Woot. I am FINALLY blogging my California photos! It’s been a month-ish since I’ve gotten back! But it’s been a little hectic! School, assignments, general schoolwork, exams, Image Quest etc etc. During the Olympic Break, I got 2 weeks off of school, and 3 friends and I decided to fly to San Francisco (from Seattle), then rent a car and drive down to San Diego and back! I’d love to share some images from our AWESOME trip with you! 🙂 Going through these made me nostalgic and miss California SO much- even though it’s only been a month! I’m such a sap, haha.

A little back story. I traveled with 3 boys, and we’ve all known each other for 5+ more years. We actually all met each other in first year chemistry lab! Haha. A lot of hilarious things and stories happened on the trip! But the worst part was that I smelled like a boy for the first week! We decided to each bring one toiletry item so we could share, and I had to shower with Irish Springs soap for a whole WEEK! The blue, viscous stuff that smells like boys… It wasn’t until we met up with my female friends from LA that I got to use some nice Bath and Bodyworks GIRL soap!! <3 Never had I appreciated girly soap more. 😀

This is Post Alley, in Seattle, WA.

Yes. This is the famous gum wall in Post Alley. People buy gum, chew it, then stick it on the wall.

I think it was kind of cool, but also really GROSS!

Ooh, this is Le Panier, which is across from Pike Place. These macaroons were DELICIOUS. Mm.

Westlake Station in Seattle. We took the Link Rail to SEA-TAC from downtown Seattle. Some of the stations were underground, and super cool. Made me think of Gotham City, for some reason…

At the SEA-TAC airport. I think that was our plane. Or maybe the one before ours. We got to the airport with ~3 hours to spare. Haha.

Welcome to San Francisco, CA! I got this photo of this seagull scaring the pigeon! <3

Alcatraz!

The Golden Gate Bridge! It was amazing that we were able to see it, since the fog that morning was SO heavy. 🙂 Super lucky to have all that fog clear up…

Yay. I’m making a cameo appearance in my own blog! Yes, I was being super touristy… ;P

This is the bottom of Lombard Street – the world’s windiest street!!

Mmm. Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco!! Seriously, this place has the BEST ice cream ever…

We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge at nighttime, since we drove to Napa at night. (We tried to drive at night to avoid rush hour traffic!)

😀 I rested my camera on the dashboard, and for some reason, the shake made the lights into little heart shapes! <3 <3

We decided to go do a wine tasting in Napa, CA. When in Rome, right? 😀 Well, as the only 4 college students there, it was pretty awkward. Especially since it was a Monday morning!!! The day after Valentine’s Day. Haha. Definitely an interesting experience…

Oh. And I was super excited to see grapes and vineyards. BUT grapes are NOT in season in February. So all the vines/plants were bare. </3 I gotta go back!

Apple blossoms?

This was the vineyard of Rutherford Ranch!

I took a lot of photos from inside the car 🙂 Being the designated photographer allowed me to ride shotgun for (pretty much) the entire trip! 😀

This was our rental car. (Super clean, but this was only Day 2)…

Napa was so gorgeous. And the weather that day was just AMAZING. <3

Crossing the street and enjoying my borrowed Tokina 11-16mm lens! (Borrowed from Kyle Perison, thanks so much again, Kyle!)

Sunset in Napa.

I love Napa! <3

Meet Justin. We had fun with the borrowed wide-angle lens. Hahaha.

Everyone looks so ridiculous through a wide-angle lens. This is Linus, by the way.

And this is Matthew!

A wide-angle lens makes it super easy for group shots! (Even if you have very short arms- like me). Granted, the distortion makes everyone look a little funny 😀

Oh. This was our dinner in Napa. Hahaha. We decided to be classy college students. Hahaha.

Driving from Napa to Palo Alto, CA.

This is Palm Drive at Stanford University. Very aptly named, if you ask me!

So this was the first leg of our journey! Come back to see as we drive further south! <3 Going through these photos and choosing which ones to blog made me miss California SO MUCH MORE. <3