WHERE IS THE SNOW IN LOGAN?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in the good town of Logan. That is, minus all the snow. You can find it hidden in the mountains, but not really anywhere else in town. However, don't let that fool you for what's ahead.  Prepare yourselves folks because winter in Logan is comparable to winter in the North Pole (or so I've heard). This is actually my first year living in Logan, but the rumors about the cold are showing to be true as the temperatures continue to plummet.

However, the confusing thing about the weather here is that for a while, basically the whole month of November, it would be freezing in the morning. I mean FREEZING. I bundled up head to toe in warm apparel to survive the trek to my morning classes. By the end of my classes in the late afternoon, I was sweating like a pig in temperatures remarkably warmer than they were a few hours earlier. The temperature would go from Antartica to the Sahara Desert within only a few hours. How is that possible? Well, it's Utah. Mother Nature's temperature mood swings constantly show me that any climate in Utah is possible, any season of the year.

The other confusing thing about Logan is that Jack Frost likes to tease us with his snow games. Are we finally to get some snow to stick up here or WHAT? He and Mother Nature must like this battle between the warmth and cold because we can't quite seem to be getting the wintery feel including beautiful snow blanketing Cache Valley yet... It's December. I think we all agree that it's okay to have snow now. Without it, it just wouldn't feel like Christmas. We are getting hit hard with these cold temperatures (20 degrees today OMG) so please don't let us have the cold without the snow.

So Jack Frost and Mother Nature, hear me out. I speak for the people of Logan, Utah when I say we are preparing to tackle the torturous temperatures of winter that are ahead of us. We will bundle ourselves up, we will get our sleds out, we will decorate our feet in fuzzy socks, but PLEASE GIVE US SNOW IN RETURN.



P.S. We drove about 40 minutes up the canyon just to find this plentiful amount of snow. We also had a Christmas dance party and blasted music from the car while we danced in the road.

San Francisco Day 2 & 3

HAVE I MENTIONED HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS PLACE YET?

Day 2:

This morning was pretty slow. I didn’t want to get out of bed, but somehow I managed to. The place where I’m staying at is in the heart of the city in a huge tower with incredible views from every room. I am so lucky to be here. So anyway, it was pretty sweet to wake up to the foggy city seeing Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge right outside my window. They have a telescope here pointed directly at the Coit Tower and I definitely did some people watching through it. Haha wow I really do sound like such a creep! I promise I’m not, okay? 

THE FRENCH MAN RETURNS (Day 2)

Okay he wasn’t French, but I pretended I was. Yesterday I ran into some guy who asked me for directions to Chinatown. I wrote about it in my Day 1 post, but to sum it up: I only spoke French to him and pretended I didn’t know English. I don’t know why I did it, I just thought it was funny hahah.

Well anyway, I can’t remember his name but let’s call him Jeff. This morning I was walking around Polk Street and was taking pictures of a cool cathedral there. Then, all of a sudden someone comes up to me and says, “Hey! I saw you yesterday!” IT WAS JEFF. THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN SAN FRANCISCO. WHAT ARE THE ODDS I RUN INTO THE ONE GUY WHO THOUGHT I WAS FRENCH. Hahah he scared me really bad too, so I jumped. When I realized who he was I was trying so hard not to laugh. I saw him down at Fisherman’s Wharf yesterday, which we weren’t even close at our encounter today. I couldn’t believe it. I almost blew my cover, but I kept up my French identity. He asked me for my name and I pretended to know very little of what he was saying. He was super nice and was telling me he was staying with his uncle here and all of this stuff. He had no idea I knew every word he was saying. It was hysterical to watch him try to communicate with me. He would speak slow and use a lot of hand gestures. He asked me if I wanted to get breakfast with him, but of course I”m like “Uhhhh, je ne compounds pas?” Which means “I don't understand.” Then, Jeff started using Google Translate to talk to me. I panicked because I don’t know that much French and couldn’t carry on a full conversation like that. So I told him I had to go and we parted ways. It was hilarious. Seriously what are the odds of running into him? Great way to start my day.

When you wake up with a nasty ankle? (Day 2)

Here’s the thing: I woke up this morning with a green ankle. I’m not joking, the right side of my ankle was bruised green and killing me. What in the HECK! I have no idea how it happened or where it came from. It’s super annoying and I walk with a weird limp now. The pain isn’t excruciating but it’s just a bother, especially because I don’t know how I even got injured. 

I’m the biggest tourist.

I looked like such a geek walking around with my camera in hand, stopping to take pictures of basically everything I saw. Do I regret it? Nope! I get to relive everything through my pictures so despite the people who were annoyed with me, I was able to capture moments I never want to forget.

SHOPPING (Day 2)

I tried to plan a budget for my trip and really didn’t want to go over it, but guess what? Of course I went over anyway hahah. I would say my favorite purchase from the day were my “I love sloths” socks. Last time I was in San Francisco, I got a pair of “I love elephant socks.” Naturally, I had to go to the Sock Store off Pier 39 again and add to my collection of animal socks. 

FOOD (Day 2 &3)

I had breakfast at a quaint cafe off Polk Street, and for those of you who watch Gilmore Girl’s, it was just like Luke’s Cafe. Hahah it was super awesome. I think it would be sweet to live in a city like San Francisco and work at a cute cafe. That would be the life, maybe I should look into it. 

I think I’ve had ice cream every day I’ve been here and I’m 100% okay with it. I love food, especially sweets. If you go to San Francisco, you need to make sure to go to Ghirardelli Square and eat all the chocolate and ice cream you can. Just thinking about it makes me want it again hahah. Also there’s a small ice cream shop by Green Street (I think) called Swensen’s. GO THERE. You won’t regret it. 

If you like bread and soup (which I do a lot) go eat at Boudin by Fisherman’s Wharf. Their bread bowls are sourdough and are literally to die for. I actually almost did die because I kept trying to eat my soup when it was too hot and almost lost my tongue. So if you do end up eating there, proceed with caution. 

Japanese Tea Gardens (Day 3)

Woah talk about the place to be. The gardens were amazing, I felt like I was in Japan… Or in a real life Mulan movie. I wanted to whip out some yoga poses or meditate with Buddha there. How cool would that have been?! There was a cute gift shop there and a small tea restaurant. I could’ve been there all day. I spent a lot of time just sitting down admiring the trees and flowers. It was calm and peaceful. Also, I seriously saw two coy fish kiss but nobody else saw it and I was laughing to myself. It was legit mouth to mouth action!

Muir Woods (Day 3)

THE TREES ARE GIANT. Holy cow I love nature, I cannot believe how lucky we are to have places such as Muir Woods to enjoy the creations of Mother Nature. The trees there are ancient, and enormous. No words can be used to describe their beauty. It’s cool because Muir Woods is across the bridge from the bustling city, and it’s a nice forest getaway. It also smelt so fresh and earthy, which is probably the best smell in the world haha. 

To Summarize (Going home)

I’m sitting on the train, embarking on another long journey home. I’m happy and I feel complete. It’s important we give ourselves time off sometimes, get away from the world, and go somewhere fun. I know one day I will travel the world and see everything, but for now I’m grateful for small opportunities to go where I can and see the things I do. San Francisco is a place full of non-stop fun and endless sights to see! If you go there, you’ll understand why I love it so much. :)

San Francisco Day 1: The Train Ride and Getting There

The Train Ride:

Can I just start by saying how freaking awesome life is? I never thought I would be on an adventure quite like the one I’m experiencing right now. It started out as an idea: Taking a train to San Francisco. Here I am, a month later, going through with it. Whenever I told people I was going to San Francisco on a 17 hour train ride they would tell me I’m crazy! Crazy? Maybe! However, I am having a blast and don’t regret my decision for a minute.

I got 5 hours of sleep (at most) throughout the night. We left at 11 PM and I was in and out of sleep until it got light outside. I woke up to see the sunrise and after that I didn’t want to miss a second of the scenery outside. If you love a good view, I DEFINITELY recommended taking a train to wherever your destination may be. We have been surrounded by beauty this whole ride and I’m in heaven! We've also passed a ton of cute small towns, I wish I could get out and walk around and take pictures at all of them. 

The ride itself has been super smooth, which I honestly wasn’t expecting so I’m not complaining! Also, I have two seats to myself with TONS of leg room. The accommodations are pretty awesome. They have a lot of places to get food and thank goodness for that because I didn’t bring any food with me! Whoops! I ate a cinnamon roll for breakfast 2 hours ago and I’m still starving. Make sure you bring your own food so you won’t starve to death and don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for nutrients. There is a cart called the observation room that I stood in for a few minutes in awe. The room is made up of windows from the ceiling to the walls. It’s super cool and a good place to sit back and relax. 

I feel overcome with joy and peace. I have no worries on my mind right now. All I need to do is sit back and enjoy the ride. I still have almost 8 hours to go, but this is an experience I will never forget and plan to soak in every minute of it. Here are some things I’ve done so far to pass time: 

1. Listen to music. I have spent at least an hour just sitting here with my headphones on feeling like I’m in a movie staring out the window longingly. It’s pretty cool hahah.

2. Read. I’m currently reading Eat Pray Love right now and it’s awesome! It inspires me to travel more. Maybe one day I can write a book with all my adventures in it.

3. Pictures and videos. I don’t want to set my camera down at all! There’s so much to capture outside and I’ve got a lot of time on my hands to put some fun pictures and videos together. The guy sitting across the aisle is sleeping in a really weird way and I tried to film him but couldn’t stop laughing so I wasn’t successful hahah.

4. Write. Just writing this has taken up a chunk of time and I enjoy sharing my thoughts and feelings, I don’t even care who reads this. I think it’s important to documents trips like this and I can’t wait to look back and experience this all over again through my words.

5. Make friends. I’m sitting by a really nice family who I’ve been able to have some great conversations with. I actually lost one of my earrings and we spent a solid 10 minutes on the ground trying to look for it. Haha they are so nice. 

6. People watch/explore. I’ve wandered around the train a couple times seeing the people on here and maybe that makes me a stalker but I think it’s okay haha. I’m simply observing for entertainment purposes, nothing more, don’t worry! The guy in the aisle across from me has been sleeping 90% of the time and it’s hilarious how awkwardly sprawled out he is. I’m also kind of jealous that he’s been able to sleep so long. 

(17 full hours of traveling later…)

Time went by pretty fast! The last two hours were the only miserable parts of the trip because I was getting anxious. Overall, I’m excited for the train ride home. Hopefully it’s as enjoyable, or even more, as the first.

THE CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO

I walked 5 miles today, which isn’t bad. Except it actually is because I walked straight up from Fisherman’s Wharf to the top of the city twice today hahah. Let’s just say I really need to hit the step climber because it was rough. I was also carrying my heavy backpack which made me feel like a pack mule. I was literally singing out loud just to motivate myself to keep moving forward. I walked around to get to where I was staying with my bulky backpack, camera bag, and a blanket in hand. That being said, you can kind of picture how I would have looked. Pretty sure people thought I was a runaway teenager, and thats okay because maybe I should just stay here and never go home ;) 

Now it’s currently 9:00 PM my first night here, and I’m about to go to bed. I'M LAME. I promise tomorrow I’ll be more fun for you guys. However, I do have some funny stories from today:

The People I Met

Oh my goodness there certainly are characters here! First of all, almost everyone looks like they’re extremely important and just earned a million dollars in their last business meeting. They walk so fast all the time and about half of the business looking people were talking on their phones… Probably busy earning more money. Lol I like to make stories up about the people I see. I’m sure some of them weren’t that extreme ;)

My bus driver.

After the train I had another ride on the bus straight into the city. That man was hilarious. To be honest, I can’t even remember his name though. Anyway, he literally thought I was 16. 16?! I am 18 years old! And he kept asking a lot of questions about photography and stuff so he made me write down a bunch of notes for him about photography and told me he always wanted to pursue a career in that field but never knew where to start. He was awesome. I truly hope my advice helped him!

The Birthday Man

On the bus, this guy walked on and said “Hey everyone, tomorrow’s my birthday!” and I was all “YEAH WOOHOO HAPPY BIRTHDAY YAAAAAAAH!” and everyone else was like “Cool man”. I thought it was funny he wanted everyone to know, you never know, I might run into him tomorrow! He was just so excited to turn a year older, I think it was 70 or something… Super cute hahah. 

The guy who didn’t think I spoke English

Apparently some guy thought I knew my directions and tried to ask me which way Chinatown was. I wanted to pretend I didn’t speak English all day but didn’t have the opportunity to do so, until this happened. Our conversation:

Him: Do you know where Chinatown is?

Me: Qou?

Him: Where is Chinatown

Me: Je ne comprends pas..

Him: Where are you from?

Me: Je ne parle pas Anglais

Him: Do you speak English?

Me: Non

Hahahah why is that so funny to me? He was probably so confused because my French is terrible and probably sounded fake but I was laughing at myself after for a good while.

The Failed Lifeguard

I spent probably an hour talking to this guy around my age on the train who was telling me about his job at Pei Wei as a waiter and how frustrating it was, but that he made a lot of money doing so. I like talking to people, but basically our whole conversation was one sided as he poured out all his feelings and emotions towards me. I felt pretty awkward at times just nodding my head and going "mhmm". Anyway, after talking about his current job, he brought up the topic of being a lifeguard. For those of you who don't know, I am a lifeguard and was going to put some input into this topic of conversation. Before I got the chance to say anything, he told me he failed his lifeguard exams and was extremely bitter about it. He explained to me that lifeguards were shallow and uneducated and that he was too good for it anyway... Hahaha okay what was I supposed to say to that? I don't know what to do in awkward situations so just went along with it while he bashed on what I do. I didn't care, I just thought it was hilarious lol. 

Today was fun but I’m ready for bed. Tomorrow will be even better. I got to visit Lombard Street, Pier 39, and Fisherman’s Wharf. Also for dinner I had ice cream and I am not ashamed about it. SOO GOOD. All in alll, not such a bad day at all. I love this place.