Well, oops… Its been a over a month since my last post! Time definitely does fly. Can you believe that in just over 6 weeks, my San Francisco time will be at a close! Wow. Crazy stuff.

But I know that you guys are all way overdue for an update on my blog! So I guess I should start where I left off… Yosemite! At the end of September, I went on my first ever guided tour, on a bus adventure tour company called Green Tortise. I had decided that I would do this for my birthday weekend so that I knew that I would be doing something special and something that I would definitely remember for my birthday! It was a really good thing in the end, as I didn’t have to stress about making sure that I did something fun on my birthday! Being so far from home at times like that, I knew that if I didn’t do something awesome, I’d be pretty home sick. Rest assured, I wasn’t homesick at all on my birthday! I was way to busy having too much fun for that. It was also great to be with a huge group of like minded people, all of similar ages. We were mostly a group of solo international travellers and it was amazing to feel like I fitted in.

So we all met up in San Francisco at 9pm and begun the overnight drive to Yosemite National Park. Half way through the journey, when it was time to sleep, the whole bus converted into a whole bunch of beds. Pretty cool! Not the most comfortable ride of my life, but I survived haha. We awoke to a beautiful park next to a lake to have our first breakfast as a group and to get to know each other better

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After we had an awesome breakfast (group effort) we packed up and set out to Yosemite Valley. This was where we spent the first day, exploring the valley and doing some hikes, where I got to further wear in my new boots! We then spent an hour or two soaking our weary feet in the river!

Once we all got back on the bus, we headed to our campsite which is where we would be camping for the two nights. We all set up our dinner and then got the campfire going! It was so good! We also made a classic american camping food, Smores! Pretty delicious! Although I still like plain roasted marshmellows best. These parts were some of the most enjoyable for me, just cooking dinners together and chilling by the camp fire under the light coming from the incredibly big and bright moon! This night we all camped out under the stars, for a perfect end to the night.

The next day was my birthday! 24! I woke up to camping style eggs benedict and fresh fruit salad. Not a bad start. We then headed out to the first of two lakes that we would visit that day. So first up was Mono Lake. It was very beautiful and kind of eerie. We all went for a quick dip in Mono Lake which was pretty nice, a bit chilly, but still fun. Here we also enjoyed our packed lunches that we prepared that morning.

  

Next up was definitely my favourite lake by far which was June Lake. It was a breath taking view and an amazing place to relax and take in the scenery for a hour or two!

After this, we all headed to a look out point to attempt to see the eclipse that was happening that evening! Unfortunately luck was against us in that respect as we couldn’t see a thing! However, the sunset that we saw instead was probably even better! We also set up dinner at this look out and all had dinner together. It was the perfect way to spend my birthday, definitely! When we got back to the camp site, once the campfire was set up, there was more marshmallow roasting to be done. The tour host also sneakily prepared a birthday peach and peanut butter fruit crumble cake in which they put candles in and made me blow out! I also had help from a new friend as well, as it was her birthday the next day! It was delicious, and I definitely slept well that night!

The next day was our full day together! We spent this day at Tuolumne Grove with the giant sequoia trees as well as doing a pretty strenuous hike to the top of Lembert Dome for some pretty crazy views(no photo forgot my bloody phone!) The end of the trip ended with a group effort dinner and then a drink or two at California’s oldest Saloon!

So a pretty amazing trip! I met a lot of cool people and I had such a great time! Happy birthday to me! Oh and my other belated birthday present when I got back from yosemite, was to go to a concert of the AMAZING Joe Brooks and I got to MEET him! AHHHHH!! A definite highlight of the last few months! He really was sensational.

Since the trip, I have been getting to know some new people around the hostel and working a lot. Also got to cross off the Castro from my list. The Castro is famously know as the gay district of San Francisco. I did a really quirky walking tour with some people from the hostel and it was really fun and interesting but pretty weird as well!! Haha!

So I’m definitely getting through my list of places to see, and the rainbow side walk was a definite must! Not long and I’ll be headed out on the next adventure! I cannot wait!!!! I have my brazillian Tourist visa appointment this week! Wish me luck! 😀 😀

xx