July 10
When we woke up Saturday morning, the first thought on each of our minds was showers. We were filthy after hiking through Yosemite the day before and spending our second night at the dirtiest campsite ever. C even said that she didn’t sleep at all because of our stinky feet and the Dolby digital surround sound of snores from B & K. We couldn’t say we were too sad to see this little campsite go, even though it provided us with the biggest trees and fattest robins we think we have ever seen.
As we got on the road and headed toward a gas station in Grovedale, showers were still our only topic of conversation. B ran in to ask the store clerk where three charming but grimy campers could get a nice shower in this area. Thankfully, she directed us to a motel up the street that did just that for a small fee. (YES!) We headed the direction she pointed and turned into the Groveland Motel for our showers. While we were grateful to be standing under warm, running water after the dirtiest/dustiest campsite ever, we all agreed that after our showers at the motel, we felt “the dirtiest clean” we had ever been. Nevertheless, we washed up as best as could – we all wanted to look our best when we made our trip’s first stop in a major city. We even painted our toenails in the parking lot before leaving.
On our way driving out of the Yosemite area, we decided to stop at a roadside Farmer’s Market. We walked through the different stands, sampling all the different jams we came across, and admiring all of the fresh, locally grown fruit (pluots, anyone?), until we came across the holy grail of Cali Farmer’s markets – fresh salsa! We sampled at two opposing stands, and C bought a jar from our favorite – it had just been made the night before! Now we are all anxiously awaiting our first night of campsite quesadillas!
After leaving the Farmer’s Market, we headed west towards San Francisco, a 3.5 hour drive – short, compared to most of our other driving days. We had a bittersweet moment in the car as we realized this would be our last day of the trip driving west!
When we got to San Fran, we met up with C’s cousin Bridget at her apartment in Oakland. From there we drove to C’s aunt & uncle’s house in Berkley to meet Bridget’s sisters, Meghan and Bernie. There, we sat poolside, sipping on wine and enjoying conversation with people besides the three of us. (We love each other, but after 12 days, conversation can get repetitive.)
We sat around for a couple hours, met C’s Uncle Brian, and spent some time getting ready for the rest of the evening to come. After straightening/curling our hair, putting on makeup, and getting dressed, we headed to Richmond (Go Spiders!) where C’s family owns the wine bar and restaurant Four2Nine. We ate delicious appetizers and entrees with Bernie and a few of her friends. Complimentary drinks from the cute bartender (Bridget) perfected the meal!
We would be staying that night and the next at an apartment in Nob Hill that Bridget was house-sitting. On our way over there after dinner we experienced what might be the hardest part about living in San Fran – parking. Bothe lack of available spaces and parallel parking difficulties on steep hills proved to be quite the challenge. After about an hour of driving around, searching for a space, attempting to parallel park in that tight, hilly space, and eventually giving up and leaving, we came across an available spot on flat land. (Insert Hallelujah Chorus here.) We would have to walk several blocks to the apartment and move the car by 10am the next day, but we were relieved to finally be parked.
We were going to meet up with more of C’s cousins’ friends at the apartment, but since we had gotten there so late, everyone had already left to go downtown to a club in the Mission District. We quickly dropped our bags and hopped in a taxi with Bridget and her boyfriend, Tan Dan, to head to the club. One of Bridget’s cousins (on the other side) is a bouncer at the club, so we got to jump the line and enter sans cover fee! Inside, we met a lot more of C’s cousin’s friends, and had a great time dancing the night away.
We returned to the apartment late, along with all of the friends we had just been at the club with. Since the apt was so close to downtown, we weren’t going to be the only ones crashing there for the night! At one point, there was a rumor that pizza was coming. In hindsight, K believes that she was the one who perpetuated this rumor by hearing something 3rd hand about a pizza delivery, and then, in her excitement, telling several others at the house. In the end, no pizza came, and the three of us climbed into bed for a good nights sleep. Though we were all sharing a double bed, we were so grateful not to be on the ground, camping!
States visited: California
Yellow car count:
C – 118
B – 139
K – 151
Highs and Lows:
Group high – four2nine
Group low – Parking in SF
C high – Seeing family
C low – Fog, because it made it cold outside. And parking
B high – Delicious wine
B low – Unexpected cold in SF
K high – Delicious dinner!
K low – No pizza!
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