10 days in ‘heavenly’ California!

I so love traveling to new places – there is something about them that calls me often!

We always wanted to cover the West Cost, a trip that materialized for us early last month (after being in the U.S. for 5 years). We chose to fly with United this time and for rental car I always trust Enterprise.

We had 10 days to see the best of California, and though we wanted to see Grand Canyon and Las Vegas too, that would have made it too hectic for us. So, we took them off the plan and here’s how the layout looked for us – starting with San Francisco and driving clockwise all the way back to it. Essentially, that meant spending at the most 2 days at each major location highlighted in the map…had to adjust for travel time too.

I and Saru are Nature lovers, so our outings are heavy on that aspect…a reason why we left Alcatraz in San Francisco and Universal Studios in Los Angeles. You can plan accordingly based on what you like.

Our first morning in San Francisco was quite misty and we spent a bit of time at the Ocean Beach, while on our way to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Then we went to Fort Point, Lands End, Crissy Field, and even to the other side of the bridge to capture these views of the Golden Gate.

Weather had gotten better by afternoon, but we had few more things to cover that day.

Though it might take many months for me to write entirely about California vacation (and I am yet to complete many past trips too), let me mention this right away: No matter how much of an expert you are in traveling, there are always some takeaways from each escape. Here are the learnings from this long journey:

1. Alternate between hectic and leisure days…that would give you enough rest.
2. After every 2-3 days, keep a relaxing day. One can travel to the new location, but don’t keep any exciting adventure lined up.
3. Listen to your body – Saru got a back-pain while hiking (exerted a lot) in Lake Tahoe…so had to compromise with sightseeing for 2 days.
4. There are always ways to save money. We could have done better on food this time!

I call Califonia heavenly since the natural beauty is in abundance there.