“California dreaming”. They got me in two words to come here and do a road trip haha. Maybe a few photos helped to rope me in. It’s always been a dream of mine to go to California and drive from the Top of the state to the bottom and see all there is to see! And I did it, all by myself! I did this California road trip to learn more about me and get out of my comfort zone of traveling alone. Sometimes its hard to find someone to travel with since people have to take time off for long trips and I’ve been single for a while now so traveling alone is the only option if I want to see the world! I actually HIGHLY suggest traveling by yourself to somewhere secluded at least once in your life! I knew a few days in that one week in California was not going to be enough, but I have fit A BUNCH into this California road trip! Get $40 in credit for Airbnb when you sign up here.
The California road trip Agenda :
I traveled during the dates October 5th – October 14th and the weather was perfect except for a rainstorm on day eight.
Day 1: Fly into Redding, Sleep in Redding
Day 2: Full day in Redding at Burney Falls, Sleep in Sacramento
Day 3: Drive to San Francisco, Sleep in San Francisco
Day 4: Full Day in San Francisco, Sleep in San Francisco
Day 5: Drive to Death Valley, Sleep in Death Valley
Day 6: Full Day in Death Valley, Sleep in Death Valley
Day 7: Drive to Malibu morning, Sleep in Malibu
Day 8: Part Day Malibu, Sleep in Joshua Tree
Day 9: Full Day in Joshua Tree, Sleep Joshua Tree
Day 10: Full Day in San Diego, Leave San Diego for Home
* A huge shout out to my friend for helping me finalize my plans for this California road trip! It’s so hard to do it alone and it made it super fun to have someone to bounce ideas off of and who is more experienced at traveling than me. Thank you so much Chelsea W.!
Photo Credit: Pablo Raya
Airline: United
I flew out of IAD to San Fran which took about 5 and a half hours, had an hour and a half layover in San Fransico, and then flew into Redding. The airline staff was super friendly. The first plane I was on offered free WiFi (which unfortunately was not working on the flight there, but worked on the flight back). On their app they offered a private showing of movies you could stream if you downloaded it prior to lifting off. Included in my ticket I received a Coca-Cola, coffee (on their second time coming around the aisles) along with pretzels to snack on. I love United! Their seats were pretty comfy but I will definitely be getting a head-pillow like this blue neck pillow for the trip back. I was a little concerned that they overbooked both the flight going there and the flight back, but I did not have any issues getting on the plane or with my luggage.
I am hoping to find prices for flights cheaper but as this was my first time planning such a huge trip by myself, kinda last minute booking this a month and a half prior to leaving, I did pretty well! I got a Credit card as well to save up for miles!
Day One: Redding Airport / Palo Cedro
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
As mentioned I flew into Redding Airport, which is a very small airport, around 10:30 PM and my Airbnb host offered to pick me up for $20 which is a great deal because Lyft and Uber are about double this.
I stayed at their gorgeous California Mini Ranch Airbnb in Pablo Cedro. The room was adorable with a queen size bed and bookshelf that covered the entire wall. There were towels laid out on the bed when I walked in.
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
In the room, you have access to a half bath (toilet and sink). The full bathroom where you can take a shower is upstairs. I did not stay long enough to check out the full bathroom. In the private bedroom, there is a desk which was perfect for me to start editing some pictures and get a jump start on the blog post! On the desk, the host included 2 coupons for free drinks for the restaurant that they own called Fresh Fire Grill . Unfortunately, I did not have time to go eat here because of hiking plans, but they are opening up a second location in Redding and if I am ever back, this will be at the top of my list! There was also two bottles of water which I was super grateful for as I had been traveling all day and pretty thirsty! I took the second one with me for hiking. The Airbnb host and daughter (along with a cute puppy) really made me feel at home! They made coffee for me before dropping me off at my car rental.
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Day Two: Short Hike at Burney Falls
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Burney Falls
Burney Falls was about an hour and 10 minutes from the California Mini Ranch Airbnb. The Airbnb and host let me in on this little secret! I was originally going to Shasta Trinity without any real plan on where I was going to Hike. I swear the universe has your best interest in mind for you and it all falls into place if you have an open heart. It’s a quick 3/4 mile hike down to this waterfall.
When I arrived at the entrance of the park there was a $10 honor system envelop. I only had a $20 so I donated a little hehe. I changed into my swimsuit and walked to the waterfall and it was breathtaking! I got there around 2:00 PM and around that time the light was catching on the mist from the waterfall so I decided to hang out for about an hour and half and then head up to the park area and find lunch to wait for the sun to go down so I could get some better photos.
While I was hanging out by this gorgeous area, I did some self-therapy / self-love and wrote about three pages on qualities that I love about myself. It was a great way to start the trip and I recommend doing this everyday!
The wait was well worth it for this photo :
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
While I had been waiting for the sun to go down so I could get a better shot, I went up to the local store to buy some items to grill out. I bought some charcoal, a lighter (that came in handy for making fire pits later on in the trip!), some hot dogs, and hot dog buns. Your girl can grillll!
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood.
Day Three: San Francisco and Baker Beach
I stayed at a hotel that I wish I had planned a better Airbnb for. Anyway, I arrived in San Fransisco around 1:30 PM and met up with my friend Amy! We walked around her neighborhood and I definitely felt like I had arrived in San Fransisco with all of the hills! We took some pictures at a nearby park and walked around while some of the Blue Angels flew around for Fleet Week. I got to see the Capitol Building in the distance as we walked around too which was fantastic!
Photo Credit: Amy Guevara
Since I had no agenda and had just planned on driving around the city for the day, we decided to hit up Baker Beach where there is a gorgeous view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Side note: we didn’t realize this, but this is actually a nude beach! What?!.
Photo Credit: Amy Guevara
Photo Credit: Amy Guevara
We went to eat at South Pacific where we met up with Amy’s boyfriend, also one of my friends, Brian. South Pacific is a restaurant that’s decorated inside of an old WW2 airplane hanger. We sat outside on the patio at a picnic table and enjoyed fried Brussels sprouts, French fries, and I had a chicken sandwich. It was the perfect place to hang out! Shout out to my follower Mr. Muduno for recommending it!
Classic Yacht in Alameda
A few months ago when I was walking around a waterfront in DC, the thought crossed my mind if I could live on a yacht for like a year. I had heard people rent them out just like regular apartments. Staying on this boat for the night was AMAZING and confirmed my belief that I could live on a boat for a year! I checked in around 10:00 PM and it wasn’t too hard to find by myself late at night. If needed, you can request that the host comes and shows you around earlier in the day at check-in time which is around 4:00 PM. I walked around the marina and then realized it was exactly where the Airbnb pin was and also by a restaurant. It was the only boat area you could access without going through a gate that required a code. This boat itself has a code to get into the bedroom/kitchen/living room area. I’ve never been on a smaller classic yacht before, just dinner cruises that hold 100+ people and large commercial cruise ships. I was very impressed!
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
This boat has all the amenities you could want! The kitchen was set up with a microwave, sink, coffee french press, and a container that heated up water for your coffee. There is a tiny heater on the boat since it gets a little chilly down by the water. The mattress was seriously like sleeping on tiny clouds haha. WiFi was accessible, but I had a hard time getting my photos to download to one drive (but this could just be one drive being finicky). The bathroom was also great. The host must have known me in another life because there were ear swabs in the bathroom, which I absolutely love, and they also provided some cotton circles. My mom, who’s a retired nurse, would probably like me to mention that you shouldn’t clean out your ears with ear swabs, but it feels too good to me (haha sarz I’m a weirdo). Back on topic, there was also shampoo, conditioner and body wash when I went to go take a shower. I had enough hot water to take about a 10-15 minute shower which was the perfect amount of time for me to wash off. Seriously, what an experience taking a shower on a yatch! This Airbnb only cost me $170. There was a toll for going back to San Fransisco since it was a Monday, but luckily my rental car had a built in etoll I used. Note to self to bring my ezpass when traveling! Ps- there was street parking nearby and you could also park at the marina in a parking lot for this Airbnb.
In the morning I went to Blue Mercury cafe where I easily found free two-hour street parking nearby. I had avocado toast and hung out for a bit before rushing over to pier 39 for sailing! They had pretty good seating to do work. This is something I found to be hard to find in San Francisco. There is a lot of cafe’s that do not have outlets. My friend Amy actually had a great idea to look places up and sent me an article on places to go! Thank you, Amy!
Sailing
I have never been sailing before so this was definitely something to check off of my bucket list! We were originally looking for lunch cruises but decided this would be really fun. I didn’t bring my camera because I wasn’t sure if it would get wet, but I would definitely bring it next time, it was fine. I’d suggest bringing a backpack with water, maybe a snack, and out your camera in there. The boat sailed around for an hour and a half. I would make sure to wear WARM clothes, it gets very windy. mu
Ice Cream Museum
The museum was so cute by itself, but add in some personalities from the staff directing you around the museum, and wow!!! You’d hear conversations anywhere from telling us about how many sprinkles were in the pool in the next room (guess below in the comments!), telling us to pinky promise not to touch the cherries, or helping us come up with ice cream nick names; the staff was the cutest. We immediately got a spoonful of ice cream to try out and then moved on to a square of chocolate in the second room, then a pinky size ice cream cones with a raspberry sorbet that reminded Amy of the nerd candy, and a few other treats as we went along. BTW, my ice cream name is Kitkat and Amy’s was Amy Almond. I got tickets here!
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Amy Guevara
Photo Credit: Amy Guevara
Photo Credit: Amy Guevara
Bedtime in San Francisco at my Friends Place
I stayed at Brian and Amy’s apartment for this night before heading out to Death Valley. We had a great time and did face masks to end the night! Thanks so much for having me, Brian and Amy!! It was so amazing to see you guys and you made my stay in San Fransisco a super memorable one.
Day Four: Drive to Death Valley National Park
This was an 8-hour drive but it was worth every second to come to this secluded area near some amazing sand dunes! This was my favorite part of the whole entire trip! Will be coming back here multiple times within my lifetime hopefully. Honestly, I’d love to be proposed to in the hot tub underneath the stars. (cough cough, future husband who may stumble upon this post one day hahah).
The desert is absolutely stunning with mountain views that literally take your breath leaving you forgetting to breathe. It also has a sense of humor, funky items you don’t know where they came from or why they are here, and can also be sometimes an errry place! You’ll see abandoned shacks and ghost towns as you drive through the desert. What you won’t see is any sign of life.
I met up with my Airbnb host in a really cute town called Beatty which is 40 minutes from the airbnb. The morning that I left, I stopped by to get gasoline here, ice cream, and coffee. From there I received handwritten driving directions because the internet cuts off. But don’t fret! It’s super easy to find! I mean I did it in the dark (I won’t suggest that I just got here about an hour later than planned). I did pull-up google maps but there is no address for the house so don’t count on that haha. I used google maps to tell me where my car was located on the map so that helped me find the first road and then from there I turned at a marked green pole. Then the house is down a dirt road and the house is at the end behind a metal gate. I was hoping that I would get to drive down a dirt road in the desert and this totally fulfilled that on my list!
The modern house in the middle of the desert is beyond AMAZING and I’ll let these pictures speak for themselves:
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
As I was mentioned, the desert is way colder than I expected at night, getting to temperatures probably around 40-30 degrees with wind chills. The hot tub at the Airbnb was functional and 104 so you won’t get chilly looking at the (yes, over using this word in this blog post but it’s true!) BREATHTAKING stars and galaxies. I have never seen stars this way. There is no light pollution around me for maybe 3 hours (driving at a steady 80mph might I add). No street lights, no apartment complexes or shopping malls giving out light for probably 300 miles. The only way I can possibly explain this for you to visualize is that you can actually see like a little milk trail in the sky. You can make out so many tiny stars you never knew were there or existed so close to us. It was like the universe took a paint brush and stroked it across the sky there are so many. I suggest one time in your life coming out to the desert and seeing the stars. You will thank yourself a million times over.
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Day Five: Full day Death Valley
Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes
These were about an hour and a half from my Airbnb. I’d suggest bringing lots of water. It’s like regular beach sand so any shoes you can walk on a beach you can use here also. I got caught in a sand storm and my hat fell off, so keep that in mind when your going to sand dunes! They were magnificent to look at, however, an hour was definitely enough time for me to walk out there and walk back because it was so hot and dry. The next time I visit I’d love to stay for an entire day and really walk out far to get some amazing shots on huge sand dunes! I’d bring a back pack and take at least a gallon of water, sunscreen, a tight fitting hat, walking clothes, clothes to change into for a photoshoot, a camera, extra camera batteries, a tripod, and shoes that are easy to clean from sand. For shoes I recommend boots, old tennis shoes, water shoes, and I’d also even go bare feet for a while if you can stand it. Another suggestion is to bring something to sit on like a pillow or blanket! It gets very tiring walking around sand dunes.
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
A nighttime I watched the sunset go over the mountains and desert in the distance while I ate a sandwich, read some chilling literature about the desert, and contemplated the entirety and greatness of life and had some great conversations with myself about myself. It was all the soul searching I was looking for and needed for the time being.
There is internet at this location, but the internet was a little spotty depending on which way the wind was blowing I think haha. I was pretty much able to text the whole time tho! It’s nice to be totally cut off from responding to emails and DM (even tho I still did when I could) and left to just be creative and upload later. There were three bedrooms in this house and two bathrooms. They were all modern and there was a heater in the room I stayed in. The kitchen had a sink to do dishes, a stove, and a huge refrigerator which has some items from the previous groups staying here. There were water bottles in the office (pictured below) as well. The host left me a gift as well, which was super nice of them!
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
It’s amazing that places like this exist. So grateful to have had the chance to stay here. I’m overwhelmingly sad to leave but it’s okay because I know I will be back. It’ll be different than this time, I was alone and I’ll bring friends next time but I learned so much about myself these two days. There’s something about looking out into the distance at a whole lot of nothing when you realize the thoughts that pop into your mind still. I will remember my stay here for a lifetime.
Day Six: Leaving Death Valley early for Malibu
I got to Malibu around 4:00 which gave me enough time to unpack the car to my Airbnb. This place had a great view for sure! This beach apartment had normal wear and tear from the ocean. There is one parking space that is right on the main highway, which was hard to pull onto and off of. I stayed awake so I could turn my car around and get out easier in the morning. You could hear cars driving by at 50-80 mph which made it hard to sleep at night along with the powerful waves (the waves I had expected, but they were closer than I thought). You can walk down the road a bit and get to the beach from what I could tell. I should have researched each Airbnb more, but planning last minute didn’t leave me with many options. This place came with a long list of rules including not being able to have any friends over who were not on the reservation. They have cameras outside to check, so my friend was not able to come to hang out with me after we went to Ocean Prime for dinner. Overall it was a beautiful view, but I would not pay the price to stay at this place again, unfortunately. I’d stay at this different Airbnb (linked) next time since it is located right on the beach, but you have to plan out a few months in advance for it! I have not looked at the rules of this place, so make sure you do so before booking on Airbnb.
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Ocean Prime Collab
It’s always a pleasure to work with Ocean Prime. I first worked with Ocean Prime in DC, you can see my first post here where I went for a blogger’s event. I was excited to see that they had a location in Beverly Hills near where I would be staying so I reached out to them. Ocean Prime was wonderful to let me bring a friend who helped me take the picture of me below!
Photo Credit: Christy
This latte was made by a server who had been a barista for four years. I could definitely taste it in the coffee. He was also very knowledgeable about the entire menu and drinks.
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
The crab cake was out of this world tasty. We ordered this along with some spicy tuna sushi as appetizers. I highly recommend both of these as starters. I ordered my one of my favorite meals in the world scallops and filet mignon with garlic mashed potatoes. Christy got the teriyaki salmon which I got to try, and was mouth watering. As mentioned the latte was created by a true professional and tasted like it in every sip. If you know me, you know I love dessert! I ordered the Chocolate Peanutbutter Pie because I knew I could eat it later without it melting on my travels hehe. It was pretty sweet, so for all my sweet tooth readers, this dessert was made for you! Thank you so much for having me Ocean Prime Beverly Hills!
Day Seven / Eight : Joshua Tree – Glamping at Boulders Hideaway Joshua Tree
This Boulders Hideaway Joshua Tree Airbnb (Sign up for Airbnb with my affiliate link here to get $40 in credit!) was so cute to drive up to! I did get a little lost but realized I had made a wrong turn quickly within 2 minutes. The directions are very good but there are just a lot of turns on your first time going through it. It ended up raining and thundering the first night I was there, but since my tent was up on a wooden platform I was fine from flooding. If you stay here make sure you get the tent that I have linked. The owners are very quick to respond to communications and are always working to improve their facilities! I highly suggest staying here! This was a lot closer to civilization than my earlier desert airbnb. There is a Starbucks about 10 minutes away. This is really great for people who have not camped before (like me!) because the tent is already set up for you with a bed and they have added a lot of amenities that you would need. The bed is super cute and they provide extra blankets and a heater inside of the room. Outside there were two chairs by the firepit, and also these amazing glass tables that I took full advantage of as you can see.
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
I also brought wood thinking I would burn it in the desert but I had gotten kinda tired to do that so I figured I would have another chance here to use the logs I brought and I did! However, if you don’t, this Airbnb can bring you log. Awesome tent room service right? I think so! Awesome job Boulders Hideaway at Joshua Tree.
Boulders Hideaway at Joshua Tree was kind enough to #sponsor part of my stay at their hotel for photos! Thank you all so much! Check out their Instagram here. Share the word about this awesome place and use their hashtags #bouldershideaway and #sahasrarasanctuarytent .
I will be doing a separate write up on them in my blog post “Top 10 Things I love about Glamping” so be on the look out for that post next month!
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Photo Credit: Kit Stanwood
Day Nine: San Diego flying home
Summary
Traveling alone on this California road trip was a huge experience and tremendous for self-growth! Some tips I have are to plan it out fully as I did on the agenda at the beginning of this post. Make sure you have your plane ticket there and back. Make sure that you know where you are sleeping each night. Airbnb hosts also give awesome tips for activities around the area, and you can search even more local ideas on the app! From there you can start to plan out the day trips and I used google maps a lot to pin places I wanted to go and see how far away they were from each other to include my driving time into my trip. All you gotta do is push that “book” button and set it in stone to change your life. The first thing I did for this trip was buying my Ice Cream Museum ticket to give me that push to go! Doing something like that can really help you get started and motivated to plan your first trip if your scared or don’t seem to have the motivation. It’s a little less commitment than a plane ticket at first and really gets you excited about going. My favorite moments from the trip was the gorgeous drive from Redding to Burney Falls (which was like having heart surgery on my soul), and the 7-hour drive in the desert which I can’t even tell you how amazing it was, you just need to go do it yourself! This trip will be something I will remember for my entire life. Traveling wakes you up to “there’s more” out there. I can’t recommend traveling enough, book your California road trip today and start living!
Kimberly says
This is a great post! I’ve only visited San Francisco but I have more cities I’d like to visit in California too!
Jessica Lacy says
I always dreaming to go California and want go on long drive in rods of California
Jessica Lacy says
One of the best blog i ever read love to read this blog
Jessica Lacy says
This is fantastic blog nice place to visit
Scott says
This is so awesome. Well, you are so awesome! So happy for you, safe travels!
kitstanwood@gmail.com says
Thank you Scott!! (: