Next morning early wake up for sunrise at Stearns Wharf. Not that spectacular as back in 2014 but nice.
Sunrise 2022Sunrise 2014 same place
We spent a relaxed day in Santa Barbara. Nice little town, mediterranean ambiance. Now it’s time for the very last part, going to LA. Return rental car and catch an Uber to LAX. But there is one beach on the way which is famous for the guy’s dressed in red swimwear… yes it’s Malibu.
No bay watch…☹️
And we missed even the famous Malibu house from Two and a half man…
Rental car back, Uber was 43$ to LAX. Checkin… and BAMMM. Our flight from LHR to AMS which is a business class flight as well.. not available. And I recognized it only by the luggage tag coz it says LHR. 30 mins later we got an Eco flight 90 mins later than the original flight but we will be in Amsterdam tomorrow night. The lounge (Quantas, British Airways and … ) is big . The food is … well… british. ☹️ Anyway looking forward for a new flight experience with a BA 777 business class. And we drove approximately 4180 km within 3 weeks… more than last year in Namibia.
We had to leave SF but we agreed to return as soon as we get the chance. Monterey is the actual Mac OS version name :) Nice pretty town with a huge half moon bay
It’s a peninsula which makes it a perfect place. And it’s the second last station on our way. Fun fact: the guy at the reception said “yes you have a booking but for 16/17 May…” I was mistaken during my re-booking actions so i didn’t realize the booking was made for one month later… thx to the internet we found a new place to stay. Had a long walk along the ocean walk to fishermens wharf and Cannery Row. And saw playing seals in their natural habitat. Sooooo cool. Fishermens wharf is a little bit like Santa Monica pier. I guess they all are… Grabbed a sandwich and went to Cannery Row for dinner. As usual it was hard to find a common dinner idea… to many options and we kicked out the other 50% options. Anyway. Cannery was twice the price of wharf so we went back and had a fine dining at a seafood restaurant with harbor view. Ok. It was unbelievable loud after a group of guys entered the location and started their conversation… But we got some nice food. Today going on the last part , heading towards Santa Barbara.
What a sunny and beautiful morning after the rain yesterday. A healthy breakfast was served by Mandy and little later we hit the streets of SanFran. First point : City Hall. It looks like the Peters Cathedral in Rom. Several marriages were going on, nevertheless we were able to get in and took some pictures. Some people stood outside to see the flag raising for the Golden State Warriors, NBA playoffs reached.
Next topic: ride the cable car. The line was huge so we decided to skip it and jump on a few stations later. Worked.
It was the red line between Fishermen Warf and Market which is very overcrowded with tourists. Anyway we paid 8 $ each and jumped off at Greenwhich station. A few blocks to reach the Castle Inn where we had a light dinner (incl beer…) and a power nap followed by a coffee. 😊
Around 4 pm we were back on the sidewalk to see chinatown. Not that we haven’t seen those but it’s the largest outside asia and so we went for shopping and dining and just walking around. Yes successful with all points 👍
Dragon Gatechinese pimp? Vietnamese kitchen never heard about this
And the cable car has another line which is less touristic and will bring us close to our hotel …. and it was empty with a nice view to the sunset.
San Francisco is a nice city. Of course a lot of broken dreams on the streets. I haven’t seen so many homeless ppl before. California seems to be the place for broken dreams, I was facing that in 2014 when i was the first time here.
Tomorrow we expect rain, so a good day to leave to ride the coastal highway towards Monterey.
Due to the plan change an additional night was needed in SF. We choose The Mosser hotel which was available for 120€. Parking in SF is expensive so plus 44$. But very central. Room was a little bigger than at Grand Canyon Inn , but 17sqm is not that big. But entrance lobby has its own old school character.
Nevertheless, since we both got a cold we used the bathtub and tried to catch a good sleep. Went shopping before that , new jackets were needed so we bought them at Nordstrom and had some noodles at the food court.
So and now? The answer to make the most of the day was the 49 miles scenic drive or a part of. Plus Battery Spencer which is a definitely an awesome view point for Golden Gate bridge. So let’s do it. And here we go
pier 7 at Embarcaderobay bridge seen from waterfront painted ladies houses on the bridge Golden Gate seen from battery spencertrees at Lands EndBay area Ocean beachSF seen from Twin Peaks
This tour took until 2pm , incl Poke bowl and sushi for dinner 菱 Our hotel for the next days is the Castle Inn. Spacious room with king size bed in an interesting building. Tomorrow’s weather will be rainy so we might have space enough and the time to get well recovered. But now let’s visit the main tourist traps and attractions in SF. Btw we definitely like SF much more than LA. It feels cozy and stress less.
We both got a cold . May be the air con which we are not used to or something else. The whole nine yards. Cough, running nose, everybone and muscle hurts. For a reason Fresno was our best option. Weather forecast said at Lake Tahoe -10 degrees Celsius to expect. Not ready for this so hotels were cancelled and we did a rebooking for one night in Fresno at Holiday Inn. And heading towards San Francisco today. I have to admit i’m not fully recovered yet but it gets better than yesterday. So no hikes no natural wonders no outdoor activities. Just a hotel room , pain killer and a lot of water and tea.
Mariposa is a nice beautiful little village in California. Tourists come mainly for the access to the Yosemite park. It looks nice and is surrounded by green meadows and little hills. Picture postcard feeling.
Mariposa lodge is ok, fits the purpose. As always, go to bed around 9pm to get up 6:30 next day. Still 45 mins to drive to Yosemite entrance. So we did. Luckily we found a parking spot easily. And decided to do 2 hikes , one for the mirror lake and one to see the old trees in the afternoon. The scenery is breathtaking. Yes we have the Alps and I never made it to South Americas Anden but we were in the Caucasus in Georgia. Enjoy the pictures and believe me, it’s 10 times better in reality.
Yosemite fallmirror lake with reflections of Halfdome mountain those belong to Mammut trees and they are between 1.800 and 2.600 yrs oldtourists ☺️
Both hikes were 17 km in total. We spent almost the full day at Yosemite NP.
After a night at the Titty Twister (ok was the Longstreet Inn but it looked like..)
Got up early as always, 06:30 am today. To Death Valley entrance still 45 min to drive.
And it started with Dante’s View. As a starter A breathtaking overlooking point.
can’t imagine how large yes very ☀️
A little newspaper like visitors guide was available at the motel and it contained all needed information. The must-sees/do‘s and the distance between each POI. Fun fact nobody of the officials asked for our NP pass….
Next stop : Zerbrisky point. Great view as well, the yellow color comes from volcano and lava ash and water mixture.
lava formation looks surreal like made from papier mache
Unfortunately there was no coffee store close to visitor center so we had a canned coffee for breakfast. Plus some sausages and chili nuts…. But don’t extend the break for too long. General store offered a new hat and Death Valley shirts. Swipe the cc. And heading towards the Artist drive, a 9 mile drive with natural colored walls . Fantastic. During a short break we were asked by a lady where we are from and as the answer was German her husband told us his name is german based : Seilmacher and we let him know that Seil means rope so his ancestors probably were rope makers.
So the badlands were now only 10 miles away. It’s the deepest walkable point on earth, 485 meters below sea level. Impressive.
a deeper point exists under the Antarctic ice but no one can walk
We spent 5 hrs here and were happy to leave it before the afternoon sun would have burned us. The ride through the valley takes a while and so we arrived in Bakersfield after 4 additional hrs of driving. I booked the Hilton Doubletree and it’s like a Hilton always is to us :) Pool is open and the dinner was very good. Best burger we had so far. Notice: no burger tomorrow.. ☺️
We catch only 2 hrs on the flight HNL – LAX. Got an Uber for a ride to LA downtown. The car was a Toyota Frontrunner. Big and 4 wheeler. Too big and full of dog hairs. But unfortunately that was realized after we visited the Griffith observatory.
Big Toyotamost viewed sign in LAinside central market – famous for food
Arrived a little too early at the Hollywood celebrity hotel ..
which is 200 mtrs from the Hollywood walk of fame..
and the Chinese theater
So we changed the car instead. Got a small Kia Kona SUV. No dirt inside. Finally we checked in.
breakfast area
After a power nap we took a shower, did laundry business and went to grab food. Since they do poke bowls on mainland as well we tried one and ordered a Ramen for the second dish. Ramen was ok. Poke was almost as good as in Hawaii. More like the way we know it from home. And no beer, no tacos no dip. Healthier for the hip went to bed at 8:30 pm.
Today. Classic breakfast, bagel, crème cheese, waffles with sirup and brown water aka coffee. But hey better than nothing. The good thing about LAs weekend: roads not that overcrowded as during work days. So we followed our plan… visit as much as possible.
Marina del Rey. Great coffee at farmers market
Next stop : Venice beach.
a long beach , yessmile
No sun, no need to be there longer. We skipped Muscle beach for the weather. After that beach famous Santa Monika pier was waiting.
official endpoint of route 66squirrel the pier
Enough of that, we want culture and art as well. The Getty center therefore is more than welcome.
wonderful building love the architecture
A lot of European pictures are displayed. Monet , van Gogh and Munch. Good job.
Drove back to the hotel and decided to go on a tourist tour by bus. 39$ each for 90 minutes stories around LA and it’s (wealthy) citizens. The ride was up to Hollywood hills, Beverly hills and West LA, famous for Rock’n’roll scene.
longer than a football fieldan expensive viewwho remembers the Hotel California song? yes here it is.the birthplace of … The doors
Coz of Saturday we had a stop at the guitar store. The only one in the world where famous musicians put their hands in the concrete. Enjoy the next pics ….
And many more , also guitars with autographs were shown. Slash’s guitar, Michael Jackson and so on. It was an enjoyable tour. Now we need to find something nice for dinner and than …. bedtime again. Tomorrow we will go to Vegas… Las Vegas baby!!!
We left Las Vegas for the Grand Canyon adventure. Around 7pm Valle was reached by us. The Grand Canyon Motel & Inn was booked in advance. I did not realize at the time that the room has 11 square meter.
After the Bellagio it was … well … small. Late dinner : burger and salad. Not bad. But the night was a kinda nightmare. Even Mandy did not sleep well. Mattress was very old and smaller than a normal queen size bed. So got up 6:15 am , got a „coffee“ at the market and drove direction Grand Canyon. Parking and shuttle bus were reached before 8am. We checked out already at the hotel. And we decided to do the Red Line hike to Hermits Rest. It has several view points and overlooks on its way. Have a look . We were always very close to the edge… respect to Mandy .
Nothing compares with this. We haven’t seen such natural wonder. The trail ended for us after 11 km. My lower back pain and the nerve pain till my toes forced me to stop. But the experience was great. Stunning view and fantastic impressions. Spent 6 hrs at the GC national park.
Kingman Arizona was chosen for a one night stop. Ramada Motel with nice painted walls and a clean room was picked.
park in front of your room
Mandy slept like a rock, I was not able to do so . Sunburned? May be. Haven’t had a red nose before
