San Francisco and Northern California
KUHL Weekly Musings
San Francisco and Bay Area
US cities that stand out for us include the likes of Seattle and Portland, but we left or hearts in San Francisco (sorry I had to). When the possibility of San Francisco came across our map it was met with such excitement and anticipation. My own memory of Sf extends back 20 years, to a quaint and busy harbor city covering 49 miles sq. A city whose coastline is filled with ships, seafood restaurants and kitchy souvenir shops every few hundred feet. We are definitely more adventure/outdoor seeking travelers, but we could not pass up the opportunity to explore this beautiful port city and all its wonderful weirdness. There is something about harbor cities that are so electric and enticing. The stories that could be told of days gone by. So much romance. The potential of hoping on any one of the docked ships allows for the mind to wander to foreign ports and dream of endless opportunities. The search for adventure seems to have no borders here.
We played tourist for the day. Indulging in chocolate lava sourdough and fresh seafood. Free entertainment was provided by sea lions of pier 49. Our workout of the day, compliments of the crookedest street in the world. The constant buzz of SF allows for a day of wandering aimlessly with no real plans. Of course the tourist opportunities are endless, we were content just roaming and taking it all in.
And then there was Oakland….Camping and driving in San Francisco is not a place for big trailers so we ended up on the outskirts in Oakland. Did you know Oakland has the crime rate 1.8 x The national average… Nope? Neither did we. Our stay at Anthony Chabot Campground was cut short by a machete wielding crazy mama as a neighbor that resulted in a police helicopter followed by a SWAT team. The fact that the campground had its own police force and security gate upon entrance should’ve been a red flag. We tore down camp and we’re out of there in record time heading up the PCH at 5 PM with hungry kids. No reservations landed us in a Coyote Casino parking lot…Uncertain if this was really a better option.
We woke up to +42 and a great day at Willits Skatepark with a minor setback with Mike tearing his butt muscle (that’s probably not the right name lol) while doing the unintentional splits in the park.
Our inland resting place found us in a thick overgrowth of redwoods seeking some kind of refuge from the heat. The temp hovered over the 40 degree mark as we set up camp in Standish-Hickey. The temps remained this way for the majority of our time in the area. Pretty sure we met Jesus in the river as this was where we spent a lot of time.
Moving back to the coastline we experienced some of California and Oregon’s most spectacular landscape, including some of the sweetest most desolate beaches.
Just inside the southern Oregon border, Harris Beach State Park became a quick favorite.
