The pandemic threw my international travel plans down the drain: Paris would have to wait… and California was the next best option at the time. After several months of lock down, isolation and quarantine, my adventurous travel buddy and I decided to venture to California. Our first stop was San Francisco for a couple of days. We found a super cute and cozy apartment to stay in using Sonder. They made sure to sanitize the rooms and had a closet for our luggage since we arrived early.
The majority of our time was spent exploring on foot. The streets were fairly bare since California was more cautious during the pandemic (compared to Texas). We walked and bussed to the 16th Avenue Tiered Steps, the Japanese Tea Garden, Japan Center Mall and Rincon Park. We then took a train to Los Angeles.
We rented a car to drive about 3 hours to Joshua Tree National Park. We stayed one night at a comfortable Airbnb, right outside the park. Before heading to the park, we stopped for a quick breakfast and one of the local coffee shops. The park is MASSIVE and there are plenty of trails and areas to explore. Since it was in October, it wasn’t extremely hot. It was much warmer than San Francisco, so be sure to plan accordingly when you visit. We hiked some easy trails and explored for a few hours with plenty of water and snacks. After we tired from hiking we drove the long way out of the park. We stopped along the way any time we saw something interesting along the road.
Then we headed back to Los Angeles, where we stayed with our friend, Liz. After all the hiking, we mostly rested, chatted and spent time together. We ventured out to the Santa Monica Pier, where more folks were out and about enjoying the ocean air.
All in all, it was a wonderful, relaxing getaway for our souls during an unprecedented time. After months of quarantine and isolation, it was refreshing to get out into nature and spend time with dear friends.
#priscillastravels 