This past weekend was my 10 year high school reunion which, of course, I had to miss because cross-country flights are pretty expensive right now. High school was amazing and I really missed seeing everyone!
So, Friday (my day off), Mike and I woke up around 7am, looked at each other and said "Let's go to San Fran today." No plans. Just a spontaneous trip! About an hour later we were in the car and on the way! After the 4 hour drive + stop at Chic-fil-a in Sacramento, we were driving across the Golden Gate Bridge!!!
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| Looking out of San Francisco Bay towards the Pacific! |
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| It was so beautiful I couldn't STOP taking pictures! |
We decided to take a little hike down to the ocean. It was about 2 miles roundtrip... just enough to tire the doggie out a little bit, and give us an opportunity to touch the Pacific Ocean! The trees along the hike were huge and absolutely beautiful! Definitely a different climate here than Tahoe!
I forgot how much I missed the smell of the salty air!
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| We found a rope swing! |
After some time on the beach, we headed back into the busy city of San Francisco to see the sights.
First stop: Lombard St - best known for the curvy section of the street.
You can drive down this street (which we did) but beware of pedestrians... there were people EVERYWHERE! The houses along the street are absolutely beautiful, but tourists are constantly hanging out in your yard and driveway.
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| Looking up Lombard St. |
Next stop: Fisherman's Wharf
We got here as the sun was setting and decided it was time to find a place to stay for the night. I thought this would be a long process because we needed a place that is affordable and pet friendly, preferably as close to Fisherman's Wharf as possible, and did I mention affordable???
We ended up staying at the Sheraton, just 1 block away from the water and we got an awesome deal on a room! It couldn't have worked better if we had planned it!
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| LOTS of sailboats, plus a large ship in the background! |
After freshening up a little bit, we headed back out towards the water for some fresh seafood! We chose a little fish shack (that shall remain nameless) with outdoor seating since we had the dog too. The service was horrible, the beer was EXPIRED, and the food was only ok - nothing amazing. After dinner we decided to walk off our "so-so" dinner and explored the area on foot, just in time for awesome sunset views over the Golden Gate Bridge.
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| Ghirardelli Square! |
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| SUPERMOON on the longest day of the year and 1st official day of summer! |
Saturday morning's breakfast made up for the previous nights dinner. We decided to eat at Boudin's - a bakery in Fisherman's Wharf that bakes their own San Francisco Sourdough! There's nothing else like sourdough french toast and coffee to give me energy for the day!
Day 2 included more sight seeing:
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| Alcatraz! Didn't take the ferry (ya know... cause of the dog). Maybe next time! |
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| The man descending the steps was the Captain of the SS O'Brien in WWII!!! |
We spent a little time relaxing on the lawn at Alamo Square... with the famous "Postcard Row" of Painted Ladies in the background. Related to reunions and reminiscing - who recognizes this from Full House??? In the opening credits, where they are having the picnic??? REALLY made me wanna go home and watch old re-runs of Full House!
Then, we headed back to the Pacific to soak in a little more beach time before leaving the city!
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| Seal Rocks in the distance |
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| Toes in the icy Pacific Ocean!!! |
When it was time to head back toward our home in the mountains, we opted for the scenic drive through Sonoma and Napa Valleys. We stopped in downtown Napa for lunch and gelato at an adorable Italian cafe right on the Napa River!
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| Vineyards as far as the eye can see! |
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| Stand up Paddleboarders on a Napa River tour! |
Napa is absolutely amazing! The downtown area is very "artsy" and unique. There were tons of beautiful flowers everywhere! It really feels like you are in Europe.
We had such an amazing weekend trip to San Francisco and Napa! We will definitely be visiting both places again! We would have stayed longer but I had a trail race on Sunday morning. I ran a 12k (which is 7.5 miles). A HUGE group of Barton Hospital employees participated. It was so much fun, but also really hard. The race took place at ~7,000 ft above sea level (and I was literally AT sea level the day before), and it was about 500 ft. total elevation gain (which isn't that steep but it was a slow and steady climb which was sort of tiring).
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| At the half way point... had 1 more lap to do! |
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| Happy to be finished and REALLY, REALLY DUSTY! |
It was a weekend full of "firsts"... first trip to San Fran... first trip to Napa... first ever 12K trail race! Resting and recovering now. I've got a full week of work ahead and my dear friend Grace comes on Thursday!!!! Stay tuned for more adventures.
