Dari awal ada plan ke California, sebenernya pengen banget ke San Fransico. Mau ngapain? Pengen lihat Golden Gate aja lol. Tapi kemudian dengan plan kami yang cuma pengen ke Yosemite, Sequoia, dan Kings Canyon, rencana buat ke San Fransisco jadi big hole in our plan karena dia jauh sendiri. Nyetir dari SF ke Yosemite sebenernya oke aja kalo nggak sama toddler yang gak terbiasa duduk di car seat. Jadilah dengan berat hati rencana itu dibatalkan.
But I do believe that what's meant for you will never pass you by. Dua hari sebelum perjalanan kami ke Fresno di tanggal 4 July, kami dapet notification oleh United Airlines yang bilang kalo flight kami sangat mungkin terganggu karena ada flight parade 4th of July di New York. Jadilah mereka memberikan opsi ke kami untuk reschedule ke H-1, H, atau H+1 for free kalo mau pindah airport ke Newark (NEW) atau John F. Kennedy (JFK). Jujur aslinya males banget ya pindah airport. Kita pilih La Guardia (LGA) for a reason, yaitu deket banget dari rumah. Cuma tinggal jalan ke Jackson Height dan naik bis M70 gratis ke LGA. Tapi setelah di liat-lihat, pilihan flight dari Newark ada yang rute ke San Fransisco lalu ke Fresno dengan layover 6 jam disana. Wow so tempting! Jadi nih kita lihat Golden Gate!!
Harus commute ke Newark Airport di 4th of July ternyata sangat menantang. For those who don't know, 4th of July adalah hari kemerdekaan Amerika dan diperingati sangat meriah disini. Bahkan dibandingkan dengan new year eve, ini jauh lebih meriah. Apalagi tahun ini adalah spesial karena 250 tahun kemerdekaan Amerika. Paradenya dimulai jam 10 siang dengan ratusan sailing boat dan pesawat terbang yang akan melintasi pier-pier di New York. Dari Queens ke Newark, kami harus naik subway dulu buat ke Penn Station. Rencana mau naik NJ transit akhirnya batal karena kami tau akan chaos, jadilah kami pilih buat naik.. Amtrak! Amtrak sebenernya adalah kereta jarak jauh dari NY ke state lain. Emang jatuhnya kaya bercanda sih ke Newark naik Amtrak, tapi turns out it was the best decision. Dari Penn station tinggal pindah ke Moynihan buat boarding ke platform Amtrak, gak lama sampe deh ke Newark.
The flight was good. The baby slept most of the time which was great lol. Sekitar pukul 3 sore sampailah kita ke San Fransisco Airport (SFO). But, little did we know that ternyata meskipun stroller udah di gate check in, kalo pesawat kita layover, tetep nggak akan keluar di gate layover. Dia akan keluar di penerbangan terakhir which is Fresno. Oh goshh! Stroller is our life-saver. Even though bocil gak mau duduk situ, stroller tetep bisa dipake buat naruh diaper bag dan barang-barang (sad, cry). Tapi apa mau dikata, gas lah kita ke Golden Gate tanpa stroller karena apa artinya semua ini jika nggak jadi ke Golden Gate.
First impression of San Fransisco, wow this city is sooo cool! It was quiet but not that quiet. People were dress properly. Everyone seemed knowledgeable. Really nice. It was summer in July, but SF decided to become chilly that day. For context, di New York suhunya bisa same 36 derajat dan di San Fransisco kemarin 17 derajat lol. Untung bayi bawa baju ganti sweatshirt, walau kayanya tetep kedinginan sih anginnya kenceng banget.
Kami langsung menuju Golden Gate dari bandara. Naik kereta, disambung dengan bis. Like I said, 4th of July dirayakan dengan sangat meriah, even di San Fransisco. Little did we know again, kalo 4th of July disini dirayakan dengan fireworks show, di... Golden Gate lol. So we literally go to the most crowded place that day. Kami landing jam 3 sore, dan show-nya dimulai jam 9.30 malam, but it was already chaos, people lined long just to go to the bus, the traffic was crazy. Lucky us, we were literally the last batch of people at was able to go on the bus. Orang-orang yang antri setelah kita udah ditolak, disuruh tunggu bis selanjutnya yang gak tau kapan datengnya.
Long story short, sampailah kita ke Golden Gate, yeaaay! Wow what a journey cuma demi wujudin impian receh liat Golden Gate ini lol. When we were there, many people already standby at the Golden Gate. They looked.. committed! They brought chairs, jackets, foods, even tents! (which I considered very smart!). That day, the fog covered most of the bridge. And did you know that the fog in San Fransisco has a name? it called Karl The Fog. It even has its own instagram account, go check @karlthefog lol. It was not perfect but we definitely are grateful for this opportunity. No stroller, no clear bridge, too windy and chilly, but our heats were full. Till next time, San Fransisco?
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