Day Ten of the Cross Country Trip

Day 10 was July 4th, and we had decided that we would wake up early to get on the road to Muir Woods to see the redwood trees before 8. Hey Catherine Schuster how is your drive going?? Good to hear, pardon the brief interruption. We all woke up around 8:15, and then made breakfast and set out after a while. It was a really nice drive through the city and over the Golden Gate. Aunt Julie recommended that we park a couple miles out and take the shuttle, which really helped because the actual parking for the park was completely overflowing. The trail we did was pretty cool, as the trees were ridiculously huge. For me, at least, it wasn't as breathtaking as some of the other mountain trails we did, but this might be because I am more unfamiliar with the mountains, so I find them more intriguing. The trees were still massive though. Connor and I played this game while walking that whenever I had my hands behind my back, he would make beats and I would dance regardless of who was looking. It was quite entertaining on this short little hike, and he used it to embarrass me whenever people were walking by. We only walked around two miles, since we had to meet Aunt Julie for lunch at 1. Again the place she chose to eat was extremely nice, Balboa Cafe. I had some awesome avocado toast and some pasta, as Aunt Julie and Uncle Tom told us stories of their lives growing up. They gave us advice on where to go to best watch the fireworks. We went home back over the Golden Gate and decided to relax while we could. Connor and Danny did some laundry while Mark and I finished up Tropic Thunder. Then we all took a nap, except for Mark who went missing for quite some time. Without telling anyone he went down to clean out the car with his phone on airplane mode. Just as Connor and I were about to go look for him, he found his way back home. We all showered and got ready to head down to Pier 39 to see the fireworks. The walk down there was pretty easy, since it was all downhill, as we went to the wharf and then over to the pier. We saw a bunch more street performers, as well as my new found idol. An elderly man in an electric chair was driving around with a sign that simply read "Fuck Trump", and he was receiving loads of money. The fireworks started at 9:30 and we got to the pier at around 9:26, just when Mark and Connor went to go to the bathroom and Danny went into a store. At exactly 9:30 I heard the first firework and ran around the corner through a crowd to watch the show. In a few minutes my friends caught up with me, and we alternated between several viewing spots, all surrounded by throngs of people, locals and tourists alike. We were all starved, and couldn't wait to dive into a Kroger Special when we got back to the apartment, but we still had a few hefty hills to conquer on the way back. We tried to pack most of our stuff up that night, because we knew tomorrow required us to leave on time.