Uncle Jesse! Rice-a-Roni! Grateful Dead! Yes, I made it to San Fran. I stayed with my dear friend Nate and his fantastic roomies, who showed me the height of hospitality. I took a solo day to check out the city on foot. What a cool place; I loved climbing the hills of this eclectic town. One of my favorite things to do in larger cities is to check out the Chinatown neighborhoods and San Fran’s was one of the better ones I’ve visited and eaten in! Overall, SF was a really cool town with really great people.

After San Fran, Nate and his girlfriend Amy joined me up to Redwoods National Park and the giant trees of northern California. Redwood is actually the area surrounding a few state parks, all which contain the tallest trees on earth. It’s something I have always wanted to see and it did not disappoint, we even drove through a tree!  On the way there, the craziest thing happened. There we were driving along the beautiful roads of California, when I see a vulture heading towards our car. I figure it will fly out of harms way, but as it gets closer and closer, I start to wonder if that will be the case. Then just as we are about to collide, the vulture drops its lunch on my windshield, literally a giant animal carcass smashes onto my window and the bloody meat completely blocks the passenger side. After screams, lots of cursing, and terrified laughter, I ran the wipers and left the gut smear until the next gas station. It was the wildest and most disgusting thing.

The car ride was an obvious success, but our luck at finding a campground, not so much. After searching for a couple hours, we came upon a tiny lodge with a room available for the night. The man running the place was so friendly and welcoming. After getting us checked in and taking his pot smoke break, he busted out his guitar and played us some tunes on the front porch of the inn. We did a little nighttime walking to the creek on the property where Amy, Nate, and I all saw the same shooting star and congratulated ourselves with a group hug.

Bacontown for life!