Pacific Coast Highway, Day 4 – Santa Cruz to San Francisco
The Pacific Coast Highway road trip is finished! Yesterday we drove from Santa Cruz to San Francisco, our final coast destination. We had originally planned to keep driving to Bodega Bay, since we’ve heard it’s really pretty. But we ended up sleeping in too late yesterday morning, so we just decided to stop in San Fran.
It worked out well, because it gave us more time to enjoy the city, and still get home to Sacramento at a decent hour. If San Francisco was a man, Kaylee would marry him. She is absolutely in love with the city. I had dragged her through three days of following my itinerary, so I figured I would give her the reins on the last day.
We started the day off in proper fashion…with coffee. Kaylee was dying to hit up Verve Coffee in Santa Cruz.
After sufficient caffeination, we headed North one last time for San Francisco.
A stop at the “Painted Ladies,” where they filmed the intro for Full House. I did my best to recreate the shot:
The view of Coit Tower from Lombard Street.
Lunch at Louis’ Restaurant, overlooking the West Peninsula. I was fascinated by the almost 100 year history of the place!
Post-lunch stroll down Baker Beach. It’s a beautiful beach with fantastic views of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. But I caution you against visiting the very far end of the beach…let’s just say some folks were going for a full body tan.
Before leaving the city, we stopped at the Vista Point on the East side of the Golden Gate Bridge. I’d never been to that vantage point before, so I enjoyed seeing the city from that angle.
And then of course we drove up the hill overlooking the West side of the bridge, which is my personal favorite place to see the bridge. We snapped a few last photos, then said goodbye to the city, and to the Pacific Coast.
Words fail me to describe our experience over the past 4 days. I wish I could sit and write them all out. You’ll just have to find me and ask me if you want to hear more stories! I can say that we had perfect weather, all 4 days. It was 70 degrees and sunny every single day. I will cherish these memories and these photos for the rest of my life.
Cheers to my trusty companion and sister, Kaylee!
Even though our coast trip is over, we still have more adventures ahead. We’re headed to Lake Tahoe today, and Yosemite National Park next week. So stay tuned for more photos!
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