Bay Area Area

San Francisco

One of the most iconic cities in the world. Everyone knows the Golden Gate bridge and all of the familiar scenes you get from visiting the city. San Francisco is a great city if you can afford to live there. It definitely has changed a lot over the years for better or worse depending on what you prefer. I do hear across the water in Oakland where it’s at now. Weather wise, San Francisco can be completely different even just depending what neighborhood you are in. They even have an app that will give the weather in different parts of the city. The way the fog and weather comes into the bay, one part of the city can be warm and beautiful and the other part, frigid and cold. The best times are Fall and Spring in San Francisco. You would think the summers are warm, but as Mark Twain put it, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” That is because to the east, the valley heats up which creates a vacuum which pulls in the cold marine layer from the pacific ocean over San Francisco. With outdoor activities, there are plenty to do around the city! May take a little bit to get through the traffic but you have the beautiful coast, Muir Woods National Park, and many more.

San Jose

Even though San Francisco is just down the street, San Jose is much warmer since it doesn’t have an opening to San Francisco Bay right next to it. It also situated a little more inlet. Even though there are separate cities like San Jose, Oakland, San Francisco, Fremont, etc., you can consider the bay area one continuous city, well it at least feels that way. In the southern part of the San Francisco Bay you are right next to the Santa Cruz mountains which provide a ton of outdoor activities. It is a fairly dry climate so don’t expect rain like you can get in the northwest.

South Lake Tahoe

The destination most people in the bay area go to ski and get their outdoor fix. Getting there can be a very long day depending on what time you leave. With no traffic, depending on where you live in the San Francisco Bay area, you can expect about a 4 hour drive, maybe a little less. With traffic or bad conditions, you could easily push and pass 6 hours. Just have to watch what you want to do. South Lake Tahoe is such a beautiful place to see. The lake and the color of it is a site to behold. There is so much climbing, biking, skiing, hiking, boating at Lake Tahoe and the surrounding area. Heading to South Lake Tahoe from the bay area, you cross through the beautiful Eldorado National Forest, which has many stopping points to enjoy what it has to offer. There are a ton of mountain resorts in the Lake Tahoe area such as Heavenly, Kirkwood, Northstar, and many more.

Mammoth Mountain

Another very reachable, amazing area from the San Francisco Bay area. It’s a little harder to get to since Yosemite is in the way, which is not a bad thing to have in the way. Just look up that area to see all the wonders it has.