California: Between Cities and Nature

from August 7 to 10 -Los Angeles

Arrival in Los Angeles was at 19:00 so I booked a motel that was easily reachable by car but still already in the "tourist" area and not near the airport. The Beverly Motor Hotel is in what I'd call a perfect position; near the Farmers' Market, which is the old farmers' market, full of little shops, fruit stalls, butchers, pastry shops etc… where I recommend eating at midday or even better in the evening among lights and little bands playing, while you bite into a "pepperoni" pizza which is actually salami!! It's a very busy area in the evening, it's convenient and close to Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Like everyone else, we too went to visit Hollywood with the Walk of Fame, the Chinese Theatre and the footprints of famous people. My advice is to go there early in the morning, because that way you can see the stars and the footprints with no one on the sidewalks.

Around 11:00 the crowds arrive and you can easily leave the area and the chaos. In the afternoon we opted for a tour of Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive which didn't excite me at all. With hindsight we could have used those hours to visit the area called "Miracle Mile" with museums of every kind and the La Brea Tar Pits, an open-air archaeological area with excavations and mammoth remains, near our motel, which instead we had to skip for lack of time. The next day was entirely dedicated to Universal Studios and in the evening to Universal CityWalk to have dinner at Bubba Gump and buy sweatshirts and T-shirts at the Hard Rock Café.

And today it's "beach day" with the morning spent in Santa Monica on the Baywatch beach, and the first roller coasters on the Santa Monica Pier; early afternoon on the beach at "Mother beach" in Marina del Rey among families of locals, mostly Black, having lunch with endless barbecues, and where the children could swim in the calm waters of the inner part of the bay. The late afternoon and sunset we spent at the spectacular Venice Beach, with a charm all its own: the feeling is truly of summer, freedom, celebration, among sports, little shops, music and improvised dancing on the beach! It's all very "freak" but relaxing!!! In the evening… all exhausted, red and sunburnt despite the sunscreens, we packed our suitcases for the departure to Las Vegas.

From August 10 to 13 - Las Vegas

During the journey from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, naturally a stop at one of the many outlets found along the main roads and arrival in the afternoon at our hotel on the strip: the Excalibur, booked from Italy with a promotion and therefore non-refundable, at 65 euros per night (2 queen beds for 4 people). In many travel diaries Las Vegas is described as a tacky place that deserves only a quick touch-and-go. It's true that Las Vegas is tacky, but it should be visited certainly not with the expectation of something artistic or moving, but rather as a mega amusement park for both adults and children.

Adults can gamble in the casinos, see the best musicals or shows currently in production or, together with their children, can wander through these immense hotels looking at them with the same eyes with which they would look at "Italy in Miniature" or attending the various free shows (the dancing fountains at the Bellagio are beautiful) or even, as we did, riding all the roller coasters or attractions. We went on the very tall and thrilling roller coasters that surround the "New York skyscrapers," on the attractions of the indoor amusement park at Circus Circus, and above all on the most thrilling rides in the United States and perhaps the World, since they are at the top of the Stratosphere tower.

Try sitting in a kind of crane arm that juts out into the void at a height of over 300 meters and spins around opening up like a "swing ride"… how do you feel? The ride is called INSANITY and that already gives you an idea. Three days in Las Vegas for many is too many but we also used them to relax at the pool, to shop in the mega discounted stores, to visit downtown L.V. with Fremont Street and its light shows and then… what else do you do in Las Vegas? Either you get married or you go to a wedding. During our stay in L.V. we ran into some friends of ours who did our trip but in the opposite direction and decided to renew their wedding vows, right in one of the thousand chapels found along the strip toward downtown.

It was really nice… a bit kitschy and a bit moving at the same time… The officiant, the rental dress, the photographer, the music, the various types of chapel to choose from, it felt like being in a movie…

August 13 Joshua Tree National Park

Departure toward San Diego through the Mojave Desert with an overnight stop in a motel in Twentynine Palms where we visited Joshua Tree National Park. At the park entrance the booth that was supposed to serve as a ticket office was closed, with the warning that we might meet rangers inside the park who would ask us to pay for the ticket. So we took the park map from a slot and entered, but no one, not even at the exit on the opposite side which was also closed, made us pay. The park, not particularly large, is truly desert-like, with rock formations loved by climbers, which take on the most varied appearances, such as Skull Rock, shaped like a skull. Everywhere you find the trees called yucca which have a rather bizarre and twisted appearance. I recommend visiting at sunset for the wonder of the sky's colors, from pink to fiery red to purple, truly stunning.

14 -17 August - San Diego

Arriving in San Diego close to the weekend immediately makes us sense the atmosphere of vacation, sea and fun. The weather is perfect: warm during the day and cool in the evening, ideal for the beach, parks and evenings out around the Gaslamp Quarter. We dedicate the day of Ferragosto to Seaworld and around 5 in the afternoon we head to Mission Beach to relax on the beach playing American football while some Americans were playing soccer! We spent dinner at a little place on the beach, with a pool with artificial waves for surfers who were training and putting on a show. The next morning Coronado Island awaited us, with the old Hotel del Coronado all made of wood, its enormous, very white beach and the green water that was not even too cold for us to swim in.

We spent the afternoon at the San Diego Zoo, which is worth a visit for the habitats created specifically for the animals (jungles, tropics, rain forests) with so many types of plants, but above all for the presence of the pandas…they are wonderful!! You have to be prepared for a rather long line, but for us, having seen the little panda active (and not while it was sleeping), it was truly worth it. Evenings in San Diego should be spent in the Gaslamp Quarter, the old neighborhood at the foot of downtown, full of little restaurants, clubs, shops, nightclubs and so on, populated by so many young people ready to have fun. Here we let ourselves be tempted by an Italian restaurant that was not bad at all; the owner was Tuscan and had us taste a very good California wine. Needless to say, it was the restaurant where we spent the most during the whole vacation!!

17 - 19 August - Along HWY1

On the morning of the 17th, departure toward the North along the entire coast on the scenic HWY 1. We left from San Diego intending to sleep in Santa Barbara, and along the way we stopped for lunch and to stretch our legs in Long Beach. We chose to take a walk on the pier with the view of the Queen Mary, now anchored and transformed into a hotel, and around Shoreline Village, a characteristic little harbor with colorful little houses, naturally all shops and little restaurants. When we arrived in Santa Barbara we had trouble finding a free motel, then we finally ended up at the Fiesta Inn, at the top of State Street, which is anyway the central street of the city. Evening on the famous pier and dinner in a little restaurant.

The next morning we visited the Mission of Santa Barbara founded by the Franciscans, which is one of the 10 oldest in California, and then naturally around the city, in and out of shops, among the streets of this wonderful little city, young and full of culture!! Toward evening we set off again to get a little closer to the beginning of HWY 1, which we were supposed to travel the next day. The choice fell on a little town on the ocean, really cute and quiet: Morro Bay. The town was so small that, accustomed as we were, we left the motel by car to go downtown, but the area of shops and restaurants…was only 300 m away!!! It was almost 8 in the evening and the shops were closing; we took a walk on the pier over the ocean admiring the rock in front, from prehistoric times, and the sea lions positioned just below us, which with their cries informed us of their presence.

It was so cold that we fully enjoyed a very good Clam Chowder (clam and potato soup served in a bread roll) and went off to sleep under blankets and covers!! The day of 8/19 was demanding because from Morro Bay we went back up the whole coast to San Josè, to reach my cousin's house, who would host us. I have often read that driving HWY 1 is not all that exciting. For us it was anything but that! The first stop we made was at Pedras Blancas, where a colony of Elephant seals has settled. Right on a beach below the road, indicated by a large parking lot and fenced off to protect the animals, we were able to admire the elephant seals, both the young ones and the adults, enjoying the sun, sleeping on the beach or having fun playing in the water, pretending to fight.

One could have stayed there for hours….but time is a tyrant, so we set off again, stopping from time to time in parking areas positioned to see the panoramas and the coast sheer above the sea with spectacular inlets, rivers flowing into the sea cutting across the beach, unique arched bridges like the Brixie Bridge. About halfway along the route, when we reached the Big Sur area, we stopped at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park; we left the car, had lunch in the woods and walked a trail that leads to the view of the most photographed waterfalls in the area, special because they are the only ones that plunge directly into the sea. Then, back in the car, after other stops we passed through Monterey, and after just a drive-through, we reached San Josè in the evening.

20 - 21 August - San Jose - San Francisco

San Josè is a beautiful city of about one million inhabitants with an area of "nightlife," shops and clubs, called Santana Row. It is the city of Silicon Valley; there are the companies of the internet people: there is EBay, Google, there is the Apple headquarters, in short…they exist too, they are not virtual!!! In San Josè we were able to experience daily life: going to the supermarket and cooking a nice plate of spaghetti at home, going to pick the kids up from school and going inside to see firsthand how they are equipped (the first day of school was August 21), going to the park to play after school, being told off by the condo residents for our noise (the justification was that we were Italians….!!!). From here you can then reach San Francisco in 40 minutes, and so 8/21 was the day of San Francisco and Alcatraz.

Upon our arrival we zipped up and down the streets by car, experiencing the thrill of not seeing what is beyond the uphill slope, then we reached the Golden Gate, which unfortunately was partly covered by fog, and we drove across a stretch of it; from here we came to Lombard Street and naturally drove along it at a snail's pace, then reached Fisherman Warf. After a little outdoor lunch and a stroll around Pier 39 among shops and sea lions, we took the ferry to Alcatraz with the excursion and audio guide (I had bought the tickets from Italy). The visit to Alcatraz with the audio guide, besides recounting the events through the testimonies of guards or former prisoners, has the ability to recreate the atmosphere of the prison through background noises, making you completely identify with the situation.

Unfortunately, and this is my great regret, we were no longer able to return to San Francisco to continue our visit…..It will just mean that will be the reason to go back!!!

Weekend 22-23-24 August. San Jose – Yosemite – Mono Lake - Bodie – San Jose

I booked in Oakhurst, 20 km from the South entrance of Yosemite, because expecting to arrive in the afternoon, we dedicated the first part of the visit, from 5 to about 7:30 pm, to the Southern area of the Park, Mariposa Grove, where the giant sequoias are found. We took the trail to reach the Grizzli Giant, a giant sequoia about 2,700 years old, meeting many other sequoias along the route, then animals including dozens of squirrels, as well as a very calm little deer that passed among us without any fear. The following day we re-entered the park from the south side along the 41, first visiting the pioneers' village, and then stopping at the most beautiful panoramic point with a view over the whole Yosemite Valley protected by Half Dome and El Captain (the highest granite monolith in the world) and crossed by the Merced River.

Once we reached the center of the valley, at Yosemite Village, after an obligatory stop at the park information center with the adjoining Indian village of the Miwok people, you can let loose. For the lazier ones, there is the bus that makes a series of stops at points worthy of a visit or near the campground or hotel areas. For those who feel like walking, you can reach the waterfalls, which however in August are completely dry, or follow one of the many trails or have a picnic and swim along the river. We, after some walks, headed by car toward Tioga Pass Road, stopping at some noteworthy points such as Olmsted Point with an almost lunar landscape, and the Toulumne Meadows, meadows on a plateau at 2,600 m where, if you have time, you can also take short excursions and walks marked by the visitor center located opposite the main meadow.

Finally we reached the pass at 3,030 m above sea level, which however, expressed in "feet" 9945, makes an even bigger impression!! After leaving the park, toward sunset we reached a place that has something unreal about it: Mono Lake. An ancient lake with spectacular geological formations called tufa towers that emerge from the water like stalagmites in a cave, formed by the combination of the calcium of the fresh waters with the carbonate of the lake waters, which make the landscape spectacular and unique. The night in a motel in Bridgeport refreshed us after this intense day and prepared us for the next day. 15 km from Bridgeport is the ghost town of Bodie, a real town and not a movie set, today a museum. Here everything is frozen at the moment it was abandoned due to the closure of the gold mine.

Saloon, hotels, general store, church, houses, school…everything suspended in an indefinite time, in what was called "a land without God." Our weekend ends with the return to San Josè.

25 - 26 August - San Jose - Santa Cruz

On 8/25 we spend the day in this beautiful city off the tourist routes, wandering the streets of the Los Gatos area, around central San Josè and visiting the Winchester House…yes, the house of Mr. Winchester, the one of the rifles, or rather the house of the widow of Mr. Winchester, which presents itself as a labyrinth of thousands of rooms, doors, windows built against every rule of dwelling; stairs that end against a wall, windows that do not open, doors that open onto nothing, and all this to confuse the spirits of those who had been killed by the rifles sold by her husband, who otherwise would have taken revenge on the lady, who was passionate about the afterlife and séances.

8/26 Today is the last full day in the States, the last full day of vacation…..we're going to the sea! Where, better than Santa Cruz, can you go to relax on the beach and stroll on the Boardwalk where there is a giant amusement park with the oldest roller coaster in California, still all made of wood? This is what we did, all becoming a bit like children again, while in the afternoon downtown, we went back a bit to the 1970s. Santa Cruz was the cradle of the Hippies and today it has maintained that somewhat informal, I would say vintage, look, becoming the city of those who have chosen to live day by day, with a sleeping bag and barefoot, maybe playing an instrument to scrape together just enough to live, but never giving up their own dignity.

27 August - Departure

The last day, spent with family and finishing what we had started…SHOPPING….took us straight to the airport and to the end of this wonderful and unforgettable vacation.