Who went to San Fran ...

 

Hello everyone! 

I am soooo excited to write this blog post -- because it means I get to relive an AMAZING vacation!

Last year in December, one of my best friends decided to pack all her bags and leave the Midwest (sadly - probably forever....) and take an amazing job opportunity in California. I have not seen her since she moved ... therefore, my other best friend (from Indiana) and I decided it was time for a reunion and we ventured out to San Fran for a fun-filled girls weekend!

Emily (California) and I met on the cross country team at DePauw University, and Lizzy (Indiana) was in our sorority and we all lived together our senior year of college (epic!). Emily and Lizzy were both in my wedding and Emily and I were both in Lizzy's wedding. We are a threesome ... and I love it!

Back to the trip ...

Lizzy and I landed late on Wednesday evening (that 3 hour time change sucks...), but woke up for a day filled exploring San Fran on Thursday! 

We took a 3 hour walking tour of the Castro and Mission districts - which was so entertaining and fun!

I would recommend Wild San Fran Walking Tours to anyone - http://www.wildsftours.com/ 

They give you a lot of history and local information, and they kind of "force" you to get to know others on the tour - which made it very interactive and fun! We had people on our tour from all over the World.

Castro District was interesting!

Thursday evening we took a train to San Jose (which is where Emily lives and works), and we got to see Emily's town and house. It was a laid back evening, which was needed to catch up on sleep and recharge for the jam packed days ahead! 

On Friday we got to peek into Emily's life and tour around her work and around San Jose. Emily works at Specialized Bike Company - which means she has connections and was able to get us pedal assist bikes to ride around San Jose. 

What are pedal assist bikes you ask? Well ...when you pedal, the bike gives you an "extra" oomph - and you can go really fast and you do not really have to work hard at all! I got up to 30 mph! 

We rode the bikes around San Jose and then parked them to hike up a mountain! We went on the Toro hike, and got some great views of the Valley. When you vacation with my best friends ... you never stop moving, and are always active! The best way to explore a new place!

It was pretty steep! 

At the summit - you have to take a selfie!

 

After the amazing hike and bike riding, we headed into San Fran for the rest of the weekend (and took a pit stop in Palo Alto to drive through Stanford).

On Friday evening we went to a Giants baseball game. I LOVE live baseball - give me some nachos,  a cold beer, and my best friends ... I am a happy lady!

Saturday was my favorite day of the trip! So much time outside and such amazing weather and views! Since my body was still on East Coast time, I woke up nice and early and squeezed in a longer run ... best. run.ever! I got to run across the Golden Gate Bridge and all along the waterfront of San Fran. Let me just say - the Golden Gate Bridge never gets old!

After a filling breakfast, we packed into Emily's car and headed over the bridge to a State Park in Marin County for a 7.5 mile hike. We only had to drive about 20 minute, but I felt like I was hiking in Europe. It was incredible - I love cliffs meeting water!

One of the highlights of the hike was conquering a fear and climbing up this big rock .... this picture does not do it justice - it was big and scary to cross over a little make shift bridge =)

 To make this perfect hike even more perfect - we stopped halfway through the hike and had lunch at the cutest English pub (The Pelican Inn) that felt like a hidden gem. A cold cider was the most refreshing thing I have ever tasted! 

 

                                               

Saturday was such an active day, and I loved every second of it! We ended the evening with more activity ... dancing to Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off" =) 

You cannot got to San Fran without venturing to wine county, so on Sunday we drove to Sonoma and went to Chateau St. Jean. It was the perfect afternoon ... relaxing, filled with snacks, smiles, and photo shoots. 

I took the red eye flight home on Sunday evening ... which was not my brightest idea because I was a walking zombie on Monday at work and in class ... but it was totally worth it! 

The trip was amazing, and it was soooo good to catch up with my two best friends (and make new friends). We all decided it cannot be a year until our next reunion ... but this trip recharged us all. 

To summarize this post:

- Visit San Fran in September  (amazing weather)

- Text or Call your best friends ... they are so important! 

Have you ever had a girl's getaway? What is the best vacation you have been on recently?