Northern California—A Wondrous Place

So it’s official: I love California. You could probably see from my previous posts that I thoroughly enjoyed Southern California for a variety of reasons. After a couple more days in the Northern part of this enormous state, I have found even more reasons why this is an amazing state. I always heard that Northern and Southern California were very different regions; almost like different states. The state is so diverse because it covers so much ground…I was talking to Meghan and she pointed out that California would be the equivalent of an East Coast state stretching from New York to Miami—that’s a lot of ground!

As we traveled up the Golden State, the most obvious change was temperature. Anyone who knows me would know that I willingly fled the suffocating heat of Los Angeles. Another major difference was the change of pace. Going from the largest metropolitan area in our country, our next stop was Yosemite National Park—talk about a drastic change. This was my first experience in such a vast, unadulterated wilderness. This entire park is roughly the size of Rhode Island! Camping and hiking in this gem gave me just a glimpse of what America might have looked like before it was colonized and “civilized.” I thank God for Teddy Roosevelt who spearheaded the conservationism movement and founded the national parks system.

From Yosemite we headed to the city by the bay: San Francisco. This is probably my favorite city so far. Build right on the bay, this beautiful city offers stunning views, mysterious hills, and glorious weather. I love hills. Hills can completely make a city. My favorite southern city is Birmingham Alabama, and probably about 70% of this has to do with the type and amount of hills in the area. I know this might sound stupid, but let me try to explain it. Hills are mysterious. They are intriguing. Hills hide the landscape to where you never know what might be just up road. Hills keep you guessing. They keep you imagining. A city full of hills is a city full of secrets and surprises. It is probably obvious why I loved San Francisco so much…it is defined by its hills! This city is home to the nation’s most crooked street and the nation’s steepest street (31.5% grade). There are no flat spots in this town—the streets go up…and then back down. I think a really good handbrake is a necessity to park anywhere here! Up and down the hills you can spot the classic cable cars that are packed with people that are probably too tired to walk up all the way home! The ethnic flavor of San Francisco is obviously different than LA. We ate dinner in the largest Chinese neighborhood anywhere in the world outside of China. This China-Town spans 16 square blocks and actually has its own city address: China Town, California. This is the biggest ethnic neighborhood I have ever seen, and it would be very easy to believe you were actually in China. I read that the first Chinese immigrants came in the early 1900’s and registered at the “Ellis Island of the West Coast” just off the bay. These first few men and women who left their countries in search for a better life paved the way for the tens of thousands that would follow them. It is just so interesting to look back into history and see what contributed to the identity of our cities today. There is a history behind the Spanish influence of San Diego, and there is a history behind the Asian influence of San Francisco. I mentioned before how cities are like brains—complex living organisms. Cities are also like computers—they build off of memory, learning from their past mistakes and victories. A city is not just the here and the now—it is a composite of the past and even future individuals that have/do/will create the personality and identity of that place.

San Francisco is amazing. Come here and experience it for yourself. I almost forgot to mention Golden Gate Bridge. It is the most beautiful bridge I have ever seen. The area around it at night was simply stunning. Oh yeah and the weather is great…you might think it is cold, so bring a light jacket.

From SF we went North on the famous Highway 1 towards Redwoods National Forest. This was an absolutely wonderful drive. We started out in Sonoma Wine Country winding through the mountain roads. After about 60 miles in lush green mountain passes, we came to a clearing in the road and there stood the majestic Pacific Ocean. Nowhere had I ever seen the Ocean and the Mountains meet like this…this was the beginning of the Pacific Northwest I have craved to experience for so long. For the next couple of hours we drove along the rocky coasts overlooking inlets, caves, and steep cliffs. That night we camped on the beach in the Redwoods National Forest. I have always wanted to camp on the beach because there is just something incredibly romantic and mysterious about the beach…especially at night. So we braved the fast blowing winds and low temperatures and pitched a tent right there on the sand! This was one of my favorite parts of the entire trip so far. The mountains and the coast are two of my favorite places. Both of these bring out the best in me—they both provoke the imagination. They both fill me with wonder. Coming from a part of the country where these locations are usually separated by hundreds of miles, I almost couldn’t contain myself in such a marvelous part of the globe.