California - Part Two

Our first major stop in California was San Francisco, somewhere that I have wanted to go for a very long time. One of the first things that we noticed about it is that it's a little less than driver friendly... all of those pictures that you see where the streets seem to angle directly towards the sky are not an exaggeration. But then again neither are the pictures that show the vibrant shops of Pier 39, the quintessential pastel rowhouses, and the outrageous abundance of delicious food! San Francisco offered all of this and more. It had a feel unlike any other city I have been in... somehow huge, but all very familiar at the same time.

Scott and me standing on Fisherman's Wharf with the city in the background.

For our nightly entertainment we decided to head down to Pier 39 to poke through the shops and try our hand at some San Francisco sushi. The shops were a lot of fun; although the majority of them your typical tourist trap, there were still some unique sights to see. Our sushi dinner was great and we had a view overlooking the harbor, which made the fish taste even fresher!

View of Pier 39 from across the street.

Our view during dinner; notice the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

And of course we had to visit the famous sea lions who reside in the bay!

We spent the rest of the night just wandering around the city to see what we could see and probably the most "glamorous" street was (big surprise...) Broadway!

The next morning we left San Francisco and headed towards Napa Valley. It was a chilly, foggy morning, which meant that we got to see a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge on our way out of town.

Napa Valley was great, it really had everything that I was expecting to see... rolling hills, perfect weather, and too many vineyards (and spectacular houses to go with them) to count. Due to our limited time (and budget!) Scott and I decided to stick with only one vineyard tour and, hoping to get the most bang for our buck and since we are definitely not wine connoisseurs, we went with a large commercial vineyard where we figured we wouldn't be too out of our league - Robert Mondavi.

Entrance to Robert Mondavi Vineyards.

Our choice proved to be a good one, as the other people in our tour group seemed to be equally as (un)knowledgeable as us and we still got to see some spectacular sights. The tour was really interesting and we got to go through the whole processing room and cellar, and then ended with a tasting of three wines. Up until this point Scott and I had done a great job of not buying souvenirs that would waste both our precious car space and budget, but Napa did a number on us and we came home with more than a couple bottles of wine. I even bought my first "real" (aka expensive) bottle from the vineyard.

Fields at Mondavi Vineyards.

Robert Mondavi cellars.

After our tour, which took up the majority of the morning and early afternoon, we continued to drive through the rest of the Valley and stopped at any particularly interesting vineyards to snap some pictures and enjoy the views.

After the Napa Valley we headed towards the coast to start our trek northward, which was my favorite part of the entire trip. We stuck to Routes 1 and 101, which follows the coast and then dips back inland for a drive through the Redwood Forest. The coastline was wonderfully dramatic with waves crashing over the rocks, cliffs jutting out into the ocean, and crystal clear blue waters. It really does make the drive go by faster when there is something great to look at the whole time!

However, as great as the coast was, the Redwood forests were about 1,000 better. I loved everything about them! In addition from the obvious thing (giant trees!), everything about the scenery was awe-inspiring. I have never been in such silent woods before; every surface is covered in moss and pine needles so nothing makes a sound, and it is green on a completely different scale. I have definitely added the northern chunk of California to my list of "Places I Need to Go Again." The only bad thing about the Redwood Forest: it is not easy to photograph, so I apologize for my lack of clear pictures.

Me inside a tree :)

Our campsite... this doesn't even begin to show how cool it actually felt.

Our campsite was aptly named Elk Prairie... we saw this guy (and about twenty of his friends) in the morning.

The Redwoods were our last stop in California. After we left we had a long day of driving and made a last minute decision to camp on the shores of Lake Washoe in Nevada... which had an okay view, I guess :)

Lake Washoe campsite.