Day 6
We got up early and began the drive up Highway 101 through lots of vineyards and fog, eventually making our way to Route 1 with the gorgeous view of the coast, where we aptly started listening to the Beach Boys. At this point everyone perked up and remained alert to admire the view, which never ceased to be incredible. We stopped periodically at lookout points to take pictures and felt grateful we'd decided to drive during the day so we could appreciate it.
Among other places, we passed through Big Sur, which I'd been looking forward to since I'd heard it was beautiful, though I had no idea what to expect. I was expecting beach, but apparently it's in the mountains, so more of a hiking/camping area, thus we didn't see much of it. Santa Cruz was a cute little colorful town that looked like it was made for surfers - kind of like O'ahu's North Shore but with nicer houses.
We made it to San Francisco late in the afternoon, and everyone instantly fell in love with it. We drove around aimlessly, debating whether to go to Haight-Ashbury, downtown, or elsewhere, and wound up stumbling upon the famed Green Tortoise hostel. We parked down the street and just walked around downtown, went to Rasputin music, considered riding the trolley for kicks until finding out how much it cost. Instead we went up Nob Hill by foot, took a bunch of pictures, and asked for directions from a nice older couple from Seattle who gave us a lot of suggestions on places to stop on our drive up, none of which we'd have time for unfortunately. They gave us an extra city map and we decided to walk around Chinatown next. The decision was unanimous that it was the best of all Chinatowns.
We headed back towards the car, parked in the strip club district which was now all lit up and full of people. It felt less seedy than it did during the day when it was relatively dead.
All afternoon we debated on whether we should stay in the city overnight since we liked it so much. We decided to stop by the Green Tortoise, which was booked up for Labor Day weekend, but wound up hanging out there a while after seeing how awesome it was. Unlike Arlington House, it was everything a hostel should be. It had character. It had a communal feel and encouraged socializing with its big lounge/bar/eating area, which held open mic nights and other events. It had a cute-looking large kitchen with a supply of free food for cooking. It had a wall full of info on free or cheap activities for every day of the week. It had awesome, reasonably-priced bus tours around North America. It had free internet. Couldn't get any better.
Sadly we couldn't find a place to stay at the last minute, with the hostel booked, my sister being gone for the weekend, and Lisa'a ex being a douche. So we moved on. Kyle drove for several hours til he got tired and found a spot to pull off and park down a windy road near the beach. I woke up when we arrived to find us in a mysterious spot where it was pitch black. All we knew was that there was the ocean ahead, a mountain behind; all you could see were stars. This spot surpassed the Arches as having the most stars I'd ever seen at once. We must've been pretty far from civilization.
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