Starbucks.
  
• The park ranger said the lighthouse and the beach would be good places to stop, but it's fifty degrees, foggy, and everything is closed for the season. That ranger misrepresented the situation. What's his angle I wonder?
• The menu says "pizza" but there's nothing even remotely like pizza listed there. Coconut pesto? I am frightened.
• Where do they keep the really BIG redwoods?
• They toss the term "deli" around pretty lightly here. Apparently if you have some meat in a fridge or just in a box somewhere, you're allowed to put up a sign.
  
• I feel a sense of pride in not stopping at every huge eyesore meant only to get my attention, but a few miles later I wonder - maybe I should have at least considered what the 20 foot anorexic wooden panda had to offer my vacation experience before gunning the gas.
  
• Hey, look, a Starbucks.
• Oriental Cuisine. Oriental. Oriental? Didn't they retire that word in the late 80s?
• The scenic bridge hiking trail does not actually lead to the bridge. It leads away from the bridge. More deception from the national park service.
• I like driving around with Oregon license plates. It's like I'm in stealth mode.
• Hey, look, a Tully's. And a Starbucks.
• Your sign says free wireless Internet, but I have to stand next to the hotel lobby counter to use it. This kind of defeats the purpose of it being wireless.
• Bendy roads are fun. 40 miles of dangerous rocky switchbacks littered with fallen trees and the occassional patch of intentionally-placed road oil are fun only in retrospect.
• I'm not sure what made me think, "hey, why would I need to bring a jacket to the Pacific Northwest?" Thankfully, Seattle has convinced me of the error of this assumption.
• Let's see, gate C12 is this wa- Crap on a cracker, it's a Starbucks!