My California Vacation

So, I finally got an opportunity to get away for 9 days - to California!

San Francisco

John and I spent a portion of the trip in San Francisco, also known as the "City by the Bay." Firstly, we stayed in a pretty posh hotel in the middle of the city called "The Mosser."



The rooms were really tiny, and the only parking available was the $25/day valet service that they offered. However, the premises were pretty upscale and since we were nearly in the middle of everything San Francisco has to offer, we had easy access. It was also sorta interesting that this hotel, among most other places in San Francisco, offered no air conditioning because of the cool/mild temperatures year round (it was in the 60-70's while we visited in mid-July). And as you'll notice from the picture, the neighboring building was literally spitting distance away. :P

On the second day, we set out walking to visit Chinatown and some other parts of the city like Yerba Buena Gardens, Coit Tower (which has some amazing views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge), and the area along the bay called Fisherman's Wharf.



Yerba Buena Gardens included a pretty moving Martin Luther King memorial consisting of a wall of inspiration and waterfalls. As seen above, there was also a view of the Museum of Modern Art, sculpted walls and a reflecting pool.

Chinatown, as much as I like trinket/souvenir shops and the like, was pretty disappointing. We headed to this niche of the city looking to be culturally immersed, however, it was basically a long street full of cheap novelty shops and a plethora of Chinese restaurants. There was also this strange phenomenon of waving cats that I didn't understand. o.0



In trekking across the city, we were also became aware of the enormous hills that are a part of the city's geographic makeup. I'd say that was one of San Francisco's interesting distinctions. Anyways, we trekked uphill to a place called Coit Tower, which was built in the early 1900's after a wealthy lady of the city left $125,000 toward the beautification of the San Francisco. One myth is that the tower itself is supposedly an art deco replica of the end of a firehouse since the woman was admirer of firemen.

We also visited Fisherman's Wharf - an area along the bay of San Francisco that makes up a very touristy spot of the city. There were alot of shops, street performers, boat tours to Alcatraz and Angel Isles, views of the Golden Gate Bridge and old historical boats, and a ton of restaurants. There were even Segway and little electric car tours, hehe. While we were there, we visited Ghiradelli Square (yes, a city square devoted almost entirely to CHOCOLATE, mmm) where the the founder built his first factory.

We also took a boat out to Alcatraz and toured the prison/island premises. It was pretty interesting. A prison was erected on the island and operated in the 1920's-1930's to house hardened criminals from other prisons - including mobster Al "Scarface" Capone and the infamous Birdman of Alcatraz. This island served as a fit setting because of its natural isolation from the mainland, but because the residents of San Francisco disliked having it as a focal point in the bay of their city, soil was brought in from Angel Isle and spread across the island, in which was numerous varieties of flowers and plants were reared by trained prisoner gardeners. The island is also known as the "Island of the Pelicans" because it serves as a sanctuary to these sea birds. The lighthouse erected on Alcatraz was also the first built on the west coast.





Lastly, we drove over the infamous Golden Gate Bridge. Nothing can describe the utter size of the bridge until you experience it upclose.





Yosemite National Park

The second part of the trip was devoted to visiting Yosemite National Park, which was approximately 3-4 hours from San Francisco. We stayed in Sonora, a small town about an hour outside of Yosemite (hotel/camping accomodations inside and close to Yosemite were booked full months before our trip because of this park's popularity). The temperature difference between San Francisco, along the coast, and Sonora, more inland, was stark and dreadful - about 40 degrees so! The temperature peaked at 112 degrees at some point! However, once we drove into Yosemite and elevation increased by a few thousand feet, the temperature steadied at a more tolerable 85 degrees.

One of the most notable points about our Yosemite visit was our hike to Taft Point with a ranger. John and I, along with another couple, were the only participants, so the trek was like a private lesson in naturalism. The ranger himself, professing to be a longtime lover of Yosemite, was a college professor most months of the year and returned to Yosemite during his summer months to live with his wife in the park and work as a ranger. During our hike, we were taught about alot of the aspects of the trees, wildlife, foilage and history of the park along with catching glimpses of deer, a mother bear and her 2 cubs and of the state's bird, the Valley Quail.














We also saw such places as Glacier Point (amazing!) as seen above, as well as Bridal Veil falls, and a ton of breathtaking views (as you'll see in my photo album). It was an amazing place, full of natural beauty and wonder.

Santa Cruz/Monterey Bay/Big Basin Redwood State Park

The third portion of the trip was originally intended to be spent at the beach, however, given the cool nature of California beaches and the warm nature of this Georgia girl, I opted out of spending time in the water, now to my and John's disappointment. What can I say, I'm a wuss.

Anyways, we drove and stayed in Santa Cruz (an ocean city). The ocean air smelled quite pungent on the west coast - not as pleasant as the light salty scent of the east. However, this nor the temperature stopped the surfers that we saw. Anytime we saw surfers, there were near 15-20 out in black bodysuits waiting out on their boards in the water. The people also seemed quite different - clothing style was very distinctive and street performers and beggars were commonplace.

While we stayed in Santa Cruz, we drove to Big Basin Redwood State Park, which is the biggest redwood forest area in California. I had to see the trees! The height/circumference of some of these giants were unbelievable!








We also visited Natural Bridges State Park in Santa Cruz. The focal points of this park are the natural rock formations that reside along the coast as well as the grove of eucalyptus trees that serves as a natural Monarch butterfly haven from October to February when the longer-lived species flock there for the winter months. Unfortunately, we visited in the off season, but I'm sure that'd be a sight to see.



Last, but not least (!), we went on a whale watching tour. I'd have to say this was one of my favorite, if not my favorite part of the trip. Whales are my favorite animal, so seeing these beauties in their natural habitat was awesome. We drove to Monterey Bay from Santa Cruz and spent a few hours on the chilly waters of the Pacific following a pair of humpback whales.





The experience was priceless, and is probably my fondest vacation memory. I'll definitely do that again someday.

And that concludes our trip to California! Both John and I had alot of fun and there's no one else I'd rather experience such with.

I also created a photo album with all of the pictures for the trip, and we took alot of video footage as well, so I'll post that soon.



Here's to more enlightening adventures...!