11.15.2012

on the road - day 29-33 - road trip wrap up

the last few days of road trip 2012. my advice for anyone thinking of doing a trip like this is give yourself enough time or make your trip smaller, i needed another week to have seen everything and lessened the driving days. also, know it will cost a lot, especially if you're not camping or staying with people, update your gps, pack less then you think you'll need, plan a bit a head, it will lessen the stress, get good snacks, good music and take lots of pictures! i'd definitely do another road trip but i'd focus on one area like the northeast or northwest coasts or tennessee/louisiana/texas with at least 2-4 weeks so that i could explore more.
vail, colorado, nebraska, iowa, chicago, illinois and the drive home through indiana and michigan. i clearly stopped with the outfit posts by this point, too many hotel stops to care about lugging all my luggage, kept it pretty simple in the end. the heat was also getting to me, scorching after colorado. there were some highlights i'd like to mention, seeing the southern rockies which were not as impressive as those in alberta, but were still gorgeous. Seeing the cutest fox in aspen. the endless cornfields of iowa and nebraska and the giant moon overhead. the coolest urban waterfront i've ever seen in chicago, fourth of july fireworks at navy pier and all in all one awesome city "chi-town" i'll be back... finally getting back home and no problems at the border! 
there was also one intense moment in nebraska where we almost ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere, with a gps that was leading us to cornfields not pumps. we had to turn off the ac, roll up the windows and coast for quite few sweat filled, adrenaline pumping minutes before we finally found a closed gas station that thankfully still took credit cards at the pump. we were almost children of the corn food.

11.13.2012

on the road - day 27/28 - red rock of utah

after we left tahoe the big drives began, 10 hrs a day driving across the nevada desert, and almost all of utah before we stopped for the night. in the morning it was onwards to colorado for a quick stop in aspen and finally, vail. these pictures are mostly from a viewpoint in utah that i just had to photograph. although more north then my usual utah stops along the arizona border, it reminded me so much of the national parks i love. i also grabbed a shot of a one of the blazing wildfires that were everywhere this summer, nature's fury :(
wearing: chaser nirvana tee, american eagle shorts, oakley frogskins

11.12.2012

on the road - day 26 - lake tahoe

you can't go to tahoe and not take a drive to emerald bay, the best view of the crazy blue water, vikingsholm (the lake's very own castle) and the lake's only island. after a morning exploring the island, it was back to zephyr cove beach for some more fun in the sun. they sure like to party on the nevada side :)
wearing: topshop tee,vintage levis shorts, mara hoffman for soludos espadrilles.

11.11.2012

on the road - day 25 - i'll see you at the golden gate

i know i said i was let down by my san fran experience, but the golden gate bridge was the exception. so freakin' beautiful, the rusty orange colour, the lines, breathtaking. in total awe of it.
 after we spent some time at the bridge, we drove across it towards lake tahoe. on the way, we had to make one more stop at the last in and out on our trip route for a cheeseburger no onion, i'm not a double double girl. we drove into the sun scorched mountains to our lake tahoe hotel. it was on the nevada side which was just minutes from zephyr cove, so after checking in we headed for the famous beach. it was quite the party spot and the sand was hot! so i wasn't expecting the water to be so cold and deep, but i guess we were really high in the mountains. more on tahoe next post... 
wearing: billabong sweater, american eagle shorts, american apparel tee, pendelton bag, minnetonka moccasins

11.09.2012

on the road day 24 - did i leave my heart in san francisco?

(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding on Grooveshark
san fran. first thing in the morning we left our union square hotel for the mission and tartine. i've heard numerous, glorious raves over tartine and although it's breakfast and chocolate loaf was lovely it left me a little underwhelmed. in fact, that's how i felt about san francisico in general, a little disappointing. looking back it wasn't that the city didn't have a lot of great points, the food was good, beautiful scenery etc. etc. it was that in my mind i expected magic, that energy that so many songs were written about... but i didn't find it. maybe i needed more time in the city, someone to show me around or perhaps i should have seen my boys, the giants (congrats on the world series, you guys definitely had that magic) play... that said these are the highlights: pictures in front of all the landmarks, alcatraz and the full house street (my boyfriend could not get over the fact that people were re-enacting the famous opening scene and just freaking out over the spot in general, i on the other hand understood that it was mecca of pop culture), lunch at super duper burger and hanging around cow hollow, riding the cable cars, spotting dylan mckay's ride, and dinner at delfina.
wearing: free people top, citizen of humanity jeans, aritzia denim shirt, oakley froogskins sunnies

11.08.2012

on the road - day 23 - the last of the pacific coast highway

day 23 started off with breakfast at deetjens and i didn't want to say goodbye to that perfect place,  but the pacific coast highway was calling... firstly we headed to monterey and carmal by the sea where we drove the 17 mile drive. so many picture perfect stops, gorgeous colours and seals! then a traffic jam and slightly hectic gas run before we made it to the day's final destination, san fransico. to be honest i arrived starving and tired, still having to find a hotel for the night in an unknown/damn expensive city so i was a bit bitchy..;) but after checking in to our hotel and grabbing a bite, a walk down at the wharf brought a smile to my face. damn that foggy view of alcatraz is iconic and stunning.
wearing: big sur hoodie, aritzia leggings, moccasins, oakley frogskin glasses.