California Girls: A Girls Trip With My Besties
I deemed 2020 as my year to travel and what better way
to kick those travels off than with a girls trip to California!
This past January me and three of my friends escaped the
bitter Kansas winter and flew out to the sunny west coast
(which actually happened to be chilly as well, but nothing like the Kansas cold).
Our trip was a short one, only 5 days total, but we packed
those days with a ton of sightseeing, grand adventures, and
made some memories that will last a lifetime. Hope you enjoy
my recap of the trip and of course some
pictures that I took along the way!
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Day 1: Do You Know the Way to San Jose?
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Due to some vicious winter weather our original flight
from Wichita to Dallas was cancelled forcing us to push
back our already short trip by an entire day. (However, while
this cancellation was inconvenient, I will admit that it was so
much nicer to be driving to the airport on a clear afternoon
rather than at one in the morning on ice coated roads.) Our
new flight departed Wichita at 5pm and, after a short
layover in Phoenix, we finally arrived in San Jose around
11pm where we picked up our rental car, a Subaru Outback, and
then drove 2 hours to the cute little Fernwood Motel in Big Sur.
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Day 2: Yes Sur
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After our late night arrival to the hotel, we decided it
was best if we all slept in a little to help prepare for our
big day of adventuring around the Big Sur area. Once we
finally got around we trekked over to the on site general
store, picked up breakfast and supplies for our picnic lunch, and
then drove out to Pfeiffer Beach. The lack of signs and a
flooded section of road made the journey out to this beach
a bit of a challenge, but none of that was going to deter
these determined adventurers! We strolled along the sandy
beach, chilly wind blowing through our hair, watching as the
intimidating swells rose and crashed against the rock formations
in the water and against the beach itself. At this point in the morning the
tide was also fairly high so trying to avoid getting soaked was
almost like playing a game with the ocean... a game that I sadly
lost on more than one occasion. However, wet feet and cold
wind aside, it was so peaceful to simply sit on the beach
watching and listening to the huge waves crash. (It was certainly
very easy to see why swimming is prohibited at this beach.)
I honestly could have sat there all day long.
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Knowing we still had quite a bit to see in the area we
reluctantly drug ourselves back to the car and drove on
to our next point of interest, McWay Falls. However, before
we made it there we stopped at a couple of scenic
viewpoints where we got to see (& hear) seals and whales
out in the water. It was also at one of these viewpoints that I
ventured off on my own risky climbing adventure down a cliff,
without any type of safety net, to get a better view of the
seals and ocean below. (I am starting to think it just wouldn’t be
a vacation for me if I didn’t embark on at least one potentially life
threatening climb! In this case the view was definitely worth it
and I got some cool pictures out of it as well.)
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Photo Cred: Kristin Vinduska
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After a short little hike we reached the McWay Falls waterfall
and with the sun shining on our faces we again found
ourselves engulfed in the peacefulness of the area. No
matter where you looked you had a beautiful ocean
view and the waterfall was so dang cute!
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From McWay Falls we drove to the sight I was most excited
to see that day, the famous Bixby Bridge. I have seen
pictures of this bridge on all of my social media accounts
for years and it was the sight that made me add Big Sur to
my ever growing list of places I want to visit. Seeing the bridge
in person was a very surreal experience and I made sure to take
as many pictures as I could. (Including one you will see below
where I again potentially put my life on the line to climb out onto
the edge of the bridge. I was the only tourist there that did this
and there were a lot of others there taking my picture
while I was out there. At the time I thought it was because they
thought it was a cool picture, but now I am thinking they were
taking my picture to show off my stupidity to their friends and
family and to be recording if I were to fall to my death.)
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Photo Cred: Abigail Svoboda
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Once we finished taking our pictures at the bridge, we pointed
our car in the direction of San Francisco stopping along the way
at the breathtakingly beautiful Point Lobos State Natural Reserve
and other scenic viewpoints.
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When we finally arrived in San Francisco we were all
pretty hangry so we quickly checked into our Airbnb and then
headed out in search of food. We ended up deciding on a
pizza place called Gialina’s. Overall, the pizza was pretty good, not
the best I ever had, but at that point I was just happy to be
getting some real food in my stomach. Even though by this time
it was only about 9pm (11pm Kansas time) we were all pretty tuckered out so we
went back to our Airbnb and crashed for the night.
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(Our view from the Airbnb!)
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Day 3: A Golden Experience
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The only time I will ever willingly opt to wake up before the
sun is when I am on vacation and there is something I want to
see in the beautiful sunrise glow, like for instance, the Golden
Gate Bridge. We made it to the almost entirely abandoned Battery
Spencer viewpoint just as the sun was starting to peak up over the
horizon and we watched as it silently and slowly made it’s ascent
into the morning sky. The light from the sun on the bridge and the
surrounding areas made for some extremely picturesque moments
and it was a golden hour unlike any I had seen before.
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Photo cred: Kristin Vinduska
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Photo cred: Kristin Vinduska
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When we finished filling our cameras with pictures of the
bridge we travelled back into the city for brunch at a little
French Bistro called Zazie. It was a very cute little place with
great service and amazing food. Definitely hit the spot!
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Photo cred: Kristin Vinduska
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With food in our bellies we could then begin our Instagram photo journey.
(Yes we are those basic white girls, but I will not apologize for it
because we got some pretty great pictures and had a blast travelling all over the city.)
Our first stop on the “tour” was to a spot many of you may
recognize from a little show called Full House, the pink ladies houses.
These houses are featured in the opening of each Full House episode
when they are having their picnic in the grass, which is exactly where we stood
while listening to the Full House theme song. (We also made sure to stop
by the actual house from the show as you will see below!)
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Full House house!
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After snapping some pictures of these unique San Francisco
houses, we returned to the car where I, in my haste to get in, managed
to slam my head into the door frame of the car resulting in what I
would later find out to be a lovely strained muscle in my neck.
(This oh so cute act of clumsiness limited the mobility in my neck for
not only the remainder of the trip, but also for the next 2 weeks that followed.)
However, I wasn’t going to let the pain in my neck stop me from enjoying my
time in California or ruin the trip for everyone else so I trooped on and we
continued to our next stop, the Lyon Street Steps. These steps make up
one of the longest staircases in all of San Francisco
(which, after walking down I firmly believe to be true) and end
in front of another important landmark for us all, the high school
from the movie The Princess Diaries.
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We then walked through part of The Presidio (former military outpost turned park)
to Lover’s Lane and Andy Goldworthy’s wood line. This was an
absolutely beautiful place to be and it was hard to believe
this forest was situated in the middle of the city. I know if I lived
anywhere near a place like this I would be in fantastic shape
because I would find any excuse I could to go jogging on the trails
that wind through those towering trees.
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Photo Cred: Kristin Vinduska
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A requested stop from one of our group members brought us to the
Palace of Fine Arts on the other side of The Presidio where we got to
see some beautiful architecture and scenery. After we walked around
the Palace area we ventured over to the tiled 16th Avenue Steps for a
quick photo session and then made our way to the Baked Bear for some
killer ice cream sandwiches.
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Photo cred: Nicole Dipman
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Once we wolfed down our ice cream we travelled back across the
city to Sutro Baths where we explored the ruins and tunnels and
watched as the sun set out over the ocean once again. For dinner
we ate at one of the onsite restaurants called the Cliff House Bistro where
we had some delicious food and got to try real
San Francisco sourdough bread (they say San Francisco sourdough
bread is more sour than anywhere else because of a local bacteria making it
unique only to San Fran).
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Photo Cred: Kristin Vinduska
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We ended our evening back at the Airbnb with wine and the Bachelor.
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Day 4: Behind Bars
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Our first stop on this day was to Fort Point where we got
to take another quick peek at the Golden Gate
Bridge, got a different view of San Fran and Alcatraz
Island, and where we even saw a cheeky little seal.
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From Fort Point we made our way into the city to do some of
that San Francisco thrifting everyone raves about. Unfortunately, with
only carry-ons that were already filled to the brim, we were
extremely limited on what we could buy, but I did end up
walking away with a few great items. (For those of you following
my outfit challenge don't come for me. I won't be wearing any of the
new items I got until the challenge is completed.)
Once we finished up all of our shopping we headed over to Fisherman’s
Wharf to try and listen to the Wave Organ. HOWEVER, our time
management skills were not where they needed to be and we had to
forgo our search for the Wave Organ in order to eat lunch before
our nighttime Alcatraz tour. So, we parked the car at
the Pier 39 parking garage, speed walked down to
In-N-Out (my first In-N-Out experience!) and then proceeded to speed
walk to Pier 33 scarfing down our food as we walked
down the sidewalk. Against all odds we made it to our tour on time,
boarded the boat, and headed out to the island where
we got a 360 degree view of the entire outside of the island
(the night tour is the only one that offers this experience) and had the
opportunity to walk in the footsteps of the prisoners (including famous ones
such as Al Capone). It was definitely one of my favorite parts of the
whole trip and I would go back in a heartbeat.
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Photo Cred: Nicole Dipman
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I sent this picture to my dad and a couple of my other friends
and none of them were surprised to see me behind bars. In fact, I
think the line was "seems about right." Gee, thanks guys.
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The library - Where I would spend most of my time as a prisoner (well aside from the time when I am napping my bed. lol)
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Our final stop for the evening was to Alioto's, a seafood restaurant in
Fisherman's Wharf. Absolutely delicious food and amazing service.
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Day 5: A House of Mysteries
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Our final day of the trip started with a stop at Mr. Holmes Bakehouse
to, well, in all honesty take a picture with the famous "I got baked in
San Francisco” neon sign, BUUUUT
we did make sure to try out their pastries while we were there
as well. They were a little on the pricey side and I wouldn’t say that
they were the best pastries I have ever had, but I still think it was
worth the stop. From the bakery we hopped into the car to return to San
Jose where we would see the infamous Winchester Mystery House
(this was one of things I was most excited to see while on the trip).
Touring through the house we were able
to see a lot of its unique features including doors and stairs that
led to nowhere, easy riser stairs, beautiful stained glass windows, and
even the haunted séance room (which I of course volunteered
to be the first to walk in to).
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Photo Cred: Nicole Dipman
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The mansion in it's entirety.
Easy Riser Stairs - The black stairs on the wall are what the original staircase looked like.
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From the Winchester Mystery house we headed straight to the airport for our flight home.
Unfortunately, much like our flight to Cali, our flight home wasn't going to be smooth flying either. After
discovering fuel leaking on the wing of the plane we were left sitting on the airplane for over an hour
before the pilot determined we were technically okay to fly" (extremely comforting words
from your pilot).Then, we hit some of the worst turbulence I have ever experienced and I was left white knuckled praying I didn't throw up or die (neither options I wanted to explore). However, we landed
safely for our connecting flight and then again in Wichita bringing an official end to all our Cali adventures.
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