Farewell California

After our breathtaking day out at Yosemite, we headed back to LA along the far less scenic route of I-5 and HWY 101. The drive was incredibly boring but we were working against the clock and had to return our car at 3pm that day. Arriving back in LA, it felt like a little part of us had returned home. We had heard, from various sources, that LA was dirty and less enjoyable than other cities in California. Turns out, we loved it and it was nothing like had been described to us. LA is a city of its own, and without a car and willingness to explore, you wouldn’t experience it to its fullest. It helped we had great and accommodating people to hang out with (thanks SB and PMD) and show us parts of LA we may not have discovered. Every single person we met in LA were so friendly, so helpful and so willing to chat away to you. This was perhaps best demonstrated by our new BFF, Shana, who saw us outside SB and PMD’s apartment waiting for SB to get home from work. She invited us into her apartment and plied us with wine. Shana, thanks so much for the randomness of it all! Good luck with the move 🙂

Our last night in LA took place in a bar called The Basement. We had a lot of laughs with SB, PMD and one of their friends who was visiting from San Fran. Our graffiti on the walls are particular works of art worthy of display in The National Gallery of Scotland or Tate Modern Museum.

We even gave the room an inspired musical performance on the bar piano. We may be exaggerating that performance just a little but in our heads it was one of sheer brilliance.

We bid farewell to SB in the morning as he headed to work and we set off to catch the 33 bus to downtown LA to then get the bus to Vegas. $20 for a one way ticket. You wouldn’t get that back home.

So, we have left California and have also bid adieu to Vegas. Blog post about that is forthcoming. S is already plotting his move out West. Since Britney was outta town he HAS to come back and stake out every Starbucks until he spots her in all her coffee glory. We’ll miss the city, but other parts of the US call. Chicago, talk to us.

Much love,

S&A

PS. This is always good advice. Thanks LA!

Pacific Coast HWY1

Our scenic drive from LA to SF took around 8 hours, but it was totally worth every hour. We decided to take HWY 1 rather than the freeway, with the possibility of a few stops and perhaps a layover if we got tired. So on Saturday, July 7th, we said bye to SB and his roommate PMD and hit the road.

Now, as we’ve said before, we’ve assimilated and adapted to LA pretty quickly (we feel) and for the first time we got stopped on the freeway, which was backed up with traffic in LA, and asked for directions to Sunset BLVD. Admittedly we didn’t know in which direction it was, but we felt that our adaptation had paid off. We had been asked for directions in a city we’d lived in for 5 days. Score.

HWY 1 is a contrast of beautiful blue skies, warm sunshine and coastal beaches that glow and shimmer, and misty mountains with steep cliff drops and names that start with ‘Devil’. Sometimes we could gaze across the ocean, other times we were wrapped in a mist like blanket, half expecting the Cullen family to leap from the trees at any second. We had to stop for gas a couple of times; a cashier asked if we were Irish (she was close!); and a couple of Americans asked what kinda gas should go in their car (see, our assimilation and faux confidence into American life is working…pity we didn’t know the answer to that question either).

Hunger called, so we stopped off in Santa Barbara for a bite to eat. My goodness, the place is beautiful. The sun was beating down and we’ve both never felt so relaxed. It felt like paradise and fittingly we ate at Paradise Cafe. S had delicious pork tacos and A had fish tacos with some Chardonnay on the side.

Leaving Santa Barbara, we continued north, passing through a quintessential American town. As we continued along the highway, S spotted a sign that read ‘Men’s Colony’. With both of us getting a little excited about what this could possibly be and thoughts of the male dancers from The Abbey running through our heads, we pulled over to investigate. Turns out, our imagined Men’s Colony was a male correctional facility. Let’s move on.

A little disappointed with our thoughts having been turned to convicts in orange jumpsuits, we continued onward, hitting a treacherous winding climb up coastal mountains. The views were shrouded in mist and the light was failing but the views were atmospheric and breathtaking at times. We pulled over to take some pictures of a Bull Elephant colony (a lot more exciting than the Men’s Colony) and were pleasantly surprised to see them all lazing around, all fat and grunting, spooning one another.

It was getting dark, we still had around 120 miles to SF, and we didn’t fancy hunting for a place to stay late at night. So we stopped in Monterey, expecting to find a bed for the night no problem. Turns out we had arrived on the weekend of the annual Scottish fair and rooms were scarce. What are the chances?! So, humphing around town like Mary and Joseph, we asked every motel and inn if they had a room for the night. Just like the biblical story, doors were slammed in our faces with cries of NO VACANCY. It was worse than Bethlehem. Eventually, we came across the Red Roof inn that had one room left. We’ll take it! The place smelled bad but the room was ok. Some poor couple were spending their wedding night there, having driven in in their wedding car and passed us in the corridor in all their nuptial glory.

Getting a good nights sleep, we left around 11am, drove past the Scottish fair (people in kilts, bagpipes and signs of toss the caber) in search of breakfast. Happening upon Grandmas Kitchen, we tucked into our pancakes, eggs, and waffles before setting off on our final stretch.

We arrived in San Francisco on Sunday and have been on an amazing tour of Alcatraz and have explored some of the city. Blog update soon! We are off to investigate the city a little bit more.

Much love,

S&A