mish&grey: CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP!!!

After too much mud and too many bugs in Tayrona, I was angry at Colombia. So, we decided to leave (for a small change-of-plane-ticket-fee), and spend the final 2 weeks of our whimsical holiday on a CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP.

Step 1: Arrive Super 8 Motel LAX at 2am in the morning (first ever motor-inn experience);
Step 2: Pick up hire car from Avis. Pay way too much for insurance, fall for upgrading to a more ‘fuel efficient’ car, and pay more to hire a GPS for 2 weeks than a GPS actually costs retail (and later break GPS and will be charged when the damages have been quantified);
Step 3: Drive to Pismo Beach! Beautiful! Eat ribs at Mo’s Smokehouse. Over-order and feel fat, and look fat;

Mo's Smokehouse - they know ribs

mo Mo

Big Ribs

Missing surfing ...

Step 4: Monterey! Check into Motor Inn #2. It smells like Indian food. Walk to the wharf at night. Sit in a bar and watch old people dance to songs like “My Girl” and “Pretty Woman”. Marvel at how good everyone danced in South America and vice versa;

Taffy shoppe - Monterey

Novelty penny - Monterey

Hi - my names Forest Gump ...

Step 5: Hire bikes at Lover's Beach and cycle along the 17 mile drive – past amazing golf courses, Pebble Beach, beautiful rocky beaches and quaint houses;

Bike touring - 17 mile road (about 5 miles for us)

Step 6: Picnic at Carmel Beach – white sand, crystal blue water, big waves, cold wind and dogs bouncing everywhere;

Carmel-by-the-sea - picnic lunch

Step 7: Drive along Pacific Coast Drive – steep cliffs, wind-ey road, deserted misty beaches, and an elephant seal colony!;

Lazy seals

Angry angry seals

Elephant seals come onto the beach to dry out and shed their coat for summer

Step 8: Drive to San Francisco – Check into apparently normal hotel (which we later realise is full of crazies), find a place to leave our car and EXPLORE. LOVE SAN FRANCISCO!

The refurbished ferry wharf holds an amazing farmers market and is filled with gourmet shops containing everything biodynamic, organic, grain-fed, vegan, fresh and local;

San Francisco - foodie town

Heirloom tomato stand - Ferry Market San Fran

Chinatown is huge, old and real - full of great shopping and restaurants;

Chinatown - great Yum Cha

Jersey Shore bobbing heads ...

SF Chinatown

There is an amazing bookstore, City Lights, beside an old, unfashionable, not-cool-but-cool bar called Vesuvius where we drank afternoon martinis (typical in San Francisco);

City Lights Bookstore

Vesuvio Bar SF - Martinis at 3pm

We walked up to a lookout over the city - Coit Tower - and strolled the streets;

My new friend SF - Coit Tower

Coit Tower

Streets of SF

Pacman - SF

more street art

Bussing round SF

We visited Japan-town and ate ramen noodles;
We went to the edge of the bay and watched wind surfers freeze in the water and took photos of the bridge;

Windsurfing under Golden Gate

Fisherman’s wharf – totally kitch but fun – love sourdough bread;

Chowder in Sourdough - Fishermans Market SF

Pearls Burgers - SF

Step 9: Drive over the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Woods – observe the woods from afar as there is nowhere to park the car;

Golden Gate Bridge

Step 10: NAPA VALLEY. Beautiful day of driving – to the oldest cheese factory in the USA, eat cheese and bread and drink wine by a lake, visit Hass winery (impressive art collection, average wine, nice setting), and buy a wire globe for storing corks in (just what I wanted!);

Picnic in the park - Novato (near Napa Valley)

Hess Collection sculptures

Hess Collection Napa Valley

Step 11: Drive towards Yosemite National Park – spend a night in Merced – we stay in Travelodge Motel, which was a bit itchy and had green carpet. We ate dinner at McDonalds. Classy;
Step 12: Drive to Yosemite for the day. Amazing! Spectacular granite cliffs, beautiful waterfalls;