I left my heart in San Francisco

So I went on a "vacation" last week. I use the quotes because, while it was a vacation, when I think of vacation I think of relaxation, rest and a whole lot of doing nothing. Maybe that's because I can't remember the last time I actually took a vacation and went somewhere. My vacations usually include a few days off work, my apartment and my bed. But this was a great trip, and it was good to get out of the city for a few days and explore a part of the country I had never been before.

A few months ago the question was asked to my friend Claire, what she wanted to do for her birthday this year. Her response was she wanted to go on a road trip, and she wanted it to be San Francisco. No party, no big celebration. We had been talking about taking a group vacation for some time but nothing had ever come of any of our other plans. But this, we knew we could do! So for the past few months we had been doing some planning, deciding dates and getting all our ducks in a row. How long would it take, where would we stay, what would we do? For a bit of the planning process I was extremely nervous, I felt like I was the only one that really had put much thought into all the little details. But that was just me freaking out, and after a few days of that I realized, whatever happens, happens and we will make the most of it. I didn't care if I ended up sleeping in the car, I would make it to San Francisco and I would have some much needed FUN. I have to say, to put it very simply it was a great trip. We left last Wednesday night after work and drove straight through to San Francisco, getting there at approximately 10 am on Thursday. The drive was good, tiring as you would expect, and the sleep in the car was not very restful. I think I managed to pull about 2 hours max, and ended up sucking down Diet Rockstar like it was going out of style. While I absolutely love driving at night, and I always have, crossing the Siskiyou mountains at 4am in fog so thick you can barely see 3 feet in front of the car, and every passenger is asleep, is NOT my idea of fun. Talk about stressful, I'm pretty sure I sprouted at least 2 grey hair from that experience alone. Thankfully we made safe and sound, just in time for our Anchorsteam Brewery tour, and our free beer. That's pretty much the best way to relax after a long trip, lots and lots of tasty beer. I highly recommend it.

But aside from the driving, the trip as an absolute success. I couldn't have asked for anything more during a quick trip to San Francisco. Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz, good food, shopping at H&M, seeing my Joshua, meeting new people from the area, overlooking the city from Twin Peaks at night, driving around the city and seeing Chinatown, the Presidio, the Golden Gate, and so much more! It was so much fun, and great memories I will keep with me forever. Between the 3 of us, I think we took just under 1000 pictures. I have posted some to my flickr page, but I will post more when I get a chance (I was going to do that last night but got distracted). I plan to post more about my trip, but that will come later, for now I leave you with a picture.

Taken from the top of our hotel, I have to say, when I think of California, even before being there, it was a picture like this that I thought of.