Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Tied the Knot in Las Vegas and Honeymooned in San Francisco

We did it! Laura and I got married on December 2, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Then, we quickly left town for coastal destinations, via Baker and Barstow, California. Despite all of the stories and warnings, from our associates, we opted to spend some time in San Francisco and visit "The Rock" Alcatraz. We expected to find homeless camps and human excrement everywhere, but that wasn't the case, on our visit. 

In fact, we saw more human filth in places, like Phoenix and Las Vegas. Our visit to Clark County included a trip to the Marriage License Bureau, which is right next door to the courthouse. Now, that was a collection of garbage, which included a screaming nut-job babbling nonsense on almost every corner. We only saw one of those in San Francisco, near Pier 39. And for those looking for a Fremont Street Experience, it's nearly deserted at 4:00 am. 



Our 2202 mile ling trip took us across the California desert and as usual, made that stop in Baker to see the alien jerky store and the World's tallest thermometer. The traffic congestion and noise of Las Vegas, was something we were looking to avoid, so we spent a quiet night in Barstow, before making our way to the coast, via CA-58 to Morro Bay. Most of my westward trips include driving a few segments of the historic Route 66.



Despite driving such a long distance through the country's most populated state, we did't see too many people, nor did we get hung up in traffic jams. We enjoyed windy roads, cows on hillsides and plenty of trees on our way to the coast. Upon reaching US-1, we headed north to San Simeon, the location of our ocean view hotel and balcony. For a coastal town, this place was nearly deserted. We had the beaches to ourselves and there were only a few other guests staying in our hotel. There were only a few people at The Friends of Elephant Seals. In fact, there were more seals.



On our third day, we did encounter a little more traffic, once we got some distance north of the Pigeon Point Lighthouse. US-1, Bonny Doon Beach and Big Sur were yet, other places we had almost entirely to ourselves. It was clear that these curvy and narrow roads were not for people, who were in a hurry. I'm sure this is not the case, during summer months. The primary reason for our off season travel is to avoid lines and crowds. 



In San Francisco, it was relatively easy to navigate the streets. Parking at our hotel was a little tight, but we did have a quiet night. On Thursday morning, we visited Alcatraz and found sourdough chowder bowls on Pier 39. Our return trip took a little less time, but nonetheless, we didn't have to deal with any problems. Although it wasn't a trendy destination, we spent our last night in Bakersfield and enjoyed steak and endless shrimp at Sizzler. Before heading home, we made a stop at the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.




Black Friday: If you happen to be looking for all the leftist anti consumerism protesters, you’ll find them at Walmart fighting over the last 50 inch flat screen.