Yeah, so we were on vacation last week when the awfulness of Charlottesville unfolded. The fact that it happened is sickening and disheartening, but the worst part is that our “President” couldn’t muster enough dignity or human decency to call it what it was or disavow those who were responsible. Ugh. But as I said, we were on vacation when he was not doing what he should have been doing if he were any kind of real leader or moral upstanding citizen. Sooooo… instead of going on and on about how disgusted I am with his response(s) and the state of the White House in general (except bye-bye and good riddance Bannon, you pillar of racism!!) I am going to show you some really pretty pictures of the really amazing road trip we took while all that was happening. And yes, I do feel a little guilty for experiencing so much beauty during such a dark time, but I also feel like it was a constant reminder that there IS good in this world; that there are really decent and lovely people out there. Also it was really nice to escape to the Pacific Coast and gaze out over the beautiful ruggedness of the cliffs and be hypnotized by the vast sea and just disconnect from everything for a little while– to recharge and renew my resolve to be better and to do more to help ensure the world is a nicer place for everyone.
We drove from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 7 days- here are the highlights and places I recommend you go to if you ever find yourself driving down the PCH and the 101.
I haven’t been to Lombard St in 20 years. It’s still as twisty as ever and lots of people were either driving down it or walking up it. We just took pictures of it. I like the view from the top.This is where the streets of the world meet the avenues of the mind.City Lights has books, but also so much more. You really just have to go to see what I mean.Chinatown was cool! We were going to have Dim Sum, but then we ended up finding a good sushi place on the other side of Union Square, so we didn’t really experience it like we should have…but it’s ok because the sushi was really good.I went for an early morning run down the Embarcadero. It was beautiful and I met a lot of homeless people (not really, but I did befriend a cute homeless dog).They don’t call it Fog City because it’s sunny…One day we rented bikes and rode from the Ferry building all the way down the Embarcadero, past Fishermans Wharf and up through the hilly (!!!) Presidio, then over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito. My calves and my buns still hurt from the memory.While we were waiting for the bike rental guy to show up we checked out the Ferry Terminal Farmers Market. It was fabulous- fruits and veg, coffee roasters, baked goods, meats, cheeses, live music and YES!! flowers. Flowers make me happy. Especially when they come in tin cans.This isn’t Muir Woods but it looks like it, right? It’s Andy Goldsworthy’s installation in the Presidio. I thought it was amazing. My kids thought it was just a bunch of tall trees and logs.This is in front of Lucasfilms headquarters which is also in the Presidio. It’s the world’s largest, and also the world’s smallest Yoda fountain. It might be the world’s only Yoda fountain (but I’m not really sure).It was still very foggy which might have been a good thing because riding over the bridge was a little scawwwy.There were a ton of people in Sausalito, but we muscled our way through the crowds and rode down the road out of town to check out the houseboats and that was pretty neat.Habitat goals. Also #supporttheartsI could totally live here.We took a ferry back from Sausalito because really a one-way bike ride over the bridge is plenty. Plus…that view.This was my Rice a Roni moment.I left my heart in San Francisco (no I didn’t, but that’s a good caption for this pic, isn’t it?)One of my favorite stops was in Pescadero, CA. It is a little tiny town in between here and there and there’s not too much to see but they have this brekkie spot that was pretty awesome.Pretty awesome, as I said.Actually, there was something to see in Pescadero…this sweet ride in front of this cute coffee shop (which is across the street from the not cute, but awesome breakfast spot).We tried to drive all the way down to Pfeiffer Beach but the road was still closed. We did manage to see some beautiful sites in Big Sur anyway.Ahhh… so pretty.Did I mention how pretty it was?Super, duper pretty.We like to ride into town with the top down…We drove the Pebble Beach 17 Mile Drive but no one was really impressed. My son pointed out that this cypress is actually not that lonely because there are other trees really close by (cropped out for effect).We were lucky enough to be in Carmel for the start of the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The streets were filled with millions (billions?) of dollars worth of beautiful cars. I love the Porche 911 most of all.I also have a soft spot for VW’s (especially buses). True story: We had an orange VW bus for a few years when I was a kid and when my parents sold it I cried. I still miss that car. We drove it up from Georgia to New Hampshire and my sister and I both got food poisoning at South of the Border. Also, we bought fireworks but we couldn’t light them in NH because it was illegal. But my dad might have anyway. Ah, memories…Indeed.Quick stop in Santa Cruz…We saw surfers, sea lions, and even a giant whale. It was kind of great.We all LOVED San Luis Obispo. What a fun, laid-back cool ass town! We stayed here and you should too, if you like hip, loft style apartment living.We saw the SMEG and immediately felt right at home, except this one is black and ours is orange, so this one is way cooler.Every apartment comes equipped with one of these, and there are stacks of records to choose from. We took turns playing d.j.Here’s my daughter, she liked the free Wifi.Feeling good in SLOI liked this building. I hope Cody Johnson had fun playing there.Also, I liked this coffee shop (Kreuzberg).Except I got chai instead of coffee.Bubblegum alley is really gross.Really gross.We went to Pismo Beach and caught some waves. This is me surfing (just kidding).
Santa Barabara’s Funk Zone is an artist enclave/wine tasting mecca/antique pickers dream.Here’s where we had our 11:00 am wine tasting and the kids had freshly baked scones. Win, win.Another winery. Very tropical, no?Obviously.This place made me wish we’d rented a U-Haul instead of a convertible.This store had only been open for two days when we visited. I like that bag, and also everything else.Wine, yes wine everywhere in the Funk Zone. Yay for wine.And pizza.Onward to LA! We had a pretty sweet spot to relax and chill out at for a bit. And connect to Wifi, of course.Our pool didn’t have any chlorine- just natural stuff like copper and other minerals, so swimming in it felt really good, and also doubled as a bath. Time-saver!I took a lot of palm tree pictures. I don’t really know why except that this view seems very LA.Santa Monica Pier is prettier from afar, but it was fun to be up close too. This is the view from Muscle Beach where none of us did any pull-ups or anything. We just watched other people working out and then went and ate tacos.Here’s where we ate the tacos- Blue Plate. If you’re in Santa Monica, you should go here for tacos.And go at sunset- the view is insane.We spent our last night in Japantown. It was very sweet.And, we ate French ice cream in Japantown. I don’t know why except that it was there so we did.
Thinking of you Charlottesville and Barcelona!! #thereisonlyoneside #lovewins
Yeah, so we were on vacation last week when the awfulness of Charlottesville unfolded. The fact that it happened is sickening and disheartening, but the worst part is that our “President” couldn’t muster enough dignity or human decency to call it what it was or disavow those who were responsible. Ugh. But as I said, we were on vacation when he was not doing what he should have been doing if he were any kind of real leader or moral upstanding citizen. Sooooo… instead of going on and on about how disgusted I am with his response(s) and the state of the White House in general (except bye-bye and good riddance Bannon, you pillar of racism!!) I am going to show you some really pretty pictures of the really amazing road trip we took while all that was happening. And yes, I do feel a little guilty for experiencing so much beauty during such a dark time, but I also feel like it was a constant reminder that there IS good in this world; that there are really decent and lovely people out there. Also it was really nice to escape to the Pacific Coast and gaze out over the beautiful ruggedness of the cliffs and be hypnotized by the vast sea and just disconnect from everything for a little while– to recharge and renew my resolve to be better and to do more to help ensure the world is a nicer place for everyone.
