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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CYCLING SOUTH INSTEAD OF NORTH || USA TRAVELS

DAY 7

What a surprise, I have woken up at a ridiculous hour again...jet lag is a nuisance. I've been in the lounge since 5am and it's now 8am...Lia is still asleep, so lazy. I've been bombarded in the lounge by college kids so my silence has been ruined!
We got a free breakfast from the hostel and then headed on to the bike shop where we rented bikes for  the whole day to cycle over the Golden Gate Bridge. Clearly from the picture we were so excited and ready to go, however, we weren't prepared for what was ahead of us.
We had a briefing about the journey which was roughly 12 miles to the Golden gate bridge and a few more miles to get back. The route was all over the place, we were bound to get lost.



What were we thinking, of course we got lost, and it was much worse than you can imagine. Instead of heading North of San Francisco, we managed to head South and end up cycling around 15 miles off the route. The funniest thing is we were originally heading North and were following the route correctly but for some reason we thought we were going the wrong way half way there so decided to head back and just guess our way there (NEVER DO THIS!!) After realising we had gone the wrong way as we ended up nearly cycling over the freeway, we decided to ask people, all who couldn't believe how far away we were from it.
To add to the bad luck we've had so far, we were crossing a road and something decided to puncture my tyre (of course it had to be me). So this added on about 15 minutes to our journey of waiting for another bike to get to us. We were still laughing at this point from the biggest mistake we made.





Eventually we got back to where we were 3 hours ago and managed to get to the Golden Gate Park which eventually led us onto the Golden Gate Bridge about 40 minutes later. Words can't describe how amazing this experience was. Even though we were so worn out and had low energy levels, we walked up to the top of the hill to get a better view overlooking the whole bridge.
A while after taking in the views of the Golden Gate Bridge, we continued to head down to the town of Sausalito which was so pretty and right by the sea with a beautiful view of the whole city of San Francisco opposite us. We had a beautiful dinner and treated ourselves to an ice cream which we well and truly deserved.
The whole journey lasted about 8 hours, and we figured out we cycled about 25 miles or more in total (our legs and bums are aching soooo much now).

We were yet to find out, after a ferry ride across back to the city, that we had another few horrible hills to climb. We had so little energy that we walked our bikes most of it. No normal person would be able to bike it anyway, IT'S SO STEEP! 


We finally got back to the hostel and passed out not long after.

Tomorrow we are heading to Yosemite National Park for 2 nights. Knowing our luck, the journey will not be smooth so wish us luck!!

 

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GETTING LOST IN SAN FRANCISCO || USA TRAVELS

DAY 6 




After the most painful and possibly worst 15 hours ever, we have made it to San Francisco and wouldn't be happier! I almost cried when we touched down I was so overwhelmed. Arriving at the hostel 5 hours before check-in, we quickly had showers and went out for the day to explore, leaving our bags with reception. If people know how much sleep we had in the last 48 hours, they'd be amazed with the energy we had. 



Our hostel is in the perfect location, right next to union square and the cable car corner. We decided to climb right to the top of the city so we saw the other side where Fisherman's Wharf is. However, we stopped there as we have planned to do all of that, and the Golden Gate Bridge, tomorrow! 

We explored near enough the whole city and found some beautiful gardens and the high end stores (SAKS FIFTH AVENUE!) Honestly, the people here are so kind, why aren't us British like this?! 

I went out alone while Lia caught up on some sleep and went to find a camera charger as I had stupidly left mine at Penny's house in Colorado. I ended up doing a massive circle and ended up in the same place. I'd say I was meant to do that but I got very lost. Eventually, 30 minutes later, I ended up in the beautiful Chinatown. Chinese men would be playing music on the streets, there were cute little souvenir shops, and beautiful buildings...all so amazing!




Also, the FOOD...IS AMAZING! People aren't joking when they say the portions are ridiculous! If you want normal sized portions then just don't come to America, they don't exist! There are so many cute diners which we will definitely be going in, I mean how can you go to America and not go to a diner?!

We have an action-planned day tomorrow; Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate Bridge, Pier 39...the WHOLE SHEBANG!!

 

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HEADING WEST || USA TRAVELS

DAY 5
Today is the day we head off to the West Coast for 2 weeks. Cali Cali California we're coming for you!!



We started this morning off by eating our delicious cheesecakes we got the previous evening which filled us up for a good few hours.

Before going to the airport, Penny took us to the Green Mile, a.k.a the mile of weed stores. It was actually incredible how many there were, nearly every other store were weed stores!





And so the journey begins venturing off to California. The day started off with warm and decent weather which soon turned to be the worst storm I have ever witnessed. Full on hail stones, the size of small rocks which sounded like they were denting the car, and thunder and lightning every few seconds. Cars would be stopping under the bridges, something you would not see in England. We made it to the airport with an hour spare hoping we would make the flight. No surprise, ALL flights were delayed so the airport was heaving. We had a few hours to kill so we contacted our parents to update them and got a few snacks. After many announcements clashing, I had a bad feeling what had happened...yes...WE MISSED OUR FLIGHT!! Considering we were a few meters away from the gate door, we were so annoyed. They didn't call our names, do repeated announcements..nothing! We found out we would not make our connecting flight, what a surprise! However, what was not expected was that the next flight was at 6am the next day, ahhh a nice night spent at the airport. Even though we were so frustrated,  and our bags would get to San Francisco before us, we couldn't help but laugh away over this...we were waiting for the bad luck to come at some point during our travels.

Anyway, we have landed safely in Los Angeles with the beautifully lit up city view as we were arriving at the airport. The picture above is obviously very bad quality but it just shows how lit up the city was, although it definitely doesn't do it justice! Just a long wait until our next flight now. We have literally spent the last hour exploring LA airport to find food and as we can't check in yet, it is proving to be very difficult. But we managed to find a Starbucks which has saved our lives!!

 

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