Tweet

Total Mileage: 3800
License Plate Total: 48

This morning Cassie looked up our nearest Goodwill and wouldn't you know it, the closest was only a few blocks away so we walked over before going sightseeing. It was the most organized Goodwill we have been to. All of the clothes were arranged by color! I got a dress and a skirt and Cassie got a belt. It had some pretty good finds.

Since we only had a day in Los Angeles I looked up 1 day itineraries and found one from Frommer's that was good so we decided to follow that. First thing we did was walk down Hollywood Boulevard to see the stars on the Walk of Fame and the DolbyTheater (formerly Kodak Theater) and Grauman's Chinese Theater. Today was the premiere of Step Up Revolution so there were barricades around the Chinese Theater so we weren't able to see the hands and feet of the stars in the cement. There were a ton of companies offering Star Homes Tours so we found one that gave us the best deal and took a trip through the Hollywood Hills to see the homes of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, Adam Sandler, Penelope Cruz, Michael Jackson, and Justin Bieber just to name a few. The tour also went through Beverly Hills, down Rodeo Drive, Sunset Boulevard, and up Mulholland Drive to see the Hollywood Sign. The bus held 30 passengers and Cassie and I were the only English speakers. There was a group of 21 French high school age children and chaperones with their French Canadian translator and 7 Spanish speakers. It was a pretty interesting 2 hour long tri-lingual tour.

After the tour we had a late lunch at Roscoe's House of Chicken & Waffles where we both had, you guessed it, chicken and waffles.

We had two options for the evening's activity, go to Universal City Walk as we were suggested by a Universal employee on Hollywood Boulevard or go to the Santa Monica Pier as suggested by Frommer's. We decided it would be better to drive the last 20 or so miles of Route 66 a.k.a. Santa Monica Boulevard to the beach and Santa Monica Pier. We walked on the beach and stuck our feet in the water which was delightfully warmer than the air. The Pier was busy with people buying souvenirs, snacks, and tickets to go the the roller coaster, ferris wheel, and other rides. Cassie and I walked around and took in the sights before heading back to the hotel.

- Rachel

(Pantages Theater)

(El Capitain Theater, where all Disney premieres are)

(Grauman's Chinese Theater)

(Dolby Theater, formerly the Kodak Theater)
  





(Hollywood & Highland Center)

(Hollywood Sign, unfortunately we didn't get very close)

(LA skyline from Mulholland Drive)

(Ben Affleck & Jennifer Garner's house)

(Michael Jackson's former home, the one he died in. Pardon the lens flare)

(Back entrance to the Playboy Mansion)

(Rodeo Drive)

(Sunset on the Santa Monica Beach)

(Santa Monica Pier)

Tweet

Total Mileage: 3250

License Plate Total: 48

Our next stop in California was Los Angeles. And yes we decided to get there in one day (you’re only young once right?). Looking back I wish we had more time to see more along the way but we were on a tight schedule. Also at this point in the trip we are so used to driving for 8 hours or more that it was doable. One of the biggest recommendations about California that we had gotten prior to arriving in the Golden State, was to drive Highway 1 along the coast to LA. Well we were apprehensive to say the least after hearing about there being many curves and spots without guardrails. As a person afraid of heights and prone to motion sickness I was nervous. We also didn’t want me to have to drive the whole thing because Rachel is still a novice driver. So we decided that we would drive down Highway 1 to Monterey so that we could see some of the coast and then drive over to Interstate 5. I’m really glad we did. Even with it being overcast, the curves and changing scenery made the 4 hour trip picturesque, but also short. In Monterey we stopped at their State Beach to stick our toes in the Pacific Ocean (a first for both of us). The water was COLD, and I’m used to swimming in the ocean in Maine. After seeing so many farm stands along the way we had to stop at one and pick up some fresh California produce. We got peaches, nectarines, avocados, and honeydew. They all tasted AMAZING! Before getting back on the road we saw a sign for an estate sale that we had to check out. It wasn’t the greatest sale. It seemed like they had cleared out the entire house- even down to the salt packets and teabags- and set it out in the yard. But it was still fun to dig around in.

We then headed back on the road and drove to LA without too many other highlights besides the forest fire smoke. The air looked gray and almost foggy, but as we drove through miles of it the smell of smoke told us it wasn’t just smog. We weren’t anywhere near the fires, but it was amazing (and slightly unsettling) to think that the smoke traveled so many miles. Besides the smoke there wasn’t much else noteworthy about the drive although the mountains past Bakersfield had such great colors with the sun beginning to set.

We finally made it to Los Angeles without much traffic to our amazement. I guess it was because it was after rush hour and a Monday night. After checking into our hotel we decided on the LA famous Pink's Hotdogs for dinner. Standing in a long line outside perusing the menu reminded us both of waiting for cheesesteaks at Geno’s or Pat’s. The hot dogs were worth the wait, and it was a great way to end a day California sightseeing.


-Cassie

(In case you can't see it, it's says Road Trip 2012)

Tweet

Total Mileage: 3520
License Plate Total: 48

Today was our second full day in San Francisco. We were hoping to see
Alcatraz early this morning but we tried to buy tickets online last night and they are all sold out until August 6th. We heard that the tickets sell out fast but we had no idea that that meant we had to get our tickets a month in advance. I guess we will just have to come back to San Francsico in the future. So since we didn't have Alcatraz to see we decided to go to the Golden Gate Bridge first thing in the morning. It was pretty foggy so the top of the towers were covered which made for some card worthy/artsy pictures. In the gift shop they sold everything in International Orange, the technical name for the color of the bridge. They even had small cans of paint and polored pencils in the color.

After the bridge we consulted the list of sights our friend Lauren gave us and worked our way east to Lombard Street. Since we left the car at the hotel we walked down the stairs beside the street. There were so many cars and so many people crowding the street it's amazing that anyone would want to actually live on that block.

Then we went to the Fisherman's Wharf for lunch and ate at Lou's Fish Shack. We had clam chowder and crab bisque in sourdough bread bowls because its mandatory to eat sourdough in San Francisco, especially when you are so close to the Boudin Bakery. After lunch we walked over to Ghirardelli Square and took the historic cable cars down to Union Square. We waited in line for the cable cars for over an hour. We made some friends while we waited, a woman and her 9 year old son and a couple. As we were waiting some of the cable car works were hanging out eating cookies so the one woman who had the son dared me to ask for a cookie. Of course I had to do it and I was actually given a cookie.

After Union Square we went to Chinatown and over to the Ferry Building on the Embarcadero. Unfortunately it was closed for a private party so we weren't able to go in. We walked along the Embarcadero again to find somewhere for dinner and in the distance we could see the Coit Tower. After dinner we went back to the hotel because tomorrow we are going to Los Angeles!

- Rachel

(Lombard Street)

(Alcatraz from the Wharf)

(Union Square)

(Union Square)

(Chinatown)

(Ferry Building)

(Transamerica Pyramid)

(Coit Tower)