So here we are, the city by the bay. When we left LA yesterday it was a little surreal knowing that when we got into our next city, it would be the final stop on this trip. We hopped right on the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) in Santa Monica and headed north. We stopped briefly in Malibu for breakfast, in San Luis Obispo for lunch, and a brief stop at the John Steinbeck Museum in Salinas, but other than that, it was smooth sailing along this incredibly scenic route.
The PCH has to be the prettiest road in America. For most of the time, you are nestled right on the coast, with nothing to your left (if you're driving north) but endless sea. It was the perfect road to completely sum up our trip because the landscape kept changing, just like the landscape that we've encountered across the entire country. There were palm trees of course, but there were also sprawling farms and endless trees, and the same livestock that we saw on the side of the road in Montana, Indiana, Iowa and all across. There were mountains--not Tetons of course--but mountains that came down and crashed right onto the PCH and going into the Pacific Ocean itself.
Before we got to Big Sur, the roads climbing up the mountain were so winding I couldn't believe at times how close to the mountain (and the water) we were actually getting. A sharp turn right and we would be lodged into the mountainside. A quick turn left and we would be submerged into the ocean. It was cool to be driving on the PCH because you really were in charge of everything, as if the road itself wasn't already in charge of you.
San Francisco, like every destination, was welcome and we were greeted by my cousin Suzy, and later met by my cousin Kyle. I'm really glad we ended the trip here and I was able to hang out with my cousins. Last night we went to a Mexican bar/restaurant which had incredibly sweet margaritas and spicy enchiladas (and lasagna, according to Suzy). We all had a fun time, got a little soused on the margaritas, and then went home and watched The Karate Kid. Good first night in San Fran.
Today we actually got to see more of San Francisco. Suzy lives in The Mission part of town, which is very ethnic, with a million cultures and people on 24th Street, with their cultural and colorful murals decorating the walls of their iglesias and panaderias. We checked out Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf, which is incredibly crowded and there are way too many tourists that it almost shed a dark light on the already fog-covered city. After seeing the sea lions, trying Anchor Steam beer and Boudin Bakery sourdough bread, we headed over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito, a beautiful seaside town that reminded me of Port Jeff, for a great seafood dinner, where I got my first taste of authentic Napa Valley wine.
Overall, I'm glad we came to San Fran and I'm happy that I hung out with my cousins, but I think our opinions on the city as a whole are less than amazing. If we had started in San Fran on the other hand, I believe we would have liked it a little bit more. But, after seeing all the amazing places we've been to, and staying and going out in such great cities across the country, we had higher standards for what we liked, and I don't think the city of San Fran really met up to them.
A longer, more reflective post about the entire trip will come tomorrow. As for right now, we're about to watch the Darjeeling Limited while drinking some white wine, with only one window open because it's so damn cold out here in the city by the bay.
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