Our First Road Trip: Driving Day-San Francisco, In-N-Out, Stinson Beach

No road trip is complete without a selfie of the Civic that made this trip possible.

          We leave the Sunrise Inn, its Christmas lights, and delicious peach crepes behind to drop off our Charter equipment then head north toward San Francisco.  The drive reveals orchards, large plains with mountains not even seen in some directions, but nearing Oakland we find ourselves among hills and wind turbines.  We decide to take a potty break before entering San Francisco in case finding a bathroom is a pain, but apparently Oakland is the very last place you should ever try to find a public bathroom.  After driving around and trying a gas station and KFC a gelato shop owner points me in the direction of the library where a public bathroom stands in the park.  Pigeons, geese, and homeless men keep me company on this short trip.  No longer incredibly uncomfortable from breakfast's beverages we head toward I-80 for the first time since we left home.  

The sad little public restroom.

Oakland Bay Bridge heading into Pleasure Island.

          We cross the double suspension Oakland Bay Bridge after paying a $4 toll, cut through Pleasure Island's tunnels, and enter San Francisco.  Looking for Fisherman's Wharf we drive along the piers for a while.  If we'd found the right lot we could have gotten our hour of parking free, but instead we pay at a local lot head to Pier 39.  

          The area is clearly made for tourists as it is full of gimmicky shops and restaurants.  We stay out of that part and head along the side of the pier to find where all the seals are resting on floating docks in their own area.  Some just lie there lazily, some stand sentry watching over all, and others serenade us with the beautiful seal song.  Seagulls perch on top of logs standing in the water and I am reminded of, "Mine, mine, mine."  

          Looking north we see Alcatraz, west is the red Golden Gate Bridge, and all over is the beautiful bay.  We snap away and are even lucky enough to be treated to a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.  D was really excited about that.  I pick up a couple quick souvenirs and we happily walk back to our car.  That was a fun quick side adventure.  

          Over the Golden Gate we go in hunt of our last In-N-Out for the year.  We are lucky enough to get to actually dine inside it since outside of LA they have proper eateries with seating and everything.  We order our double-doubles, animal fries, and shakes.  It is all delicious and will be sorely missed as we head east.  

          The last leg of the drive is along Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway for beautiful sunset views of the ocean.  We make it a few miles and see a beach.  After sharing excited glances we pull off and park in the mostly empty lot.  Stinson Beach is not empty even though it is getting late.  Happily we head toward sand, barefoot with shorts and rolled up pant legs on unashamedly revealing four hairy legs.  For a while we walk along the beach toward the sun collecting sand dollars and hunting for little crabs.  Occasionally I see seal heads poking out of the water and I hope that they don't get bumped by the surfers as they ride to shore.  

          Watching the waves roll in and out we realize some of the best sand dollars might be further toward the water.  We brave the waves and follow them as they recede then run back up the beach before the large ocean waves can catch us.  We are able to find some more complete sand dollars this way.  My damp pocket is soon nearly full, so we stop collecting and start just running up and down the beach with the waves, laughing when we're too slow and the waves catch our ankles.  D and I play this way for a while until the sun has set and we're reading to move on.  

          After washing the sand and salt off our legs and arms we decide to discontinue the drive on the PCH and take the regular freeway instead.  It is so dark that we won't be able to enjoy the scenery anyway and we don't feel like spending more hours winding along the cliffs in the dark.  As we reach northern California the trees become noticeably taller and wider again.  I wonder if these are the redwoods.  There is a scenic route we could take but it is very late and we need sleep.  Luckily our route still passes through many of these tall trees and I lean forward to look up, but the darkness prevents me from seeing their tops.  These are really tall trees!  

          Suddenly I hear, "Uhhh, Czarina...?"  Afraid that something scary happened I look over and am relieved to see that we just need an oil change.  Ok, not that relieved, we've been driving through the mountains a lot and I'm not sure how well my little Civic has enjoyed that, so we decide to get the oil change first thing in the morning.  At least there wasn't a bear on the road or a tree falling on us.  The last bit of excitement aside from dodging dead deer in the road is spotting something that may be a mountain lion along the road.  It appears to be the right shape, size, and color, but since it's so dark I can't be sure it isn't just a really unusual rock.  We make it to The Redwood Inn and the man behind the desk suggests an oil change location for us.  We thank him and head to bed, exhausted but happy.

Sadly I have a piece of lint stuck between my lenses so go ahead and play the "Find the Blur" game.