What a brief, but incredible trip. Our focus honestly wasn’t as much on seeing the city as it was on seeing our friends from Montreal, but San Francisco charmed us even still. When we lived in Montreal, I nannied for a family that we became great friends with and this trip was a chance for us to visit the twins and their dad before they move to Europe. Unfortunately, we missed our friend Christy (mum of the twins), but we’re hoping it won’t be too long before we can all see each other again.

This was our first trip not having our car or a rental car, and though I don’t miss having to rely on public transit (I lived in Montreal for four years without a car) it wasn’t too bad. We stayed on Lombard street in the Marina District so we were close to a lot and in general we like walking as a way to explore a new city. We enjoyed lots of delicious food and beautiful views: our two favourite things to gear a trip around.

Turns out flights from Phoenix to San Francisco can be incredibly cheap so it was honestly a no-brainer on if we should take the chance to visit. We flew without any luggage (not even a carryon) which proved to us that we really don’t need much when travelling. The only thing I missed having was my big DSLR camera, but I’m confident that if we travelled this way again for a short trip, I should be able to fit it next time. Flying home over the coast of California at sunset cemented our (or at least my) hope to take a west coast road trip someday. I’d love to start in Mexico and make it up to Vancouver, with a long detour off of the interstate to drive the scenic California Route 1.

There was so much more to see and more we wanted to see, but alas our cats do limit how long we can be away on trips. One of our sweet neighbours checked on them as this was the longest we’ve left them without family watching them. In general three days is the time limit we set for our trips when we’re not able to leave Pepper & Sage with our family. All in all, it’s proved to be enough time to have great adventures and explore new cities, though so far we haven’t been one place that we don’t hope to return to someday!

I’m beginning to realize that’s the nature of travelling, at least for me. No matter how long I’ve stayed somewhere new (city or country), it’s never been enough to keep me from wanting to go back. This is especially true for all the places I travelled to without Dan. The idea of sharing with each other the places we’ve been is exciting in an entirely different way than from seeing someplace new, though we obviously love that too. I’d love for him to show me around where he went in Costa Rica someday, and I’d love to take him to Iceland in particular!

I’m sure we’ll be back to the West coast someday, hopefully at a warmer time of year. Almost six years in Canada following nineteen years in New England and I’m still a wimp when it comes to the cold.

“Serene, indifferent to fate,
Thou sittest at the Western Gate;
Thou seest the white seas fold their tents,
Oh, warder of two continents;
Thou drawest all things, small and great,
To thee, beside the Western Gate.”

Bret Harte