windy san francisco
san francisco
windy wandering
los angeles | tejon | gilroy | san francisco | larkspur | bodega bay | novato | san bruno | south san fran
road trippin’
our 650km road trip
a one way rental car from budget car rental in monrovia to downtown san francisco - approximately $130 CAD
departing at 8am in the middle of the morning rush hour on hwy 280.
a slow but quick crawl onto the I-5.
9.5 hours until we had to drop off the rental car by ‘5:30pm’.
our pit stops
first stop at 9:30am, leaving at 10:30am - coffee, school work & window shopping at outlets at tejon
second stop at 2pm, leaving at 3pm - speed shopping at gilroy premium outlets
the road raging’ trucker
as we are merging back on the I-5,
a road raging trucker tries multiple times to drive us off the road and slam into us which was definitely an high stress anxious moment for me.
the same anxiety that has gotten worse after seeing car lights coming right at you, semi-blacking out and fearing for your dog’s life, just eight months earlier.
my roles
my only two responsibilities were music and navigating.
excitement builds as we approach downtown san francisco and i get distracted.
oops,
one wrong exit turned 15 minutes to 45 minutes, one hour to spare turned into what we thought was 30 minutes to spare.
my bad
driving through gridlocked downtown san francisco, stopping to fill up the tank,
and finally arriving onto howard street and driving past the budget car rental place on the one way street.
i hop out to find out which was the best way to come back around.
crap,
i walk in at 5pm on the dot, the service rep tells me they are closed…
in my mind i thought we had until 5:30pm, i should have double, tripled checked in the morning but i didn’t.
my bad
i panicked called Matt who had saw on google that they closed at 5pm, he answered my call with “they are closed aren’t they?”….
my short answer was no knowing i messed up.
they are letting us drop off the car, come back around.
he circled around gridlocked downtown as fast as he could.
by the time we were done, it was 5:30pm and we hadn’t had a proper meal all day.
i was hungry and felt terribly incompetent for missing the exit causing delays and almost missing the car rental drop off time.
we walked in silence to find our first meal of the day waiting for rush hour to be over before we took an uber to our airbnb in the mission area.
we ate, i apologized, he forgave me and reminded me that it all worked out, and we got lucky.
our road trippin’ eats
attempting to fight off the hangriness by snacking on trader joe’s dried fruit, trail mix, lentil chips, and an apple.
super late lunch at mr east kitchen - we had the drunken noodle beef, it was actually pretty good and we loved the space/decor.
getting our step on
we spent the rest of the evening exploring and making sure we hit our ten thousand steps on valencia street.
we had the snake river pork shoulder at souvla, the entire thing was tasteless and a complete disappointment.
we saw it walking by and it was filled with people so we thought it had to be good, we were deceived.
our airbnb
homemade fresh scones with fruit every morning
clean & stylish with a comfortable bed & pillows
private with everything you need
great location - within walking distance to restaurants, coffee, shops, less than $20 uber and a 30 min bike ride to downtown.
his day
our year & half anniversary.
our morning
started at phil’z coffee - sharing a iced mint mojito and doing some work.
second stop arizmendi bakery - where i made the mistake of getting a wheat-free scone.
the heart racing, sweat dripping panic when you realize you can’t find your phone and realizing you had left it in the bathroom.
you race to the bathroom - not there, heart drops to the floor.
your dart to the front counter - you budge in front of the line and interrupt because you have tunnel vision and only one worry, your phone.
i got lucky, number two.
phone was returned to the staff.
our afternoon
started shoe store hopping down the vintage and second hand shops down haight street where Matt finally found a pair of rebook questions.
lunch no.1 at lemonade
lunch no. 2 at 4505 Burgers & BBQ
a cultural visit to the oldest japan town in america.
flashback to the late 80’s & early 90’s tv series full house by taking a selfie in front of the painted ladies.
windy & cold skip scooter ride to market street downtown where we both found shoes at nordstorm rack at west field san francisco centre mall.
our evening
of me missing a beautiful sunset because i was too cold & tired to go get a late night burrito from taquería el farolito
her day
our perfect day
our day
started with a hot & cold coffee from terra mia coffee and fresh homemade scones with fresh fruit from our airbnb host.
the plan was to bike our way around the coast of san francisco hitting all the major tourist attractions with the bay wheel lyft bikes.
with the bay wheel app, you can hop from station to station for just $10 USD for a full 24 hours and includes unlimited 30 minute trips.
our destinations
first stop - bay bridge & ferry terminal
second stop - pier 39 & sea lions
third stop- fisherman wharf
fourth stop - lombard street
fifth stop - golden gate bridge, crissy field & beach, torpedo wharf, battery east,
sixth stop - twin peaks
our steps
43,786 steps over approximately 33km by walking and biking
our highlights
beautiful weather
walking along the beach
riding along market street during the san francisco trans march.
catching the sunset on the windy twin peaks
our fuel
lunch at codmother fish & chips
carb load with a safeway deli sandwich
and ending the evening with a super burrito from taqueria san jose and dollar meals from macdonalds.
the battle of best burger & fries
we had to stop and get shake shack on the way to bodega bay to see how it compare to in & out.
shake shack
in & out burger
his
burger - shake shack
fries - shake shack
milkshake - tie
value - in & out
service - tie
winner - shake shack
her
burger - shake shack
fries - shake shack
milkshake - shake shack
value - in & out
service - tie
bodega bay
small town feels
along the coast
life in a small town along the coast with a beautiful rocky shoreline, and windy roads.
a family lunch at the bird’s cafe and too much taffy at the candy and kites
followed by a relaxing evening doing some work on our porch, a grocery store dinner & catching the sunset from our airbnb.
and a morning of sleeping in, reading on the porch, visiting the sunday market and yoga.
our airbnb
large patio with partial ocean views
secluded & private
the perfect place to disconnect & relax
within walking distance to the coastline & beach
less than 10 minute drive to restaurants and the grocery store
the wedding
the secret garden
celebrating lindsey & casey, meeting the extended family, trying to stay warm, playing chip tag, counting birds, getting silly in the photo booth, watching everyone let loose & dance & struggling to learn how to do all the “cool” dance moves.
already missing these girls.
south san fran
the last stop
we decided to stay in south san francisco because our fight left at 8am and we found an airbnb was less than 10 minutes away from SFO airport with doggos to play with.
we did a quick walk through The Shops at Tan Foran Mall & headed to downtown SSF. do not stay here even though it might be cheaper - there really is nothing here….
we luckily found a hidden gem when we stopped in at the school house deli thinking it was a connivence store to get water and snacks and found an amazing deli with a fresh bar of salads & sandwiches.
we spent our last night, playing with doggies, packing & relaxing and we have no regrets.
