Goodbye USA

I've been terrible.  I know.  Its been nearly a month with only one post, and that didn't really talk about my travels.  I am chock full of new stories from the farm, but before I do that I have to bid a proper farewell to my travels in the states.

My last month in the states was a whirlwind of hitchhiking, couchsurfing and hiking.  We headed out to Yosemite and did an amazing 30 mile hike there (the Beuna Vista loop if anyone is interested).  The first day was ok, but then there was a 12 mile chunk of amazing vistas and beautiful lakes.  We didn't do too many miles in a day; we took time to enjoy it.  After that we headed to Monterrey on the Pacific coast.  It was a bit rough getting there.  Though we got hitches regularly, we ended up stranded in not such great places.  Merced, Ca is not the type of place you want to sleep in a park, so we got a hotel room (almost 4 months of traveling, only one night in a hotel).  We also got stranded closer to Monterrey and we spent a lovely evening in a bare field behind a Lowes.

The Pacific coast between Santa Cruz and Big Sur is my favorite place in the states.  Its amazing.  We had a relaxing time in Monterrey while we both got ready for the ends of our journey (for me, it was the end of that leg and getting ready for the next).  After having a highway patrolman threaten to throw us in jail for hitchhiking (no wonder Cali's penal system is overworked), we got two amazing hitches straight to San Fran and made it to our first host; Lars.

Lars doesn't really have an apartment or house.  He squats in an abandoned elementary school.  Its awesome.  Aside from the fact that we have to jump an 8 foot fence, it was great.   (quick tangent: if it weren't for the two months of wwoofing and hiking, would there have been a chance in hell I could jump a fence? back to story).  We had a great time there, smoking hookah and hanging out with whichever random CSers were there.  Eventually though, we craved such things as doors (instead of fence hopping) and showers so we headed to Astro and March.  They are a super cool couple and amazing hosts. 

We really got to see a lot of San Fran.  SF and NYC are the only two cities that have that great mix of different neighborhoods.  Everyone goes to see Chinatown, but I loved the Mission and Haight areas.  It is so much more fun for me to wonder around a neighborhood then go to some big tower or a museum.

So that was the States in a nutshell.  I really have to thank all the amazing people we met along the way.  The amazing hitches, the awesome couches and the great wwoof host/esses along with everyone else along the way.  But most importantly, I had to bid adieu to Eva.  We had an awesome time for a few months, but most good things have to come to an end.  Its never easy spending so much time with one person on a trip, but it was well worth it.  We really had a blast.

And I promise I'll get another post in right away about Australia.