Day 4
This day was the longest day of driving that we have so far on the road trip. The drive was from St. Louis to Denver. It was suppose to take us about 12 hours but we got to Denver in a little over 10 hours. We cut through the rest of Missouri, went through Kansas, and parts of Colorado. All I have to say is that Kansas has to be by far the most boring state I have ever been to or seen. All those stories you hear about how there’s nothing in Kansas. Well, I can tell you first hand - there is NOTHING in Kansas. Pretty much all flat land and ONE (I repeat, ONE) radio station in certain parts of Kansas. It seemed like it took forever to drive through Kansas however we finally made it through to Denver. Got in around 8pm mountain time and went to a bar to catch the Nuggets vs. Lakers game. It was a great environment since Denver was playing.
Day 5
After an exhausting day of driving the day before, I woke up fairly early and felt quite refreshed. For breakfast, my friend and I decided to check out a very popular breakfast joint in Denver called Jack-N-Grill. This place is so popular that it has been featured on Anthony Bourdain’s show and Man vs. Food. Their staple is the 7-pound breakfast burrito challenge. Although my friend and I did not do the challenge, the food was quite plentiful and delicious. After breakfast, we decided to tour the city. I must say, Denver is quite nice. The air is clean and very quite for a bigger city. After hitting up the city, we decided to hit the road again and move onto Salt Lake City. The drive was much better today considering it was only about 6.5 hours. We cut through the northern parts of Colorado and most the southern parts of Wyoming. I will have to say, the scenery through these two states are UNREAL! I have never seen such awesome views in my life before. Although most of the drive was boring, but these views can not be captured else where. We finally arrive in SLC and we hit up a popular brew bar/restaurant called Squatters. Apparently, they are all about the environment and they brew their own beers which includes organic beer. I tried an organic beer for the first time ever and all I have to say is AMAZING! So crisp and rich in flavor. SLC is a nice place to visit. It’s VERY clean and just very environmentally conscious.
Day 6
Got up early in SLC and drove through the rest of Utah on our way to San Francisco. Man, the scenery cutting through Utah was pretty cool as well. And nothern California was quite interesting as well. We drove through Tahoe and the mountains and finally arrive into the city of San Francisco. First impression - wow quite a city. We got in late afternoon so didn’t really do too much as I had to help my friend unpack and get settled in to his new place.
Day 7
We decided to hit up some touristy stuff today. Got up and headed over to Fisherman’s Dwarf, a popular pier area located on the SF bay. Nothing spectular as it was mostly filled with boats and appears like a giant marina. We then decided to head over and do the Alcatraz tour. We bought our tickets and headed over to the island. It was quite surreal on the boat ride over as you can get an awesome view of SF from the boat. My first thought of the island was that it was pretty cool. Then, they gave us an audio to accompany the walking around the island. This was VERY cool. Got to see most of the island and listen to the history of Alcatraz. This tour took up most of our day. On the way back to the house, we decided to stop by Lombard St. For those that don’t know, these is the crookiest street in the world and damn they are right. So steep and the turns were crazy.
Day 8
I have some family in SF and decided to meet up with some of them for lunch and dinner. For lunch, we went to have some Dim Sum (chinese version of brunch) and got to catch up with some people I haven’t seen for years. After lunch, we decided to take a bike tour towards the Golden Gate Bridge. We basically rode down the SF Marina Bay and headed onwards towards the bridge. The closer we got to the bridge, the harder the bike ride became. It was cold and the road was getting harder and harder to ride up. So, we decided we were winded to attempt to cross the street. We decided to ride back to the house.
Day 9
Today was a more relaxing tour and got to see the non-city side of San Francisco. With no major plans for the day, my friend’s roommate asked if we wanted to go to Sonoma County and check out the wineries up there. So on our way up north. It was about 45 mins away from the city. Once we got there, it was quite eye-opening. There were so many wineries and the culture there is so laid-back. We toured about 4 wineries and had samples in almost every one of them. We headed back to the city and headed over to AT&T Ballpark where the SF Giants play. We got cheap tickets and decided to give the stadium a look since I’ve heard that this is one of the nicest ballparks in the MLB. It was definitely a nice ballpark.
To sum everything up, this was the best vacation I have ever taken so far. To see so much, to enjoy the U.S. for what it is, to meet new people, and to experience things where most people won’t get to in their lifetime is just an amazing feeling. It is hard to describe a lot of the things that I witness and did but I am glad I did this trip. One word can sum it all up - AMAZING!