California: Los Angeles and San Franciso
Important note: This entry is part of a series covering our recent USA Road Trip. It is not written as a guide, but more as journal entries, since – you will notice if you bother to read them – we barely spent a day in each place we visited, except for New Orleans (two days). It is simply impossible (and unfair) to each town or city, for us to make any judgements whatsoever, without spending enough time to properly explore many, if not all, that they have to offer. Nevertheless, if you decide to continue reading – buckle up – we hope you enjoy the ride.
This is the final part of our USA Road Trip series and the last leg of our one-and-a-half-month USA visit. From New Jersey all the way to San Francisco, the weeks have gone by in a flash.
Table of Contents
Los Angeles
Chevron (Cameron, Arizona) to Diamond Bar (Los Angeles, California) – We decided to cut our trip short and head straight to Diamond Bar in Los Angeles, after spending a cold and uncomfortable night in the van. As it was at least an 8.5 hour drive, we left the gas station after a hasty breakfast.
We finally arrived at around 5pm in the afternoon, 10 hours later.
Tita Chai’s home and stuff we did over the next week before San Francisco -Over the next several days, we lived “normally” – meaning, not living out of a suitcase. And as the New Year was only a couple of days away, we made preparations for it, shopping for groceries for New Year’s Eve.
Click here if you’d like to check out the overview of our epic USA Road Trip!
San Francisco
Sergio and Alisa’s new home – We went to Livermore, a city on the eastern edge of the San Francisco Bay Area, where Tita Chai’s daughter, Alisa and her fiancé Sergio, live.
Village of Pleasanton – Pleasanton is indeed, as it namesake suggests, pleasant. Just a few minutes from Sergio and Alisa’s home, we went there a couple of times, first for some ice cream, and second, when Kuya Don and I borrowed Alisa and Sergio’s bikes to explore the town.
Alcatraz Island – Perhaps one of the most famous tourist attractions in San Francisco, on par with the Golden Gate Bridge, we paid a visit to The Rock on our second day.
Fisherman’s Wharf – Right after our Alcatraz tour, we decided to explore Fisherman’s Wharf (while looking for a place to eat), another must-visit place when in San Francisco. We ended up at the Fog Harbor Fish House for lunch.
Land’s End – After lunch, Tita Chai took us to Land’s End, one of her favourite places to hike. Unfortunately for us, it was drizzling by the time we got there and visibility was poor. This did not stop us from taking a few pictures, as you’ll see below.
Overall Impressions
We spent a total of 10 days in Los Angeles and 4 in Livermore. During this time we ate a lot, drank a lot, and pretty much had ourselves a great time. We have nothing but good memories from our last couple of weeks in the US. Nana and I can’t wait for the next time we can do this again – perhaps we can make it a tradition?
The next part of our year-long journey will start in Mexico, where we spent three weeks, traveling to seven major cities, which we will cover in detail in the coming blog posts.
Want to be an Airbnb Host?
As long-term travelers, we book most of our accommodations on Airbnb. It is convenient, simple and quick, and you will never have to find yourself arriving at your destination in the middle of the night, with nowhere to go. Airbnb gives us the freedom and flexibility to adjust our travel plans in an instant. Having met many hosts all over the world, we know that being a host will not only provide you with additional income, but you will also be able to meet (and perhaps even make friends) with interesting people from all over the world. If you think you’d make a great Airbnb host, here’s my invitation link to learn more.