Wandering Aimlessly

So Friday, right after work, C., S. and I hopped on the 101 and headed northward. We arrived in Santa Cruz about 2:00 in the morning and promptly crashed at M's house.

On Saturday, however, we got to see a bit more of this fine state of ours. Especially because it was light out at the time. We first drove to Big Basin to see the redwoods. So. Freaking. Cool. I've never seen redwoods, and I'm positive these weren't the largest in California, but they were big to me! We took pictures, climbed, and hiked, and then headed to the beach. Beautiful! I haven't found a beach in LA that hasn't been packed with people (of course, I haven't had time to really look too far), so it was a nice change, if not a little chilly. We spent the evening wandering in downtown Santa Cruz, window shopping and eating gelato. Yum!

We got up bright and early on Sunday and headed up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco. Can I just say that San Francisco must be one of the coolest cities ever? We only spent the day, but I fell in love. It's SO much prettier than here. LA's like a big, sprawling, cement suburb. Which has its charm, to be sure. But San Fran was just so neat! We took a cruise on the bay, went under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. Then we headed to Chinatown for lunch and bartering (if the woman would have come down three dollars on the price of the purse I wanted (she came down from $70 to $48, but I only had $45), I'd have bought it), and then over to Golden Gate Park to walk through the gardens.

Afterwards, we drove over the Bridge, and then down Lombard Street, which is the zig-zaggiest road in the world, or something. It's literally a zig-zag. So much fun. And then home, back down Highway 1, which was right in time to pull off to some rocks overlooking the ocean for the sunset over the Pacific. There were surfers and a wedding going on, and it was the most gorgeous sunset I think I've seen.

The trip was not even ruined by the hour wait for food at Denny's, which we never got before giving up and going to Taco Bell.

Then today, we set off back down the PCH at about 9:30 in the morning, which is, again, the most beautiful road I have ever been on. The views were breathtaking. I made S. drive for a while, since I'm always behind the wheel when there's cool stuff to see. Plus, I think he was frustrated with the slowness at which I was taking the curves. Heh. We landed in Santa Barbara to visit with a friend of mine for ice cream, and then made it back to LA about 7:30.

It's been a long day, and a long weekend, but for sure the most fun I've had in a very long time.

And then tonight, C and I went out, but that's a story for tomorrow, as I'm about to crash. *yawn*