9-24-08

We enter days 12 through 15 of the 'epic' road trip of Xomba founder Nick Veneris and his girlfriend as they travel from Jacksonville, Florida to San Francisco, California.

Ok, so I have fallen behind in the blogs. Well, between having fun and dealing with a few bugs with Xomba how can you blame me?

We've had lots and lots of fun over the last couple of weeks and the highlight of the trip was San Fran. The final big stop. After leaving San Diego we stopped by the Randolph Hearst Castle for a quick tour and to break up a 9-10 hour drive to San Fran.

The castle was amazing. There are 4 different tours and we took the one that is recommended for your first tour. Situated on top of a mountain in a remote area of the Pacific Coast one can easily see why Hearst would pick this location. Check out some pics below:

We couldn't use the flash inside the castle so the pics came out dark or not visible.

After leaving the castle and staying the night in a hotel out in the middle of nowhere we headed to San Francisco in the morning.

The drive up the Pacific coast can be long, but breathtaking. It is quite different from the flat beach we're used to seeing on the east coast.

Plus, we got to see some wild Elephant Seals.

San Francisco is pretty dense. Everything is very stacked on top of one another making each block a very unique location. Two words "urban exploration", with 4-6 restaurants on every block and numerous bars and shops you could easily do a year in San Francisco and not be bored.

Some suggestions if visiting San Fran:

1. Get a hotel in the city. Your car is useless here. Trust me I was terrified driving here and parking is a nightmare.

2. Get ready to walk. Bring a comfortable pair of shoes.

3. Find the "Bushman" at the Fisherman's Wharf. 2nd best thing to watch. You'll know when you find him

4. Goto Chinatown. The best thing we did there. (I could not find Gizmo)

We could have moved here and been perfectly happy. However, 2 bedrooms are around 2k-3k per month.

Alcatraz:

Chinatown: