National parks and heading home

The last day of our west coast adventure had arrived; we woke up early and packed up for the road ahead.

In the noggan

Our friend picked us up in a monstrous car (that would later proceed to require three tanks of gas a day) and we headed out of the city. The original plan was to hike the Chief, but the rainy, foggy weather coupled with the fact that we all were wearing beat-up runners cancelled that idea. We stopped by MEC in the search for waterproof gear before stopping by a few scenic points. We attempted to hike but were stuck in fog that left visibility of only a few metres, so we headed back to the city.

Back to BC

We left our hotel in the early hours and trekked over to the train station. I left to get everyone coffee, and I won't lie - it was my first time ordering coffee. I honestly didn't know what just 'plain coffee' was on their menu, and I had to guesstimate what "one cream, one sugar" meant. I had another London Fog as caffeine and I were still not terribly friendly.

Seattle's best

This was our last day with our Jeep Cherokee - we dropped off one of our quartet at the airport in Portland and drove up to Seattle. We dropped off the car at the airport and took the train to the city.

After being in so many hot places (with the exception of SF), the gloomy, chilly weather that greeted us in Seattle was a bit of shock. Apparently just before we arrived, the weather had been warm and sunny, but the true climate of Seattle was what had greeted us.

Keeping Portland weird

We spent our first morning in Portland eating a classic American breakfast at the Original Pancake House.

16 hours in a car

The drive from Yosemite to Portland is about 12 hours, no stopping, no traffic. We got up early and made ourselves some breakfast at our inn in Mammoth Lakes; I had frozen blueberry waffles with peanut butter, jam, and syrup, yogurt, orange juice and some herbal tea. We all grabbed a banana for the road, I signed the wall, and we loaded the car and got ready for our long journey northwest.

At long last, Yosemite

We left behind the chilly Bay Area for the warm valley early in the morning; after a stop for coffee, we arrived in Yosemite Valley. After $30 USD, we were in and cruising along the national park of my dreams.

Back in the bay

After exactly two years I came back to the Bay Area. We stayed in Pacifica and that first night was very interesting to say the least - but our Airbnb host was very welcoming and made us feel right at home. It was also around 9 to 12 degrees Celcius in the evening and only 18 degrees in the day - it was quite the chilly greeting compared to the 25-30 degree weather of L.A.

Trying to find parking was a disaster. When we finally found a place, we grabbed some Philz and headed to see the SFMoMA.

Cruising down Highway 1

Coastal highways and salty ocean air.

We began the drive from Los Angeles to the Bay Area bright and early. We passed by Malibu and got a quick pick-me-up from Coffee Bean (loved their hot Thai tea!).

City of lost angels

I know that's not what L.A. means but there is something about that phrase that I love.

Our west coast adventure began with a flight to LAX in the early morning. We stopped by In-N-Out as our first stop and I sorry to say I still don't understand the hype...

Afterwards, we headed to Santa Monica for the some gnarly waves.