Day 10 - Off to San Francisco

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Being that we spent the first part of our trip in the Los Angeles area, coming to San Francisco was a big change due to the weather. When we left LA, it was at least 80 degrees, and when we landed in San Francisco, it was in the low 60's. At first, we were a little frustrated about that, but from doing research we knew what to expect, so it wasn't really a shock to us.

We picked up our rental car, which was a Jeep Commander, and I would say this, it's a nice looking SUV with a smooth ride; However, I would not recommend renting one if you have more than 2 people and a lot of luggage. A better choice would be something like a Chrysler Town & Country or a Chevy Suburban, if you can get your hands on one.

After picking up our rental, we proceeded to our hotel, which wasn't actually located in the city of San Francisco, but in a small town about 20 minutes south called Millbrae. We arrived to the hotel early so we were concerned about being able to check in, but the hotel manager was nice enough to give us our room right away. The hotel was really nice; it was a Mom & Pops hotel with perks such as free breakfast, Internet access, and even a small gym. We dropped our luggage, sat around for about 20 minutes and then headed out for the day.

On the way to exploring the San Francisco area, we realized that we underestimated how cold it would be in Northern California, so we decided that we needed to make a stop somewhere and purchase a sweater or a cheap coat. We didn't have time to look for the local mall, so we decided to find a sweater/jacket wherever we could and actually ended up buying a small jacket for myself, and a fleece sweater for my husband at a CVS. The first place we visited was Muir Woods, which is located about 12 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge. The ride up there was amazing because of the mountains and also how the roads were very steep and winding. Once we arrived, we really noticed how much colder it was up there, and looked at each other and smiled because we knew we made a good decision by getting those extra garments.

We really enjoyed Muir woods amazing redwoods and natural beauty. All of the trees were very old and massive, nothing like we've ever witnessed on the east coast. All of the scenery throughout the woods is pretty similar, but it's well worth the visit. If you love nature, then I recommend this place if you're ever visiting the San Francisco area.

After visiting Muir woods, we decided to stop at the Golden Gate Bridge, since we would have to cross over it to get back into the city anyway. The parking area for visitors to go view and take pictures of the bridge is sort of tricky to find, because you have to actually take a small access road that runs under the bridge to get to it. We initially had trouble finding it, but after driving around for about 10 minutes, we were able to find it. Once we arrived to the parking area, we walked around the area near the bridge and took several pictures of it, and also took some good pictures of the Alcratraz Penitentiary, located on an island right across the water from the bridge. After taking pictures, we went to the Visitor's Center, picked some small souvenirs and headed out.

We rode around the inner city of San Francisco and were very impressed with the versatility of shops, restaurants, and houses. It was nothing like we've ever experienced, the vibe of the city is that of New York, yet it's not as crowded and it still has that California feel to it. While riding through the city, we decided to ride down Lombard Street - which is deemed the crookedest street in the world. It was fun because my we descended down the street along with other tourists, and there were people on the sidewalks filming and taking pictures of us the whole time.


Next, we decided that we had enough for that day, so we headed back to Millbrae to have dinner at the Elephant Bar Restaurant. The food was excellent. Too bad I forgot what we ordered. Well we're off to a good start in San Francisco.

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