Mr. Awesome Boyfriend and I decided to go see the Chinese New Year parade in San Fran. It didn’t start until 5pm, so we decided to plan an adventure! As you all know, my car is all jazzed up and running smooth as silk. We planned a route that took us to a famous local rest stop called Alice’s Restaurant. This place is iconic for travelers and get all kinds that stop by: motorcycles, sport cars, classic cars and the family sedans. The drive was beautiful but mostly freeway. Once you get onto the curvy roads; be VERY careful of people on bicycles. This is a popular area and it is not uncommon to see 30 or more people biking. We were lucky to get great weather all day so we could have the top down. On a side note; why do people buy convertibles and don’t put the top down?

Anyways, at Alice’s we met a few Mazda friends for lunch. We talked cars and envied each car’s unique character. We sat outside which was cool because they have heat lamps. I had the turkey California sandwich with chips. It was good but maybe a little pricy for just a sandwich. However, for the service and atmosphere, I would come again. We said our goodbyes and headed toward Highway 1 toward San Fran.

The ride was so much fun! There were plenty of twisty roads for my car to dominate. Once on 1, is was more of a cruse because there was traffic but the view of the ocean was spectacular. I didn’t want to drive all the way into San Fran because: 1- I am still learning to drive manual and the hills are intimidating and 2: parking would be a nightmare because of the celebration. We decided to stop at the Colma BART station and use our awesome clipper tickets to get into the city. It was only a 15min ride to get to Powell station and a 10 minute walk to get to union square. This was the center stage for the parade. Instead of staying in the cold, we went to the Cheesecake Factory (on the roof of Macy’s). We were lucky to get a table outside overlooking the parade but we waited for almost two hours for it. It was so worth it! The view was AMAZING, we were warm, and we got great food.

A few of my favorite parts were seeing all the mini dragons. Those people are true athletes! There was a few people who did a flag performance but what caught my attention was the color of the flags. They were a mix of orange, red, and yellow. So, when they were waved, it looked like fire. It was breathtaking. I really like this solo performance of this little lady who was a baton twirler. She threw that baton so high and never dropped it. I am so clumsy I trip over my own feet. LOL Last but not least, the last dragon was so legend (wait for it) dary. They had huge lights on the whole time but at the last performance, the lights dimmed and the huge dragon started glowing!

It was an awesome day and it really makes the adventure better when you are well prepared and have a plan.

Happy Year of the Snake!

-girl in pigtails