Katelyn and Rich's CA trip wrap up!

My sister doesn't have a blog, but she does do cool things!

For her birthday (June 17th) week, she and her boyfriend flew to California for a trip of hiking, site seeing, and camping along the West coast. Here is a wrap up of the trip (in her words)...

As some of you may or may not know, Rich and I just got back from a vacation in Northern California. We took 8 days to explore the northern part of the state and visit some of our favorite spots. We started the trip by flying into Oakland and spending a day and a half in San Fransisco, then we drove down the coast and spent a night in Big Sur, then we drove over to Yosemite and spent a few days there, then up to Lake Tahoe for a couple of days and finally to Berkeley for the last night.

We camped 6 of the 8 nights and did 25 miles of hiking throughout the week. To most people that might not sound like a vacation, but it was perfect for us. Although, we were quite tired and hiked out by the end of the trip. We reached 8,000 feet of elevation in hiking and about 10,000 feet during our driving, which also added to the exhaustion. I have attached some pictures to highlight the trip, but here is a little summary of each part in case you are interested.

San Fransisco: After spending Friday night in DC with my mom, we flew out early Saturday morning and got into Oakland around 10am. Once we got our rental car, which took way longer than it needed to, we were in serious need of some coffee. Being the coffee lovers that we are, we had done some research and found a few places we thought would be good. After some confusion and on place being closed, the Garmin got us to Ritual Coffee Roasters in the Mission (San Fransisco). Needless to say, we revisited this place two more times before leaving San Fransisco. It was delicious and the best Latte I have ever had. That was probably the highlight of our time in San Fran because the weather was pretty overcast, but we also went to fisherman's wharf for some clam chowder, took a long walk in golden gate park, visited the Point Bonita lighthouse, ate breakfast at the Bistro in the Cliff house (restaurant on the water and a historic building), and stayed in The Rainbow Room in a Bed and Breakfast and ate at Magnolias (a Rich favorite) in the Haight-Ashbury area. On Sunday afternoon, after we got a final coffee from Ritual Roasters, we headed for Big Sur.

Big Sur: We took a nice drive down to Big Sur via Highway 1, which featured some amazing views over very high cliffs. Despite my clinging to the car (heights freak me out a little), I was able to really appreciate what the road had to offer. We started our 6 days of camping there at the Pfieffer Big Sur State Park and then headed to Mcway Falls with just enough time to catch some pretty good pictures. After exploring the area, and the two most awesome campsites ever, we set up our tent, built a fire and roasted some marsh mellows. The next morning we did the TanBark hike to the Tin House. This was a strenuous hike that kept me wondering if the views would be worth it. Turned out they definitely were! The Tin House was pretty cool and the hike down offered awesome views and a great place for us to stop and have lunch. Then we left for Yosemite.

Yosemite National Park: The drive from Big Sur to Yosemite was the longest, so we broke it up just a little by stopping in Mariposa and staying in a KOA. The nest morning (my birthday) we woke up and headed into the valley. Since Rich worked there for a summer in 2001, we hadn't made reservations because he knew of Camp 4, which was a walk-in first come first serve site. After waiting in a long line, we were the lucky winners of campsite 35. The next two people in line got sites and then it was sold out...lucky us and happy birthday to me! We then decided, despite a nasty blister I had gotten from the day before, that we would do the Upper Yosemite Falls hike (a very strenuous, very rewarding, high elevation hike). By the way, thanks to all those who tried to wish me a happy birthday....my phone had no service and was acting up, so I'm sorry if I didn't respond. The next day we took a break from hiking to let my blister have a break and drove up to Glacier point for some pictures and then Rafted down the Merced River. The next day it was already time to leave, but we did a morning hike up to Vernal Falls before leaving for Tahoe.

Lake Tahoe: On the way to Tahoe we stopped at Nicely's (a Rich favorite) and some hot springs (another Rich Favorite). Those who know about these, like to keep them a secret. All I will say about them is they are near Bridgeport, CA and they are awesome. We got back on the road and set up camp at Camp Richardson in Tahoe. We then drove to see the lake and got some pictures. We ate dinner that night at Divided Sky and I had the best salad I've pretty much ever had. There was supposed to be a live band, but after a couple hours of them not being able to get their sound system going, this tire duo left and went to bed. In the morning we ate at Rich's favorite coffee shop Alpen Sierra, just up the road from Harrah's where he use to work. We then did our final hike of the week and made it about 3 of the 5 miles up Mt. Tallac. We then pick nicked at Pope Beach and later met up with Rich's friends Kelly and Charles for some dinner. After that Rich and I went to the improv and had some pretty good laughs. We then spent our last night in the tent, got up the next morning for some pictures, breakfast and lunch at Sprouts (shocker...a Rich Favorite). Sprouts was the bomb and can join the ranks with Ritual Roasters. Then we took off for Berkeley and an actual bed with pillows!

Berkeley: The reason we spent the last night here is because Death Cab for Cutie was playing at the Greek Theater on campus and we both like the band. It was also a short drive to the airport from there. We stayed at the Hotel Durant, walked to dinner and then walked to the concert. It was a very good end to a great trip.

Our flight ended up being delayed back into DC, so by the time we got to State College it was 2:30 am and we both had to get up early the next day to work. But, that was pretty much the only glitch in our trip so we aren't complaining. We probably also would have attempted more hiking if it weren't for my blister, but for the sake of our tired bodies it was probably for the best.