Week 26 - Spring Break: San Francisco and Las Vegas!

 My blog has done this weird thing were there is unnecessary spacing in the post and I don't really know why. So apologies for that :P I tried to fix it and had no luck..



Friday March 27th

We met Desiree at 4am at Lewis and Clark. Our flight was at 6.30 am but we had to stop by her friends house to collect her first as she was bringing Desiree's car home from the airport for her. We made our way to the airport and got all checked in and through security in no time! Excitement was building at this stage. I was already wearing 3/4 length pants preparing for the hot weather we were going to be experiencing. For this first flight, Fiona had the window seat with me in the middle and Kate to my right. Caitriona was in front of us and Desiree was behind us. Our first flight landed into Salt Lake City where we had to bomb it across to the other side of the airport to catch our connecting flight whilst stopping to pee on the way. This time, Caitriona was sat beside me, with Fiona and Desiree behind us and Kate behind them. We arrived in San Francisco and after some confusion with the baggage carousels we eventually found the one where our bags were, already waiting for us on the belt. We grabbed these before finding out how to get to where we wanted to go.

Window seat by the wing :)

 We got the airport shuttle to the BART (train/subway) station and paid $8.65 to get to Powell Street Station where we were to get off for our hostel. We eventually got to this station and then got a little confused direction wise but we got there. We were staying at the San Francisco International Hostel - formerly known as The Olympic Hotel. As check in wasn't until 3pm, we had to leave our bags behind a locked door and head off out into San Francisco for the evening. Our first mission was food, everyone was hungry and it was still brunch time so we found a cool 50's style diner - Lori's Diner - on Mason Street, just a three minute walk up the hill from our hostel. We got a fine feed to set us off for the day before heading off for a walk around San Francisco. We walked quite a distance up some insane hills to reach the famous Painted Ladies, something I've always wanted to see - thank you Full House! On the way here we got to see City Hall also. We hung out at the park here for a while (Alamo Park) before heading back home and taking a pitstop inside City Hall - as most of us had to use the bathroom due to the amount of water we've been drinking in this heat.

This is the outside of Lori's Diner :)

Bacon burger and sweet potato fries!

The famous Victorian houses - The Painted Ladies.

City Hall - how cool is this photo?!

We got back to the hostel and checked in, checked our room out and claimed our beds. Caitriona and Mairead are staying in another room as they booked theirs later than us and the most in one room is four people. (Mairead didn't arrive until tonight by the way, she had a different flight to us). We all got freshened up before heading to Chinatown. This place was insanely cool! So many little cute souvenir shops and random little Chinese style things too. We spent a couple hours here walking up and down more of San Franciscos hill before coming across an Italian restaurant, Viva. We got dinner here, I got a really nice meaty pizza. I didn't finish half of it so put the rest in a box to have for breakfast tomorrow morning (handy).

Our four bunk beds.

Another angle of our bedroom.

Our bathroom.

The entry way to Chinatown.

The insanely meaty pizza at Viva!

Saturday March 28th

We were up early this morning and after breakfast was eaten we headed off on another adventure, first stop was the Ferry Building. We pottered around here for a while before struggling to find our free shuttle to the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Ferry Building.

We got the first bus to Presidio Park where we got our second free shuttle (thanks to James Mitchell for the free shuttle bus information! :D). We strolled half way across the bridge, just because we still had a shit tonne of stuff to get done today. We did the usual touristy thing and took plenty pictures before getting a bus back to Presidio Park and catching another shuttle so we could get the No.29 bus to Golden Gate Park (which is nowhere near Golden Gate Bridge - makes sense....) so we could go see the Japanese Tea Gardens.

The Golden Gate Bridge,

Looking quite happy with the very cool bridge :P

We walked for what seemed like forever to see these much anticipated gardens, paid $8.. for us all to be very disappointed with the outcome.. Don't get me wrong, they were absolutely stunning but just disappointing.. Smaller than imagined and and way more packed than we were all expecting. It lead to a poor recreation experience! (little joke between myself and Fiona cause of one of our classes we're taking this year :P).

A pretty little area of the gardens.

The massive Koi fish in one of the ponds.

From here we walked around the park a little more before grabbing a bus to Ocean Beach.

YES! We got to go to a beach in California. So immediately, the socks and shoes came off and the sand was between my toes. I could see the Pacific Ocean - YAY! I got to put my feet into the Pacific Ocean. This was Desiree's first time ever on a beach and feeling the sand between her toes (incase you didn't know, Desiree is from Montana and well..no beaches in Montana technically). We walked along the beach for a while before stopping into Safeway and grabbing some food for tomorrow,  Fiona and I are going to Yosemite National Park (or Yozmight to some people :P).

Ocean Beach.

My feet in the Pacific Ocean :D

We got back to the hostel and cleaned up nice and quick before heading off to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. None of the girls had ever had this before so I was introducing them to it, after waiting an hour for our table we scoffed down our food in a matter of minutes. I tried something new this time around and got the macaroni cheeseburger which was insanely cool and filling! I got it to go so I could have it for my lunch tomorrow and we were all too full so we got our cheesecake to go also. I went for my usual Oreo Cheesecake - yummy! Fiona and I have an early start in the morning for Yosemite so it was off to bed once we got home!

I didn't rotate the photo but you get the picture. Delicious.

Sunday March 29th

Up at 5am this morning to get ready for Yosemite, I had my bag packed the night before so all I had to do today was get ready quietly while Kate and Desiree slept. Our tour guide for this trip was an elderly Chinese man who learned to speak English in Alabama. The combination was not pleasant as well as a very muffled microphone. Nevertheless, I tried to sleep on the journey there only to be kept awake by a delightful toddler screaming the bus down because his delightful mother fed him a chocolate cupcake for breakfast. The intelligence of some individuals never ceases to amaze me. And you know what makes it even funnier? The bus driver explicitly said at the start of the journey not to fill little children up with food because of the tendency for them to get sick.

Our tour bus.

Anyways!! We got to the park and our first stop was at a gorgeous viewpoint where we could see El Capitan and Half Dome in the distance. Breathtaking views! We had a few minutes here for pictures here before moving on and stopping lower down to see Bridalveil Falls - also very pretty!

Just gorgeous isn't it?

 Our next stop allowed us 2 hours to roam around Yosemite Valley and do as we please. Fiona and I ate lunch with the gorgeous view of Yosemite Falls ahead of us. The tallest waterfall in North America. From here we pottered along the Valley making use of the free shuttle buses. We got our few souvenirs before rushing back to our bus home.

Yosemite Falls - the highest waterfall in North America.

Thankfully I slept most of the journey home and once we made it back to San Francisco, I went straight to bed with pure exhaustion because of yet another early day tomorrow.

Monday March 30th

Today was the day we were finally getting to see Alcatraz! After waiting ages to try and get a cable car to our stop, we bailed on the line and got the bus to Pier 33. The confirmation email said to be there with over 30 minutes to spare as there was security that we had to go through and if we missed our time, our seats would be given to someone else. So naturally, we were running late and slightly panicked, only to arrive at the gate, and the only security was a man that didn't even look in our bags to make sure we weren't carrying anything suspicious. This allowed us time to potter around before lining up for our boat. We went to the front of the boat on the second floor and had amazing views of Alcatraz Island on the way there. One of the crew members on the ship informed us there was a whale out ahead of us but unfortunately we didn't get to see it.

Alcatraz Island in the distance.

We arrived at Alcatraz and the first thing I noticed was the abundance of birds here! Insane! They use this island as a peace zone for breeding. We strolled around taking all the sights in while making our way to the audio tour which was taking place in the main prison. The tour came with the purchase of our tickets and was given by both guards and prisoners in Alcatraz, making the whole experience very real. You could hear the clanging of chains and iron doors while we were walking through the prison. We got to hear the stories of some of the prisoners that tried to escape, some being successful at escaping but whether or not they survived is unknown to this day.

Tonnes of cells - it's insane!

An example of what the cells were like. They look cold and uncomfortable :(

We got the ferry back at about 3.35pm I think to Pier 33 where we walked on over to Pier 39. We had dinner here in an Italian/Seafood restaurant which was delicious! From our table we could see the California Sea Lions out the window! After dinner, we headed out to see these Sea Lions up close and personal (kinda). I found a lovely little spot right in front of the sea lions. I watched them for probably 15minutes while they fought and slept. Some got bullied off the piers into the water also! This area is also known as Fisherman's Wharf so we strolled around here and picked up some souvenirs. I got a San Francisco baseball cap (SF for Shannen Foley too hawhaw!).

There was three more floating piers of sea lions to the left of these also! :O

Hello!

A magic show down at Fisherman's Wharf.

We then made the trek to Lombard Street. And I say trek because that's what it was! We walked up countless hills just to be at the bottom of Lombard Street. We then took the necessary tourist photos here before walking UP Lombard Street to get to our cable car. To say we were tired is an understatement. We then hopped on the historic San Francisco cable car to the last stop near our hostel before heading to bed so we could get up for our flight in the morning.

The famous San Francisco Cable Car.

Lombard Street - known as the 'crookedest street'.

 Tuesday March 31st

Our flight was at 12pm today but because I know San Francisco is a big airport (and I've been brought up having to always be extra early at airports - thanks to Mom and Dad!) we left the hostel shortly after 9.30 am I think. We got the BART back to the airport and went and found our right terminal - I'm really glad I have so much experience with airports cause I have no issues with maneuvering around them thankfully!

The flight into Vegas.

We arrived in Vegas and then hopped on a bus to our hostel. For this hostel I think we were only paying like $14 a night for it so in comparison to our San Francisco hostel - we weren't expecting much! But much to our surprise this place was so cool. We had a really spacious room with an en-suite bathroom! (we were not expecting to have a bathroom). We were in a six bed dorm so we had one roommate, a Brazilian girl studying abroad in New Orleans. We spent our first day exploring the strip and having dinner in the Hard Rock Cafe. Somewhere none of us have been before. I got the beef and chicken fajitas which were delish!

The only picture I took of the hostel room this time around.

The courtyard of our hostel.

New York New York, you can just make out the rollercoaster :)

Myself and the Las Vegas Strip :)

Fajitas from the Hard Rock Cafe <3

 Desiree and I went on the New York New York rollercoaster. Something I had heard about through my parents and I was absolutely dying to do it! I love rollercoasters and if no one else wanted to go with me I was willing to go by myself! We walked up to the Bellagio to see the famous watershows and ohhh my godddd they were class! We stayed and watched two of them. To be honest, I could have stayed and seen them all but we didn't have the time :( . We headed home because we had to be up at 5am for the GRAND CANYON!!

The Bellagio watershow :)

The Bellagio, the calm between watershows!

 Wednesday April 1st

We were collected at 5.45am and brought to the bus depot for check-in. Here we got bottled water, and things that I believe were danishes for breakfast? Whatever they were, I got the cream cheese one and it was really tasty! Our tour guide was Frosty and he was extremely informative and hilarious.We made a stop at Hoover Dam first which was so cool! In the second picture, you can see a white line on the sides of the rocks. This is where the water should be. We then made a pit stop for a toilet break and then 2 hours later we stopped for our lunch break. We paid $89 for this tour so to be honest we weren't expecting anything great. We were wrong. We got a massive all you can eat buffet lunch! So naturally we stuffed ourselves. I tried pulled pork for the first time cause Fiona never stops raving about it :P and it was gorgeous!

The Hoover Dam sign.

That white line is where the water levels should be at. Madness.

We carried on an eventually reached the Grand Canyon National Park. Our first stop was Mather Point. We had the option of getting the bus from here to Bright Angel Lodge or taking what Frosty described as a 'hike'. We chose the hike option which was technically a walk. Of course, being the tourists we are we took every opportunity to stop and take photos, causing us to have to rush the last few minutes of our trip. We made the bus just in time but by God it was worth it. The views were just incredible! I honestly don't know if there's a word to even describe how insanely gorgeous this place is. Most definitely one of my most favourite places I have EVER been!

No words.

Oh yano, just sitting on the edge of a rock overlooking the Grand Canyon..

Just chilling out at the Grand Canyon :D

The Fantastic Four relaxing at the Grand Canyon :)

Frosty played some movies on the bus home, including the Robin William's movie RV which is hilarious and then another movie afterwards called Parental Guidance which was also brilliant!

Thursday April 2nd

Our last day in Vegas :( We took the liberty of sleeping in a little bit and seeing as it's the last day of our holiday we went to Denny's for brunch. We then got the Deuce bus (one of the buses that runs on the strip) as far as Mandalay Bay and walked the rest until we got to the Las Vegas sign. We ran into Eoghan and his gang here! How random?!

Us and the famous Las Vegas sign :D

We then walked the whole way back up the strip over the course of the day. We visited Egypt at the LUXOR hotel. Before exploring Excalibur Hotel who's theme was Medieval Europe - this was pretty cool! We took a gander at the casino in here which was cool! We then strolled over to New York and took another look in here. We crossed over the strip and went into the Grand Canyon Souvenir Shop, we thought we would be getting souvenirs for the Grand Canyon in here (naturally) but no. It was Las Vegas souvenirs and they were SO CHEAP! Loads of things were only 99c which was a bit mad! I bought myself a few things and also got one or two things for my brother and sister (I'm sound I know).

Egypt @ the LUXOR.

Excalibur - Medieval Europe.

The Excalibur Casino.

New York New York <3

After seeing the MGM Lion we headed into the MGM Grand as we were meeting Desiree's aunty, Amanda, and her fiance, Zach, for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. The last time I was in here, I was young but I can remember it cause it was so cool. Every 15minutes there's a 'rainstorm' and all the animals on the walls 'come alive'. There is the sounds of elephants stampeding along and also gorillas bellowing and whatnot. It's really cool and the food was fab. This was our last night in Vegas we still had a few things to do. We headed in the direction of the Mirage and while we were heading this way, another watershow started at the Bellagio, Desiree and I stayed to watch this cause they're so cool and Fiona and Kate carried on. After the show finished, Desiree and I walked up in the direction of the Mirage cause we wanted to see the Tigers that are used in some of the Vegas shows. A lovely security guard informed Desiree and I that you can't see the tigers after 5.30 pm so we headed straight for the Venetian. The hotel my Dad recommended I see the most. From here we were able to watch the volcano erupting from the Mirage, this was kinda cool, a bit anti-climatic.

The erupting volcano at the Mirage hotel from the Venetian.

 The Venetian was just gorgeous. There was marble everywhere. Des and I went straight for the casino and took a gander there. It was just gorgeous! We sat by the pretty water fountain for a while also and then went outside and met Kate and Fiona. Outside the Venetian there is a little canal with gondolas in the 'river' out front. Just fab. I've decided that when I come back to Vegas next, I will be staying here! :P

Cute water fountain outside the casino :)

The casino in the Venetian :O

All very fancy and marble everywhere!

The outside. Fabulous.

Friday and Saturday April 3rd and 4th

Today is the day we leave. To say I'm heartbroken is an understatement. This has been the trip of a lifetime and I don't want to go back to reality. Our flight was 8.45 am from McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas and we arrived into Missoula at 12 pm. We got the Mountain Line bus back to Lewis and Clark where I went to work straight away at putting my pictures on Facebook for all at home to see what an insane week I've had away. I went into my room about 6 pm with the intentions of watching some videos and I ended up falling asleep and waking up at 8 am the following morning. To say I was tired is an understatement.
Saturday just consisted of lazing about really, putting off the inevitable of doing homework and tidying my bedroom. This evening, Kate and I went to see the new Fast and Furious movie: Furious7. I have been excited for this movie ever since I heard they were back to filming it! Anybody who has seen these movies, does not want to be caught crying at them. But this was one where I couldn't hold back. Since these movies were released they have been by far my favourite. Spending weekends (or Easter holidays) at my aunty Kathleen's watching these movies on repeat with my uncle Pat and my cousins Timmy and Padraig. Quoting them word for word. But this movie was something else. It was an absolutely fantastic tribute to Paul Walker. If you haven't already seen it, I would definitely recommend it!


With that, I end my spring break blog post! To think back to this time last year I never would have imagined that I would have come to the University of Montana, never mind go to both San Francisco and Las Vegas for spring break. For anyone looking to visit anywhere in the states I would highly recommend both San Francisco and Las Vegas and make sure to do the Grand Canyon. My pictures don't do it enough justice.
Back to reality now with a take home exam due by Monday and a grant proposal due by Thursday. No rest for the wicked here in Montana! Sad to be back but glad I get a few more weeks here before I have to leave in a few weeks time...

Thanks for reading!

-Shannen.