California (2021) - A Practice in Adaptability

Day - 1

Of LAX, Traffic, and Tacos

In May, Scott’s Cheap Flights alerted me to a cheap fare from Miami to California - only $100 round trip! We’ve wanted to visit the west coast for a while now, but, you know, Europe. But because of COVID, we decided to stay domestic and book the flight. After a few months of slowly planning and asking around for suggestions, I came up with an itinerary that I felt would be good for traveling with a 1.5-year-old.

Early on Thursday, we were picked up by my parents and taken to the airport. The process at MIA was straightforward, and people were surprisingly friendly. The flight itself was a bit of a challenge, though. Luna decided to have an attention deficit and touch everything. She wanted to sit, no stand, no be on Cynthia, touch the remote, touch the tv, touch my AirPods, touch my laptop, climb over to Cynthia, play with the blanket - all within about thirty seconds. Thankfully after a couple of hours, she finally went to sleep.

Here is where the real fun begins - LAX is a dumpster fire. I’ve been to airports in developing nations with more organization and efficiency. We walked the span of the airport because the signs leading to the baggage claim led to a dead end. Then random airport employees would point us in a different direction. Some areas have elevators for the stroller; others don’t. We finally got our bag.

Then comes rental cars. To get your rental car, you have to stand on the side of the road and wait for a shuttle. The problem is that many shuttles are already full once they arrive, and LAX has a rule where even if the shuttle is full, they have to stop the shuttle to tell you it’s full - adding insult to injury. After two hours and a half since landing, we got our car and drove off.

LA reminds me a lot of Miami, but with hills. There’s traffic everywhere, and people drive the same. Still, it’s cool to be in a different place. We arrived at our hotel, a loft suite in the Holiday Inn near the Walk of Fame. After settling in, we took a stroll to a nearby Mexican restaurant called The Drunken Burrito. It was empty, which made us think we’d made a wrong choice. Jet lag had us thinking it was 7:00 PM, and it was only 3:00 PM. Guys, those tacos and that quesadilla were fantastic!

Afterward, we walked along Hollywood Blvd and saw the Walk of Fame and the Chinese Theatre. This strip reminded me of Times Square with its consumerism and people hustling for a dollar. A couple of stand out things was seeing a guy doing freestyle rap based on the people who walked by him - and it was awesome.

After a long day we made our way back and settled in the for night. Tomorrow we are going to attempt Griffith Park and the Observatory.

Day - 2

Of Zoos and the Concrete Jungle

Our day began by checking the route to the Griffith Observatory, only to find out they were closed this weekend. Yep. Closed. Still, our day started with a trip to The Griddle Cafe. This restaurant shares a space with the Yamashiro Gardens. The complex is beautiful, with a skyline view of Hollywood.

The Griddle Cafe is known for its ginormous French toast and pancakes; it didn’t disappoint. Cynthia got a Nutella French toast while I got one that was crusted in cinnamon streusel - mmmm carbs. If you’re in the Hollywood area, it’s a must have for sure.

From the cafe we drove through Griffith Park, taking the meandering road through the hills. We’d see bunches of cars parked along the road but barely saw any people - it made us wonder where everyone was, or why they parked there. We didn’t see any major attractions on the road, except for some small trailheads. Nevertheless, we made our way to the Los Angeles Zoo.

On arriving to the Zoo, it looked like we had stumbled upon a casting call for parents with a child in a stroller - and we fit the bill. There were a lot of parents with strollers. The Zoo itself was nicely kept and the tree canopy gave it a cool atmosphere. There, we got to see monkeys, birds, meerkats, hippos, lions, flamingos (or pink patos), otters, and others. It was a relaxing and fun time seeing Luna react to the animals; it was well worth the trip, making us think about visiting our own Zoo in Miami when the weather cools. After the Zoo we came back to the hotel for a small break so Luna could nap.

In the afternoon we took a trip to the posh Rodeo Drive. We walked up and down the main thoroughfares, spying out the fancy shops and looking in amazement at the folks standing in line to enter stores like Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and so forth. We slowly strolled along and took in the sights and sounds of a constantly buzzing city that has more Lamborghinis than I’ve ever seen in a square mile. Folks would come out of the shops carrying three and four bags, and we mused on how much each person spent in that one transaction! One thing that was especially curious about Rodeo Drive is that there are not many restaurants of places to get a meal. There are a couple, but they’re few and far between; it was surprising.

Once leaving Rodeo, we made our way through Beverly Hills, checking out the beautiful, albeit small by Miami standards, houses. Landing in one of the famous In-N-Out burger joints. Everyone told us we needed to try it, so expectations were high. Oh boy! The hype was right. They weren’t the best burgers I’ve ever had, but they were legit fantastic; I could see why everyone raves about them. As a side note: while waiting for our food, I overheard a conversation by a hippie dressed woman to a purple haired friend. In this conversation she was describing her joining a “manifestation group” (not sure what that is), and the resulting increase in her vibration - resulting in fast friendships with people who enjoy nude swimming. Welcome to California?

After a delicious and wholly unhealthy meal, we made our way home for the evening. Tomorrow we are going on a hike to the Hollywood sign and then checking out Santa Monica Pier.

Day - 3

Of Piers and Signs

We intended the start the day by going on a planned walking tour to the Hollywood sign, but as we approached the meeting spot, our guide texted to ask if we could meet at 4:00 PM instead. We agreed, now suddenly having a morning to fill. Quickly we decided to visit the Santa Monica pier.

On route to the pier, we noticed a lot of people wearing pink. It turns out that there was a cancer walk about to start. I admit it was a bit weird walking onto the wooden boardwalk while a group of people cheered us on with pink noisemakers. Still, it was a fun atmosphere. The pier was slowly coming to life as we walked around, and it was there we realized this was the first time we’d been to the Pacific Ocean. The Santa Monica pier is a mini amusement park with food, rides, and souvenirs.

We made our way to the local Starbucks to have our traditional Starbucks breakfast. You’ll see that on all our trips, we take at least one photo in a Starbucks. Once we finished our coffee, we went back onto the pier because we wanted to try a hotdog from JapaDog, a Japanese food truck specializing in hot dogs. Oh boy, this stuff was good. My hot dog had Japanese spicy mayo with teriyaki sauce, seaweed, and other delicious stuff. Afterward, we went back to the hotel for our midday nap.

In the afternoon, we made our back to the original meeting spot for our walking tour. We met Elko, our guide; he was sarcastic and pretty funny dude. Our tour was supposed to start at 4:00, but we didn’t get going in earnest until 4:30, making me nervous. Luna, knowing we needed her to behave for the next two hours or so, decided to become an unreasonable version of herself. She didn’t want to be carried, she didn’t want to be on my shoulders, she didn’t want to be in the stroller, and she didn’t want to walk. Yikes. Once the tour got going, she just wanted to be slowly fed until she popped.

The guide tried to give the story of the sign, but with Luna crying and complaining, we would set ourselves away from the group as to not disturb them. What I could gather was that the man who once owned the land where the sign stands was a bit of a con artist, and that in reality, the city kind of hates the sign. Good times. We also learned that the fine for trespassing on the property is $3000. There are cameras all over the place and a police station up at the top, armed with helicopters.

We got to take photos near the sign and with awesome lighting. The first third of the trip was awesome, and honestly, it could have ended there. But the tour took us up to the top of the mountain and directly behind the sign. It was an arduous hike that took way longer than many of us anticipated; especially with Luna complaining the whole way. Eventually we got to the top, a little nervous that the sun was setting quickly and we had at least an hour hike back to our cars.

We broke off from the group and hightailed it as fast as we could since they were hanging out at the top. On the way though, we were greeted by beautiful colors of orange, yellow, red and purple as the sun set behind the mountains. Eventually we caught up with a couple who was also from Miami. They both had dead cell phones, so I offered my battery pack to help them out.

We got back to our car and headed back to the hotel, fighting traffic all the way.

Tomorrow, we leave Los Angeles and head north towards Solvang. As I think about our time in LA, I have a few thoughts: LA is a must-see place for its history and attractions. That said, one visit is good with me. This city is oppressive, it has a weight that presses down on you. What do I mean? Everywhere you go, there’s traffic. You can’t move about freely. The very idea of just going to CVS or Target to get something, is a daunting proposition. The city has a billion cars, yet there’s nowhere to park them. It’s all compressed and restricted, any destination is a half an hour investment. There is no courtesy when driving. Also, public transportation seems to always be delayed since they too have to deal with the nonsense traffic. I recently read on Twitter how a journalist was living in LA for a few years and that she’d discovered the city to really be 1000 small villages. Having now visited, it makes sense because no one wants to move outside of their immediate walkable vicinity. Lastly, LA has a homeless problem the likes I’ve never seen in all my travels. The homeless here create makeshift tent villages, or just sleep on wherever sidewalk is available, could be on the walk of fame or in front of a 13 million dollar condo.

All this being said, we are glad we came and saw this city, and take it in. We’ll probably return again when Luna is much older so she too can get a taste of Tinseltown.

Day - 4

Of Drives and Ostriches

We left Los Angeles behind us with eager anticipation of driving up the Pacific Coast Highway towards our destination of Solvang. The drive took us back towards Santa Monica then north on CA-1 towards Malibu. The drive reminded us of Dingle in Ireland with its rocky hills on one side and the ocean on the other. The hills were dotted with pretty houses; the hustle and bustle of LA slowly faded away to surfers on boards in the water and lines of beat-up RVs along the coast. Eventually, we arrived in Malibu, where we stopped off for some Starbucks. The houses of Malibu were beautiful and no doubt expensive.

I had split our two-and-a-half-hour road trip into two stops before reaching Solvang - Malibu and Santa Barbara. After a soothing drive up the coast, where the PCH lived up to its famed reputation of breathtaking beauty, we arrived in Santa Barbara. We parked the car, aiming to walk along the pier. We were greeted by a sidewalk art and craft show. The three of us slowly walked along with the different shops and art exhibits; the weather was cool, and the people friendly. Santa Barbara reminded us a lot of Lanzarote in the Canary Island, it had a chill vibe, and we could see ourselves staying there a few days. After a quick up-and-down the pier, we got back into the car and began our final leg of the day toward Solvang.

Solvang is a place that not many people had heard of. At least not the people who I spoke to about this trip. Still, Solvang is a popular spot for baked goods and for checking out a quaint town that’s designed like a small Danish village. Unfortunately, our hotel was not ready, so we headed to the Mortensen’s Bakery for some authentic Danish danishes. On biting into these danishes, I was happy that I am generally a low-carb eater, because if not, the temptation to always eat danishes would be too much. From the bakery, we drove to Clairmont Lavendar field, hoping to get some Instagram-worthy photos. Unfortunately, the field was not in bloom, so Cynthia stopped into the store and got us some aromatic Lanveder products. Our last stop was then to Ostrich Land! That’s right, a whole farm filled with Ostrich and Emus. Guys, these birds are terrifying - like really terrifying. If you saw one of these in the wild, you’d want to run away. They definitely want to bite you, hard. We meandered around the farm, where Luna kept calling them “patos” or saying they were “big quack quack.”

Around 4:00 PM, we called the hotel and our room was still not ready. Instead of being upset about it, which was tempting, we decided on going to a small Italian restaurant in town - Osteria Grappolo. This was so good!

Finally, our room at the Wine Country Inn was ready. This is an eclectic hotel with multiple buildings that looked like they were made in the olden days. It wasn’t the best place we’ve stayed in, and not the worst either, but it wasn’t great. Thankfully it was only for one night.

Tomorrow we make the drive to Paso Robles!

Day - 5

Of Wine and Bridal Suites

We woke up to the sound of rain outside. The huge storm that was battering the west coast had finally made its way down to us. Fortunately, by the time it arrived, it was nothing more than a moderate downpour, which was nothing for us coming from Miami. Because of the storm, we decided to stay in a little bit longer, leaving slightly later than usual since the drive to Paso Robles is only about an hour and a half away.

The drive was pleasant, with sweeping hills, farms, and vineyards. The storm had abated, but what was left was misty rain. By the time we arrived in Paso Robles, though, the sun was shining as if nothing had happened.

We were booked in the Allegretto Vinyard & Resort in Paso Robles. This was a spot recommended to me by Eddie Zamora, or as people know him, The YumYum Foodie. As was usually the case, our room was not ready because we had requested a very specific room type. So we drove around a little, did some groceries at a nearby Albertson’s, and had lunch at a place called Tortilla Town - for being fast Mexican food, it was surprisingly good. Once we finished our meal, we got the call that our room was ready.

In all our lodgings so far, we’ve tried to get rooms with a partition or a room of some sort so that Luna could sleep and we could hang out. For this particular place, I went for the suite with a terrace, then later upgraded to a room with a fireplace since it had a small living room. Turns out that this room is usually used as the bridal suite. Let me tell you, everything about this hotel was fantastic. The customer service was great, the bellhops were attentive and friendly, the front desk staff was courteous and amiable. On top of that, the grounds were magnificent, it felt like being in a Tuscan villa.

Allegretto is also a working vineyard, so they produce their own wines. Once we had settled into our suite, which was for sure in the top five best rooms I’ve ever stayed in, we went downstairs and had a wine tasting where they poured us five different types of wine. Look, I know nothing about wine, and I can’t act like I know much about it. Still, I know what doesn’t give me a sour face or a bitter face, and I can appreciate certain aspects of the selection. Over time, I’ve developed a taste for what I like and don’t like when it comes to things like Beer, Wine, and Whiskeys. That said, we bought a bottle of the Tannat from 2016. We fancy.

Once done, we slowly wandered the grounds and enjoyed the quiet moments just walking around, with crisp weather, in a beautiful setting.

From there we had dinner, where both of us ate too much.

For sure it was a mix of the wine and eating such a heavy meal, but after a cozy time by the fireplace, we were both sleepy. We turned off the fire, dropped the temperature of the room, and had a full 10 hours of sleep. Ten. Hours.

Day - 6

Of Desolate Roads and Lonely Highways

Originally, it was our intention to leave Paso Robles at 7:00 AM and drive three hours to Mariposa Grove to see some Sequoia trees. Instead, we decided to stay in a little longer, enjoying the nice accommodations. Our reasoning was that if we left at 7:00 AM, Luna would be awake for three hours of the drive, and nearing her nap-time by the time we got to the park - this is a recipe for disaster. The alternative is to have her in the car awake for about an hour or so before her nap, and the rest of her time would be sleeping. We left at 10:00 AM, with a 4.5-hour drive ahead of us into Yosemite National Park.

The first hour and a half flew by, the small city of Paso Robles drifted away and what opened up before us were sprawling fields, hills dotted with isolated trees, huge farms, and just general loneliness of the road in rural parts. It was beautiful and made us want to stop to admire it, but we kept on.

The hills then turned into nothing but flat farmland, again, isolated and alone. We rarely saw other cars. It was a Tuesday afternoon, where was everyone?

At one point we made a right-hand turn onto CA-49 where we began heading towards the mountains. Initially, we were excited to see the snow-capped mountains in the distance, but very quickly we found ourselves in a twisting and turning stretch of highway that was surrounded by barren dessert-like hills and mountains. In the entire hour-long portion of the drive, we only saw two other cars. I wished the GPS had not taken us to such isolated places. There was no one and nothing for miles. Thankfully we had cell phone reception for a good chunk of time, and our car is equipped with OnStar.

Eventually, trees began to pop up again, and we were once again welcomed into densely forested areas that hid sleepy little towns that we quietly drove through. Again, we must have driven through three or four of these small towns, Coulterville being one of them (population. 201), we saw three people in total, mainly tending to their front yards. Where was everyone? Why were all the businesses closed or shuttered? Why were there so many abandoned gas stations? It was like time had frozen these places, keeping them as an exhibit to passersby.

Finally, Yosemite opened up before us, and we entered golden forests of green, yellow, red, and orange. In the distance were granite mountains and deep valleys. It was awesome. Thankfully we reached our destination of Rush Creek Resort in Yosemite, where we were given a small villa with a balcony overlooking the forest. I recommend this place for sure, just take a different route.

Once we settled in, we strolled around the property, played games in the huge game room, and then had dinner. The restaurant here has an eclectic menu, and for a place that essentially has you as a captive audience, their food is surprisingly good, like, plain delicious irrelevant of the circumstance.

Tomorrow we will be doing some small little walks in Yosemite to see El Capitan and then some of the trails here on the Rush Creek property.

Day - 7

Of El Capitan and Nature Trails

I renamed this particular journal after today’s events. It seems that despite my best planning efforts, which have been proven successful during multiple trips abroad, California has some lessons up its sleeves.

We woke up today with the plan to drive into Yosemite National Park and hike the Mirror Lake trail to see Half Dome, then go hike along El Capitan. I had the routes planned, the parking lots picked up, the timing for each, it should all work to allow us to hike these trails and still make it back in time for Luna’s afternoon nap. Yet, when we arrived to the parking lot for Mirror Lake, it was now a parking area for non-used Yosemite shuttles. The nearest parking lot was now a mile away from the trail head, so we had to alter our plans and hike a small paved trail. Once that was over, we intended to go to a parking lot near El Capitan and hike near it. Except that parking lot was actually just street parking and there was no trail around. So we hiked a small trail that still allows for some great photos.

We adapted to changing circumstances, and the results were wonderful. Easy and leisurely walks where we stopped so Luna could pick up rocks, or we would help her faux-climb some larger rocks. It was nice to be in nature, and as Jason Mraz’s latest song says: “Be where your feet are.” We enjoyed the time together, and even though it wasn’t what I had planned, it was still very nice.

We headed back and took a nice nap, waking up with plans to hike around Rush Creek’s nature trail. Except that as we tried to find the trailhead, we couldn’t. Turns out, someone or something turned a bunch of the signs around so the signs to the trail made no sense. This had us waste a good 45 minutes because we were letting Luna slow walk the whole thing. Eventually, we found the nature trail and hiked it, being rewarded with seeing a family of four deer walking around. So cool.

After the hike, we went to the game room and played for half an hour and then had dinner. Another wonderful day in Yosemite in the books. The takeaway for today was that adaptability is key, and to be present in the moment. We got to enjoy the beautiful scenery that was calm, tranquil, and breathtaking. Looking up at these massive granite mountains made us feel small - a humbling feeling. We enjoy these moments, we feel peaceful in them, and looking forward to many more like them.

As a side note that is pertinent to tomorrow’s entry. After hiking near El Capitan, I realized that one of the tires in the car had a chunk of rubber missing from the sidewall. Super dangerous. I don’t remember how or when it happened, but now that I knew, it was time to take action.

Day - 8

Of Tires and Callousness

Today was one of the most difficult days we’ve had traveling, similar to that ridiculous day trying to get a flight into Ireland. So yesterday I mentioned the chunk of rubber missing from my tire. I discussed it with Cynthia, and we erred on the side of caution, calling up Alamo to place a Roadside Assistance ticket. They assured me that someone would come out to Rush Creek and install the spare tire professionally. Additionally, they set up a vehicle exchange with an Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Oakdale and they’d be waiting for us.

Once morning came around, they had not yet found someone to come out. It wasn’t until 8:00 AM that I got the call that someone was coming at 9:30 AM, so we waited. Eventually, a very friendly repairman showed up and installed the spare tire and told me I’d definitely be good to get to Oakdale - Great!

We packed our stuff and drove cautiously slow to Oakdale. We arrived at 12:01 PM. Out front was a sign saying they go to lunch at 12:00 PM. I knocked on the door, saw someone but they scampered away. Looked like we would have to wait an hour. In the meantime, we found a tiny food truck serving authentic Mexican food. So good. At 1:00 PM we went back to the Enterprise. As soon as I walked in and saw the expression on the guy’s face, I knew this wasn’t going to go well. He was indifferent to our story, didn’t care that I had a child, and still had another two hours to get to San Francisco. His response was: “Sorry, Alamo didn’t make an exchange request with us and I don’t have a car for you.” So I called Alamo and while on speakerphone, a rep told him that they had indeed sent the request, he shrugged and said he didn’t see it. The Alamo rep then put me on hold, and suddenly I was transferred to an Enterprise rep in a town called Turlock; I am not sure why she transferred me without saying anything. Turns out they didn’t have cars either, but he did recommend I visit a local mechanic shop and just get the tire fixed on my own.

I gave the Oakdale guy one more try and he said he could put me in a Nissan Sentra that had not been cleaned. Our luggage won’t fit in there, and COVID protocol no doubt wouldn’t allow that. He shrugged and said it’s all they had. Cynthia and I decided to just take matters into our own hands. We called the mechanic shop in Turlock and they said they would be able to help. While on route to the mechanic shop, I called Alamo again to complain. The rep explained that what the Oakdale guy had done was against policy - a customer with a broken car should never be sent away, which is pretty much what Oakdale did. On a separate call to Alamo, the rep told me if I could just wait until tomorrow to handle the problem because they were too busy now. Oh boy, all this made us livid.

When we arrived at Countryside Tire and Brake, I met Sarah the front desk person. She immediately showed empathy and called out the manager, the manager asked me what happened - with details. He assured me they would take care of me within forty-five minutes. And true to his word, within forty-five minutes, not only did they replace the broken tire, they replaced the other three tires as well, all on Alamo’s dime. Booya! So if you’re ever in Turlock and need mechanic work, these guys are awesome. The manager even spent some time shooting the breeze with us. Great people.

Once on the road, the immense amount of anxiety was gone, and I hightailed it to San Francisco - watching the bay come into view, seeing the fog, seeing Alcatraz, it was a nice welcome. Arriving at our room, I flopped onto the bed and took a big sigh of relief. For dinner we walked over to E&O Kitchen, an Asian fusion place, it was the perfect way to end a garbage day.

Big praise goes to Cynthia who expertly handled Luna through all this, and also kudos to Luna who was probably the best a person could have hoped from a toddler.

Day - 9

Of Muir Woods & No Reception Club

Today was probably one of the best days of the trip. There was no drama, no mishaps, no change of schedule and itinerary; it was just a good day. We started off by making our way to Muir Woods, excited to see these huge trees! The route was fantastic, taking us across the Golden Gate Bridge that was shrouded in fog. After a steady climb up, we arrived.

Muir Woods is a well kept park, there is a number of trails, but there is a specific boardwalk trail, I believe it’s called the Redwood Creek Trail, that is easy to follow and still stunningly beautiful. What’s neat about this boardwalk is that bridges denote how long it will take you to get back. If you reached bridge 2, that mean’s you have half an hour to get back. If you reach bridge 3, you have an hour or so to get back. I loved this. The air was fresh and crisp with the scents of nature that we couldn’t put a name to, but it smelled soothing (is that a thing?). These redwoods towered over us, the biggest trees we’d ever seen! Beneath these towering beauties is an ecosystem of ferns, fauna, animals, fish, etc. It’s an ecology that is beautiful to behold.

When I was coming up through high school and into college, I wrote a lot of stories (a novel and a history book), did a ton of text based roleplay, and played the video game Dark Age of Camelot as the character Trelian. This character is dear to my heart, an alter-ego of sorts - and in every instance of Trelian, he is a ranger who resides in the forest. I bring this up because this forest, Muir Woods, is exactly the type of forest I envisioned in my mind when writing Trelian’s stories. So it was a special treat for my nerd-self to walk through this forest and see what had been in my mind the whole time, in real life, and with Cynthia & Luna. I think it’s the happiest I’ve been all trip.

During the hike, Luna loved watching the creek flow. She kept calling out for “agua.” I gave her a rock, because she’s been a little obsessed with rocks lately, and she held it the entire time.

We went back to the hotel for the midday nap, then woke up to meet up with Daniel and Gemma.

Daniel and Gemma are the founders of No Reception Club, a company that produces the parent bag Cynthia’s been carrying around this whole trip. I’d met them virtually in the Carryology facebook group. We agreed to meet at Crissy Fields Beach. On our arrival, we were greeted by magnificent vistas of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. The five of us hung out for two hours, chit chatting and enjoying the company. In that time, fog rolled in and out of the bay, creating a surreal and calming atmosphere. All along the beach were families, guys on hand-held wind-surfing apparatus with hydrofoils, people walking their dogs, folks just sitting there reading - it was perfect. Luna found her love of the sand and proceeded to cover herself in seven feet of it. The two hours flew by and it was immensely enjoyable, Daniel and Gemma were a delight to talk with, and it was cool to be able to nerd out a little bit about bags with someone.

From there we went to Delarosa, a super hip Italian spot Gemma recommended. The service was quick and the pizza was quite good.

Lastly, we headed back home. Content on a supremely wonderful day.

Tomorrow there’s plans to visit Sausalito & Fisherman’s Wharf.

Day - 10

Of City Strolls & Cancelled Flights

Today was a leisurely day in a physical sense, but one that was emotionally draining. Yet again, plans have changed - I am getting ahead of myself.

This morning, we walked over to Sear’s, not the defunct department store, but an American diner that some friends had recommended to us. There we had a breakfast of 16 Swedish Pancakes (they’re small), an order of French Toast, with a huge pile of bacon (Luna was excited). It was a good breakfast, nothing out of this world like the French Toast we had in Los Angeles, but it was just plain good.

From breakfast we drove to Sausalito, a harborside town that has great views of San Francisco across the bay. The town was barely waking up as we strolled along the street, catching views of the city on the water. We had only been in Sausalito for about half an hour or so before I received a notification that our Sunday evening flight back to Miami had been cancelled. Eventually I found out that American Airlines had cancelled 800+ flights. I quickly logged into the app and booked the next best option back home, which was now a flight on Monday - meaning, we’d need to extend our hotel stay and extend our car rental. It was nearing Luna’s nap time anyway, so we made our way back to the hotel.

Thankfully, extending an extra night with Hyatt with no issue; kudos to them, I’ll remember this. Cynthia called Alamo and had our rental extended, but to get any sort of reimbursement for the issues we had a couple of days ago would require us to call them once the car had been turned in.

American Airlines was a different story, I had a call back after three hours, and eventually a chat with a rep after about two hours of waiting. Both representatives were curt, irritable, and straight-up lacking any empathy or courteousness. In essence, I had originally paid for upgraded seats with more leg room for Luna, yet on this new flight they forced me to pay for “preferred” seats, which is a downgrade. Where did my original investment go? Well, one rep says it will be reimbursed in 7-10 days, another rep told me that I need to fill out forms and submit receipts for a reimbursement (OF THE MONEY I ALREADY PAID AND GOT NOTHING FOR). Fun times. American Airlines can cancel a flight, and unless you do paperwork, they get to keep your money, cool cool cool. Also, when I asked about being reimbursed, or partially reimbursed for my extra expenses, they literally said: “No.” I later did research on this: the United States has no regulations for this, whereas Europe does. An airline can cancel your flights and force you to incur hundreds of dollars of extra expenses, and unless you have purchased travel insurance, or bought the tickets that come with some sort of travel insurance, they have no obligation to give you anything. Only if they had cancelled while I was at the airport, could I possibly received a voucher to stay at a hotel of their choice and eat at restaurants of their choice. Wow.

So with everything settled, and although annoyed, I took an afternoon nap.

In the afternoon, we made our way to Fisherman’s Wharf, first stopping at Ghirardelli’s. I can’t remember the last time I had a shake, but I had one now, and it was awesome. Cynthia had a huge cone with a scoop of ice cream. We walked up and down the length of the Wharf area. Fisherman’s Wharf, and specifically Pier 36 reminded us of Bay Side in Miami and the potential it has, but lamenting what a touristy dumpster fire that place is. One neat thing we particularly enjoyed about the area is the random musicians that post themselves in high-traffic areas. While we ate at Ghirardelli’s, we enjoyed a musician who jammed on some saxophones; it made the vibe chill and enjoyable.

The night ended at the Palette Tea House for some delicious dim sum. Here, Luna proceeded to down a bowl of broccoli by herself, while jamming to the down-tempo music that was playing. She’s such a cool girl.

Tomorrow we have plans to hike around a place called Slide Ranch where they have sheep, goats, chickens and other animals roaming around. We may go visit some bag stores.

Day - 11

Of Chickens & Bags

I’d like to report that today was a day without incident! Hooray! We woke up and went to the Blue Bottle, a super hip coffee spot for coffee snobs that Daniel recommended. It was a good recommendation. I had a New Orleans-style coffee, while Cynthia had a latte.

From there we drove up north towards Muir Beach to visit Slide Ranch, an educational farm that hosts some cool hikes, a working farm with chickens, ducks, bees, sheep, and goats, as well as a large garden. We walked around and took in the fresh air and scents of the garden while taking in the sights of the Pacific Ocean crashing below us. Along our walk we see the farm animals, Luna was especially intrigued by the chickens; it was difficult to pull her away from the coop without her having a fit. “Chickens! Chickens!” At one point we made our way to a small picnic area where we got to watch the ocean for a few minutes, it was a serene moment - cut quickly by the wails of someone wanting to see chickens.

Around 11:00 AM we made our way back to the car and went back to the hotel for the midday nap.

When we got up, we made our way to Glazier, a rolled ice cream shop we’d been eyeing that was near the hotel. It was…okay. The flavors could have been bold, but they were subdued. Also, I am not a huge fan of rolled ice cream, I find it too icy rather than creamy.

From there, the bag nerd in me wanted to go see the Peak Design Flagship store. Peak Design is a bag brand that has a special place for me, it’s one of the companies that got me into the carry-game in the first place with their Everyday Backpack. So we made the drive over, only to not be greeted by two indifferent employees who never engaged us in conversation, didn’t offer any assistance; in fact, I don’t think they even said a word to us. I’d gone in wholly expecting to purchase one of their slings to match the Everyday Backpack I reviewed for the Dad Bag Article, but because their service was so non-existent and my expectations so utterly dashed, we left.

From there we went to Icebreakers, one of the best Merino wool brands around. I am a huge fan of Merino wool. The majority of my travel wardrobe is Merino wool because of its anti-odor, climate control, and comfort qualities. It’s pricey, but it’s a miracle fabric. The reps there were great and offered good suggestions and information.

To end the night we went to a Japanese spot and had sushi with udon noodles, it was perfect.

Tonight we are packing up our stuff to say goodbye to San Francisco & California - we hope! It’s been a great trip, but we really don’t want to deal with another flight cancellation or delay, especially not with a baby.

All in all, today was a nice day, and one fitting to wind down the trip.

Hopefully, the next post will be us at home.

Day - 12

Of Delayed Flights and Jet Lag

We’re safely back home. Our flight was supposed to leave at noon, but was delayed until about 3:30 PM, leaving Luna pretty upset about life in general. It was an ordeal. We arrived back in Miami around midnight, and back home by about 1:30 AM.

The rest of the week was tough, the jet lag hit us pretty hard, making getting up in the morning difficult.

People have asked us how our trip was, and it’s tough to say succinctly. California was a mix of great and bad. The sites and food were amazing, as was the time the three of us got to spend together on such a trip. Conversely, the damaged tire issue, the cancelled and delayed flights, the constant need to readjust and adapt made this trip not as relaxing as it could have been. Some say it’s good training, I am skeptical. Nevertheless, being able to spend all this time together with Cynthia and Luna was a treat. Getting to experience new places, new sites, new food, new people, was thrilling. Seeing Luna interact with the world around her was beautiful. Watching Cynthia maneuver caring for Luna while I drove was inspiring. It was a great trip.

Will we go back to California? Definitely yes. Probably not to Los Angeles, unless Luna is much older and wants to check those places out, but otherwise, I’d probably fly into San Francisco instead.

Thanks for following along.