Living in a northeastern climate of the United States can be something that most people find irritating. Being a resident of New Jersey escaping to the California climate for a week is something I love. My first trip to California was in 2005 when my uncle was getting married. I don’t remember too much but there was something about it that I loved. Since 2005 I have been to California fifteen times, and loved it even more every time. When we would visit it we would mainly be to visit my family for a few days and relax. There was one visit that really stuck with me though.

In the following year of my first visit in the summer of 2006 my brother, my sister and my father boarded a plane to San Francisco. The plan was to drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles, then board a plane a fly to Phoenix. Being so young I had no idea what the whole plan was, all I knew was we were going somewhere. When we arrived at the airport we picked up our luggage and headed to the hotel. When I woke up the next day we headed out for San Francisco. It would be my first experience in the city, and I would end up loving and remembering for years after. Since it was my siblings first visit as well my father took us to all the cliché places of San Francisco such as the Golden Gate, Fisherman’s Wharf, Lombard Street and riding the cable cars. When I was six baseball was my greatest love. What is better than getting a tour of AT&T Park with extra access to special places? It was amazing! That night we stayed and watched the game and the next day we headed for the road.
The next stop on our trip would be to visit my aunt and uncle. They lived about one-hour south of San Francisco in Sunnyvale California. After saying hello and hanging around for a little bit we headed out again. The coast highway of California is something that you think you would only see in the movies. Driving along the two hundred foot cliffs looking out at the pacific is something you have to see. Lookouts along the way where my brother and I would climb out on the huge rocks and jump right across them. Other stops like the Hearst Castle was lots of fun as well. We arrived after the latest tour so we ended up continuing on our journey. I didn’t realize this until years later when my brother told me the building we were standing in was not the castle, but it was the transportation building. I was young and it looked like a castle so he let that slide.
Once we arrived in Los Angeles and being my first time in that city as well, of course we did all the cliché stuff. Going down the walkway with the stars names, driving through Beverly Hills and just about everything else everyone has done in Los Angeles. What would a city trip be without going to see a baseball game? Terrible! My sister, of course, thought otherwise with her crazed baseball family being her father and brothers. During that game my father’s friend, with her children, came along with us. They were fun people and I had a great time.
After a few days in L.A. we left for Phoenix. We were only supposed to have a day in Phoenix because we just wanted to see the area quickly. We arrived late at night but we were so excited from all of the things we had done se we had to do something else. It was about 105 degrees outside at eleven o’clock and the pool was wide open. We spent about an hour and a half in the pool just talking about all the cool stuff we did.
After visiting Phoenix we headed home to enjoy the rest of the summer. This trip was perhaps the best one I have ever been on. I was not able to remember all of it though. I was really young and kind of just went wherever we were going no questions asked. In the summer of 2013, I got another chance to remember it. Eight years after the first trip my father took my siblings and I on that same trip down Route 1. We did the same stops, the same cities, and we had made it to the Hearst Castle this time not just the gift shop. Re-living that trip was so amazing to me and I loved every minute of it. Perhaps the most amazing thing that we did was go to Dodger game with my father’s friend and her children again. We went to the same restaurant after the game as we did eight years earlier. There was a point where I looked around at everybody and recounted the scene years prior and for some reason it hit me hard. I looked at my sister, my father, his friend and her kids and it just amazed me how long ago it was. The most important change was the fact that I was taller than my brother at that point, which topped it off, he doesn’t like that as much as I do. Both these vacations are high up on the list of my favorite trips. Maybe in a few years from now I can take that same trip with my family down Route 1.