Catch up Part II: Um, you're gonna have to spread your legs
The drive up the Pacific Coast Highway, or the PCH, or Route 1, was pretty much amazing. After we woke up super early in LA, we set up the time lapse system so we could record it, and set out on our way. It took us an extra three or four hours to get to San Jose, but it was worth it. We saw beautiful coastline, mountains, and most importantly, Elephant Seals. They were the funniest most awesome animals ever, next to real elephants of course. But they had these ridiculous trunk-like apparatuses, made awesome noises, and scooted through the sand like it was nobody’s business. They also got in the water and played sometimes, so that was cool to see. We were told they had just gotten back from a seriously long swim that had something to do with breeding, so they were resting on the shore. It was totally sweet. Then we continued along and thought we saw a whale, but it was really just a big rock. Snaps. So we decided to eat at the Whale Watcher’s Café because it was the only restaurant we had seen in hours, and we thought maybe we’d see a whale there, but we shouldn’t have done it because the cheapest thing on the menu was $10 and we’re poor folk. Our waiter was also the biggest asshole I’ve ever had wait on me in my life. After that debacle was over, we kept driving some more. We got to a point where we needed gas, and we weren’t sure where the next station was, so we stopped at the only one we’d seen in forever. $4.35 a gallon!!! So we just got a little, but even to get a little at that price I had to pay $30. Of course we started seeing more stations soon after that so we were totally dumb to even stop, but whatevs.
We finally reached San Jose about 6pm and met Sebastien for the first time at his apartment building. He was amazing from the start. He was so welcoming and hospitable, and so laid back and happy to hang out with us. It was like no one we had stayed with before. But I suppose that makes sense since he is one of the founders of Couchsurfing.com. He knows what he’s doing. But his condo was so awesome, with an extra bedroom even though he lives alone, and futons everywhere. You can tell he wanted to make sure he was prepared for any couchsurfing situation that might arise. After we settled in and took some showers, we all went to eat at a Thai restaurant that was really good, and then Seb gave us a small walking tour of the city. He took us to their new outdoor mall/square area that had a life size chess board hanging out in the middle of it that I desperately wanted to play, and then up into the new fancy hotel to show us the city from up high. We got kicked out soon after, and started our way pack to his place, but not before we passed the Winchester Mystery House. We could not believe this thing was actually on Seb’s street, practically next door. We had just recently read about it and it sounded like the coolest thing ever. We totally wanted to go, so we made plans to do it when it was open the next day. And then we explored the really well hidden mobile home park that was located in the bushes next door to the mystery house before actually going home and sleeping.
The next morning we slept in a little bit, hung out, then decided to go out for the day. We first looked for a place to eat, and we found Flames. It was this ridiculous coffee shop with a jungle motif and people wearing Hawaiian shirts. Totally flaming for sure. Then we hit up the mystery house. It was so awesome. Basically, what it is, is the Winchester gun widow had lost both her daughter and husband, so she went to a psychic, which was the psychologist in that day. The psychic told her that she was being haunted by the spirits of the people who were killed by the gun, and that she needed to appease them by building onto her house for them. The psychic also said that if she continues to build this house, Mrs. Winchester would live forever. So she hired 13 carpenters to continually build the house for her, and would go into a séance room every night to get more plans from the spirits on what they wanted her to do with the house. We went on the tour and it was seriously the coolest thing ever. The house was like a maze. There were cabinets that opened up into nothing, doors that went to nowhere, low riser stairs all over the place, all sorts of spider web designs and things that added up to the number 13, and more. I’m pretty sure they said the house had 40 bedrooms, and Mrs. Winchester slept in a different one every night to try and avoid the spirits. And there were 13 bathrooms, but only one had a shower. The gardens were also pretty cool, and Smokey the Bear was an awesome tour guide around those, but it was super hot so we headed back to Seb’s to use the pool. There were lots of kids in it, so Jon wouldn’t go in, but Jaz and I did. And after an hour or so, we went back upstairs to get ready for dinner.
Sebastien got back around 7 and we were all starving, so we immediately went to The Supreme Master’s Vegetarian House, which had portraits of this Asian woman all over the place who claimed to be the supreme master of something. I’m pretty sure it was awesome fake meat, because I’ve never had fake chicken taste so real. The Happy Crispy Rice was what I got, and it was amazing. We all kind of shared, though. Probably the best meal ever. I loved it. And then Sebastien had to go and pay for it, making it the best meal ever even more. Like I said, this guy is the greatest. We couldn’t believe how generous he was towards us. That night we had our big interview with the founder, which went really well, and then we went to bed so we could get up and leave for Palo Alto the next morning.
The reason we had to go to Palo Alto was to interview Chris Hughes, who is one of the founders of Facebook. We got there a little late thanks to more awesome California traffic, but it worked out. Turns out, Palo Alto is basically Stanford’s campus, which I didn’t realize, and it’s also in the Silicon Valley. Our interview went really well, I think, and will probably look the most professional since we were in a boardroom. It was weird to see where this website is made. There were a lot more people working on it than I ever expected, in a much bigger building that I thought. Pretty cool, though. But getting this interview just further made me want to get something from the Myspace people. We have the queen and princess, but not the king. So I’m going to work on that some more.
After that we headed up to San Francisco…
-Melissa
We finally reached San Jose about 6pm and met Sebastien for the first time at his apartment building. He was amazing from the start. He was so welcoming and hospitable, and so laid back and happy to hang out with us. It was like no one we had stayed with before. But I suppose that makes sense since he is one of the founders of Couchsurfing.com. He knows what he’s doing. But his condo was so awesome, with an extra bedroom even though he lives alone, and futons everywhere. You can tell he wanted to make sure he was prepared for any couchsurfing situation that might arise. After we settled in and took some showers, we all went to eat at a Thai restaurant that was really good, and then Seb gave us a small walking tour of the city. He took us to their new outdoor mall/square area that had a life size chess board hanging out in the middle of it that I desperately wanted to play, and then up into the new fancy hotel to show us the city from up high. We got kicked out soon after, and started our way pack to his place, but not before we passed the Winchester Mystery House. We could not believe this thing was actually on Seb’s street, practically next door. We had just recently read about it and it sounded like the coolest thing ever. We totally wanted to go, so we made plans to do it when it was open the next day. And then we explored the really well hidden mobile home park that was located in the bushes next door to the mystery house before actually going home and sleeping.
The next morning we slept in a little bit, hung out, then decided to go out for the day. We first looked for a place to eat, and we found Flames. It was this ridiculous coffee shop with a jungle motif and people wearing Hawaiian shirts. Totally flaming for sure. Then we hit up the mystery house. It was so awesome. Basically, what it is, is the Winchester gun widow had lost both her daughter and husband, so she went to a psychic, which was the psychologist in that day. The psychic told her that she was being haunted by the spirits of the people who were killed by the gun, and that she needed to appease them by building onto her house for them. The psychic also said that if she continues to build this house, Mrs. Winchester would live forever. So she hired 13 carpenters to continually build the house for her, and would go into a séance room every night to get more plans from the spirits on what they wanted her to do with the house. We went on the tour and it was seriously the coolest thing ever. The house was like a maze. There were cabinets that opened up into nothing, doors that went to nowhere, low riser stairs all over the place, all sorts of spider web designs and things that added up to the number 13, and more. I’m pretty sure they said the house had 40 bedrooms, and Mrs. Winchester slept in a different one every night to try and avoid the spirits. And there were 13 bathrooms, but only one had a shower. The gardens were also pretty cool, and Smokey the Bear was an awesome tour guide around those, but it was super hot so we headed back to Seb’s to use the pool. There were lots of kids in it, so Jon wouldn’t go in, but Jaz and I did. And after an hour or so, we went back upstairs to get ready for dinner.
Sebastien got back around 7 and we were all starving, so we immediately went to The Supreme Master’s Vegetarian House, which had portraits of this Asian woman all over the place who claimed to be the supreme master of something. I’m pretty sure it was awesome fake meat, because I’ve never had fake chicken taste so real. The Happy Crispy Rice was what I got, and it was amazing. We all kind of shared, though. Probably the best meal ever. I loved it. And then Sebastien had to go and pay for it, making it the best meal ever even more. Like I said, this guy is the greatest. We couldn’t believe how generous he was towards us. That night we had our big interview with the founder, which went really well, and then we went to bed so we could get up and leave for Palo Alto the next morning.
The reason we had to go to Palo Alto was to interview Chris Hughes, who is one of the founders of Facebook. We got there a little late thanks to more awesome California traffic, but it worked out. Turns out, Palo Alto is basically Stanford’s campus, which I didn’t realize, and it’s also in the Silicon Valley. Our interview went really well, I think, and will probably look the most professional since we were in a boardroom. It was weird to see where this website is made. There were a lot more people working on it than I ever expected, in a much bigger building that I thought. Pretty cool, though. But getting this interview just further made me want to get something from the Myspace people. We have the queen and princess, but not the king. So I’m going to work on that some more.
After that we headed up to San Francisco…
-Melissa