The End

It took me a long time to finish this up – guilty as charged. I was taking some time to really think about the trip to decide how I felt about it as a whole. In the end, it was a bit of a roller coaster literally because we went to Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm for the last two days of our trip, but also figuratively. There were times when I was slightly disappointed, and there were other times when I thought it couldn’t get better, but then we turned a corner and suddenly I was even more amazed than before. That’s the thing I love most about travel: no matter how much of the world I’ve already seen, there will always be something that takes my breath away, which is comforting. Overall, the good outweighed the bad, and I’m so glad we went. I’m hoping we’ll get to go on another road trip soon. Topping this last one though will be tough especially with views like this (note: this is not my picture, but I took one similar at the Cabrillo National Monument):

Until next time...

Another day in the desert...

...but it was much more enjoyable. We went to Joshua Tree National Park. There were Joshua Trees aplenty and jumbo rocks all over as well. The San Andreas Fault can also be seen here. It's a really funky park, and it was a welcomed change to have so much green in the landscape considering how beige everything was yesterday. It's definitely worth a visit.

Can you spot the lizard???

Jumbo Rocks.

Joshua Trees - they are like shaggy palm trees.

We also went to Palm Springs which incidentally has its own Walk of Fame. This time was much more pleasant due to the fact that we weren't heckled. Elvis Presley has a star here, which I've included especially for you Melissa :)

At the moment, we've put almost 3000 miles on the car. We've covered a lot of ground, and now we are in Anaheim, planning to spend as much time outside of the car as possible for the duration of our trip.

Undertaker's (the wrestler) Living Room

We've gone from one extreme to the other. Yesterday, it was 50 degrees in Sequoia and today it was 100 freakin' degrees in the Mojave Desert's Death Valley National Park. The desert is exactly what you think it would be: bare, bleak, and desolate. And the name Death Valley? It's not a joke. Save for some shrubs and a few lizards, the name accurately describes the place. Despite this, there are some small pockets of beauty like Artist's Palette below.

Overall, visiting Death Valley was a good experience, and I am glad I went, but I probably wouldn't go back. However, I do think people should visit the park in order to get a glimpse into this other side of California. It's interesting and sweaty all at once.

More wilderness

We went to Sequoia and King's Canyon National Parks today. Yesterday, we were in shorts and t-shirts. Today we were in sweatshirts and and sweatpants. The elevation was around 7000 feet, and if you can believe it, there was snow on the ground. In May.

First, we drove the Scenic Canyon Road to see King's Canyon. The Canyon is deeper in places than the Grand Canyon and it is gorgeous.

Then, we drove General's Highway (which has about 1 million switchbacks) to Giant's grove to see the biggest tree on Earth (a giant sequoia called General Sherman Tree). This is the most awesome place I've ever seen. In my life, I've never seen trees this big. It is breathtaking. That's me at the bottom of the picture in the grey hoodie.

And if that wasn't enough, we saw a black bear and her cubs.

Yosemite with pictures this time

Blogger is allowing me to upload photos tonight so I thought I'd give you just a taster's spoon of what we saw yesterday since I was told that my Yosemite post from yesterday was a "poor effort" (not naming any names, but it was Gavin O'Neill).

Everything about Yosemite is beautiful - from the smallest blade of grass to the highest mountain peak. It's so unspoiled, peaceful, and picturesque. It almost feels like you are looking at a painting. I was not prepared for this at all, but I think this made me appreciate it so much more.

There's no zoom on this. The deer was that close to us:

There are waterfalls all throughout the park, and they are gushing at the moment because the snow is melting.

Half Dome - people actually climb this. Crazy.

Yosemite

This thing won't let me add any pictures tonight for some reason. Pictures and any words I have do not adequately describe Yosemite anyway. Just go. You won't regret it.

Napa and Sonoma

We had a lovely night last night with Conaill, Aya, and Jon at Betelnut. The locals know how to have a good time in SF - lots of cocktails and lots of delicious food. I'm still dreaming about pork confit with scallion pancakes.

Today was so relaxing. We drove around Napa Valley and Sonoma, drank some wine and champagne, had dinner at Mustards Grill, and an ice cream from Three Twins. Check out Three Twins Ice Cream - interesting story about a green company - and the ice cream is yummy too.

Day 2 in San Fran

Today was a great day.

We saw Alcatraz, rode a cable car up and down the hills of San Francisco, took a stroll through Chinatown, and saw how fortune cookies are made. Fresh fortune cookies are delicious. My fortune was "An unexpected event will soon bring you fortune." Bring on the fortune I say.

We are off to dinner with friends in Cow Hollow and then tomorrow we have a date with Napa and Sonoma!

As promised

Just wanted to upload some pictures of Lombard Street. We drove and walked down. So fun!

The Rock

Off to Alcatraz today. Yippee :)

San Francisco

I'm really enjoying San Fran. My top five things so far are:

1. Muir Woods (redwoods, ferns, clovers)

2. Golden Gate Bridge

3. Marin Headlands

4. Lombard Street - I don't have a good photo of this yet. I'll upload it tomorrow :)

5. There were so many farms with fresh produce on the way to San Fran. Below was part of our lunch today:

We also had cioppino for dinner tonight, which is a San Fran classic. It was delicious and given the windy weather really warmed me up.

Overall, it was another wonderful day.

P.S. Who is Karl Malden? Gavin insists he saw him and Michael Douglas running down one of the streets we drove by!

Continuing on PCH

We continued our drive up the Pacific Coast Highway today, and completed over 350 miles. We saw Malibu, Santa Barbara, a couple of Spanish missions, Bubble Gum Alley in San Luis Obispo, and the Paso Robles area wine country. But the real star today was Big Sur. This is one of the most incredibly beautiful places I've been, which is why I chose to share a picture of this.

I'm keeping it short tonight as we have to get up really early tomorrow to make up for some lost time today. Then it's off to San Francisco. Yet another place to cross off my list. I can't wait...

The Verdict on Los Angeles

Today we spent the day in the L.A. metro area. We saw so many sites:

• Venice Beach


• The Sunset Strip


• The Hollywood Walk of Fame


• La Brea Tar Pits


• West Hollywood


• Rodeo Drive


• Beverly Hills (which is also where we are spending the night)


• Melrose Place


• Downtown L.A. (financial center, the Mexican Pueblo, Union Station, The Disney Music Hall by Frank Gehry)

After everything I've seen in L.A., in general I find it to be a city of contrasts. With the exception of Melrose Place, which was quiet, relaxing, ritzy, and had every wonderful fashion designer imaginable (Oscar del la Renta, DVG, Alexander McQueen, Monique Lhullier, etc.), the city is sprawling and inconvenient. There are also a lot of strange people. On two occassions - one in Venice Beach and the other on the Hollywood Walk of Fame - we were actually harassed.

Do I think L.A. is a place everyone should visit? Absolutely. Everything on the list above should be visited except Venice Beach because it is run down and it has seen better days. I would also say driving down the Hollywood Walk of Fame is necessary but getting out of the car is not. Go to Melrose Place instead. You won't feel like you need to take a shower afterwards.

Even though I was less than impressed with L.A., I am still in good spirits. However, since I didn't give this city a glowing review, I didn't think it would make sense to put up a picture of L.A. Instead, I decided it would be best to include a picture of something I know I like 100% of the time: my marriage and Ireland. You're probably wondering how I could possibly have a picture of something with such a vague description, but it's possible. It's a picture of Gavin and me after a day of touring L.A. in our Irish t-shirts. Thanks, Peg! These shirts are so fun, and we had such a great day wearing them around California.

I'll leave you in suspense about tomorrow, but I have a feeling it's going to be the best day yet. Until then everyone...

One last thing...

We are going to Rodeo Drive tomorrow. Should I wear my big black hat to fit in with all these rich people? :)

A day of firsts... continued

We also saw a lot of new places today that I never thought I'd see like:

Laguna Beach

Laguna has a beach called 1000 Steps Beach (it's less than a 1000 steps but not by much. It's a killer but the view is worth it).



Below are pictures of Laguna Beach from the hills. Laguna is so laid-back and beautiful. If I win the lottery, I'm buying a house here.

Newport Beach:

The Hollywood Hills - this is so much fun. It is a labyrinth of incredible houses and amazing views. You could get lost here and never get bored.

Mulholland Drive:

I've seen more of The Valley than I ever expected. We got lost looking for Mulholland Drive which resulted in a two hour "scenic detour" - note sarcasm. I'm not posting a picture of this - it's boring and painful (i.e., the antithesis of this blog).

Santa Monica Pier and Beach:

I feel very lucky that I have the opportunity to have these experiences and even more so that I get to share them with Gavin. I'm a very happy girl.

It's another long day tomorrow so I'm off to bed. Until then everyone...

A day of firsts...

Hi Everyone,

Today was a day of trying new things. We ate an enormous hot dog from Pink's with guacamole, cheese, tortilla chips, among other things. You can find a picture by typing "dudamel dog pinks" into google images. I had originally planned to take a picture of this myself, but I am embarrassed to say that I was too famished to remember because we had to wait in line for 30 minutes for this wonderful weiner. Luckily it was worth the wait.

We also ate Chicken and Waffles (below). You would think this is a gross combination but I promise it is better than it sounds. We did Snoop Dogg proud today.




For dinner, we ate Korean BBQ, where we cooked our food at the table. Really interesting, but not sure I'd do it again. I like the restaurant chef to do the cooking for me. After all, that's what I'm paying for, right? :)

On the Road Again...

It will be a short post tonight due to the fact that we are really tired. Our flight was supposed to arrive in San Diego at 10 am local time today, but we didn't arrive until 4:30 pm. It was a frustrating experience but it was soon forgotten when we saw all the things that are so distinctly California -- palm trees, San Diego harbor, the Pacific Coast Highway, and a sunset on Laguna Beach to name a few. The sunset was particularly beautiful so this is the picture I wanted to share tonight. There is something about a sunset that relaxes me instantly. Probably because it will always remind me of home.

In short, we are on the road again, as Willie Nelson says, and it feels great. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings, but (spoiler alert) I presume there will be a lot more beaches in our future. I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

Leaving on a jet plane tomorrow...

I decided to create a blog for a couple of reasons for our trip to California. I thought it might be an interesting way of documenting the trip, but most of all, I wanted to be able to show friends and family the world through our eyes as we experience it.

I'm excited and nervous all at once because I have so many expectations and I hope that California will exceed them all. I hope this trip is as good as or better than the vacations we've taken in the past since it's a celebration of so much: graduating from college and our one year wedding anniversary.

For this trip, I am going to show at least one photo every day, most likely the best or most beautiful picture, along with a little blurb about what we did. I hope you enjoy this :)

It's getting late - we have to get up in about 6 hours for our US Airways jet plane. Wish us luck!