When planning our trip to California, we didn’t initially consider Livermore. As a matter of fact, we didn’t even know it existed. However, we are happy that we did find this small town and could use it as our base for our week on the American west coast. We had a great week with many adventures. Sadly, eventually, everything comes to an end. It was time to pack up, check out and get going back across the Atlantic. In other words, it was time to return home.
From Arrival to Departure
After a few days in Montreal and a few more in Boston, we finally arrived in California. It was time to explore the Bay Area around San Francisco with Livermore as our base.
We started with some shopping on our first full day in Livermore and ended up meeting a distant relative in the evening. She was the first, but not the last, during the trip. A meeting with the trip’s second distant relative, Stephanie, was planned for the next day and we ended up on a crazy day trip to Yosemite National Park. We had really started off at full speed even though our plan was to relax for a few days.
So, was it time to slow down? Not yet, after Yosemite, it was time for the mandatory visit to San Francisco. San Francisco offered sunshine and some amazing views during our hike towards the Golden Gate Bridge. It wasn’t until our fourth day in California that we slowed down a bit. After some shopping, we found our way for some wine tasting at Page Mill Winery. Yes, Livermore has several wineries.
With two days to go, we headed to San Jose for what we expected to be the trip’s highlight. We were going to the NHL home opener for San Jose Sharks against the rival Vegas Golden Knight. And why not explore San Jose before the game? The game was interesting, the city itself not so much.
We met up with Stephanie again for our last full day in California. It was time for a new adventure and we were heading towards the Big Basin Redwoods State Park to see the famous trees. We even had some time left for a sneak peek of Santa Cruz before returning to Livermore.
Eventually, the day came that we had to get ready to go back to San Francisco International Airport for our flight back to Stockholm, via Paris this time. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to leave the airport in order to explore Paris.
Livermore as a Base for Exploration
We admit that we didn’t plan this trip properly from the beginning. Indeed, we were quite lucky with the outcome. Our thought was to rent a car and drive, but I was a bit unsure of driving in the US. I dreaded it more than driving in Namibia. I never had to drive, instead, we were saved by Stephanie who showed us some great places.
When it comes to Livermore as a base for exploring the Bay Area and northern California, we can really recommend it. That is if you have a car. It will work fine with Uber and you will be able to get around a little bit. But you will be really limited without a car. Your main options would be wine tasting in Livermore, taking the BART to San Francisco or the train to San Jose. Livermore does have most of what you would like in a base. Easy access to major roads, plenty of restaurants, walking distance to larger grocery stores, shopping and other activities within easy reach. It was a positive surprise as we had mainly chosen Livermore due to the lower cost of accommodation compared to the rest of the Bay Area.
Flying Back Home
So goodbye California, for this time. You have really given us great reasons to return again soon, then Little A will get to join as well. Fortunately, these two weeks in North America was not our whole vacation, we could still look forward to a week on Rhodes, Greece, once we got back home.
Read more about our adventure in North America here >>
