Roadtrip 2015 // Waimea Canyon

May 5, 2015
Even though it rained most of the day, we headed to Waimea to see the canyon. They call it the Grand Canyon of the Pacific and as much as I love the Grand Canyon - and I'm a super huge fan of him, I really am - the Waimea Canyon blew my mind! All the reds of the rocks, the greens of the plants and those gigantic waterfalls - I'll show you later - I hardly could handle the view! And doesn't the mist make you feel like you're in a mystic place?!

Here are some facts for you guys:
The Waimea Canyon is about 16km / 10 miles long and 900m / 3000ft deep. The river you look at in these pictures is the Waimea River. It's one of the longest river (19km / 12 miles)in the Hawaiian Islands.

Roadtrip 2015 // Kapa'a

May 4, 2015
We had to get up at 5.30am to drop off our car and put our big suitcases in the storage. We like to travel light so we only brought our hand luggage on the flight which was perfect, as we didn’t have to check-in any suitcases = pay for baggage. The first half of the flight went by super fast but the other 3 hours felt very long! When we landed on Kauai, HI I was surprised how little the airport is. It’s literally a big cabin and even if Hawaii is a State of America the security was very casual which is how I like travelling. We got a rental car and made our way to Kapa’a in less than half an hour. We rented a bungalow and were happy to drop off our stuff and change in much more appropriate clothes aka a bikini, shorts and a tank. Our hosts let us use their beach bikes (for free), so we decided to explore the area on a bike. Seriously, Kauai is such a beautiful, green island and I’m super happy we choose to stay there for a few days after our road trip!

 

Go check out Garrypeppergirl's blog post about Kauai

Roadtrip 2015 // Redondo Beach

May 2, 2015
We decided to spend our last two days in Redondo Beach before we would fly to Kauai, HI. The hiking and long drives were pretty tiring, so we were happy to just relax. We went for a walk in Hermosa Beach and had lunch at American Junkies. We Then couldn’t just hang out all day and eventually made our way to Venice Beach to shop at Abbot Kinney and see the canals. When we got hungry I knew what I wanted to eat – YUMTHAI! We used to eat there all the time when we were EF students and the food was just as delicious as it was back then.

We found an Airbnb close to where I used to live; a few steps away from the beach and the Redondo Beach Pier. After a long shower we took an Uber to Hermosa Beach and watched the boxing fight at America Junkies. We ended up in another bar – I can’t remember the name – and got home quite late that night.

May 3, 2015

I was so excited to have breakfast at the Original Pancake House. I accidentally ordered waffles instead of pancakes – just kidding I prefer waffles over pancakes. It felt kinda wrong to not eat pancakes at the Pancake House though - and gulped down the whole dish in a record time! We basically ate and watched tv all day – In-N-Out Burger for dinner, just saying.

Roadtrip 2015 // Long Beach

May 1, 2015
Almost wrote April 31, 2015 on that one xD

As I mentioned in this post, my friend recommended going Hydro-Biking when we’re in Long Beach which is exactly what we did. It was kinda scary at first but after a few minutes we’ve got the drill and biked/paddles our way over the Pacific Ocean. Naples is a lovely area and the people are super nice and even waved at us passing by their houses! I know it might seem easy when you look at the pictures but guys, hydro-biking is a serious workout! My legs got all shaky when I hit land again. This was seriously the funniest thing we did on this trip! I wish we had those in Switzerland too, so we could bike on the lakes J

We strolled around Long Beach and stopped for some refreshing drinks every now and then. We hung out on the beach for a while and then headed to our place for the night. Ashley’s apartment is lovely decorated and her dog Rudder is well trained and showed us some tricks.

Roadtrip 2015 // PCH

April 30, 2015
Once again we packed our stuff and made our way up the Pacific Coast Highway. There is nothing else that makes me as happy as the sun shining on my skin, the salty air in my nose and the mesmerizing sound of the ocean! That’s why I love driving along the Californian coast. That’s what life is about!

We stopped in San Clemente to watch the surfers for a little while, and then continued driving north to Laguna Beach. I can’t really tell why but Laguna Beach always gets me. It might be the rough cliffs, the soft sand and the boho vibes. We had lunch with a view at the Rooftop bar, one of my favorite places in Laguna.

We made it to Newport Beach just for sunset and this one was the most beautiful I have ever seen! The colors were intense and I think I took like 30 pictures – and every single one was perfection (not referring to my photography skills but you couldn’t do wrong with this subject)!

little selfie situation going on here.. xD you can tell I'm not good at this at all

We fell happily asleep in our super comfortable bed at Peter’s that night.

-> Posts of last time I was in Laguna Beach

Roadtrip 2015 // La Jolla

April 29, 2015
I read that La Jolla is worth a visit and they told no lies. The coves are so pretty and the seals – gosh I hope I got that right, because my brother told me at least a 1000 times what the difference between sea lions and seals is – adorable. That day was our first beach day and after sunbathing for hours we felt the urge to exercise which is why we went for a sunset run. What a beautiful day!

-> Posts of last time I was in San Diego

Roadtrip 2015 // San Diego

April 27, 2015
We didn’t mind driving for hours. Sure, your butt gets all numb and you would change position every 10min. after a while but isn’t it just soo relaxing to just drive on an endless road, desert surrounding you and in the background your favorite song on the road trip playlist is playing?! We would not speak for an hour and then just start singing along to a song simultaneously. I ate like one huge bag of m&m’s on the way down to San Diego and that was breakfast and lunch. Very grown up and healthy I know ;) We did get sushi for dinner though, which kinda made up for it, right?! By the way, that was the best sushi I have ever had! If you happen to be in the Pacific Beach area, go check out Kato Sushi.  And for desert - or even for an appetizer, YOLO! - go to Yogurtland!  We met Kenia our Airbnb host in the evening and to our surprise the building was equipped with a pool and a Jacuzzi!

April 28, 2015
Just as we parked our car near the Balboa Park we thought we were going to die!! Since the airport is in the middle of the city it looks as if the airplanes are nose diving! I just can’t believe that there are no complaints because of the noise when in Switzerland people are complaining even if they live miles – or kilometers as we use those for measurement – away. Anyway, we strolled around in Balboa Park and later explored Coronado Island and took a nap at the beach. I got to tell you, that white Coronado sand is kinda tricky, though. There was sand on every inch of my body and everything I bite my teeth I was grinding sand, ew! It actually took us longer to shower and get off that sand than we were napping ;)

-> Posts of last time I was in San Diego