SHOPPING FOR OUR FUTURE NEW YORK APARTMENT || USA TRAVELS

DAY 16
Today was our last full day in San Francisco. We've had an amazing time and I would definitely come back. I would recommend anyone who is thinking of travelling to the US to go to the West coast and take a few days to visit San Francisco, it is one incredible city! Even though the number of homeless people is staggering, you try not to let that ruin your experience.
Today we thought we'd spend doing some shopping and taking a walk (partly bus trip) up to Lombard Street.
This morning we had pancakes which the hostel made the mix for and we could just help ourselves and make as many as want! We only had one each as they were big and we also had toast on the side.

To start the day off we took a visit to Macy's and started to plan what our New York and LA apartments will look like. We may have high expectations but what's the point in having nothing to aim for in the future? We tried nearly every bed we saw even though they said not too but doesn't everyone do that? We also had lunch in Macy's in a place called Asian Box which was incredible and quite reasonably priced.




After a venturing around Macy's for a bit, we made our way over to Lombard Street which was so beautiful. However, cars being allowed to drive down it ruins the views and experience. I was incredibly surprised as to how popular it was. I don't know why as it's the most famous street in San Francisco, I'm just a bit naive!

To end our day and travels, we had a nice indian downtown which was really nice (even though the waiter spilt curry all down me but whatever). Sad to end our travels but onto planning the part!!

 

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ROAD TRIPPING FROM MONTEREY TO BIG SUR || USA TRAVELS

DAY 13
Today we are heading further down south by the coast to a town called Monterey. Before beginning the journey down there, we took the morning to do some shopping and explore Chinatown. Half way through lunch I realised that we wouldn't catch our train in time if we left later than 1pm. By this time it was precisely 1:06pm...great! There was no way we would get our train in time if we got the next bus as it was departing after the time of our train, very inconvenient! Therefore, we had to get a taxi to the station which was going to cost a fortune but ended up being cheaper than we thought as we split the price.
After another very smooth journey, we had arrived in Monterey. We arrived in the early evening so we relaxed at the hostel for a while and then headed out to watch the sun set and go to Monterey bay where they had bars, restaurants, casinos and lots of cute, little shops. Both me and Lia got burgers and I said from the beginning that I was not leaving America without having a burger and this one definitely did not disappoint!
We got back to the hostel and met one of our roommates (we were in an 8-bed dorm). her name was Julia and she was from Austria. Most of the people we have met along this travel have been traveling with cars so it's very easy for them to get around (easier than public transport for sure!) Julia was making her way down to LA gradually. After discussing our plans for the next day and finding out we were heading to the same place, Big Sur, she kindly offered to take us down to Big Sur and visit places along the way on the coastline.



DAY 14

So we woke up this morning bright and early and headed off to Big Sur with Julia. The drive down is so much better in a car as you can stop off along the coast whenever to get out and explore and obviously capture some beautiful photographs of the views, which is what we did.







Along the way, we stopped off at Carmel beach and Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park which was misted over but still a beautiful walk overlooking the sea.

Not much to say about Big Sur apart from how beautiful it was. Even though it was misty, the views were still incredible. Unfortunately we couldn't do any hiking as me and Lia both wore inappropriate footwear but we still had a lovely lunch high up above the clouds. 

DAY 15

Today was the day we were going back to San Francisco for the last few days before we head off in different directions and finish our travelling down the West coast. We took the morning to explore a bit more of Monterey and walked down to the beach called Lovers Point. It was a cloudy but clear day. Although around mid-morning it got very hot, up to around 27 degrees. 

After a short walk to the beach and back, we headed on back to San Francisco. Buses are so weird here as we either just hop on without paying or we lie about our age and get it so cheap (not that I'm complaining). We were so close to missing our train as the bus ride was very slow due to heavy traffic, luckily we managed to catch it with 5 minutes to spare! 

 

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BAKER BEACH DISASTER || USA TRAVELS

DAY 11 

Today we wanted to take the cable car down to fisherman's Wharf and explore all the 'touristy' attractions around that area. The cable car is a must-do if you go to San Francisco. This was amazing to see all the different streets, especially Lombard Street which we are going to walk up when we return here just before our flights back to Boston and Colorado. The cable car was definitely a fun experience, and we were right at the front so we had excellent views of the city. We hopped off at the entrance of Fisherman's Wharf and headed towards Pier 39. 

Pier 39 is known for the hundreds of sea lions around the area. I must say, I was not expecting to see that many sea lions. They were so loud and making hilarious noises. Many were sleeping and others were slide onto the platform on top of them and disturb their sleep; many ending up fighting each other which was quite amusing. They are such funny animals; we were watching them for about half an hour!! 
After exploring Pier 39 and having lunch there, we walked along the sea front and walked over to Fort Mason which took us over the hill to the other side giving views of the Golden Gate Bridge in the mist. It wasn't very clear as it was a hazy day but it was nice to have a walk along the area. 

After a short walk further on down, we got a bus back and headed back to the hostel for a short rest. In the evening we found a beautiful Thai restaurant where we both had delicious meals (I would definitely recommend it - called grab and go). We pretty much knocked out when we got back later in the evening as we were exhausted. 

DAY 12 

One of the worst night's sleep ever as I kept waking up every other hour ugh...oh well! So today we had planned to travel on down to Fisherman's Wharf, then take the ferry over to Sausalito and travel down to Muir Woods. This plan was soon to change as the whole day turned into a complete disaster...what a surprise. Thinking our luck couldn't get any worse on this trip, this day just reached a whole different level of bad luck.
We got to Sausalito and found out that the buses only run on weekends to Muir Woods. We could have hired a private bus but that was soooo expensive and not worth it. Instead, we shared a pizza and ate it on the sea front which was really nice and the weather was beautiful. Even though we spent $20 to get there and back, it wasn't completely wasted as we looked around the small town a bit more and just relaxed.
We took the ferry back after a few hours which gave outstanding views of the Golden Gate Bridge through the mist.

We wanted to head to a beach called Baker Beach which viewed the Golden Gate Bridge from the side. However, it proved great difficulty to find this beach...only 2 1/2 hours (it was supposed to take us 30 minutes!!) So after a long detour, we managed to find our way to the beach only to find out that it was completely misted over and you could only see a couple of metres in front of you. Lia thought it was a good idea to dip our feet into the ocean to see how cold it is, when I headed down a huge wave came in further than we thought and washed up half of my bad, my sunglasses and bus ticket. Luckily I didn't need the bus ticket and my sunglasses were cheap and easily cleaned. Even more lucky, my bag is waterproof but had tonnes of sand at the bottom so it took a few minutes to dry it all up. I went in again to wash my feet and the same thing happened but to me, the water when up to my thighs and completely destroyed my tights...I threw them away at the beach. After this hectic and unorganised day, we were happy to get back to the hostel to our warm beds! We could now get excited for the next day as we were heading further down south by the coast.

 

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UNBELIEVABLE SIGHTS AT YOSEMITE || USA TRAVELS

DAY 8

So we started today with an early start of 6am, checking out of the hostel and heading over to Emeryville Amtrak station. We were so confused with buses but managed to get help from a local passing by. Eventually making it to the station, we had a 40 minute wait until our train, meaning time to top up on food! We got on the train easily and ready to head to Yosemite!

30 minutes into our journey there was a trespasser incident. This left us on standby for 3 HOURS! Because of this hold back, they were offering free food bags with snacks in. We took advantage of this and managed to get 8 bags in total for snacks over the next couple of days (smart thinking right?) Finally arrived in Merced to catch the bus to Yosemite. However, because of the train delay we had to get the last bus at 5:30, we got to the train station at 2:30, so quite a wait. We decided to go and explore the town a bit. We didn't get far as it was very hot, and not much around. When we got the bus, we realised we were only a few more blocks from the town centre but hey ho! 

After a long whole day of travelling, we finally arrived in our amazing accommodation located in the Yosemite valley with the mountains surrounding us. Our tent wasn't too far away from the communal places so we were very happy! Because it was late at night when we arrived, we explored around the area and took an early nights sleep so we could get up early the next day and see as much as possible of the the national park.

DAY 9
An early start of 6am, we got up, showered and headed to breakfast where we both had pancakes. The first time I've had pancakes this year and they did not disappoint!! We started to set off at 9am and took the shuttle bus to the first stop which was Mirror Lake. Nothing to say about it apart from how beautiful and breathtaking the views were...

We then headed onto Yosemite falls which is probably the most spectacular waterfall I've ever seen. You would get to the viewpoint and feel the water lightly on your face. With it being quite busy, we didn't stay too long as we wanted to get onto the next location for a big hike up to the top of the mountain.

We had a few snacks before the start of the hike up the John Muir trail, 3 miles long. It is estimated for people to do this hike between 2-4 hours and they say the hike is strenuous so we HAD to get prepared. Half way through the hike, we got to the half way point which gave a beautiful view of the top of the mountain where you could see the people at the top overlooking the national park. Little did we know, the final part was a challenge! With steep steps, and a shower on the way there from the waterfall, we finally got to the peak of the mountain.

We were in slight shock from the views and the photographs don't really do it justice. We were so exhausted after stupidly deciding to do this hike at the hottest time of the day, it was about 34 degrees on the day. BUT, WE MADE IT! Overwhelming sceneries, we both felt so lucky to have made it here.

This wasn't the end of the hike as we had to trek all the way back down the mountain which was a lot more challenging. Especially during the first part as the steps were incredibly steep so the queue was very slow. Overall, the hike there and back took us roughly 3 hours, including a big break at the top. I would do it all over again if I could. Maybe I will when I come back one day.
We made it back to camp in time for dinner and then headed out at night for a walk through the meadows. I may have got slightly scared that we would run into a bear so didn't make it that far!!

DAY 10
I'm actually amazed we woke up alive this morning as Lia decided to leave a piece of cake in our tent (all food has to go in the bear proof box outside your tents), how lucky were we?!
Anyway, time to leave and we couldn't be any more sad about it. We wish we did more than 2 nights but it just got expensive and travellers have to budget and fit everything else into their schedule (boring but it's reality).
The trip back home was unexpectedly smooth. No delays, no accidents, nothing...weird knowing our luck!
We arrived back into the transbay terminal and got whistled at for trying to run across the terminal instead of taking the pedestrian crossing all the way round (it was actually signposted everywhere but we chose to ignore it).
Back to the same hostel...although our roommate this time around isn't very talkative which is always awkward but we're happy we made it back to the city!

 

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