2 GIRLS, 1 AMERICA

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Total Mileage: 3520

License Plate Total:48

While we did a lot of sight seeing on our first day in San Francisco, it was a bit slow to start out. I had to get Americus’ oil changed and I wasn’t sure where the nearest auto center would be. Thankfully there was a Goodyear behind our hotel so I was able to drop it off and then head back to the room to wait. While we waited we walked down to a Goodwill that was near City Hall and the Civic Center. While the Goodwill was stocked with a ton of stuff we didn’t find anything we wanted to bring home with us. After picking up Americus and finalizing our plan for the day we headed out to grab lunch at a crepery café (it was Bastille Day after all). Then after seeing people walk by on the street with ice cream we grabbed ice cream at a local ice cream parlor that had a great vintage feel. We then walked to Haight St. and stopped in a few stores on the way to Ashbury St. We stopped in another Goodwill and were more successful in our finds. I snagged 2 dresses for $20 TOTAL that I could potentially wear for Emily and Andy’s wedding. Rachel got 2 books and a sweater. There was also a Tibetan shop where we both got great deals on some rings. Then we headed to the famous corner of Haight and Ashbury. Up the steep street of Ashbury is the house where the Grateful Dead lived when they were still called the Warlocks. The famous Painted Ladies are a few blocks away from Haight St. so we walked over there afterwards. The view of the houses and city was beautiful- the hike up the hill was definitely worth it. Then the mist/fog was starting to set in but we decided we wanted to check out Golden Gate Park and the Japanese Tea Garden. Unfortunately by the time we got over there the Japanese Tea Garden was closed but there were still really beautiful flower gardens. By this point we were FREEZING even in our layers so we headed over to the Castro District for dinner. We ate dinner at Harvey’s (named for Harvey Milk). Their take on mozzarella sticks with mac and cheese were really good. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel to plan our next day.

-Cassie

(Old fashioned cable car)

(Who wouldn't want a picture of old Princeton Alumni)

(One word- hipster)

(San Fran's city hall kind of puts Philly's to shame)

(Art installation near the Asian Art and Culture Museum)

(Grateful Dead House)

(This picture does not do the colors of these flowers- they were so bright!)

( A cute store we stopped in near the Painted Ladies)

(Their window display)

(This picture also does not acturally show the steep incline of this hill)

(The Painted Ladies)

(The Fog rolling in)

Friday, July 13, 2012

Total Mileage: 3520 miles
License Plate Total: still 48

California here we come!

This morning we left Reno to head to our West Coast destination, San Francisco! We decided to make a pit-stop in Sacramento to see Drexel University Center for Graduate Studies and grab some lunch. Drexel only occupies one building in Sacramento so we parked the car and walked over to the building to take a picture, and coincidentally I just happened to be wearing my Drexel sweatpants. We then drove through Old Sacramento which is behind the Drexel building. It's a small historic area with shops, restaurants, and attractions. We went to lunch at Cafe Bernardo, a suggestion from the Let's Go Roadtripping USA book. Their menu was very "California" with a lot of dishes including avocados and fresh produce.

After lunch we continued on to San Francisco. After crossing the Bay Bridge we checked in to our hotel and settled in. We are staying at the Phoenix Hotel, a trendy hotel in the Tenderloin disctrict of San Francisco. For dinner we ate at Chambers Eat + Drink, the hotel's restaurant and then went to the movies to see The Hunger Games since I just finished the book a few days ago. When we got back to the hotel we started planning our next few days in the city.

- Rachel

(Crossing the Bay Bridge into San Francisco)

As you may have noticed we've added Rachel's Instagram photos to the right. Just click on a picture to see more pictures of us on the go.

-Cassie

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Total Mileage: approx. 3005

License Plate Total: holding strong at 48

Before leaving Salt Lake City for Reno we decided to stop at a Cracker Barrel for an audio book.. With an 8 hour plus drive ahead of us we figured something besides music would be good. You have to pay the amount for the book but they reimburse you after you return the book. There wasn’t much of a selection that we were interested in because most were popular authors like John Grisham, Nicholas Sparks, and Danielle Steel. We selected “I'll Walk Alone,” by Mary Higgins Clark. It was a Law and Order SVU type story of a New York interior designer whose son had been kidnapped and she was being framed for his disappearance. We couldn’t say no to a mystery with an interior designer, but it wasn’t the greatest. There were too many sensory details that it could have been much shorter then its 80 plus chapters. But it did give us something to listen too. I’m sure you’re thinking “enough about the audio book,” but the drive to Reno is about as boring as the book. There’s nothing but desert and more desert with some mountains until you get closer to Reno. Then there are more mountains. We got a great deal at a Baymont Inn for $48 including tax and fees for the night. You may be thinking what did this room look like but it was actually fairly updated with new furniture and a huge flat screen. We selected Bangkok Cuisine, a Thai restaurant for dinner since we were in the mood for something different. The food was really good and so was the service. They had homemade ice cream- Rachel got green tea and I got coconut. After dinner we decided to take the free shuttle from the hotel to “downtown” Reno to check out the casinos. We played a few penny slots but we didn’t win much money (The highest amount was $6.30). After we spent about an hour there we then went back to the hotel to write up some blog posts. While writing we discovered the most engrossing show of the summer besides my family’s discovery of Swamp People on the History Channel. The show is called “American Colony- Meet the Hutterites”. It is on the National Geographic Channel so sorry to those of you without upper cable channels. The Hutterites are like the Amish and Mennonites but they use electricity, they curse, and drink alcohol. Take our word for it and watch it if you have the National Geographic Channel and definitely watch it. Be careful though because you’ll be sucked in like us.

-Cassie

(The Great Salt Lake)

(A random tree like sculpture in the middle of the desert)

(Desert & Mountains)

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Total Mileage: 2594 miles
License Plate Total: still 48

This morning we packed up our camp site and headed west through Yellowstone to seeOld Faithful. On our way we stopped by some hot springs and we drove by an elk on the side of the road. When we got to Old Faithful we had to wait about 20 minutes until it went off. The boardwalk and benches around Old Faithful got more crowded as the time got closer to it going off. It teased the crowd a bit at first with heavy steam and some bubbling up but once it went off everyone was in awe of how high the water shot up. Once it was over there was a mass exodus to the parking lot and gift shops. Cassie and I went to the shop to get some souvenirs and some snacks for the road since we decided not to stop for lunch on the road on account of how much driving we had ahead of us.

Continuing west through Yellowstone we crossed the boarder into Montana. We were in Montana for all of 5 minutes until we started going south and crossed into Idaho on our way to Salt Lake City. We got to our hotel in Salt Lake City around 6pm. We went to Squatters Pub & Brewery for dinner and then took a small night drive through the city to see some of the sights.

- Rachel