San Francisco - Round 2

On our way back up Route 1 my cousin Heather and her husband Mark were gracious enough to allow us to stay once more at there place in San Francisco. Unfortunately it was another quick trip, so we couldn't see too much, but Mark was nice enough to map out a quick car tour of the city, so we did the fastest sightseeing tour of the city in history. We drove and "saw" most of the sights in about an hour. Our pictures all kind of suck, due to fog and time constraints, so if you want to see better pictures.... look them up!

I can't wait to get back one day and really experience the city for a longer period of time.

Route 1 - LA to San Francisco

We drove from Temecula over through L.A. (got a taste of the worst traffic in the US and a glimpse of the Hollywood sign) and then caught Route 1 basically from L.A. up to San Francisco. It was quite beautiful. Many, many vistas, each more beautiful than the last. We saw surfers, kite-surfers, windsurfers, lighthouses, a lot of vast open Pacific ocean, a lot of fog, and elephant seals!

The Route 1 drive is nice because California (like Oregon) was fairly smart back in the day and designated much of the land as State and National Parks, so as you drive along you see nice clean landscapes as opposed to hotels, fast food, trashy souvenir shops and tacky tourist restaurants. Route 1 is very tourist friendly however, with many pull-off areas, picnic areas, bathrooms, and nicely labeled “Vista Points” and “Beach Views”.

Dotting the coast you find “State Beaches,” such as the one we stayed at on the first night. These are camping areas run by the Park Service, complete with flush toilets and running water (some have showers). A cheaper and more fun alternative to staying a hotel!

A quick visit to San Francisco

My cousin Heather, her husband Mark, and their adorable daughter Charlotte, were gracious enough to host us for the weekend on our way down through California. They gave us the whirlwind tour of their part of San Francisco, and showed us just how amazing San Francisco is.

San Francisco is a fantastic place. Maybe my favorite place. It is hard to describe just what it is about it, but I thoroughly enjoyed our short visit and can’t wait to get back.

These fascinating flowers are called Dahlias and the pictures were taken in Golden Gate Park at the Dahlia Garden.

We ventured out into the Haight-Ashbury district and had lunch at the Magnolia Pub and Brewery. Mark and I then took a bike ride up through Presidio Park to the Golden Gate Bridge, (which let me tell you is much more or a sight to see in real life, than in pictures), down to the hidden China beach, up a killer San Francisco hill, then back down to Ocean Beach (a silly name for a beach), and then back through Golden Gate Park to end up at their amazingly-located, beautiful row house on the Park’s panhandle. We ended the day by having dinner at an interesting Mediterranean restaurant on Haight Street.

The next day we cheered Heather on as she passed by during her half marathon, and then we were off, to hit the road for Temecula in the hot California sun, pondering how we can one day afford to move to San Francisco….