Justin Wright » California

Did I Touch The Hollywood Sign?

Justin Wright — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:03:03 +0000

As I mentioned in my first post about going to California, one thing I wanted to do was try and touch the Hollywood sign. I knew going into it that they had a lot of security around it and that it was going to be difficult.

So did I do it? Unfortunately no I did not. I decided that it wasn’t worth getting arrested or falling down the side of the hill to my death. Here is an overview of the different approach options and why I decided again doing each of them.

Option #1: Hiking Up

The first approach option is to start below the Hollywood sign and go up. There is no fence in front of the sign so it would just be a matter of climbing up the side of the steep hill. This is by far the easiest approach but I have heard that coming down can be pretty damn difficult.

The downside is that the cameras would see you coming from a mile away and you would more than likely get busted. That’s the main reason why I decided not to try this approach. There is also limited parking since it is all a residential area and people have cars parked along every street which would also make it difficult. My girlfriend ended up staying in the car while I hopped out and took these pictures.

It’s also a lot further up the hill than it first looks due to the steepness. Here is a picture looking up:

Looking Up At The Sign

It is definitely doable and I have read a few blog posts of people that have done it from this direction. This would probably be the way I would do it if I ever decided to do it but I highly doubt it.

Option #2: Hike Down From The Top

The second option to get to the sign would be to hike to the top of Mt. Lee near the radio tower and then come down to the sign. There is a fence along the top but there are a few spots where people have pushed the fence back so you can slide underneath it.

Here’s a few pictures of what the sign looks like from the backside:

View Of LA From Behind The Hollywood Sign

What The Letters Look Like Up Close

It’s hard to tell from the first picture how steep the slope really is. It’s literally a class 4/5 climb that would be pretty damn difficult to navigate. A few people have mentioned that there are some ropes left from workers that make it easier to slide down but I did not see anything.

I decided this way would be the quickest but would also be the hardest. Not only would you have to worry about slipping down the side of the mountain, but there would be a pretty good chance that a cop would be waiting for you at the top. We managed to see three cops drive by us while hiking along one of the paths.

Option #3: Climb The Mountain Next To It

The final option to get to the sign would be to climb the adjacent mountain and then walk along the ridge to the Hollywood sign. This would be the safest way in terms of security since it would be much easier to sneak up on the sign. You would then be able to run back along the ridge if someone came down to get you. Since there are no roads on the mountain it would be really difficult for anyone to come get you.

The downside to this approach is that the mountain next to the sign is really fricken steep too. It would take a few hours just to navigate up that mountain and then another 30 minutes or so to get to the sign. You would then have to go and do it all over again on the way back. That is a lot of work!

I didn’t have the time or the motivation to try this approach either.

The Security

It is true that they have cameras all over Mt. Lee. They also have the dome style cameras you see in stores on some of the letters. Here is a picture of some of the cameras pointing towards the sign:

Cameras Pointing Right At The Sign

People weren’t lying when they mentioned the LAPD has cracked down on the Hollywood sign. It sure makes it difficult to actually get to it.

Conclusion

So my conclusion is that touching the sign is a lot more work than I anticipated. It looks like I am going to scratch this goal off the list since I got close enough to it. When it comes down to it, the sign is a few metal rods and some sheet metal. The letters are huge though!

Venice Beach, California

Justin Wright — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:00:56 +0000

A Structure Near The Beach

As I mentioned yesterday, my girlfriend and I decided to stay at a Venice Beach Hostel. Today I wanted to do a post about Venice Beach itself and what it’s all about.

The beach is pretty popular and is located just south of Santa Monica. It’s about 30 minutes from Los Angeles on a good driving day (do they really exists?).

Anyways, here is a breakdown of some of the things Venice Beach had to offer:

The Beach

The actual beach in Venice is really nice. It’s really big in terms of sand, as opposed to smaller beaches like Waikiki in Hawaii. There was some construction going on near our hostel so a lot of it was blocked off by construction signs.

There were a lot of people walking around the beach, even a few people doing yogo (and some sort of karate). As far as people in the water, I only saw a handful of crazy people. The weather was pretty cool, especially with the wind. The water was by no means warm so I didn’t even bother to get wet.

The surf looked pretty flat the whole time we were there so I am not sure if people surf here. I did see a few guys carrying shortboards so I would assume that it is possible on some days.

Here is a picture of the beach:

A View of Venice Beach Looking North

The Boardwalk

One of the big attractions at Venice Beach is the boardwalk. It’s a strip of shops, restaurants, and crazy people that runs along the beach. There were literally hundreds of shops selling all sorts of things, mostly sunglasses and other touristy crap. I didn’t buy anything since it didn’t seem worth it but if you are in to souvenirs then this is the place for you.

There were also a lot of food stands and a few restaurants that seemed to be happening. My girlfriend and I ended up going to a restaurant and grabbing some pizza and beer. It wasn’t cheap though and a pitcher of Blue Moon was over 22 bucks. Ouch!

The good news is that the people watching opportunities more than made up for the price of the beer. The things I saw over the course of an hour made my mind fall apart. We’re still convinced we saw a homeless man kiss a 13 year old boy on the lips. Very, very weird…

How many people were on the boardwalk? Look at this picture for a clue:

There Were TONS Of People

The Graffiti Walls

One thing I really enjoyed about Venice Beach was the graffiti walls. They have a few cement walls set up where people can legally paint as long as they have a permit. I thought it was a really cool idea that more cities should implement.

Here is a picture of one of the walls:

An Awesome Graffiti Wall

The coolest part about the walls is how often they change. We walked by later on in the day and the paintings were completely different than they were before.

The Nighlife

The Venice Bar Scene Consists Of This...

For the most part, the nightlife in Venice didn’t exist. Once the sun went down it seems like everyone disappeared into thin air. The vendors all closed around 5 or 6 pm, as well as the food stands. Heck, even the outside bar across the street was closed after 6.

The first night we were there we ended up taking a cab to Santa Monica. We found an awesome bar called Barney’s that kicked ass. The second night, we wanted to save some money and not take a cab. So we decided to stay in Venice and see what we could find.

Since there are very few places to go, we ended up just crossing the street from our hostel and going to a cocktail lounge. It was an older style bar that reminded me of some of the bars I used to go to in Wisconsin. It was really dark inside and had a somewhat creepy vibe going on.

The worst part of all was the drink prices. A tiny rum and coke (well drink) ran us 7 bucks a pop. I then switched to beer and was even more surprised. A tallboy of Pabst Blue Ribbon ran me 7 bucks as well.

The best part about the bar was the old Atari table they had. We played 5 bucks worth of Donkey Kong while I sucked back my PBR. Talk about a hell of a night!

An Interesting Experience

The easiest way to sum of Venice Beach is to say it was an interesting experience. I saw some really cool paintings, a few human statues, and a whole lot of weirdness going on. It reminded me of Hawaii in a lot of ways except it was much more “unique.”

I would recommend checking this place out for a day or two, especially if you find yourself in Los Angeles looking for something to do. I would NOT recommend staying here more than two days as you will quickly become bored. There isn’t much happening once the sun goes down.

Venice Beach Hostel

Justin Wright — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:44:20 +0000

It’s time for the last hostel review of the trip. This time it’s the Venice Beach Cotel, which is located right on the beach in Venice, California.

What is a cotel you ask? That’s a good question. I stayed there for two nights and still have no idea. My only guess is that it is some sort of cross between a condo and a hotel. However, this place describes itself as a youth hostel according to the flyer so that doesn’t make sense.

Enough with the name, it’s time for the review.

Location

The Venice Beach hostel has hands down one of the best locations available. Especially if you are looking for a place to crash on the beach. The building is located right on Venice Beach, directly next to the boardwalk. A quick glance out our bedroom window shows how good of view the place has:

View From Our Bedroom

The location near the beach made it really easy to get around during the day. The boardwalk was pretty cool (and creepy) and there were tons of shops and vendors selling everything from sunglasses to false dreams and hopes.

The only downside to the location was the night scene. Venice is literally a ghost town once it gets dark outside. Luckily Santa Monica is pretty happening at night and it is only a 2 mile taxi ride down the street (about 12 bucks).

The Building

The downside to this hostel was the fact that the hostel is REALLY old. The building has been around forever. It does make for a cool looking building but the inside is really musty and dirty. The carpet in the rooms is pretty “sticky,” which made accidentally stepping on it barefoot a frightening experience. Make sure to bring some slippers or sandals along if you plan on walking around a lot.

The other thing I did not like about the building was the layout. The hostel is setup a lot more like a typical hotel than some of the hostels I have stayed at. It has a bunch of long hallways with doors leading to the rooms and lacks any open space (like the San Diego hostel). Here is a picture looking down one of the hallways:

A View Of The Hallway

The lounge was also really small but it did have a bring your own beer lounge after 8 pm which is cool. The hostel also had a kitchen where you can keep your food and cook when you feel like it. It did not have any free breakfast which was a downer but oh well.

The People

The people at this hostel were also much different than the other hostels. First off, the staff usually consisted of one person working the front desk and that’s it. The other hostel I stayed at had a team that way always willing to help with different things.

The actual guests staying in the hostel were also much different than I have seen at other hostels. The age difference amongst the guests was pretty large as I saw some old people as well as some really young people (18 perhaps). The guests were not nearly as outgoing as the ones in San Diego and we did not talk to any of them the whole stay. Even our roommates kept quiet and came and went without a sound. Very odd.

The Price

Besides the location of this hostel, the next best thing was the price. A bed in a 4 person dorm-style room is only 22 bucks a night. If you’re lucky, they might even upgrade you to a 6 person room (with only 4 people in it and a private bathroom) if they are having problems with your room.

That’s exactly what happened to us. The front desk clerk said “we are having problems with your room and cannot use it until a construction crew comes.” That really left us guessing what had happened in there. My only guess was the toilet flooded or one of the bunk beds collapsed and crushed the person below it.

Either way, the price is very reasonable for the location. They also have 1 bed private rooms available for $60 bucks a night which is still a good bargain for staying on the beach in California.

Overall, the place was not bad for the price. I would recommend it to anyone looking to stay in Venice along the beach. If you are looking for something more happening at night, you might want to check out some of the Santa Monica hostels.

The Gaslamp Quarter

Justin Wright — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 18:26:01 +0000

The Gaslamp Quarter Sign

When hanging out in San Diego, I manged to check out the historic Gaslamp Disctrict. It’s located downtown and wasn’t hard to find since the hostel was actually located in it.

The Gaslamp Quarter had a lot of bars scattered around it. It reminded me of 6th Street in Austin only smaller (in terms of the amount of bars). The bars varied in stlye from tequilla bars to wine bars.

Saturday afternoon, my girlfriend and I ended up going to the Gaslamp Bar and Grill for a few beers and a margarita. It was a pretty cool bar and the happy hour prices were reasonable (in terms of California prices). The best part of all was the fact that Pacifico was their beer of the month for 3 bucks. Yum.

The bars were much different after happy hour. Everyone was dressed to impress and there were lines to get into every bar. It was way to “upscale” for me and I did not like it at all. It was way different than the relaxed type of atmosphere that I like. It sort of reminded me of Los Angeles the last time I was there.

So instead, we ended up going to a bar called Dicks Last Resort which was a lot more casual. It had an outside bar with picnic tables which was pretty cool. We both ordered a Leinekugels, but the guy came back with only one and said that was their last one. So my girlfriend ordered a Killians instead, only to find out 5 minutes later they didn’t have that one either.

The area was very cool during the daytime; everything was very busy and people were everywhere. At night, it turns into a bar scene with a lot of upscale clubs, which isn’t bad if you prefer that type of thing. It was worth checking out but I don’t think I will be heading back there anytime soon.

San Diego Hostel Review

Justin Wright — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 21:11:12 +0000

The Front Of The Hostel

As promised in my last post, I am going to do a few reviews of the hostels I stayed at while out here in California. They are a great way to stay in expensive cities and locations while on a budget. Plus they are a lot of fun!

The first one up is the San Diego hostel, which is ran by USA Hostels.

Location

The best part of all about the San Diego hostel was the location. It’s located in the heart of the Gas lamp Quarter which made it super easy to walk around downtown. Once we found a place to park our car for the stay, we never needed to use it again.

There are tons of bars and shops in the Gas lamp quarter and it was easy to find things to do. I don’t think we could of asked for a better location than this hostel.

The Building

One of the things that is hit or miss with hostels is the building it self. Some of them are old and can be pretty dirty on the inside, which makes a stay rather unpleasant.

Luckily, the San Diego hostel was far from dirty. The place was not only clean, but also really cool. It reminded me of some of the houses you see on shows like the Real World.

Here is a cool view looking down from our floor:

Inside The Hostel

The People

One of the things I love about staying in hostels is meeting people from all over the world. It sure beats sitting in a hotel room and not meeting anyone. Luckily, I was able to meet a few cool people in this hostel. Some of them were from the states while others were from Germany, England, and India. We ended up having a few beers in the lounge of the hostel and getting into some intense discussions about all sorts of things. We covered everything from business to arranged marriages…

The people were also really friendly and honest. I left my video camera (along with my girlfriends wallet) on top of the vending machine and managed to get it back. Someone had turned it in to the front desk. Very cool!

The Price

The total cost of staying at the hostel was 22 bucks a night. That’s pretty damn cheap if you ask me. Especially since it was located directly downtown where hotels are much more expensive.

Overall, I would highly recommend staying at this place if you ever find yourself in San Diego. It’s pretty clean, has a friendly staff, and it’s cheap. Heck, they even give free unlimited pancakes for breakfast (if you are willing to make them yourself).

Headin’ Out Californee Way…

Justin Wright — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:25:02 +0000

I Might Attempt To Hike Up There

Might be some internet out there…

Haha one of my favorite episodes of South Park (preview). Anyways, I decided it’s time to take advantage of the digital nomad lifestyle and head somewhere else for a bit.

So myself, along with my partner in crime (girlfriend) are packing up ours bags today to head off to California. We figured we might as well head out there one last time before we move to Austin in May. It’s a lot shorter of a drive.

The first stop is going to be San Diego for a bit. Then it’s off to Los Angeles for a few nights.

Here is a quick breakdown of the trip and what we plan on doing:

Where To Stay…

I wanted to keep the trip fairly cheap since I am a fan of taking a lot of trips instead of a few expensive ones. So we ended up booking hostels instead of hotels. In San Diego, we managed to find a bed downtown in the Gaslamp Quarter for 18 bucks. I’ve stayed at a USA Hostels place before called the Hollywood Hostel and was pretty happy with it. It ended up turning into a big party which was a lot of fun. Much cheaper than going out to clubs.

In Los Angeles we will be staying at a hostel on Venice Beach. We wanted to be close the ocean for a decent price and this place is actually ON the ocean. This one was only $22 a night which is far cheaper than any hotels near the ocean. As long as they have a bed to lay on I will be happy with it.

I plan on doing a review of each of the hostels sometime next week so everyone else can see what they are like. I’ll try and take a few picture inside them as well.

What To Do…

Here are a few ideas we have for what we want to do while we are out there:

Hip Flask Full of Sailor Jerry Rum + The Beach = Paradise: At least it sounds like it. Getting a little tipsy on the beach sounds like a great time. I haven’t done that since the fourth of July in Hawaii.
Touch The Hollywood Sign: This was something I’ve wanted to attempt for awhile now. Mostly due to the fact that I read a few articles about how hardcore they are with security and what not. Rumor has it they have cameras and microphones on the sign and they will fly a helicopter over it if they see people getting near it. Sounds like one hell of a time. I’ve yet to get arrested (knock on wood).
Hit Up The Price Is Right: I have two tickets to the Price is Right reserved for Monday. However, it turns out people show up at like 4 am to wait in line to claim the tickets. So I don’t know if I am that hardcore or not. The last time I’ve woken up gone to bed before 4 am was like a month ago.
Day Trip To Tijuana: The hostel in San Diego has a trip to Tijuana that they do every Saturday and it sounds like fun. Then again, the last time I was in Tijuana I was sketching out. I don’t know if it was all the shops trying to sell me stuff or the donkeys spray painted to look like Zebras. I have a feeling we might pass on this one since Mexico is a little risky lately.

Other than that, we don’t really have any other plans. Possibly Universal Studios or the San Diego Zoo but who knows. If anyone has some ideas on what to do please feel free to leave a comment. I’m always looking for new things to do.

Stay Tuned For Some Updates

I plan on getting a few posts up along the way. I’ll also be recording next weeks episode of Digital Nomad Radio from the beach so don’t miss it!

Death Valley is Hot…I Guess

Justin Wright — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:22:54 +0000

The Last Leg of the Road Trip

After hanging out in Reno for a good hour and a half, it was time to get out and continue driving. I was pretty happy to get out of Reno since traffic was a little bad and the sun was starting to set. Carson City was not far from Reno, and did not look that great when driving through it. I did not see any big reasons to stop and where so we drove straight through it in hopes of getting to Lake Tahoe before the sun set.

Lake Tahoe Is Amazing

Lake Tahoe is really cool to see. The lake comes out of nowhere as your driving through the mountains and reminds you of the ocean in a way. The coolest thing was hanging out on a cliff during the sunset and seeing all the different colors in the sky. Here is a picture I took with the moon off in the distance:

That is about all I saw of the lake because the sun sank pretty quickly. Plus we were in a hurry to get back in the car and find a place to sleep before it got completely dark outside.

Finding A Place To Crash

There were a few campsites along Lake Tahoe, but not of them looked to promising since there were all overloaded with people for Labor Day weekend. So I managed to drive longer than expected in hopes of finding a better place to sleep. This turned out to be a somewhat bad idea…

Once you get south of Lake Tahoe, there is not much for large cities. As we continues to move South, the cities on the map kept turning out to be less than 500 people, not too promising for finding a hotel after 10 PM. I was continuting to get more and more tired from driving, and I was starting to feel exhausted. Not the best feeling when you are driving over mountains in the middle of the night.

Bridgeport looked like the largest city nearby, so that was the new goal. Make it to there and stop driving for the night. What I was not expecting, was the drive I had to make to get to highway 395. Highway 89 goes up and over a mountain, and is known as Monitor Pass. What that means, is that I basically drove up and over an 8,000 ft mountain in the middle of the night. The road was curvy, rough, and hard to see at times. I was pretty much hullucinating from driving so much and I wanted nothing more to get to the bottom.

Luckily, we survived the whole escapade and made it to Bridgeport, only to find the one motel open was charging $140 a night for a room. Screw that! So instead, we pulled the car up between two semi’s in a parking lot and slept in the car. Now that is how you save money on vacations. Unfortunately I woke up and started my car, only to see a temperature of 26 degrees.

Death Valley At Last

After waking up in freezing weather, it was time to head to one of the warmest places in the country, Death Valley. After driving through more mountains and desert, we finally came up to this sign:

At first, Death Valley was nothing I was expecting. It reminded me a lot of Arizona, even Phoenix in some ways. It was warm, but not too bad. However, the road soon started declining down the side of the Valley and the temperature started to increase. The coolest part I saw of the park, was the dry lake at the bottom of the Valley. Here is a shot of me sitting on the bottom of the “lake”:

The ground was literally as hard as concrete, with small cracks everywhere. It was one of the weirdest things I have ever seen. There was no vegetation in sight. The temperature was 101 degrees, which was actually cooler than it was in Phoenix that day. So in a way, Phoenix is a Death Valley of its own. Check out the rest of my pictures from Death Valley.

Home At Last

After Death Valley, it was off to Phoenix. The only thing interesting on the drive home was going through Las Vegas and getting stuck in rush hour. It reminded me a lot of driving on the I-10 in Phoenix.

Anyways, we made it home in one piece. I put over 2,000 miles on my car and saw more in one trip than I ever have before.

Tune in tomorrow for something new…

The Quest For A Buffet in Reno

Justin Wright — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:41:53 +0000

After checking out the Avenue of the Giants, it was time to setup camp in Eureka, California. Before going to Eureka, I had never heard of it before. It is located in the northern coast section of California. The city itself sits on the Humboldt Bay which is pretty cool to see. What I definitely did not know, was that the city is known for Tsunamis.

It is a great place to camp when checking out the coastal redwoods. If you ever make it to Eureka, make sure to check out the Lost Coast Brewery, it is a very cool place to hang out and grab some food and beer.

The Drive Across California

After waking up relatively early, it was time to once again hop in the car and start driving. This drive would take us all the way across California into Nevada. It was a long drive, but offered some nice scenery near the Lassen Volcanic Park.

Along the way, a town called Whiskeytown was on the map, which sounded promising. I pictured kegs of whiskey and tons of cool bars. What I got, was a town that doesn’t exactly exist anymore. There was one building left, which is an old post office. According to this article, the town itself is now under water. Ha, the things maps forget to tell you…

I also drove very close to Yosemite, which will have to wait for another trip since there was no easy access point from the side where I was driving. But I hope to backpack through there sometime in the future.

Welcome to Reno, Nevada

After what seems like a whole day of driving (pretty close), I finally saw the sign saying welcome to Reno. It was not the big sign I remember seeing in pictures, but just a normal city limits sign. The sign I was thinking of, was actually located downtown. Here is me standing near it:

Reno reminded me a lot of Vegas, only smaller and more creepy. Some of the people wandering the streets just made me question myself.

Time For A Buffet!

We were starving when we got to Reno, and knew exactly what we wanted to do. Hit up a big buffet somewhere and pig out. We did not have much luck finding anything, since a lot of the places looked pretty crappy. Eventually, the Harrah’s turned out to look like the best option. Here is a picture of the entrance:

The Harrah’s buffet in Reno turned out to be pretty damn good. For 15 bucks, you basically get all you can eat everything. From Chinese, to Italian, to American and everything in between. Warning though, you will find yourself stuffing yourself and later regretting the fact you ever ate here. Especially when you get to the dessert section of the buffet and see all that they have to offer.

So there you have it, my experience in Reno. It is a cool city to see, but nothing I would find myself needing to return to. it is basically a mini-Vegas with less to offer. It does have smaller crowds however, which made it a little more tolerable.

Check out the rest of my pictures in the Reno Gallery.

Coming up Tomorrow…

Tune in tomorrow for a wrap up of Lake Tahoe, a story about driving over a 8,000 ft. mountain pass in pitch black, and car-camping in below freezing weather.

Avenue of the Giants

Justin Wright — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:55:52 +0000

After leaving San Francisco and heading north, it was time to go check out the Coastal Redwoods. I have heard of the Redwood National Park a few times, and have seen it in a few books as being one of the places to see before you die. It is one of the biggest attractions Northern California is known for.

The Avenue of the Giants

When heading north on highway 101, you eventually come to a point where the Avenue of Giants begins. This is a 31 mile stretch of the old highway 101, which runs parallel with the new highway. The sign, which can be seen here:

shows the two routes that run through the Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The Avenue of the Giants is much more scenic and allows you to see the Redwoods up close.

Redwoods Are HUGE!

When I first saw the Redwoods, I was amazed at the size of these trees. They are gigantic! Some of them were easily as wide as my car, if not bigger. Here is a picture of my Cobalt sitting in front of the Redwoods:

Notice how tall the trees are? They are easily 30 stories high. Not to mention the trunks are enormous. Here is another picture of me standing inside a Redwood:

A Drive Worth Taking

The Avenue of the Giants is definitely worth checking out. The drive does not take that long, and really gives you a glimpse of Northern California. It is much different than the rest of the state. There are plenty of places to camp nearby, including the city of Eureka. It is about 30 minutes to Eureka from the end of the scenic drive.

Check out the rest of my Redwoods Photo Gallery!

Tune in tomorrow for a post on Eureka, California. The home of tsunamis…I guess?

Sightseeing in San Francisco

Justin Wright — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:38:17 +0000

“Full House”, Golden Gate Bridge, and Much More…

After waking up early to check out of the motel, it was time to figure out where to sleep on Sunday night. I did not want to spend another 175 dollars to sleep in some crappy hotel, so the next best thing came to mind…the hostel.

We ended up choosing the Adelaide Hostel because it had rooms available for a decent price. It was $31 a person, which ended up being much cheaper than the night before. I really liked this hostel because it was huge and located right by Union Square in downtown San Francisco. The Adelaide Hostel also provides free wi-fi and breakfast in the morning which is always nice. When first arriving, it does look a little sketch since it is found down a dark alley off the main street. This is the view of the hostel from the main road:

The one thing that was a little awkward, was our bunk mates. I swear they had more stuff in their hostel room than I own. I have no idea how someone can pack so much crap. They had 10 different kinds of shampoo, clothes everywhere, and more luggage than I have in my apartment at home.

Some More Sightseeing

After checking in to the hostel, it was time to do some more sightseeing in San Francisco. We walked a good 10 miles around the city, and I am convinced I saw just about everything I could think. We even made it up to the top of Coit Tower located on Telegraph hill. Just be prepared to pay 5 dollars to get to the top. It does give you some great views of the city. Here is a picture I took from the top:

The only thing I did not like about going up the Coit Tower was the fact they do not allow tripods. I really wanted to take some cool shots of San Francisco but I had to settle for these hand taken shots.

After walking around all day long, nothing sounded better than going back to the hostel and crashing for the night. It really is tiring to drive that far and then walk more than usual. Once we returned to the hostel, the next step was planning out Monday’s events. We had already booked a campsite in Eureka, California so it was just a matter of how to get there and when to leave.

Time To Leave San Francisco!

After getting up and grabbing some breakfast at the hostel, it was time to hop back in the car and head out of San Francisco. However, we managed to stop by the house featured in the opening introduction of “Full House.” I remember watching the show when I was younger, but never realized the Tanners lived in a somewhat shady neighborhood, lol. Here is a picture of what the house looks like now:

There was a liquor store right around the corner from the house. However, I know it was not actually filmed there, but it still makes you laugh. I have a feeling a lot of people come by this place, which probably drives the people that live there nuts. No wonder they painted the door black instead of leaving it the red color you can see on Full House.

After checking out the house, I got to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge and get one more glimpse of the San Francisco skyline. It really is an amazing city and I can see myself going back there again to check out some more stuff, especially Alcatraz. This is the last picture I took of San Francisco:

That concludes the San Francisco part of the trip. If you would like to check out the rest of the pictures, head over to my San Francisco Gallery.

Tune in tomorrow for a summary of the “Avenue of Giants,” the huge Redwoods of Northern California.