My California trip starts in LA, after a trip to the doctors I got some medicine and was well on my way to getting better. On the Saturday night I went to my meeting hotel by the airport which was gorgeous and met the group who I'd be spending the next week with. Luckily everyone was really nice and we headed over to Santa Monica pier that evening for some dinner which was great as it meant I finally got to see Santa Monica!
We didn't stay out that night as I wanted to enjoy the luxury hotel before camping for the next 4 nights! 8am Sunday morning we headed off to our first destination. One thing I knew about this trip was it involved a lot of driving - introducing Gabby! We had a really nice bus taking us to all our stops with wifi and air conditioning and massive windows so we could see all the scenery. We probably spent most of our time on this bus most days travelling between 5-9 hours!
On the way we stopped at Joshua Tree National Park and did a little hike around. A lot of the parks in North America are all desert so are super hot, super dry and have lots of rocks around.
After that we headed to Lake Havasu where we were spending our first night. After setting up the tent with some difficulty we had our dinner and then sat around having drinks and getting to know each other for the rest of the evening. At about 11pm we decided to go into the lake which was actually really nice and refreshing as it was so hot there and it was cool that we were able to just go in when we wanted!
The next day we set off for stop 2 wich was the Grand Canyon. We were all pretty excited about this and when we arrived our guides Buck and Allie made us put brown bags over our heads and they then proceeded to guide us to Moran Point for our first view of the canyon. It's so spectacular I have never seen anything like it. Myself and another girl decided to rent bikes and we rode along the south rim of the canyon for about 6 miles taking in all the sights before heading off to Yanakai Point to watch the sunset which again was beautiful. After arriving back at camp we had dinner and then had an earlier night seeing as stop 3 was Vegas and we all wanted to be on form!
The next morning those who had paid for it had the helicopter ride. It was incredible seeing it from that perspective and pretty cool just to go in the helicopter. The best part was transition from 300ft above the trees to over a mile of the canyon as it just appears out of nowhere. We went all the way up to the north rim and saw where we were the day before 18 miles away! It was one of the best things I've done this whole trip!
After that we travelled to the famous Route 66 and stopped in a small town for some lunch and some photos.
Once we arrived in Vegas from the get go me and my roommate started getting ready and made the most of the shower and nice hotel room! We went and got pizza at the hotels casino which is where I had my first gambling experienced on the slot machines and won 10 cence woo!
By 7:30 we were ready for our party bus, which ended up being an hour and a half late, which led to us drinking in our hotel rooms until it came. The party bus was really fun however it was a bit of a let down as they tried to squeeze too many people into the first one so we had to get out and wait for about 35 minutes for the next one and then only got an hours full driving time and only made one stop at the Vegas sign - not what I paid $40 for but the time spent on it was fun!
After the party bus a group of us went to the nightclub Omnia in Caesars Palace to watch the dj Nervo play. It was honestly one of the best nights I've had and I danced non stop for about 2 hours before we decided to leave and crash into bed at 4am!
The next day we didn't have to meet till 9 which was nice as everyone felt a little bit worse for wear! We made our way over to Bishop and stopped at Death Valley along the way which was so so so hot and actually has the hottest recorded temperature of 58 degrees so we were definitely feeling it. We stopped at a couple of stops for some pictures and had lunch in the visitor centre before setting off on the second leg. We arrived at Bishop in the rain which called for a very miserable Lauren having to set up a tent (Chloe, Anna, Martha and co will know exactly what I am referring to!) However it did stop raining and that night we went to the hot springs which were really lovely, it was like sitting in a natural bathn we stayed there until about 10pm then headed back.
The next day we travelled to Yosemite. We did a hike down to see the Sequoia Trees which was a mile hike down and a mile hike back uphill (phew!) but it was nice to see all the scenery. We then made stops at a couple of other popular spots before finishing at Yosemite Lodge where we hiked to see the beautiful Yosemite falls. From there we split up and a group of us just walked through the park and took in the scenery before heading back to the bus to go to camp.
Once we arrived at camp (just about due to a lost person resulting in us nearly having to call the park ranger - good one Suzuki ;) we set everything up and had dinner and then went to the pool and hot tub in the hotel next door which was lovely!
On the Friday we set off for our final destination San Francisco! As we came into the city we stopped at Treasure Island for lunch and to take some photos and we then continued on to our hotel in the city centre. One thing about San Francisco is the weather is a lot colder! It stays the same all year round so they don't have seasons therefore it's a very different temperature to the rest of North America.
San Francisco skyline from Treasure Island
That night we got the cable car to Pier 39 and Fishermans Wharf for dinner before setting off on a sunset cruise. We sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge and all around Alcatraz before heading back. There's a fog that is quite common around San Francisco that comes off of the sea, it's so strange to look at and sailing through it I didn't realise where we were half the time as I couldn't see any land just sea and fog - pretty spooky.
The next day we all said our goodbyes and myself and a few other people checked into our hostel. In the afternoon we had a look around the Westfield shopping centre in Union Square before going to see Jurassic Word that evening which I loved - not so sure the boys enjoyed it but I definitely did!
On my last day which was the Sunday we went over to the Golden Gate Bridge and went to a viewpoint which was an amazing view - we then walked back over it and headed back over to Pier 39 before I set off for Alcatraz. We had a wander around and looked in some of the shops an then at 5:30pm I went to Pier 33 to board my boat to the island.
Alcatraz was really cool. I love history so found it fascinating learning about the cells, the inmates, the planned, attempted and failed escapes and just generally the history of the prison. It was sooo cold on that island though so was pretty grateful when I was back at the hostel. That evening we went to a diner for dinner and then spent the evening playing drinking games downstairs in the common room.
How a typical cell would look
A cell from the outside in the confined section
Come Monday I was flying to New York to be reunited with mum after my 3 months of travelling. The next post I wrote I'll be back home which is such a crazy thought. I'm super excited for New York and though my money has run out the memories are worth it.
With love,
Lauren x
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