USA Road Trip: Stop 1

I am back from a 16 day road trip up the Pacific Northwest! It feels really good to have some downtime after spending so much time on the road... although not as long as my friend and travel buddy Emily who had driven all the way across the country, starting in Connecticut! I flew over to San Francisco, after debating whether or not to take Amtrak-- but that would have included way too much travel time. I stayed in The Mission area- near BART stop 24th and Mission. When I have just a couple of days in a city, I usually tend to visit the places that are further away from where I am staying first, because it seems to be the most efficient way to see everything I want to see. I used the train to get downtown, tickets were around $2.75 (USD) and then buses to get around the city (bus tickets were $2 and lasted around 3 hours). My first stop was Haight-Ashbury- a district I have always wanted to visit, mainly for its thrift stores and architecture. 

I spent a lot of time walking down Haight, all the stores were so unique and creative, and the op shops (thrift stores) were some of the best I have ever been to. A lot of locals I spoke to said that they were also slightly cheaper than those in The Mission. I was very lucky to be able to stay with someone who lived in San Francisco, she took me out with her friends and gave me a really good insight into what life was like in the city. I met some incredible people in this city, everyone seemed full of new ideas and perspectives, I had some great conversations and the city had a really progressive vibe to it, which was something I really admired. I also noticed that a lot of people use Lyft to get around, especially at night time- so if you're heading there, this might be a handy app to download (or befriend someone who has it!) I also visited the touristy places like Alamo Square and Pier 39- which was a lot of fun. A word of warning- if you plan to walk up Lombard Street, wear comfy shoes, it is STEEP. 

A store that sold over 1000 soda flavours and lollies

View from Lombard St. 

Alamo Square

View of the Golden Gate Bridge from Pier 39 

I visited some really interesting stores in The Mission, if you're a home decor enthusiast, I highly recommend Aldea which was full of really unique home ware, I particularly liked their kitchen stuff- definitely spent some time mentally decorating my fantasy home. I also really enjoyed the Clarion Alley Mural Project, coming from Melbourne, I can't help but be on the lookout for wall art- so I was stoked when I stumbled upon this. A lot of cities I have been to seem to have a 'cool' district or area that is known for being culturally diverse and interesting, I felt like the entire city encapsulated this atmosphere. I didn't make it to Twin Peaks, but I got a really great view of the city from Dolores Park, which was near some great second hand bookstores. I particularly liked Alley Cat and Dog Eared Books. 

Murals at Clarion Alley 

Aldea, on Valencia Street 

Alley Cat Books

Dolores Park 

American and Canadian Adventures 2014

So tomorrow, I head off to Los Angeles to begin a trip around the US... well not exactly 'around' but I will be doing some road tripping and visiting some cities I've wanted to check out for a long time. I figured, why not take my blog out of the hibernation it has been in- so I will be posting updates from my trip over the next couple of months. The West Coast plan is to visit San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Sacramento and Yosemite National Park before heading back to Orange County. I will also be heading East to Brooklyn, New York, and I will hopefully be visiting a few cities in the East Coast (funds and time permitting). I'm looking forward to actually documenting bits of the trip on here- haven't really done something like this before. Time to finish off my last bit of packing and check that I actually have my passport for the 50th time! Eeep!