Author Topic: From East Coast to the West Coast in a week and a half.  (Read 3099 times)

Offline Divora M

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From East Coast to the West Coast in a week and a half.
« on: January 14, 2020, 11:22:22 PM »
This past Succos I decided it would be fun to instead of going to only one state for Succos we should try to go to as many places as possible. We started off in Chicago and headed to Monsey for first days. I just found out about this apple picking orchard that is literally 5 minutes from where we were staying (as opposed to driving 1 1/2 hours to go apple picking in Chicago). It was a lot of fun and would definitely recommend it.218D8FB6-9543-402F-9621-979F89011F83 by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr
After first days we flew from EWR to SFO with UA, the airport was insane and we would've missed our flight had I not had TSA pre-check and held up the plane for my husband to make it through the business/first class security line. We rented a car in SFO and started our road trip down the PCH. Our first stop was Lover's Point Park near Monterey, CA, it's a beautiful area with a great beach for swimming and surfing.25CF7548-A009-42EC-A48B-6BD29B231F3E by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr
D8BAF08D-46B8-42BA-A9CF-33A0139DD693 by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr
After literally dragging my kids out of the water and into the car we continued on to see the famous Bixby Bridge. It was quite a challenge to get close to the edge with my kids to get a picture with the ocean and bridge in it but it worked out! We were lucky to get a parking spot right before the bridge because I am not sure how you would be able to get a good picture without getting out of the car.
405AF79A-5A2B-46B0-8F64-ECFC88D2C796 by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr
BA1EB86A-81FC-41DC-95FB-7910790B0E5B by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr
The car ride on the edge of the mountain with the oceans waves crashing beneath it was terrifying (it probably did not help that my kids were screaming that we are going to die..), thank God my husband was driving  and was as cool as a cucumber.  No pictures I took could do it justice. Our next stop was at Pfeiffer Beach which is in the Big Sur area (no reception for hours at a time) it was a miracle we found it since there is no sign at all for it. Pfeiffer Beach is known for having purple sand and beautiful spots to watch the sunset. It was extremely windy so we could only stay for a little bit but not before we filled a bottle of purple sand to go. C71D6B20-A6F6-4BD1-947E-E65F9CC07AB5 by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr
3E2939B7-7BD8-4784-ADBF-E1E47C0A4273 by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr
1C9AAA23-A695-4E1F-AF5D-EDF20413B184 by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr
It was getting dark by now so we headed back to Monterey and stayed at the Marriott there. After breakfast the next morning we headed out back to the Big Sur to see the famous McWay Falls. The view is breathtaking and glad we made it back to see it. 5771AB99-87EA-498A-BB07-60A794D880C0 by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr
1B0BA9E4-5E9A-4994-AD18-5F61BF324E71 by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr
We stopped at Carmel-by-the-Sea on our way up to Oakland for second days of Yom Tov. We had a wonderful time in Oakland, CA. The community is so warm and welcoming and who could beat a BBQ for simchas torah night! We went to Tinley Park which is 15 minutes away. It is a massive park with all kinds of facilities. We went on a real steam train ($3/person) that took us through the woods, they have a petting zoo that you can bring celery and lettuce and feed the cows and other animals with and nice hiking trails with a playground. AC231B6E-C4C0-43D1-B9DA-4B922A5A0D66 by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr
1A564C33-5107-4469-BD7F-1B63F70DAE84 by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr
70A3D0D2-A46A-4116-9AFA-ACD3D136B51A by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr
On our last day we decided to check out San Francisco for the few people in our family that haven't been there before. We started out by going to to Marin Headlands and getting a good view of the Golden Gate Bridge. You park your car in the parking lot once you get there and can hike to the top to get the best view. My kids enjoyed looking out for hawks and even saw one close up.315B0B12-FB21-400C-AC2D-B00158EB0316 by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr
AED71D99-D419-4D17-A5AE-A0BAF28F92E2 by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr
After crossing over the Golden Gate Bridge we headed over to Lands End Point/ Sutra Baths. They have a cool cave where you can see through the cracks the waves crashing through. My kids also walked along the edge of the Sutra Baths which made me quite nervous. It's a great spot to have a picnic as well. We also saw many wedding parties taking pictures there. 1C9A994A-95A5-4703-A9EB-DC2D78564068 by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr
6B1163FA-5D03-4AC5-8247-370F782E4AB4 by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr
By this time we were starving at headed over to the popular Israeli style restaurant called Frena. The neighborhood is the worst I ever seen and car thefts are a daily occurrence there. The food is awesome, we all enjoyed and took more to go (they have sufganiot and hamentashen year round!). IMG_2681 by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr
We got to SFO and hung out a while at the Air China Lounge which is part of Priority Pass Lounges and then met up with some friends that happened to have a stopover in SFO on their way to Australia. 3E3E8C18-CF6D-4094-B8CA-0685DF8475FB by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr
We had a stopover in Las Vegas on our way back to ORD for 4 hours so we grabbed an UBER and went to check out the strip. We saw the volcano eruption at the Mirage, went to the Bellagio for the fountain show and the Ventian to get Coffee Bean for the flight to Chicago. 8A4096FF-0EB0-45BC-A4AC-80E8160DC02B by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr
AA7F3C1E-4724-4572-9FF1-752082970BE9 by Divora Marinelli, on Flickr






Offline SSLPhD

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Re: From East Coast to the West Coast in a week and a half.
« Reply #1 on: January 15, 2020, 02:47:05 AM »
Not what I was expecting from your title, but looks like an amazing trip!
44/50, 46/63

Offline Divora M

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Re: From East Coast to the West Coast in a week and a half.
« Reply #2 on: January 15, 2020, 06:43:27 AM »
Not what I was expecting from your title, but looks like an amazing trip!

Thanks! It was!

Offline davidd75

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Re: From East Coast to the West Coast in a week and a half.
« Reply #3 on: January 15, 2020, 09:24:57 AM »
great pictures thanks!

My guess from reading your trip report would be you were most mesmerized from the scenery at Mcway falls and Bixby bridge?

Were there signs for Mcway falls off the highway 1 when you lost gps reception?

Offline Divora M

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Re: From East Coast to the West Coast in a week and a half.
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2020, 09:54:45 AM »
great pictures thanks!

My guess from reading your trip report would be you were most mesmerized from the scenery at Mcway falls and Bixby bridge?

Were there signs for Mcway falls off the highway 1 when you lost gps reception?

I remember specifically that Pfeiffer Beach did NOT have any signs so I think I would remember if McWay Falls did not either. It’s a more popular destination so I would assume there are signs for it.

Offline KSMH

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Re: From East Coast to the West Coast in a week and a half.
« Reply #5 on: January 15, 2020, 01:01:32 PM »
Beautiful trip report.
Always praying for delayed baggage.

Offline lubaby

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Re: From East Coast to the West Coast in a week and a half.
« Reply #6 on: January 15, 2020, 01:09:33 PM »
Not what I was expecting from your title, but looks like an amazing trip!
Same, thought OP did a road trip.

Great pics :)

Oh, and it’s Tilden Park, not Tinley (in case anyone else wants to find it). They also have a nice carousel which you may have skipped.

Offline Divora M

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Re: From East Coast to the West Coast in a week and a half.
« Reply #7 on: January 15, 2020, 02:32:22 PM »
Same, thought OP did a road trip.

Great pics :)

Oh, and it’s Tilden Park, not Tinley (in case anyone else wants to find it). They also have a nice carousel which you may have skipped.

My bad! I kept on confusing it with another park I went to. We did not end up going to the carousel since we ran out of time and the property is so big.

Offline Divora M

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Re: From East Coast to the West Coast in a week and a half.
« Reply #8 on: January 15, 2020, 02:32:55 PM »
Beautiful trip report.
Thank you!