NY visits CA

I'm sorry that it's been a while - my friend Liz came into town this weekend, and now my mom is visiting. It's been great to have visitors to join me in exploring (and apartment shopping!). When we found out in March that we were moving to SF, I was thrilled to find out that my close friend Liz and her boyfriend, Julius, were in the midst of planning a summer trip to CA. It worked out perfectly that they arrived after our first week here.

On Sunday, we went hiking at Tomales Point, about 1.5 hours north of here.

They stayed with Julius' brother, who lives in San Mateo, so he drove through the gorgeous mountain and farmland scenery. It was a 5 mile hike from the parking lot to the cliffs at the ocean, mostly on sand (which is why my butt is so sore!!), so 10 miles from start to finish. The landscape, though extremely foggy, was beautiful.

There were sparse pockets of trees every so often, and gorgeous flowers, views of the ocean, and even wildlife (tule elk in the early stages of "rudding"--mating--season and various insects)

You can clearly see how the landscape changed over the course of the hike. The last mile, leading over the cliffs to the ocean, was definitely the clearest, and it was glorious to hear and smell the PACIFIC the whole time (having NY friends here made me feel like we could have just been upstate or something. Do we really live in California?!)

 Don't worry - we got a few "people pictures" in as well!

(above) Liz and Julius by the cliffs

(below) me and Liz under a massive tree

(bottom) lunch stop!

On the way back, we drove along the coast, through Stinson Beach and up and down the mountains. It was incredible. We also played the fun game of watching the temperature rise as we drove along the coast and fall as we got closer to the Golden Gate Bridge and foggy San Francisco.

Liz then slept over on Sunday and Monday nights, so we spent Monday exploring Golden Gate Park from one end to the another, logging another 7 miles of walking. To say we were sore and tired on Monday night is an understatement!

We walked across several museums and gazebos, including the Spreckles Temple of Music,

several bodies of water and waterfalls,

and the windmills located at the western corners of the park, right off of the beach.

We also saw lots of wildlife, including birds on the beach (!!), a mole digging his home, and bison. Yes, bison live IN Golden Gate Park. Surprise!

It was a fantastic day with a great friend. We have spent the past 5 years picnicking in Central Park, walking the Bridle Path, and running the Reservoir, so it was wonderful to be able to explore this new park together.

We ended the day by having dinner and s'mores in Berkeley with Kim, our close friend and 3rd former roommate. We enjoyed catching up and feeling like we were having our "roommate dinner" all over again, a few years later! Though we both forgot to take pictures, here is a picture of the 3 of us when we went to California for February break in 2009 (who knew we would reunite here a few years later?!)