By Shelby
Our airbnb in San Miguel, California was great. It was very clean, cozy, and warm. It was a nice break from sleeping in the car. Monday, we worked and then had leftover pizza for dinner. Tuesday went pretty much the same. We had planned on using the grill outside to cook dinner, but it was very windy and cloudy. We decided to do it Wednesday instead.
After work Wednesday, we fired up the grill outside to make dinner. We bought a lot of sweet potatoes to make mashed sweet potatoes, so we had to cook them in two batches. We also grilled corn on the cob in foil, along with seasoned chicken. I thought it all turned out very good. We made enough, so we had leftovers for days. We also finished a new Netflix series we had started a couple days ago called Wednesday. It was pretty good.
Thursday morning, we got up early and packed up the car. We had an hour and a half drive to Pinnacles National Park. Along the way, we passed countless vineyards nestled in the rolling green hills. There were also tons of black cows grazing on the grass.
We had a 6 mile hike up into the mountains. It was a very interesting hike, with a lot of variety. The hike to the top ridge was pretty scenic and not too steep. The views from the top were also very scenic. We saw several large California Condors circling in the air above the mountains.
The hike got interesting when the trail led up into the rocky peaks. Stairs were carved into the steep mountainside. We used the railing drilled into the rock to pull ourselves up. It was crazy that there was a trail there. Eventually, the trail led us back down the mountainside.
We ended up missing a turn off so we had to backtrack a little to go through the caves. The caves are talus caves, formed by piled up boulders on the mountainside. Throughout the cave, we could see light through multiple openings between boulders. We used the flashlights on our phones to see when there was little light. As we climbed the stairs through the cave, we saw a waterfall shooting out water. After we left the cave, we continued on back to the car. We had lunch before driving on to our stop for the night, a Planet Fitness in Salinas. Because it wasn’t supposed to go below 40 degrees, we decided to try not running the car that night. It unfortunately got colder than we had expected and we didn’t sleep very well.
Friday was a busy day driving along the Pacific Coast Highway. Because part of the highway was closed due to flood damage, we had to drive south down it and then drive back up. One of our first stops was the Bixby Bridge, a famous historical bridge. We went for a short walk up a dirt road to get the best view.
The road was pretty amazing. I thought it was more scenic than the southern section we had already driven. Instead of a split highway, it was a single road, which is what I had expected of the Pacific Coast Highway. We stopped at a few different overlooks to take pictures. The weather was pretty good. It was sunny for the most part and not too hazy.
One of my favorite stops was at a viewpoint of a waterfall pouring into the ocean. The water was a beautiful blue-green and there was a small cave behind the waterfall. There was a trail part of a state park going a little closer to the waterfall, but it was $10, so we didn’t do it. We thought our view from the side of the road was just as good.
After the waterfall, we turned back and drove north to Monterey. We went to California Pizza Kitchen for lunch. I got cedar salmon and Spencer got tequila fettuccine. It was good. After lunch, we continued north to a small beach at the bottom of some cliffs. There were really pretty yellow flowers everywhere. The cliffs reminded me of the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland.
Our next stop was at another small beach. There was a cave we could walk into that water was crashing into. It seemed like a classic west coast beach with lots of rocks and strong waves. Fortunately, it wasn’t as foggy as the beaches we went to on the coast in Oregon. To get to the beach, we had to climb down a steep trail along the cliff side.
For sunset, we went to a park that had a trail leading down to the beach. At the bottom of the trail, there was a large elephant seal just chilling. I guess it eventually got tired of posing for pictures, so it flopped off into the ocean.
The sunset was gorgeous, as usual. There was a large mermaid rock in the water that Spencer walked out to. After sunset, it started getting much colder, so we returned to the car. We drove to a suburb north of San Jose and slept at the Planet Fitness there. We ran the car that night and we were much more comfortable than the night before.
Saturday was another busy day. We got up early and drove north into San Francisco and across the Golden Gate Bridge. Our first stop was a viewpoint of the bridge. It was a little hazy and the sun made it hard to see, but it was still great. It was cool to see something so iconic.
Our next stop was Battery Spencer, an old military defense. We got another great view of the bridge and the city behind it. We saw a large shipping boat go under the bridge and into the port.
Next, we drove down to a small marina where we got a view of the bridge from below. The haze was a little better, along with the lighting. It was easier to see the vibrant red coloring of the bridge from there. We also saw a bunch of people fishing.
We drove on to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal. According to locals, this is the safest place to leave your car when going into San Francisco. San Francisco is well known for car break-ins, so we didn’t want to leave the Prius anywhere near the city. Plus, the ferry terminal has free parking on the weekends. The ferry ride into the city took about an hour. Along the way, we saw Angel Island and the old Alcatraz prison island.
We both really liked San Francisco. It was clean, the buildings all looked nice and well-maintained, and it just had a good vibe. We took the Powell Mason Cable Car to Lombard Street. It was fun leaning out of the cable car as it drove down the busy streets. It was crazy how steep and hilly the city streets were.
Lombard Street is known as the crookedest street in San Francisco. It was very touristy. Lots of people were standing in the middle of the road taking pictures. Cars slowly drove down the steep switchbacks. We walked up the steep stairs next to the road before going back down to Ghirardelli Square. Ghirardelli Square used to have a chocolate factory, but now you can just buy chocolate at the gift shop.
We spent the rest of our time in the city walking along Fisherman’s Wharf. We had a great lunch at a seafood restaurant at Pier 39 before checking out the wild sea lions sitting on a dock right off the pier. We walked back to the ferry terminal and caught the next ferry back to Larkspur. Fortunately, the Prius was fully intact. We drove to a Planet Fitness half an hour north.
Sunday morning, we woke up in the middle of a car show. We had been hearing what we thought were a few loud motorcycles or trucks driving around the parking lot near us. It turned out that they were just a lot of old classic cars pulling in! I’m not sure why there was a classic car show starting at 8AM in a Planet Fitness parking lot, but there were at least 100 cars and tons of people around by the time we left Planet Fitness. It was pretty bizarre.
We drove back to the Larkspur ferry terminal and caught a shuttle bus to Muir Forest National Monument. We went for a 2 mile walk through the Redwood trees. It was very cold under the shade of the trees, but the air was very fresh. After returning from the forest, we drove south toward a city closer to Yosemite. We’re hoping to go there next week if the snow isn’t too bad. We had a great week in California, but we’re feeling a little burnt out from doing so much. We’re looking forward to taking a day or so off from traveling soon.
Fun Facts from Week 43:
- The Redwoods are some of the tallest trees in the world. That can live up to 2,000 years old and grow up to 300 feet tall.
- California condors can live up to 70 years old and is the largest flying bird in the US, with a wing span of up to 10 feet.
- The cable car system in San Francisco is the world’s only remaining manually-operated cable car system.
