After awakening today, we decided to explore the park right next door to the hostel we were staying at. As Mike mentioned before, our hostel sits right next to Pigeon Point Lighthouse that was once in use. In 2001, the lighthouse suffered some structural damage, and it is basically sitting there waiting to collapse because the park system has not repaired it. The costs to repair it are very expensive and time consuming. It's a beautiful lighthouse though, as you can see from the pictures, and it would be a shame to let it deteriorate any more.
We walked down the stairs to the beach, and took in the beautiful ocean and cliffs. Then we decided to drive to another beach called Bean Hollow State Beach. I had read some reviews that it had some good tidepools to walk through, and it did! We spent about an hour walking around the tidepools and taking pictures. By this point, we were hungry, so we drove into town (and by town, I mean about 10 buildings) and found a really cute country store. We bought some deli sandwiches, and drove to another beach, Pescadero State Beach. We brought my sleeping bag out to the beach, ate our lunch, and I fed a bunch of seagulls. Mike tried, but kept scaring them away (he's too tall ... or, maybe, I'm too short, which is why they weren't scared of me). I haven't mentioned this before, but it is cold! Once we left Los Angeles, the weather got down into the 50s, and since the sun never came out today, it's only gone up to the 60s today.
After another hour on the beach, we thought it best to head to San Francisco. The drive wasn't very long, we were in SanFran in about 1 1/2 hours. We checked into our hostel (I found this hostel from a flyer we saw at the previous hostel in Pescadero), and turns out, it's awesome. Our room is really big, and we have our own bathroom. We also get free breakfast in the morning. Once again, there are tons of foreigners here, and it is interesting to hear all the different languages and accents spoken.
If anyone is wondering, a hostel and a motel/hotel are a little different. The hostels we've stayed at have been very community and environmentally conscious. There are plenty of recycling bins, and even compost buckets that they use for fertilizer. Everything is shared (kitchen, living room, etc.), and the guests have to do some cleaning. We have to strip the bed, and usually put new sheets so that the hostel doesn't spend as much money on housekeeping. There are perks, most times the kitchen is fully equipped with a stove, fridge, microwave; there are bulletin boards in the lobby with useful information about the area, things to do, etc.; and people have been friendly.
We went to dinner at an Indian restaurant called Little Dehli. So, this is about the second or third time I've ever eaten Indian food, and I have enjoyed it each time. But, Mike and I learned a very difficult lesson today. If a server ever asks you, "Mild, medium, or spicy?" in an Indian restaurant ... don't say spicy. OH MY GOD. I couldn't feel my tongue by the end of the meal. I broke out into hives on my neck and face because the food was so spicy. Next time, we'll say mild. I mean, we usually like spicy food, but even Mike was gulping down his water like a madman. It was so good though, that we just kept eating and crying (literally). I decided I definitely needed dessert, opened up the menu, saw ice cream, and was so happy. It was very, very delicious.
The weather here is crazy. This is the coldest weather we've been in the entire trip! Apparently I missed the memo, because in San Francisco it's NORMAL to see weather in the 50s all summer long. I thought it would be hot here! But, Mike and I both didn't expect it to be this cold. People are walking around with jackets and beanies. After looking through some websites, I learned the warmest weather month is September. So strange!
After, we walked around Union Square, went to a bar called Owl Tree, and came home. Now we're here, exhausted from another long day.
Until next time!
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