Bye Bye M and Kadda

Today (Wednesday 8th September) was not such a happy day cause both M and Kadda were leaving today and that means that I'm the last one left!! OMG!!
I had promised to drive Kadda to the airport since her host family is on vacation, so I picked her up at and we packed all her HEAVY bags in my little SAAB. I wonder if she pass the weigh limit or not.
It wasn't so hard to leave her cause I know that we'll meet in Europe so it was: "See U later"
M wasn't going home to France right now but she's going to New York to attend a wedding.
On my way back I stopped at the South Center Mall and strolled around there and looked for souvenirs, gifts for the kids and stuff I wanted to have before I go home. Finally I bought a sweater from PINK by Victoria Secret. I have looked at them for a long time but always thought they were too expensive but now I found one on sale :) I also bought some new underware from them cause I love them!!! I also bought new earphones to my Ipod and the sound is so much better now. I don't have to have the volume on max anymore ;)
I also found what I wanted for the kids and I hope they'll like it. I'll tell U later ;)
Before I went home, I had lunch at the mall at Panda Express which is a chinese fast food place and it was really good. I never tried it before and I regret that!
Back home I went to the bank to close my account but instead we changed it so I can have it forever for when I come back! It didn't cost anything so why not?
Before Kadda left she gave me a package with stuff she couldn't fit in her suitcase and wanted me to send it for her. She gave me money and now I went to the post office and took care of it.
At around 4:30 I was done and could finally go home. I was really tired but after dinner I took a walk to Bartel Drugs to buys some candy for everyone back home and some small stuff that I needed.
Back home I had to work on my blogg and organize my pictures so I had to do the rest of the night.

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

Seattle

Today (Tuesday 7th September) was our last day in San Francisco...well, we were flying home today so we couldn't really do much more than say goodbye while we walked down to the BART station again and it was a bit sad. San Francisco is a town I really like and to not know when or if I'll be back was not a happy thought.
We had to check out from the hostel at 9:30 and then we went to the airport where we had to wait for 2 1/2 hours for our flight. Then it's good to have a computer with U cause at there it's free WiFi.
For the first time I met a older lady with the name Sandra ;) She was behind me in the security line..so funny! She was around 50 sth and she said that Sandra was the most popular name when she was born, interesting!
The plane we were flying with was a Disney plane so it had Minnie Mouse all over the side. Really cute!
Once we were on the plane, it couldn't take off, cause of some strong wind, so we had to sit there for an hour and that was not so much fun. Good thing it's not such a long flight cause now I just wanted to get home.
It was really nice weather when we came over Seattle and we got a great view over downtown with the Space Needle and both of the fields...it's a really nice picture and it's hard to believe that I'm soon leaving.
We grabbed our bags and then went to the bus stop to get to Bellevue, but of course we just missed one and the next one was late as well so we also here had to wait for like an hour before we could get on a bus that would take us to Bellevue where the grandparents of Kadda's family waited and drove us to Kadda's place. It was already 6 when we came home and then Kadda drove me home and now she was really stressed cause she's leaving for Germany tomorrow and needs to pack and everything.
At home, I had a nice dinner with the family and I was really happy seeing them again. Both Sofia and Filip had missed me a lot and now I felt that I had missed them as well. I gave them some gifts from my trip, a giant deck of cards from Vegas and two glas with Spongebob on from Universal studios.
My day wasn't over yet cause we had decided to met at Starbucks one last time to say goodbye to Emilie who also was leaving tomorrow so at 8 I went there and it was so nice to see her again!
She gave me a little photo album and a devil bath duck, cause she knew I collect them, and I gave her a big, signed IDOL picture of me ;) I always wanted to give one to some one and M was the right person cause she understood that it was a joke and she laughed a lot over it. Now she wont be sad at the flight when she looks at it, she will just laugh ;)
Kadda didn't show up cause apparently she had too much to do to spare one hour to come and say goodbye to one of her friends...so bad of her. M was really sad and I understand her.
We weren't sad when we hugged eachother goodbye cause first we were so excited to see eachother again after two weeks and then we know we will meet again in Europe! But I sure will miss her, my little french girl...I love U M!!!

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

Biking the Golden Gate Bridge

Today (Monday 6 September) guess what we had for breakfast?....Pancakes!! ;) With maple syrup...jummy!
Now it's our last day here in San Francisco and also on our road trip cause tomorrow we are going back to Seattle. It's a bit sad cause I would like to stay here longer but also now I know that it's not long until I'll go back to Sweden so I'm also happy.

We took the cable car to the piers, it's always nice and U get to see a lot of the city in a fun way when U go up and down the hills. We didn't pay anything for our ride cause no one asked us for money and we didn't ask ;) We thought of going back and pay when we jumped off but no...

We had decided that we wanted to do sth that we didn't do last time so we went to a bike store and rented two bikes. There was a great bike path that went along the water all the way to the bridge and on the way we stopped at many great lookouts and took gorgeous pictures with the bridge in the background. The weather was perfect, sunny and warm. At one place, a guy just got up a sea star with a hot dog as bate ;) He was so happy!! Good job!

It was a unreal feeling going over the bridge..I mean, Hello!! I'm riding a bike across the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco!!! How many can say they've done that??? ;) Just incredible!

It was a narrow bike lane over the bridge and it was a two way lane so U had to look out for bikes coming the other way but also fast bikers that drove past U.

On the other side we stopped and took some nice pictures with the city and the bridge in the background...well we didn't look so nice after that long and warm bike ride but the bridge was nice ;)

We didn't stress back cause we had already passed the two hours limit and had to pay for three any way so we stopped at a Safeway that we saw on our way down and Kadda ran in and bought some stuff while I stayed outside and guarded the bikes. One thing that I discovered during this trip is the new M&M Prezel....I think that's the best thing they've made this far...OMG, it's heavenly. I think I could eat them all the time ;) Too bad they are so expensive.

We returned the bikes and then went down to Pier 39 and Fisherman Warf and walked in all the stores and just strolled around. It was hot and there were a lot of people! Today was Labor day so maybe that increased the number of people even more. We saw the sea lions again and I bought some souvenirs for people back home, it's so hard!!! But now I think I know what I want for every body and that's a good start.

We saw a famous cable car turn, where they have to turn the car by hand and as always are there musicians that played and wanted money. One guy, who played the trumpet, had a little rabbit as a pet and he jumped around and was so cute!!

We went back home and this time we paid ;) I wanted to eat out since it was the last night but Kadda didn't want to so I had noodles at the hostel instead, very fancy! But we had the dessert at Cheese Cake Factory and our German room mate Eve joined us and it was really nice. We had our last cheese cake :( I had one with chocolate chip cokkie dough (as American it can be ;)) and it was good but as always too much.

The location of the restaurant is so nice here in San Francisco. It's on the roof of a store so we had a great view over Union Square. A great evening to end this incredible trip and I'm glad that I got the chance to experience all the things I've done.

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Alamo Square & Ocean Beach

Today (Sunday 5 September) we had, once again, pancakes for breakfast and I'm strarting to get sick of it ;) But I can do it, it's for free ;)

When we were ready, we jumped on a bus and went to Alamo Square where the famous Victorian houses are. The weather was sunny but a bit windy so we laid down in the grass and sucked in the sun then it got really warm and cozy. The houses are so beautiful and it's amazing how someone can build like that. Impressive! This time we couldn't go in as last time but we were OK just admireing them from the outside.

I had brought a bag of chips and a coke so I had a nice picnic next to the playground! Kadda needed to be close to kids cause she missed her own so much...bla bla

When we felt warm and happy enough, and before the bus ticket expired ;), we jumped back on the bus and continued all the way out to the west and the ocean beach. It was HUGE!!! The water is not swim proof but good for surfers and the beach was full of people and kites! The sand was really hot so it burned under our feet....but who's complaining? ;)

After a short walk on the beach we walked back to the bus stop throgh the Golden Gate Park and there we passed the wind mill...thought we were in Holland ;) It's a HUGE park and we just saw a small part but it's so beautiful with all the big trees and plants. There are great paths all over the park and we met a lot of joggers and walkers, I think it's a perfect place to do your work out.

Back at the hostel we had lunch, noodles and bread, and then we took a 2 hours nap again ;) That's the best with this trip, we are not stressed and don't feel like we have to do anything special so we have time to take a nap.

When we woke up, we went out and took a "walking" dinner on Subway...really good. That's something I'm going to miss when I'm back home.

Today was movie time again and now we saw "Eat Pray Love" with Julia Roberts and also the Swedish wonder Tuva Novotny. It was a good movie, a bit long but sweet and it was really fun to see a Swedish star doing a great job next to a super star as Roberts. I give it 3 of 5 Trolleys ;)

Back at the hostel we had a new room mate, a French girl and still our German friend Eve.

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

Just walking in San Francisco

Today (Saturday 4 September) I woke up with a headache cause of all the noice during the night.

Kadda tried her card again but of course it didn't work now either. Come on!! So frustraiting and irritating. We had until 11 to figure sth out and Kadda tried everything and I talked with my mum....I hate this!!

At 11 I went downstairs and paid my bed myself cause I wanted to be sure that I had somewhere to sleep! Kadda still tried to get in contact with her bank so I went across the street to the little food shop where I bought some noodles, fruit and other supplies that would be good.

Back in the room Kadda started to get everything clear...they could make it so her dad paid her room over the Internet and tomorrow he and their bank women will go to the bank and see what the problem is and maybe they can fix it.

Now I didn't want to stay in the room anymore..I mean, I don't wanna see my favourite city from inside a hostel! So we went out and walked first to Union Square and looked in some of the shops, we went to Wallgreens cause we needed to print some pictures and I needed to buy ear plugs. It was really nice weather and to just feel the smell of the city and the ocean got me in a better mood.

Kadda was tired and wanted to go back to sleep but I wanted to enjoy the city so while she returned to the hostel, I took a walk down to the water front and the ferry building.

There was a farmers market and I talked with a photographer who was really nice, and good. His pictures of the city was beautiful and we talked about all the beautiful things in the world ;)

I had a nice walk along the water and I just enjoyed being in a big city I love. I could definately live here!

One funny and nice thing was when I went to the public rest room, some one had left a flower there. Fresh and beautiful!

At the hostel there was a party tonight, with free alcohol!!! So me and Kadda had planned to go there so when I came home I also went to bed to get some rest before it all started.

We got ready but it didn't start until 11 so we were in the room and talked with our nice room mate who also was from Germany, same area as Kadda, but she lived and worked in New York and was here on vacation.

As it got late, we got more and more tired and of course Kadda fell asleep when it was time to go so I sneaked down my self but I was a bit afraid and not so social and there everyone already had grouped up so I went back upstairs and then Kadda woke up but we went to bed instead...pretty boring but I wasn't in a mood for party anymore.

Miss U all!

Love Sandra

San Francisco

Today (Friday 3rd September) we woke up at 6 am cause we needed to return the car in San Francisco at 8 am and we had almost an hour to drive from San Jose. It was good that we had packed all our things yesterday so it was just to put it in the car and go.
I was really nervous, when we came to Enterprise at the airport, that they would notice the scratch on the bumper from when I hit the pole. There were a lot of returning cars and the guy seemed a bit stressed so he walked around the car and didn't look so careful so we hurried from there ;) I'm also getting some money back cause apparently, I had paid too much...Thank U!!
We had to take the air train to the airport and then take the BART in to San Francisco and then we had to find our hostel. A guy saw that we were looking on a map so he asked and explained the way. We had to walk about 7 blocks and it was up hill in the end so we were sweating when we came to USA hostels.
Check in wasn't until 11 but we could put our bags in the storage room and then go down to the kitchen and have breakfast. The hostel made mixture for panncakes every morning and then we could make and eat as many as we wanted. It was really good and perfect cause then we didn't have to spend money on breakfast.
At 11 when we wanted to check in, Kadda's credit card didn't work....OMG!! PANIC!! I didn't have so much money left since I had to pay the car and I had paid a lot of other stuff and now it was her turn. She knew that she had money on it so that wasn't the problem. We had to take out our bags and then we sat in the lobby for like an hour and she tried to call home, her bank, use the computer but since it was Friday evening in Germany the bank wasn't open and her parents couldn't do anything.
When she tried to pay for only one night, it worked so we could at least move in to our room but there she had to try to figure out what was wrong. It was really frustraiting cause this was the part of the trip that was supposed to be the most relaxing and now we were just stressed.
She came to the soulution that maybe some kind of limit was reached and hopefully just the daily so maybe it'll work tomorrow again. Of course this was the only card she had and not a ATM card so she couldn't get money anywhere. Just crap!!
We went out for lunch and it was really nice being in San Francisco again, even though the weather was not so good this time. Now I understand what people mean when they say that it's foggy in San Francisco...we couldn't see the roof tops ;)
We went to California Pizza kitchen and now we had 10 % of since we had the lottery ticket from our last visit. I had a chicken sandwich and a asparagus soup that was really jummy. When we wanted to pay, all the computers were down in the restaurant so the waiter had to write everything by hand and it seemed to be hard for him but after a while we walked back to the hostel and took a 2 hour nap ;) I was really tired cause we had gone up early this morning and the problem with the money took a lot of energy. I'm glad that I have my mum and dad who could give me some money so I could pay my room tomorrow in case Kadda's card doesn't work. Love U!
After the nap we went out again and walked to the movie theater. There are so many good movies we want to see and this time we saw the romantic movie called "Going the distance" with Drew Berrymore and Justin Long who try to work out a long distance relation ship. It was really cute and sweet and also funny sometimes. I give it 4 out of 5 Trolleys ;)
It was a bit scary to walk home but we tried to keep up with other people that looked safe so we survived ;)
Our room was in a tower so we had a oriel where our windows were facing the street. There were two bunk beds but when we checked in there were no one else. We had also a sink and big lockers for everyone.
When we came back from the movie we had two room mates and they were already sleeping so we had to be quite when we got ready for bed. The beds were really comfy but I had problem sleeping cause it was so loud on the street. There were cars, people partying and other noices, I think I'll buy ear plugs tomorrow.

Miss U all!
Love Sandra

Santa Cruz & San Jose

Today ( 2 September) there was a a lot of fog when we woke up and the tent was all wet after the cold night air.
I was really pissed when I woke up cause some damn trucks and tractors started driving by our tent at around 6 and they made such an awful noise that I couldn't sleep plus the ground was a bit too hard so it hurt every time I moved. We didn't see a reason to stay long at the camp ground so we quickly packed our stuff and headed towards Santa Cruz.
We were 4 hours on highway 1 and it was so beautiful! In the beginning it was too foggy to see anything but when we came further away from the coast it cleared up and we got to see a different nature than we were used to. Here it was more desert with not so many houses or comunities. When it was time to fill up the car with gas we got a bit panic cause it never came a gas station...there was just nothing!! But finally we came to a truck stop where we could get some gas and then we were good to go again.
At lunch, we stopped in Santa Cruz where the weather was wonderful. The sun was shining from a blue sky and it was really hot.
We went down to the waterfront and the beachwalk where they had a huge, white beach with a lot of people playing in the sun. There was also a pier with restaurants and small stores and a small amusement park as in Santa Monica, but now at the beach and not on the pier. I loved this place!! It was too bad that we couldn't stay there longer than 2 hours. We had lunch at the Bowling Alley, maybe a weird place to have lunch but we were recommended to eat there and it was really good! I had a teriyaki chicken sandwich with pineapple and it was jummy! The waiter was really nice and helpful, he recommended some stuff we could do here and he told us about the Winchesters house which belonged to one of the founders of the Winchester rifles. After he died, his wife believed that she was hunted by the ghosts of the individuals that was killed by her husbands rifles. This is why the house always was under construction and there are stairs that end up nowhere, doors that doesn't lead anywhere and other weird stuff. We wanted to visit but of course it was closed today!
We came to San Jose around 3 pm and we went direct to a outlet mall and this time we were sure they had Abercombie & Fitch ;) It was HUGE so they had a lot of other brands and stores as well. It was really great and we spend a couple of hours there and I found a DKNY dress and a pair of shorts at A&F.
At the mall, Enterprise called me and wanted more money for the car! I was like, OK??!! So now I have paid the whole car and don't have any money left....nice!
Here we had planned to sleep at a camp ground as well but we didn't find any. We were at Starbucks, where they have free WiFi, and I tried for over 30 minutes but finally I was so sick of it that we called a motell instead. They had room and we could come imidiately so that was good. It was called Motel 6 and was only 10 minutes from the mall so we didn't have to drive so long which was nice for me who had been the driver for the whole trip.
The room was not anything special but it was good to have a room where we could repack our bags since we are returning the car tomorrow. Boy, did we have a lot of stuff!! The whole room was filled with the contents of our suitcases ;)
I had these vacum bags where we could put our sleeping bags and then take out the air so they didn't take so much space. But the easiest way is if there is a vaccum cleaner to suck out the air with, so I went to the office and told the story about the bags and asked if they had a vaccum cleaner we could borrow. They didn't, but they had a broom???!! Hahaha...yes, I think I can suck out the air with it ;) We rolled out the air instead.
Tomorrow we are going to San Francisco and our trip is going to a end. It doesn't feel like we already been away for over a week and that we have done so much!

Miss U all!
Love Sandra