And the traveling continues: May 2014

San Francisco

San Francisco, a city of hills, cable cars, street art and good food.

Chinatown

Lombard St. - the most crooked, curvy street in the world.

At the top of Lombard St.

Looking out to Alcatraz

A cable car being turned around on the platform at the bottom of a hill.

Cable car coming out, Alcatraz in the background

Exercise time!

San Fran, home to the best standard drivers in the world

San Fran street art

Golden Gate Bridge from the pier near Fisherman's Wharf

On a lot of streets the cars had to park at a 90 degree angle

The rest of the trip was spent along the sunny California coast from Santa Maria up to San Francisco. Before reaching the coast we headed south to Orcutt for breakfast at Kay's Orcutt Country Kitchen. Kay's was awarded best breakfast in all of Santa Barbara County. They did not skimp on portion sizes...

Kay's Orcutt Country Kitchen

Sharing portions was a must

Coastal driving

Pismo, a surf/fishing town with a very long pier and beach

On the fishing pier at Pismo

Morro Bay

Sea lions dozing near the wharf at Morro Bay

We thought this guy was dead, but every once in a while he'd put his nose above water to breath.

We both thought that Big Sur was a town alongside a State Park. It's not, it's a sprawled out collection of cliffside cafes, pubs and inns, which we drove straight past in search of a town. We had to backtrack for lunch, but thankfully not much, when we realized our mistake.

Driving along Big Sur

Our next night was spent in Carmel. We were told that Carmel had once been an artist haven along the coast. It's since been transformed into a trendy, upscale destination for golfers, wine drinkers and art collectors. The town has a famous golf course, Pebble Beach, to the north and Carmel Valley, which is home to a number of the vineyards, to the east. We didn't realize this when we chose Carmel as our next stop on the map. Will and I were among the youngest tourists in Carmel.

Carmel's tree-lined streets

The quaint stores of Carmel

Sunset at Carmel's beach

Our sixth night was spent at a friend's place in Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz's waterfront

Yosemite National Park - California

We spent nights 2 and 3 camping at Camp 4 in Yosemite National Park. The panoramic photo taken from Glacier Point (bottom of page) gives an idea of how large Yosemite actually is. Only a small part of this national park is accessible by car. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't do the park justice in terms of capturing its size or beauty.

Aside from the day hike we took, there are also multi-day backcountry hiking trails and more relaxed (read: flatter) day walks through the park. We could have easily spent a month just exploring Yosemite.