It’s hard to decide, whether to write in English or not. It would be nice that everyone understood, but at the same time Finnish still is the language of my soul and therefore also much richer. So I’ll probably do some sort of mix when reporting from the road. But today it will be in English.

At the moment it’s only 2, 5 weeks or 19 days left before boarding the flight to San Francisco with my fellow bff travellers, Miss Heinämaa and Orvokki. It’s sad that Annikki – who recently got a new job – couldn’t make it this time. After all, it’s our 10th anniversary as friends.

After some rigorous planning this weekend the plan is now more detailed and goes as follows:
Thu 14/4 My flight Sto-Hki, We’ll all stay at Hotel GLO at the airport. And maybe celebrate a little bit…
Fri 15/4 Flight Hki – San Francisco. Staying at Parker Guest House in the Castro District.
Sat 16/4 San Francisco. Getting to know our hoods and the complimentary wine serving on the hotel patio.
Sun 17/4 San Francisco. The ambitious plan is to cycle from one side of the Golden gate to the other.
Mon 18/4 San Francisco. The Alcatraz Night Tour. Which hopefully helps to avoid the night at the bars.
Tue 19/4 Picking up the rented Chevrolet Impala and trying to find the way out of the city. (Always so sensible Orvokki convinced Thelma and Louise that although a Mustang sounds better, our luggage would never fit into it. And meeting Brad Pitt in a remote motel does not depend on the type of a car :). Heading south the Highway 1 to Santa Cruz and Monterey (200 km).
Wed 20/4 Hanging out in Monterey. Then south to San Simeon (170 km).
Thu 21/4 The Hearst Castle. That obviously is something more spectacular then the medieval castles in Sweden and Finland.
Our reliable driver Miss H takes us to Santa Barbara (265 km) and the Hotel Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort. A four-star accommodation with a balcony & view to the Pacific Ocean. Nice! Miss H, too, will be awarded a glass of refreshment. And maybe some Hollywood stars will be jogging on the beach. Ha!
Fri 22/4 Wine tour to Santa Ynez Valley as in Sideways movie.
All failed writers need to drink from the spit bucket. Keeping my fingers crossed. 🙂
Evening in Santa Barbara.
Sat 23/4 Once we get tired of SB and can deal with the fact that there’s ”only a week left, noooo!” we’ll head towards Grand Canyon. 10 hours of driving ahead. Staying over in some hillybilly-redneck motel in the middle of the desert.
Sun 24/4 The driving continues for Miss H. Meanwhile, Orvokki and myself can always entertain us with the products purchased in Santa Ynez. 😉 Arriving to Yawapai Lodge at the South Rim.
Mon 25/4 Mule-riding in the canyon! Wo-hoo! Saddle-up, cowgirls!
Tue 26/4 Miss H is probably still recovering from the mule tour, so I will drive us to Las Vegas (445 km). we’ll leave our faithful Impala to The Venetian hotel and get comfortable.
Wed 27/4 Experiencing Las Vegas.
Thu 28/4 Flight to San Francisco.
Fri 29/4 The last day of the trip. Miss H will panic with all the souvenirs she needs to get and pack to her already too heavy suitcase. Orvokki will want to move to San Francisco. I will need a drink.
Sat 30/4 Flight to Helsinki. Adios, California!
As Orvokki stated today, in the plans this looks like a prefect holiday. Let’s hope that’s what will happen… As none of us has been to California before, any ideas and travel, restaurant, shopping etc. tips are welcome!