Today I embarked on a solo roadtrip up the California coast from my hometown San Juan Capistrano, CA to San Francisco, CA. A colleague and good friend recently relocated to the downtown area, and promptly invited me to visit for a weekend. I drove through Frisco on the 2005 roadtrip, but didn't have time to tour the place. But I made darn sure to fix that for this round.

I used 5:45am as a head start to miss most of the LA traffic. Haha, notice I said most. I didn't quite escape the leading edge of rush hour, costing maybe 25 minutes delay. (Not gonna complain loudly over that.)

Using I-405, I shot all the way up to Hwy 118 and headed west. My first stop was in Simi Valley, CA. One of my favorite movies is the 1982 flick Poltergeist. Movie trivia buffs would know the famous house used for the shoot is located in Simi Valley, on Roxbury Street. So at 8:30am I pull up to the house (still looking as pristine as it did 25 years ago) and took plenty of shots. The house directly across the street was for sale. Perhaps they should have advertised "Across from the Poltergeist house" as a marketing feature! Then again, maybe that would scare people away.

I continued west on Hwy 118 as it alternated its official stance between road and highway. I transitioned to Hwy 126 for a brief stint, and finally changed over to US 101 in Ventura, proceeding north. Most of the 101 here is squeezed in between mountains and the ocean, quite satisfying to see again after 15+ years. (This route was taken on the 2005 roadtrip in the dark so I saw nothing.)

I stopped to refuel in Santa Maria and continued up until reaching San Luis Obispo, which at this point the route strayed from US 101 and continued northwest on the Cabrillo Highway (Hwy 1). The last time I was on this particular stretch, I was probably 12-13 years old, during the summer when clouds and fog hugged the coast so there was nothing to see. This time, however, there wasn't a cloud in the sky so it was all mountains and ocean. *happy sigh* Time to blast away trance music and take in the sights!

I passed Cambria, which seemed like a quaint little town. I'll have to come back and check this place out in detail (maybe for retirement purposes haha). Before long I found myself at San Simeon, where I decided to break up the driving day and kill 2 hours at Hearst Castle. I arrived in time for their 12:00pm Experience tour. The place was pretty amazing. I recommend it if you haven't been there.

I left the Castle at 2:15pm and continued north. Here's where the sharp curves, high cliffs, and legacy bridges kick in. Being Friday afternoon I was fortunate not to come across too many slowpokes. The ones I did usually pulled over at the first turnout. (Probably because I tailed them. Yes, I'm bad...shhhh). I just had brand new Michelin tires installed on the Saturn, so I was *ahem* giving them a workout. Nothing too crazy, mind you, but there's something about those hairpin turns that make you feel like you're on a roller coaster. I only stopped once to take a picture of a 1932 bridge, but time was of the essence at this point so I kept it moving.

After reaching Santa Cruz, I detoured off Hwy 1 to Hwy 17 keeping a northward pace. Daylight was giving way to darkness by the time I reached Hwy 85 to turn east. The final change was to I-280 by Cupertino, CA, staying on this highway for the remainder of the drive. I could see up ahead the rainclouds making their way to meet me. And wouldn't you know it, traffic for a Friday night was horrendous, something I should have expected anyway.

I arrived in Daly City, CA at 6:30pm. Instead of dealing with even more traffic, my colleague met me at the BART station, and we used the underground tram to sneak back into downtown, exiting the platform at Powell street.

Now I'm not a city person by any means, so it was rather startling to surface smack dab in the middle of Union Square. Busy busy busy... We get to my colleague's place on O'Farrell and settle in but weren't there for long. We immediately head back out to pick up dinner and find a little bar to hang out for a while. After that I realized I forgot my phone and a few other things in the car back in Daly City, so had to make another roundtrip using the BART to retrieve everything. It was almost midnight by the time we returned. All right, I'm tired. Nighty night...

Today was "tourist day" as my friend took me around to my "high priority" destinations. We left her place at 8:30am and the first thing we did was get breakfast at the outdoor mart by the San Francisco Port. It was nice to sit and watch the city people doing their thing. The birds there are kinda vicious. They'll steal your food! But we had fun with that.

Next we walked along Embarcadero street until hitting the famous Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. It's a mini version of Balboa in Newport Beach, CA. Lots of little shops and attractions abound, though a little smaller than I had imagined. We walked around and found where all the Sea Lions were hanging out on the docks.

We headed west through the North Beach area afterwards. Here is where I bought some souvenirs and candy cause it was plenty cheap. After that we headed to the famous Ghirardelli chocolate store, stocking up plenty on white chocolate while buying the variety pack as a gift. (Good stuff)

We headed south, through Washington Square, and down to the TransAmerican building, the tallest structure in SF. Unfortunately their observatory deck was closed, and their virtual deck with the camera-controlled view wasn't working, so no go there. Bah. oh well...

We walked through some more districts, and of course found Chinatown. By this time my feet were yelling something awful at me. So we rounded back towards Union Square for a bit of rest, after what must have been a 6 jaunt. That might be nothing for the physically active folk, but for computer nerds like me, it's a world class adventure on the feet.

Next we headed out for a little drive and made for the Palace of Fine Arts in north Frisco. Nice grounds out there. We scouted a few more districts via car before returning back to the pad. We used the rest of the evening for social time, going to one of the malls and catching a flick. More to come the next day!

After an 8:30am breakfast at a little local place, we drove to the famous crooked part of Lombard street and made my sharp colleague navigate the hairpin turns. Being a Sunday morning, virtually nobody was on the road. Going down the most crooked street in the world honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I just found it amusing that people actually live on this part of the street.

After Lombard we headed straight for Coit Tower and handed over US$4.50 to scale the top. Grand views from all around. You could see everything about the east side of Frisco from one place. We headed back down and made a bee-line for Golden Gate Park. Here we doddled around in the Tea Gardens for a while, and then headed over to Strawberry Hill, surrounded by Stow Lake and ascended up the slope by the waterfalls. Pretty slick.

After getting out of the park, we headed south through a few more districts, including Castro (hehe) and then back home. So much to take in, my head is about to explode and so is my camera. We spent the rest of the day around the square going to some of my favorite shops and whatnot, then ended up just chilling back at the pad. Had to take the BART back to my car to store souvenirs and pay for the daily parking fee. I've seen what I've needed to see. Time to head back down the trail in the morning...

Up we were at 5:30am to get ready. I had a vacation day set aside for this travel day, but my colleague didn't, and she had to be at the office early, so we left at 6:45am and drove back down to Daly City where she dropped me off. Thank you for the hosting!

Time for some driving... taking I-280 to I-380 to US 101, then realized that probably wasn't the smartest move, as I kept hitting pockets of traffic. It would have been better to stay on the 280, as checking my mobile phone revealed that freeway to be all clear. Hmm... now why I didn't I check that beforehand? Duhr... I kept trying different freeways until returning to the 101 past all the urban areas. Phew...

I've been pondering whether to take the 101 all the way back down, or once again drive Hwy 1. The former is much faster but not as scenic, and the latter being the opposite. Decisions, decisions! I gave myself until the next gas stop to make up my mind. Once I reached Salinas, CA and filled up the tank, the thought of the mountain/ocean scenery won me over. Yeahhhh taking Hwy 1 back.

Back down Cabrillo Highway I go. It was more annoying this time, thanks to Monday morning slow pokes. Some drivers don't understand the rules about letting the mounting line of cars behind you pass. Some tailgaters were more frustrated than I was and decided not to wait for the broken yellow lines and zip past the glacial line of cars, even around blind curves! Yikes, whatevs man, I ain't that crazy. There were also plenty of cyclists to watch out for. Not interested in scoring those kind of kill points today.

On the way down, I stopped at a few of the vista points missed on the way up for a few scenery shots. My favorite was Elephant Seal vista point, just north of San Simeon, where all the (you guessed it) elephant seals were hanging out. Must have been hundreds out there sleeping, playing in the water, making noise, etc. Pretty killer.

I was going to take Hwy 1 through Malibu, but an ongoing fire there closed the highway off, so never mind. It's just as well because the entire area was a smoky haze and wouldn't made for good sight-seeing anyway. Best to merge back to US 101 and continue the trek that way. Turning on to I-405 south, I thought I'd hit LA traffic but surprisingly was pretty sparse.

Reaching Orange County, another out-of-control fire quickly became prominent with the entire area in a dark smoky haze again, even blotting the sun out. As I arrived home at 5:15pm, it remained murky outside so I quickly brought in my stuff and kept all the windows and doors shut. We're done!

Overall, it was a pleasant drive with inviting views of the California coastline, and I enjoyed the sights of San Francisco. Personally, living as a city slicker is not my cup of tea (more the urban type) but regardless it's definitely a destination for those curious about visiting. Odds are you may wonder across some awfully strange things (and people) but if you know what, where and how to avoid all that, you should be good. For those who plan a trip to the city, be prepared to spend a majority of your day walking. Driving is highly discouraged (especially on the weekend) although Sunday morning before 11:00am is OK. Take the tram, the trolley, or a taxi otherwise.

Total Stops: 2
Miles travelled: 1,042
Total time driven: 19:45
Total spent: ~$329.00 (includes $89.00 fuel)