The California Tour



For the first few days we were based in San Jose staying with Farzin and Parisa, Suri wanted to do a bit of shopping - so that's what we did for the first couple of days - checking out Downtown San Jose, eating out and generally chilling out.



Then Parisa drove Suri and myself up into San Fransisco, where we checked out the Bay area - taking in a trip around the Bay .... going under the Golden Gate Bridge - which was big and impressive and then around the smaller than expected Alcatraz.



The boat was choca bloc and we were the last to board, so we felt a bit like sardines for most of the trip but it was certainly worth it.



Next to the ferry terminal, was Pier 39 - very busy and more touristy than I like, and the food we had there was on the poor side, except for the ice creams which were top rate. The best thing however was the view of the Sea Lions which was really a not to miss sight.



Then we went for a drive checking out Hyde Street where the trolley busses go up the very steep hill - Parisa's driving on this hill was very good, at the top we checked out the windey road, then on to Pacific Heights for a great view of the Bay, then on to the Golden Gate Bridge stopping off at Fort Point rather than going over it, by this time, although the weather had been good all day it was getting a bit breezy and we did not stay long. All in all a very good day.



Then on the Sunday I picked up my rental car ahead of the trip - it was a Silver Dodge Avenger - sort of middle of the range vehicle, with a modest 2.4l engine - Automatic of course, and it did the job, though not as bad as most other vehicles it was a little heavy on the gas, which is pretty expensive at 3.6$ a gallon - though still cheaper than in England but lots of complaints from the locals who voiced their opinion on the issue from time to time.



Monday we set off - probably the most difficult part of the whole tour - was getting out of San Jose - first of all going the wrong direction up the freeway, then turning back and trying to get onto route 17, which we eventually found, but a little on the hairy side.



The route we chose was:



Route 17 San Jose to Santa Cruz.

Route 1 all the way down the West coast to Santa Monica (Part of Los Angeles) , visiting on the way:



Seaside

Monteray

Carmel

Big Sur - not a place but a whole area of coast

San Simen

Morro Bay

San Luis Obispo

Guadalupe

Santa Barbara

Malibu

Then we checked out parts of Los Angeles.

Returning to San Jose we took route 5 to Bakersfield, then detoured off to the Sequoia National Forest, then stopping at Visilia, before going through the Sequoia National Park, stopping overnight at Fresno, before going through the Yosemeti National Forest, before our last overnight stop at Oakdale before heading back to San Jose.





More detail and pictures to follow..................