In July, 2019, Matt and Taew began a week long 2000+ mile road trip from Tulsa, OK to San Francisco, CA.
Day 1 | July 4
We woke up early and drove to Kansas to visit my (Matt) parent’s for the 4th of July. We watched the local fireworks show, played a board game against my parents (we won), and settled in to get some rest.
Day 2 | July 5
Woke up early and drove 5 hours to western Kansas. We visited my grandparent’s graves to place some flowers. From there, we entered Colorado, a new state for Taew to mark off her visit list.
We ended up stopping in Trinidad, CO for a quick break from the road before we headed south into New Mexico.
We stayed just outside Santa Fe, NM where we had a quick walk around the historic arts district.
Day 3 | July 6
After our brief stay in New Mexico, we began our drive to Flagstaff, AZ.
We stopped at an Indian Souvenir shop that sat on the Continental Divide in the western part of New Mexico. We picked up a Native America Kachina figure to add to our travel souvenir collection.
Just after entering Arizona, we stopped for lunch at a Navajo Frybread place for Taew to try some new food.
After lunch we spent the afternoon exploring the Petrified Forest National Park. This National Park is littered with fossilized trees. When exploring the area we ran into two guys from the UK on motorcycles. They were riding their motorcycles down Route 66 and exploring the sights along the way.
Just east of Flagstaff, AZ, there is an meteorite impact crater. While the admission fee is a bit expensive, it is still an amazing sight to see.
We ended the day in Flagstaff, AZ and prepared to visit the Grand Canyon.
Day 4 | July 7
Grand Canyon!
The south rim of the Grand Canyon is about an 1.5 hours drive north of Flagstaff, AZ. The canyon was carved out over millions of years by what is now the Colorado River.
We spent about 3 hours here walking along the rim and taking so many photos. IT was also a really hot and sunny day. So, if you see me (Matt) squinting a lot, I was trying to not blind myself.
*Note to self* Always bring sunglasses
After walking a lot and getting a mild sunburn, it was off to Sin City! and a new state for Taew.
Day 6 | July 9
Leaving the Grand Canyon and on our way to Las Vegas, NV, I booked a stay at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino using the website Expedia.com. I guess it was good I used my account on that site and picked that specific hotel because we got a free room upgrade to a small suite!
Our View 
We explored the area along the Las Vegas strip (where all of the major hotels are casinos are located) for a day before leaving the city for California!
Day 6 | July 9
Just east of Las Vegas is one of the US’s most greatest engineering marvels. Separating the two states Arizona and Nevada and spanning the Black Canyon of the Colorado River is Hoover Dam. Started in 1931 and completed in 1936, Hoover Dam is a 726.4 ft (221.4m) tall concrete structure blocking the flow of the Colorado River used to generate electricity. The area behind the dam filled with water creating the 590ft deep Lake Mead Reservoir.
After spending some time exploring the Hoover Dam, we started our drive through the desert towards the San Francisco, CA area.
Hotels in the Bay Area are expensive! I found one that looked decent and was “cheap” comparatively in San Jose. Got to the hotel when it was already dark. Parts of the hotel looked to be under construction so we were in an older section. It was scary! The room across from us looked like the door had been kicked in. The furniture was missing pieces of wood veneer and the windows overlooked a parking lot of a building that looked like it was abandoned due to a fire. We only slept in the room, making sure everything was locked up.
We met up with a friend of hers and had some good Korean BBQ.
Day 7 | July 10
We really didn’t know what to do on this day. We walked around the Westfield Valley Fair mall and drove past the famous haunted Winchester Mystery House. I want to visit there someday. Maybe I’ll see a ghost.
San Jose is only about a hour’s drive south of San Francisco so I decided to show her some things there. We only had a day to get as much done as possible.
On the South-West side of San Francisco is an area called Christmas Tree Point. This site overlooks the whole bay area, from the Golden Gate Bridge, to the city of Oakland across the Bay Bridge.
From Christmas Tree Point, we drove North East to Alamo Square Park. This park is across the street from the famous Painted Ladies.
The Painted Ladies are a historical row of Victorian era houses that have been featured in many movies and TV Shows.
After spending some time in the park, we headed to see the famous Lombard Street. Lombard is a very steep street and there is a one-block section known as the “crookedest street in the world” that has eight hairpin turns. It is a major tourist attraction. The area was covered in people walking up and down the sidewalks on either edge of the street and a line of cars driving down it. Of course we had to be one of those cars :).
If we had more time in the city, I would have taken Taew to see Alcatraz Island. The island sits in San Francisco Bay and houses Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, a maximum security prison that opened in 1934 and closed in 1963. Known as “The Rock”, it was thought that no one could escape from the prison. Famously, in 1962, 3 men attempted an escape using a raft constructed from prison raincoats. They made Papier-mâché heads to trick the guards that they were still sleeping in their cells. The raft was found but the three inmates were never found after they escaped. There was a movie made in 1979 called Escape from Alcatraz that stars Clint Eastwood.
From Lombard, we made our way to Fishermans Wharf and Pier 39. Pier 39 contains multiple shops and restaurants. The area is known to have Sea Lions that lounge on the pier and boat docks. We walked around the pier and looked for somewhere to have dinner. We decided on Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. A bit expensive and nothing I would “write home about”.
We went to Japan town but the shopping area was closed. Maybe next time.
Day 8/9 | July 11/12
We began our drive back home to Tulsa. We stopped in Kingman, AZ for the first night of the trip back. In the middle of nowhere, we found a Thai restaurant for dinner called Bangkok Thai Cuisine.
The drive from Kingman, AZ to Tulsa, OK is around 16 hours. We decided we could save a hotel night’s worth of money and complete the drive non-stop. Taew drove from Kingman to the Texas border. I took over from there. We finally arrived home around 4am and went to bed.
Maybe someday we will make it back to California to see more of what the state has to offer.
Until next time. – Matt / Taew