When I thought about recording our California adventure on EFM, I considered beginning with the San Francisco portion, even though it was our last stop. Since it was probably our least favorite leg of the trip, I didn’t want to end with a downer, but in looking back at it, there’s so much good, too. There were also some valuable lessons learned, so here we go! When last we left off we were driving west from the wild beauty of Yosemite. The drive to San Francisco took about four hours, and we arrived in the city just in time for lunch. In our pre-trip research, we had unearthed a pile of places we were interested in eating, thanks to Oh Happy Day, Black*Eiffel, Pinterest, and our friend Sam. They included: Cotogna, Pizzeria Delfina, Bi-Rite, Tartine, the Ferry Building, Boulette’s Larder, Mama’s, Quince, Slanted Door, State Bird Provisions, and Dynamo Donuts. We knew, of course, that we wouldn’t have time to visit them all in two days, but at that point in our trip planning we were tired of making decisions and so decided to “play it by ear” in San Fran, food-wise. One of John’s priorities while in SF was really good Chinese food. After some Googling in the car on our drive, we turned up Mission Chinese Food, in the Mission. Our lunch was delicious, and the menu was interesting and inventive. As an aside, though, Jordan makes the Mission seem really trendy and cute (which parts of it are), but if you, like me, already don’t love cities, it can read more as grimy and decrepit – just FYI. After our late lunch we were a bit at loose ends. Like I said, we had brainstormed a list of things we were interested in doing or seeing in

Our itinerary for day five looked like this: — drive to Yosemite (about 3.5 hours) — explore Yosemite — stay overnight in Yosemite As you can see, things for this portion of our trip weren’t planned out as intensely as other legs! John visited Yosemite in high school, so we figured we’d rely on his experience and play our days by ear, especially since activities in the great outdoors don’t require reservations. Our first stop once we reached the park was Mariposa Grove, which is just inside the park boundaries. Mariposa Grove contains about 500 mature giant sequoias, thought to be the largest living things on Earth. The oldest may exceed 3,000 years in age!! Since we arrived later in the day, we decided to do a shorter hike of just the lower grove, past the Fallen Monarch, the Bachelor & Three Graces, Faithful Couple, Clothespin, Tunnel Tree, and the Grizzly Giant. They were all very impressive, and we had fun amusing ourselves :) After we completed the circuit, we hopped back into the car and drove about an hour and a half into the park proper. (I was surprised it took so long, but obviously Yosemite is massive!) Of course we stopped at Tunnel View to take in the awe-inspiring look at the valley floor: Since we flew to California, we opted to stay in the tent cabins at Curry Village instead of camping in our own tent. Tent cabins consist of a wooden frame, floor, and door with canvas sides and roof. Ours had two cot-style beds that came with sheets, wool blankets, pillows, and towels. Each tent has a light, but no electrical outlets, telephones, televisions, or plumbing (there are five common bathrooms). Needless to stay, Camp Curry was not as luxurious as some of our other

Welcome back to the California coast! We’re picking up with breakfast at Cass House on day three, and though it’s not as much of a production as dinner, it is similarly delicious and exquisitely presented! The lavender and rosebud tea, made from plants on the property, was really light and lovely. Before we got back on the road, we moseyed down the Cayucos boardwalk a bit and happened upon this adorable urban farmhouse. I was ready to move in!! Enough house hunting – our first order of business for the day was driving about twenty minutes up the coast to Cambria, a quaint little seaside town that reminded me of Maine – it smelled like the ocean and pine trees! Sunset Magazine had recommended the East West Ranch hike (also known as Fiscalini Ranch Preserve), and we’re happy to vouch for that recommendation. It’s an easy one mile loop, but so beautiful! More otters and seals playing just off shore! We even saw a seal pup nursing – so cool. With that beautiful start to our day under our belts, we headed just a smidge farther up the road to San Simeon and Hearst Castle. Before we could even turn into the visitors’ center, the wonders began – zebras grazing by the side of the road! They were as casual as could be, and happily mixed with the cattle. William Randolph Hearst, the owner of Hearst Castle, kept what was at one time the world’s largest private zoo, and though most of the animals (including giraffes, elephants, and polar bears!) had been donated to public zoos, the zebras still roam free! Hearst Castle itself is one of the few attractions we actually paid for on this trip – most of the rest of our entertainment was provided for free by

While we considered eating breakfast at Tupelo Junction Cafe or Jeannine’s, we decided getting our day started early was the priority, and our homemade muffins would do. I snacked on mine in our private courtyard, while John took a shower under the blue sky nearby! Once we had packed up our bags, we drove over to Santa Barbara and wound our way up the Alameda Padre Serra, or APS. Its sinuous path takes you through the foothills to the Old Mission Santa Barbara, with views around each curve. We arrived around 10am, and were surprised to see folks directing traffic – we didn’t expect it to be that busy. Unbeknownst to us, though, we were visiting on the day of an Italian street painting festival! We poked around outside but couldn’t go in because a church service was in progress. While it would have been neat to attend, we decided to worship at the First United Methodist Church of Santa Barbara, which was also lovely, and in the cutest neighborhood! For lunch, we indulged John’s taco craving again with a visit to La Super Rica. It’s a very unassuming, very small, and very teal spot, but it also holds the distinction of being Julia Child’s favorite. We arrived 15 minutes after they opened and still stood in line for about 45 minutes, so make sure you have enough time in your schedule if you’re thinking about going! It was neat to watch the tortilla lady in constant motion behind the window, and our food was delicious (thank you, Julia). After lunch we left Santa Barbara behind and drove north through beautiful, golden rolling hills. We would have loved to stop in Solvang, Los Olivos, or San Luis Obispo, but we had another destination in mind: Montana de Oro State Park!