The day started out well. Matthew made us some oatmeal with almonds and goat milk yogurt (yep, definitely embracing the “whatever works”/ “vagabonds can’t be choosers” mindset on this trip), and we got hot showers. Off to a good start. Matthew pointed us in the direction of town on a less curvy road in the mountains. So far so good. Lindsay finally understood my crabbiness of the day before as she sat in the passenger’s seat while I weaved through the mountain. * yeah totally got it so queezy ick* The morning seemed less promising when the gas light went on and we were somewhat lost in the mountain. Tom wasn’t so good at pointing us in the right direction and I was anxious about the fact that we were going to be stuck in the middle of nowhere. Now after our running out of gas experience in Arizona and the fact that road rule #2 was “never pass up a gas station”, you wonder how this is the second time I have been in the drivers seat when the gas light has gone on. Usually its because we switch drivers unexpectedly and I’m too busy trying to navigate, plan, and drive all at the same time to assess the gas situation and Lindsay didn’t give me heads up on the gas level when she gave me control. After 15 minutes of stressful driving, we found a gas station. * well B was stressed I was fine. She started driving frantically and I could see her anxiety and informed her the more she accelerates and brakes quickly the more gas you actually burn, so take it easy we’ll be fine. I also stated for the record that I was saying this out loud and not just thinking that in my head which she appreciated. Oh Carrie the stories you leave us with*Thank the lord. Unfortunately USPS was sitting in front of me, blocking the entrance, and I thought there was a great chance I’d run out of gas waiting for the mailman to get his butt out of my way. After we fueled up and I got my directional bearings straight we headed back towards the good old Golden Gate Bridge. The fog had somewhat subsided so we had a great shot of her, but I wanted to take a closer look so I pulled off after we crossed and took to exploring by foot. I ended up wandering down this path that looked like a trail and ended up at the maintenance area, until some helpful man pointed me in the right direction, I went to get Lindsay and drove to the viewing area. I had trouble finding a parking spot given the mass amount of people and tour buses so I tried to loop around again, which actually lead me back onto the freeway, back over the bridge, again. Lindsay was quite annoyed, since it costs $6 to cross the bridge, but accidents happen, and victory laps on the Golden Gate Bridge is somewhat humorous. I really wanted to soak it in anyway. I pulled into the viewing area on the other side of the bridge and got out. I wanted to walk on the big old bridge, so I left Lindsay in the car and after a little wandering and crossing under the bridge which turned out to be closed, I got on the path and walked towards the center. San Francisco is the land of 10,000 bikers, which surprises me since its famous for its hilly terrain, but biker after biker peddling across the bridge. There were sail boats in the harbor and floating in groups near the bridge, the sun was shiny and it was brisk but comfortable out. I walked to the first tall pillar of the bridge then turned around.
Back in the car, and off to explore a little more of San Francisco. We headed for the Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39 first. We found a parking lot and illegally parked our car in our own spot. Yep, Lindsay is turning me into a delinquent. * well Brittany was getting frustrated and this was one of the things she really wanted to do and at this point you could kind of cut the tention in the car with a knife, so when she said in a huff “If we can’t find a parking spot we are gonna have to skip this” I suggested a little more law breaking. Someone else did it too and I followed it with a good deed and it instantly lifted the tension. No biggie*We saw a homeless on the street with a sign that said “Food or anything helps”. Lindsay decided to be generous and give him a bag of our goldfish. A little good karma never hurt anyone. I’d describe Fisherman’s Wharf as a mix of Navy Pier and Howth, Ireland with tons of restaurants (and Bubba Gumps ofcourse) and lots of boats and sea lions lounging in the sunshine. We took a stroll around, listened to the sea lions barking at one another, got an ice cream cone and hit the road. * and a man wearing a pirate costume completely covered in gold paint *
The next stop was reliving my childhood by finding the Full House house and driving passed “Postcard Row” and Alamo Square which is the park they play in during the open scene. We found the park but couldn’t find a place to park so we could get out and explore so we kept going. After a little winding around, we found their house. Win.
Driving in San Francisco was fun…and of course Lindsay gave me the task since she hates city driving. The hills were intense and I skidded the tires *more like totally burnt rubber lol*once trying to get going after stopping on one steep steep slant. Anytime we do some sort of dumb driving mistake we just proclaim to the other drivers that we’re from Wisconsin. Wouldn’t want to embarrass any of my solid Illinois drivers…so I’ll blame it on the cheeseheads and our Wisconsin affiliation created by our license plate.
After seeing the Full House house, we drove through the Haight and Ashbury neighborhoods to feel all the peace and love and hippiness. Then off to a land of peace and love and happiness..Costco. After 3 trips around the block to figure out how to get into the parking garage, we got in, and checked to see how long a tire rotation would take. After waiting in line for 10 minutes just to ask, we found out it would take 3-3.5 hours. Not in the schedule. So Lindsay picked up her prescription and we hit the dusty trail again. Matthew told us there was a Costco in Monterey and Tom told it was on Metz Rd so we figured it was a good sign. We headed to Monterey. San Francisco is a very neat town, the houses are so detailed and intricate, but it seems like they are all packed into one another like sardines or as our Montana cowboy would say…condensed milk.
It was later in the afternoon when we made it to Monterey, probably about 4:30, so we found the Costco (but didn’t see any Metz Rd…so I must have been hallucinating) and checked on getting the tires rotated. They said about an hour and a half but it needed to be done so we decided to explore the nearby beach. First we needed our sweatshirts out of the car, so Lindsay used her spare key, which just set the alarm off. Breaking into our own car in the Costco parking lot… yep, all-stars. We crossed underneath the overpass and found a nice beach. A man was fishing and I walked to put my feet in. I kicked off my shoes which wasn’t a good idea since the tide came in and washed them out so I had to chase them down like a fool. Bet the fishermen thought I was an idiot..ah well, but Lindsay missed it so it doesn’t really matter. * Ah I found the treasure trove of sea glass. Can’t pass that up! But I would have liked to see Brittany run around like a fool having the roles reversed would have been nice lol*
We sat there for a while watching waves crash…best wait for car care ever. We both had to use the bathroom and the ocean noise wasn’t helping so we walked back to Costco and went inside. We found a little girl going to the bathroom making all sorts of relief noises and I couldn’t help to think “Everyone Poops”….that’s what 3 weeks of pooping in public places does to you. * funny how she mentions this book. I told her I was going to share that we were bonding in the bathroom and she yelled at me. “I don’t want people reading about my poop!” my response was “everyone poops B they even wrote a book about it” and while we were at Matthews he had some choice reading material “What’s your poop telling you” with a big toilet on the front. All I could think was Aunt Pam probably has this book and it’s totally Bucholz. I was not at all surprised in fact I just laughed and apparently loud enough that B could hear me in the bathroom. Ah poop get used to it…shit happens!*We grabbed some chicken bakes from the Costco concession stand and ate our fancy dinner while we waiting. Two Costco visits in one day… some sort of bizarre record, although I’m sure Aunt Kath has done it from time to time. We got our car back and hit the road.
We ventured furthered down into Monterey and found another beach to play in. Which ended up getting me soaking wet when the tide came in further than expected and I decided to splash around like a child. Everyone loves the beach. Changed my pants on the side of the road than we were LA bound. * yeah we both got soaked AWESOME*
We passed the Pebble Beach exit on our way back north to cut over east onto the 101. Then we headed south. We eventually hit the 5. The sun set over Monterey Wine Country’s rolling hills. Beautiful. Then it got darker, and it warmed up as we headed south. We had Pepsi at Costco so I was fueled up…then a late night stop to get gas. *so fired up she had to fire up the Celine Dion ballet and started signing like a weirdo in typically road trip fashion. I didn’t join in right away because I was reading. B was not pleased so almost in a very surprising way I joined in singing like a fool, big surprise, while B started laughing. I am pretty entertaining if you are lucky enough to see that side of me* We couldn’t figure out how to operate these air tight gas pumps that California has, so we had to enlist the help of the gas station attendant. She thought we were dumb Midwesterners undoubtedly but whatever…she had to shove it in the car so hard, it moved the car. * ok friggin’ stupid we tried one pump, no bueno, keypad didn’t work tried the next one still, no bueno. I went inside and the chick was useless. We had to wait until the next shift chick came and then they started speaking espanol which I don’t speak. They were probably bitching about me whatever just because you ruined your ozone and have smog doesn’t mean you should have dumb ass gas pumps. I mean really * We both had the same thought… McD’s ice cream, so we hit the drive thru. And finally Lindsay got her dipped cone. Slow moving service but then we were back on the road. *who would have thought Wisconsin would be as advanced as California but they didn’t have them at the same bargain price of 79 cents like wiscosin. 3rd rip off pllllllll raspberries. Although maybe that’s why us Midwest girls aren’t lacking for any insulation. Damn it Mc Donalds* It was dark and we were somewhere in the valley. In fact, I think we were in Hidden Valley because it smelled overwhelmingly like Hidden Valley Ranch*veggie dip better than the horrific shit smell Matthew warned us about for about 30 miles too long…barf*…and then green peppers, and then ranch again. So random. There were a thousand semis on this road and then civilization.
We jammed to a little Bruce Springsteen montage.
We got off at the Hollywood exit. Welcome to Hollywood. The bright lights gave even Lindsay a little excitement, and she’s a little anti-city. * I totally felt the magic. City of dreams, where dreams come true. It totally had that energy. Perfect for Blythe!” We found our way into West Hollywood, and to Blythe’s. We parked the car on the side of her apartment and found the knocker with Metz on it. We were greeted by our loving cousin who welcomed us into her colorful apartment that was warm with candle light. Very homey.* while we talked Blythe started jumping on her little trampoline in her robe holding the girls and I just chuckled. She is so funny and full of life it’s a little contagious* We sat up and chatted for a while before we decided it was time for bed. Lindsay took a tumble when she sat on the end of the hide-a-bed and it collapsed due to a missing screw. Hilarity…especially at like 1:30 in the morning. * don’t worry it struck while B was in it too. We both layed down and suddenly our feet were in mid air. The end collapsed again. Don’t worried the muscle of the group fixed it so we might not have been swallowed by the hide-a-bed in the middle of the night. It was pretty damn funny though. My mom would have been cackling like a hyena I can just hear it*
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