The Road Trip Revisited

As I said in my last post, I was M.I.A. for a few weeks due to a "staycation" and a mega-road trip.

I parted way with my good friend at the at the airport...and headed over to meet JO in terminal A. We were ready to hit the road for an 8 day, 1,000+ mile "mega road trip" from Phoenix to San Francisco. As you know, I love the city life so I was a little uneasy about so much time in the car driving through deserts and other desolated areas. Additionally, one version of this trip had us driving through Death Valley where it is typically 120 degrees. Needless to say, as much fun as I knew I would have on the trip, I was a bit hesitant to go on it. I like my vacations to be relaxing- one place over an extended amount of time. This trip featured a different location almost every day. The trip was also back to back with my amazing Boston "staycation" so it would be hard to top that.

Apparently there were weather issues while we were in Boston so Continental did us a favor by putting us on an earlier flight to Newark to catch our connector to Phoenix. Score us! We rushed through security and enjoyed a very quick 40 minute flight to Newark. Had we been more educated on the airports of the Eastern seaboard we wouldn't have blown off our captain's message, "We are right on time...quite surprising for Newark!" Away we went to kill two hours in Newark before our next flight. I was slightly grumpy since I hate to fly and I had just said goodbye to my best friend for an undetermined amount of time. So when we sat down to eat our McDonald's and I happened to feel something sticky on my arm I wasn't too happy to find melted ice cream all over our table and my arm. I rushed off to the restroom to disinfect. I returned to finish my burger but was interrupted again when JO pointed out that my shirt was now also covered in the pink grossness! Having completely lost my appetite I threw out the remaining burger and fries and set out to buy some Purel. Eight dollars later we went to check in on our flight status and it said it was on time! We hit up some of the shops and returned to our gate to get ready to board. No plane in sight but the status still said on time. Long story short- our "on time" flight status never changed but we left two and half hours late!

I'll spare you the details of our ridiculous flight which included no food service and no blankets!!! We landed in Phoenix and were greeted by the "dry" heat you hear so much about. At midnight it was a balmy 97 degrees. We grabbed our bags, got the rental, and headed out to our motel in the "ghetto" of Phoenix, arriving around 1:00 in the morning. The motel itself wasn't bad but we hardly slept because we were both so hungry so it wasn't surprising when we woke up at 8:00 ravished by hunger. In a stroke of pure luck the McDonald's was located right next to the Dunkin Donuts where a medium ice coffee cost me 54 cents and made me very happy.

We set out for the Grand Canyon. Along the way I experienced difficulty with the rapid and frequent changes in elevation, an asthma attack, and the desert. That being said the Grand Canyon was beautiful and quite breathtaking. We continued to drive to Las Vegas. Along the way we saw the Hoover Dam. I'm not a gambler, and I don't like to watch, so my big Vegas plan was to lounge by the pool and relax. Unfortunately our hotel's pool had a stipulation- if you use it be warned that they have a live webcam and are allowed to use your image and/or voice in print and other media. I'm an elementary teacher so this was most certainly a no go for me. Combined with the heat I was pretty grumpy during our stay in Vegas. There were some highlights though- the Paris Casino was great, lunch at Mon Ami Gabi delicious, souvenir shopping at the ESPN Zone was fun, and the fountains and lions were cool. We had some run ins with less than friendly staff at our hotel so we were both in a bit of a mood when we headed out for Mammoth Lakes, CA via the desert! Apparently I was quite upset because I had a bit of a freak out in the desert and once again when we drove through two mountain ranges.

I'm just going to say it- I do not like the desert. No part of driving for three hours through the desert is fun for me! I'm not intrigued by the desolation! I'm a city girl... I like noise, I like people, I like hustle and bustle. JO did a nice job of calming me down and navigating the mountains finally delivering us to Mammoth Lakes, CA. I was ready to relax the night away in our hotel but JO convinced me to head outside. I'm so glad we did. This actually ended up being my favorite place on our trip. Mammoth Lakes is this cute mountain town that is a skiers dream in the winter and a haven in the summer. It reminds me a lot of North Hampton, MA. The big attraction are the series of lakes set into the mountains. They are absolutely stunning and actually got me contemplating how fun it would be to camp around them... and I am not a camper!!! After driving around the various lakes we went to dinner at Slocumb's which the front desk lady had recommended. It was by far one of the best places we ate on the trip and exactly what I had been hoping for on vacation... total relaxation! When we got back to our hotel we decided to use the hot tub in the "outdoor" spa... it was so much fun and we could see all of the stars!

Of course, the next morning we had to get right back in the car but this time I was excited because we were going to Yosemite National Park. Growing up I had heard a lot about the park from my dad who had gone when he was just out of college. I've always wanted to go... again surprising for me since I hate most things "nature." It rained a little bit at the beginning of the day but the sun broke out and it was a beautiful day.

After Yosemite we continued to drive for four more hours (a bit more driving than I could really deal with) to arrive in Sacramento, CA. I've heard good things about Sacramento and I was certainly excited to be back in a city! Plus I had researched a couple of delicious restaurants so I was excited to hit up the city even though it was a Sunday night. After driving around the entire city we came to the conclusion that we missed the memo- nothing is open on Sundays in Sacramento... and very few people are even outside on Sundays. I am still mystified by our experience in Sacramento- maybe it has something to do with the budget woes in California. We were able to find one pub open at the late hour of 6:30! During dinner I heard several of the other diners complaining that it was cold out... it was 70 degrees out! As a New Englander this made my blood boil but I digress.

We had to get a good night's rest since the next day was a big one- Napa Valley. Back when JO planned the trip I was quite nervous that we only had one day in Napa Valley. Since JO would be driving, I would have to be the one doing the majority of the drinking. I didn't think this would end well at all! Due to ridiculous amounts of traffic we were a bit late for our first winery. We had a lovely picnic, the weather was beautiful, and shared a bottle of wine. Our second winery was equally beautiful and we had a private table and concierge for our tasting which was super relaxing. We had a third winery planned but that didn't happen due to the fact that that would have been a lot of wine!!! Instead we set off for San Francisco, our final destination.

I am sad to admit that I was sleeping off the winery so I missed driving over the Golden Gate Bridge :-( but I recovered quickly and was surprised with The Westin St. Francis as our hotel. The Westin is absolutely gorgeous and has glass elevators to take you to your room... we were on the 29th floor which led to a spectacular view. Tourists actually come to the hotel to ride the elevators. Our hotel was right in the heart of Union Square and we wasted no time hitting up the local diner and all of the awesome shopping... I'm talking a 5 floor Old Navy and a gigantic Gap! You name it the store exists in Union Square... even my beloved Paul Frank has a store there. We turned in early so we could enjoy a full day of tourist activities the next day. I love cities and hadn't been to a "new" one in a while. I was eager to compare it to Cambridge and Boston.

For all the crap the MBTA takes I have to say it is a relatively easy system of travel compared to the MUNI and BART systems in San Francisco. Some buses only come at certain times of the day, often you have to take 3-5 buses to get anywhere, and they are always super crowded. Think green line on game day and increase it more! The public transportation was really the only negative of my experience in San Fran.

We figured out how to navigate the MUNI and arrived at the Golden Gate Bridge. We walked all the way through the park down to Fisherman's Wharf. It was beautiful out and quite fun. We stopped for lunch at the Blue Mermaid and then headed over to see the sea lions. I could've stayed there for hours. As it was we watched them for about an hour. I loved them!!! We toured the piers a bit more before heading back to the hotel to take a quick nap before heading out for the evening.

Quite by accident we stumbled onto the B Restaurant located near the MLK Jr. memorial. The B had a great atmosphere, and Prosecco by the glass! Yummy! After dinner we walked around Union Square some more.

The next morning we were back on the MUNI, not the bus but the cable cars! I know the cable cars are a must experience in San Fran and now that I have I think I have my fill. I can't even imagine having to take these as a commuter! It was fun at first but after a little bit I couldn't take the herky jerky bumps every two seconds. Also, most of the tourists on the cable car "Ohhh" and "Aww" on every hill on Nob Hill which is quite annoying. We exited at Lombard Street which has 8 hairpin turns on it. It's absolutely amazing and I can't imagine what driving down it would be like. We walked over to Ghiradelli Square but missed out on the yumminess because it was only 10:00 a.m. and nothing was open! Oh well! We walked over to Telegraph Hill to see the wild parrots on our way to Coit Tower. I quit half way up the stairs that lead to Coit Tower because I'm a wimp who is ok with being a wimp. We changed up our route, grabbed some lunch at a cute pub along the way, and ended up the Ferry Building...a sophisticated version of Quincy Market.

One of my favorite things about San Francisco is that every day there is some sort of Happy Hour promotion going on. JO and I wondered the streets looking for the best deal and found it at Zingari's. Five dollar drinks and half price food. We had a great time relaxing and eating yummy appetizers. Then we headed out to find the French neighborhood and had a delightful dinner at Cafe Claude. We finished the evening with drinks at the Clock Bar at the Westin.

Our trip home was much less uneventful then the trip out, although the clearly married man next to me on the flight home from Seattle did have six vodka cocktails and spent the whole flight flirting with the stewardess.

I learned that I hate the desert, that it's fun to visit other cities, but that in the end my heart belongs here... where everything is at my doorstep!