I would like to say that our lack of updates has been due to the fact that we spent the last week moving from Arizona to Los Angeles – but let’s be real, we keep a TRAVEL blog, therefore we should be posting despite traveling and being busy or pressed for time! After our epic Euro-Trip we had planned on taking some time off to relax, catch up on sleep and unwind. We spent our first few days back home getting over jet lag and catching up with friends. During one of our lunch dates with our friends Kayla and Avi they informed us that they would be moving to San Francisco - and requested our help... Of course we accepted the offer, how could we resist a trip to California! They picked us up on a Tuesday night and helped them finish packing up and cleaning their house (those little bums were only about 2/3 of the way done when we showed up)! Nearly 24 hours later the four of us had managed to pack up a 14’ U-Haul, attach a trailer for Avi’s BMW, load up Kayla’s Passat and prepare a boxer, kitten and two chameleons for an 18 hour car ride. Kyle and Avi piloted the U-Haul, while the girls took the animals in Kayla’s tiny Volkswagen. The first night we made good time, arriving at the halfway point Valencia, CA, and staying the night at a Days Inn. It was comical sneaking all the animals into a hotel and up to the second floor – and then of course out again the next morning in broad daylight. Day two of our journey was a little rough, Kayla and Megan somehow got lost when they missed a turn off for Highway-152, drove 20 miles out of the way and couldn’t catch up until San Francisco. Aside from getting lost, CA Highway-152 is an awesome drive, the garlic fields in Gilroy and multiple roadside fruit stands are so cute, and hard to resist passing up!
When the four of us rejoined in San Francisco where we checked into a Travelodge near the airport for the night – the plan was to stay in a hotel for a few days until they found a place to stay… that’s right, not only were we movers we now were assistant realtors! Thursday morning started off rough, our two lovely friends got into it over places to live – this is where we graduated from realtors to relationship counselors, of course moving is stressful and usually brings out the worst in people so who could blame them? After looking at only two places they decided on a beautiful apartment near Candlestick Park, where the 49ers play. That night we celebrated with multiple pitchers of Long Island iced teas at a bar near the airport, toasting to their new and prosperous life in San Fran.
Friday we rented a car and drove around the city while they unpacked. Our car rental was a STEAL, a green 2011 Jeep Liberty that we would have for seven days at only $5 a day! Hertz does a drive for five deal twice a year – and we were more than willing to capitalize on, on top of that the Foursquare App gave us an extra 10% off at the SF Airport. Once in our car we started our city tour at near Ghirardelli Square, walked to the Maritime where we watched swimmers glide through the freezing water back and forth between the buoys. We snaked on seasonal Pumpkin Spice Carmel chocolate at the Ghirardelli factory, and browsed the shops and restaurants. Megan had insisted that she eat authentic Chinese Food from Chinatown, so our second stop was “Chinatown Restaurant” on Washington St. where we took our meal ‘to-go’ and sped off to the Golden Gate Bridge. Once across the bridge we wandered around the “Muir Woods” snapping photos of the clouds as the poured into the valley over the mountaintops. As the temperature dropped off we drove back across the bridge, take note fellow travelers there is a $6 fee entering San Fran on the Golden Gate, but no fee for leaving.
Back in the city we cruised through Golden Gate Park and onto Haight Street. Of course we visited the Haight-Ashbury district before returning back to Kayla and Avi’s new pad. When we got back to their lovely new home they had moved in all of their furniture (with the help of their other roommate Ryan), and the place was beginning to take shape. That night as they unpacked we disappeared into their apartment community center and did research on Napa Valley and the many wineries – and winery discounts. For Wino’s like Megan we recommend two things an app, “Winery Finder & Tasting Pass Finder” and the website www.napavintners.com. These two resources kept us busy all night planning a day trip there for the following Monday with our other NorCal friends, Travis and Megan. A few short hours helped us outline a plan with some amazing winery tours and tastings for people on a budget! We tucked ourselves in to bed early that night, of course everyone in the apartment, including the animals, were exhausted from the busy day. Sleep was important because we would be off at 5AM the next morning on our way to Sacramento to pick up Travis and Megan for a Labor Day hike in Tahoe!
Our assistance as movers to San Francisco with Kayla and Avi was great, we had so much fun helping out some awesome people get their life started in a new city – plus it was good practice for us because (at the time) we were planning on moving to Seattle just a few weeks later. We definitely plan to spend more time in the bay area, hopefully before Megan’s San Francisco marathon in June! It was also a great kick off to our California trip, that little did we know would be changing our lives forever. Until Tahoe…
Xo, M&K
