2012 Solo Trip to California
A few weeks after I returned from my solo road trip and traveling through 10 states, I was invited to visit California with my Grandfather (aka “Papa”). He was visiting my late Grandmother’s (“Momer”) family – her brother, sister in law and their kid’s families (my mom’s cousins). I had never met this side of my family, although we had been Facebook friends for a little while. I’m not one to turn down an opportunity to travel to a new place AND meet long lost family members! Especially with my Papa going to be there, this made for a great get together.
I booked my flights from Florida to Sacramento, California, which was my first time flying by myself. I was excited and nervous, but ready! What was super fun was my flight to Denver
was delayed, so much so that they had all passengers wait on the plane to allow those of us with connecting flights within a few minutes off first. So, I rushed off the plane, ran to my gate…. Just to find out the gate had been moved to nearly next to where my plane had landed. Ugghhhhh!! But! I made it just in time!! Just in time to discover the flight to Sacramento was also delayed an hour. Fun times! That’s OK, gave me time to chill some before boarding, even though it was putting me after 1am landing in CA. Just a part of traveling, isn’t it? I had great seat mates, which is something I always hope for since I love meeting new people. Yay!
The drive from Sacramento to my Aunt and Uncle’s is a very pretty one! I did not have a lot of time, but I did try to take some photos along my way when I could pull over and snap some. I hope you enjoy the few I took, and if you can make the time, be sure to enjoy the scenery!
My Uncle and Aunt live near Murphys, California, which has a great history of the gold rush. There’s a very cool museum called Ironstone Heritage Museum with a HUUUGGGEEEE chunk 
of gold (44 lbs) on display. Very neat! I wish my Dad was able to visit, he is really into panning for gold and t
hat kind of scavenger stuff. He would have been extremely impressed with the chunk of gold. Well, who would not be?! That would buy A LOT of ice cream, LoL!
After spending a relaxing day at the pool, games and a wonderful dinner with the whole family, I took a day trip to Yosemite National Park since it was only about an hour away (a little more for me, since I wasn’t used to driving on the curvy, edge-of-the-cliff roads. BEAUTIFUL DRIVE!!! The area is so pretty, very different from Florida, LoL.
Yosemite National Park was INCREDIBLE. God creates such amazing artwork, with Yosemite being a perfect example. It is also a very large park and more to see than can be done in a day, however, I sure gave it a whirl! I drove from stopping point to stopping point, checking out the views, snapping photos and enjoying no phone service (ok, maybe that part was not so enjoyable). Just as an FYI, I only used an old cell phone to take the photos. It is just THAT amazing there!
A fun happening from this day trip was I met a foreign guy who didn’t really speak any English, but was traveling solo as well. We kept seeing each other at different points, so he suggested, with lots of hand gestures, that we follow one another from spot to spot so we could take photos of each other so we didn’t have to take the dreaded selfie every time, LoL. This made me a little nervous, but it was a great idea. I thought it over quickly and decided to go for it. Before you freak out and ask why, I chose to do it because
1. Everywhere had a ton of people
2. I texted his license plate number, vehicle description and a description of him to a couple of people so if anything happened, at least someone may be able to catch him
3. I had no intention of riding in the same vehicle as him or being alone together, and
4. I was tired of selfies and figured I could run him over if I needed to, hehe.
He truly seemed harmless, and he was. We had some laughs (no conversation since we didn’t speak the same language) and a lot of great photos I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. This made it an extra awesome journey!
If anyone knows who he is, tell him to send me a message!
Let me tell you, the drive to and from Yosemite was a little nerve-wracking, especially on my way home in the dark. The roads are VERY curvy and along cliffs in some points. It’s a looooonnngggg way down if you miss taking the curve properly. I’m sure it’s a lot of fun in the daylight and when you are familiar with the roads, but I’m a Florida girl from flatlands and no cliffs like this experience. Obviously, I made it safely back to my Uncle and Aunt’s house.
I spent the next day with the family, hanging out, watching football (Go Broncos!) and learning about them. They had a lot of vegetable and fruit trees, so we had amazing food to enjoy – and my first time having avocado on a lunch wrap, so yummy! I really hadn’t eaten avocado outside of guacamole, so I was impressed at how tasty it was and enjoy it regularly now. They 
have an incredible view as well! If you are looking for a beautiful place to move or vacation away from tourist areas, maybe Murphys is a good choice for you!
I had plans to visit San Francisco next, and it turned out my cousins and their baby lived in San Fran. On a whim, they were generous and kind enough to invite me to stay with them for the few days I planned to be over there. I originally planned to stay in a hostel, so I was pleasantly surprised and grateful to be able to stay with family (and save money too!). After another day, and more amazing food, laughs and great company, I headed back to Sacramento to return my rental car and catch a train to SF to my cousin’s home.
As a reminder from previous posts, trains are not a common form of transportation where I live, so this was a fun experience for me. It was nice to be able to see the scenery without having to drive myself. And I had some time to work on my schoolwork. After making it to the city, I made my way to my cousin’s neighborhood and I just LOVED the houses on the hill. It is exactly like you see in photos of the area, which did not disappoint. So colorful!
While in San Fran, I had lots of plans! Of course, the normal tourist things: Alcatraz, a whale watching tour (which got cancelled), Golden Gate Bridge and the pier area. One thing that I did not have on my list, but my family introduced me to, was The Mission area. From my understanding, it has a strong Latin American and Spanish influence and has a ton of these types of restaurants; my cousins took me to their favorite. SO GOOD!! It was a lot of fun to walk around and be in the vibe there. This was an unexpected experience and my favorite from all of my San Francisco memories.
But! I don’t want to overlook the touristy things I did because they were amazing as well. Any time I see photo of the bridge or talk about the pier, I immediately return to those experiences, which I am so blessed to have in my memory bank.
My first goal was to visit Alcatraz, a former federal penitentiary (ie prison) and now U.S. National Park, which is on Alcatraz Island. I bought my tickets online ahead of time, so checking in was super easy. They take you over in a big group on a ferry and drop you off for a few hours (see my tips at the end). They have a great audio tour that guides you through the prison and gives information on its history, plus talks about the famous people who were imprisoned there. Some were Al Capone and The Birdman. It also tells about those who tried, and failed, to escape the prison by swimming. Another part of its history is when the Indians occupied the island in the 1960’s and when the U.S. military was there. It was a little bit of a dreary day when I visited, but it was one of the highlights of my California trip. Do not leave this off of your trip to San Francisco; what an incredible part of our American history!
Of course, I visited Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf! A trip to SF is NOT complete without at least stopping by! I actually spent about two days here seeing the popular sea lions, watching boats, checking out the fare throughout the market area, people watching and aimlessly wandering around. There are some great people watching opportunities, including the ones that have people “acting” for money. There are people who look like statues, then spook you when they suddenly and unexpectedly move, musicians, and my favorite, the “bush guy.” He was wearing a tree costume, for lack of a better word, and pretended to be just any old bush, but when people would walk by without noticing it, he would move. It scared so many people! I found a nearby bench and camped out; this was the best entertainment. I also ate, and highly recommend!!!, clam chowder in a bread bowl. O.M.G., it was so good!
Of course, you must take photos of the Golden Gate Bridge and a quick stroll onto it (the bridge is a little more than 1.5 miles long, so I recommend only going about halfway, unless you want a longer workout). Fun fact: the Golden Gate Bridge is actually orange. The paint’s name has orange in it, not Gold. Fooled everyone, haha! There are a couple of “lookout” points on each side (north/south) of the bridge for people to take photos of it. Of course, this is frequented by tourists regularly because of the great photo opportunities, so keep that in mind. With that being said, my photos are from one of the lookout points.
