Cali is so money baby $$$

Two weeks ago I was strolling through Golden Gate park with two of the best people I know, hiding behind matching giant aviators. Two weeks ago I was dreading our return to Vermont's chapped lips and wind burns. I did get a bit spoiled with all the traveling over break but I must admit, it does feel good to be back in these Green Mountains.

Pacific!

It seems to me that everything really is bigger in California; Bigger waves, mountains, highways, trees, pine cones...
Contrary to popular belief, 21 year olds can rent cars. Enterprise handed us the keys to a 2012 Avenger on our first full day out west and we cruised up to Lake Tahoe to visit Ali, Ryan and Kobe. It was a 4 hour drive filled with satellite radio, dimpled hillsides and of course no Cali roadtrip is complete without a visit to In & Out Burger. 

 The highway into Tahoe is absolutely gorgeous, a single lane road weaving around cliffs, valleys and climbing up and down mountains. We couldn't see when we were driving into town at night, but on the way out of Tahoe the views were incredible.

Our first full day in Tahoe we played Frisbee Golf for the first time. The weather was perfect for some outdoor drinking, so we sipped our delicious Mendocino Brews and explored the park. 

Lake Tahoe

Although the original plan was to get in some Tahoe hiking, that quickly turned into casual beer drinking on a private beach.We checked out the gambling scene at the Nevada state line just long enough for me to lose a few bucks & for Andrew to win a few hundred! On our way back to San Fran we stopped at the Muir Woods National Monument to see the Redwoods. We arrived just in time to catch the last 45 minutes of sunlight & timed our departure perfectly with sunset. 

 

Redwoods picnic

Back in San Fran we stayed with a friend of a friend & went out dancing in The Mission. The band was a super funky group called Afrolicious (?) playing in some sort of warehouse scenario. Going out in SF was obviously a blast, but it was also pretty expensive when you add the cost of transportation (taxi) both ways. Definitely wouldn't be able to afford going out as many nights of the week as I might in Burlington. 

Pretty Jazzed about 710 Ashbury

 We accomplished every item on our Cali bucket list. Some highlights include: Haight-Ashbury, Golden Gate Park, the Fisherman's Wharf Sea Lions, toes in the Pacific, heady meal in China town, and hot-tubbing at the hotel. It was a flawless vacation with my two best friends. All in all, The Bay Area is definitely a place I can see myself living if I was making some serious $$$.