The Completion of 2019 My Egceptional Planet Summer Adventure List: California!
This year, I decided to write down a summer adventure list to pack my June – October with tons of amazing activities. I chose to end it in October because in San Francisco, the summer heat doesn’t really start until September/October. Along with that, I knew that June and July would be packed with traveling for work and for personal. I was able to complete everything on my summer adventure list but one thing: frolicking in lavender fields. We were going to go in late Aug as that’s when I was not traveling, but by that time, the peak season for lavender was already gone. That’s not a problem though, I’m glad I got to check off all the other items and a few more that weren’t originally on the list.
Beach Day: We went to Ocean Beach and started a fire in the sand. It was slightly colder than other California beaches because we’re in San Francisco, but I never minded wearing a sweater on a cold beach!
Picnic at the Park: We didn’t picnic at a typical park in San Francisco like Alamo Square Park or Mission Dolores Park. Instead, we decided to drive to Marin Headlands during August to watch the low fog pass through the city. We brought our delicious packed meals by Dust and ate at Hawk Hill. We had baked breaded chicken, roasted peppers, and roasted potatoes! One of my favorite meals that Dust makes.
Chase as many sunrises and sunsets: This year I’ve been obsessed with sunrises and sunsets. I’ve been wanting to watch more ever since I went to Playa del Carmen, Mexico and watched a beautiful sunrise. However in NYC, the sunset or sunrise is often blocked by all the tall concrete buildings where I was staying. When I moved to the west coast, I knew I wanted to enjoy more of nature’s amazing colors. In total, I watched 15 sunsets and sunrises and I get giddy every single time I watch one. It’s like the northern lights except a different color and they happen every day, twice a day 🙂
Strawberry Picking: We went to a farm we went to last year that we knew had amazing fruits to pick! Last year, we picked fuji apples, grape tomatoes, and strawberries. This year, we picked red tomatoes, strawberries, and apples. We knew how much we liked the strawberries last time, so we came prepared with a box and picked 10x the amount we picked last year.
Hike at Mt. Tam: We came to Mt. Tam several times this summer during August to watch the sunsets while the fog sneaked in. In October, we also came to watch the sunset but came a little earlier to hike and went to East Peak to watch an amazing sunset! Link to “Exploring California: Mt. Tamalpais East Peak” post.
Swim in a Clear Blue Lake: When we went to Switzerland, we swam in Lake Zurich and Lavertezzo. Both very different colors and had different temperatures of water, but we loved it! We always love swimming in any natural body of water that’s super clear or blue/turquoise.
Hike Yosemite: This has been on the bucket list for a really long time and we finally made it here. It’s nearly a 5 hr drive depending on the traffic. It’s so nice to live in the same state as this amazing national park that people travel to from other countries. We went to Glacier Point, Taft Point, Tunnel View, Yosemite Valley, and Wawona Swimming Hole. It was an amazing trip and I can’t wait to go back!
Revamp My Egceptional Planet Website: It’s been revamped with a different color scheme, layout, and font. I wanted to create a cleaner site with less colors – I like it (for now as I know it can always be improved).
YouTube Banner: To post my travel/trip itinerary videos, I put it on YouTube. I wanted to add a banner to the channel page and finally did!
