When my sister Katrina decided she was moving to Portland, we began talking about a road trip.

About eighteen months ago, Katrina and I drove from Washington, D.C. to Santa Cruz in five days; this time, we started in Atlanta on her birthday and headed toward San Francisco, staying with our sister Kassandra (and her wonderful roommates Spencer and Cassy) last weekend before Katrina and her boyfriend Reid drove the rest of the way.

I'll likely blog soon about the random lavender lady, the chocolate we drove some three thousand miles for, a destination car wash, soul food, and Berkeley raw milk.

For now, here's the rough cut from the road; we make Melissa Clark's fondue at the end---