Trip 9 - California Dreamin'

On this trip we set out to immerse ourselves in the culture and the nature of California. To discover its textures and see some of its natural wonders. We discover that California is very big. It is not a state that you can just pass through, it is, more than any other place we have visited, more like another country. It is a land dominated by mountains, the spaces between and like nowhere else, water.
Our start in the heavily populated area to the East of Los Angeles, known as the Inland Empire, is crowded into the lowlands surrounded by magnificent mountains. The feeling is of a cauldron which is trying to boil over the mountains to the fresh air of the rest of the state.
To the South is a band of Desert, which is the buffer to Mexico, which we did not explore on this trip.
We travelled North through the mountains (everywhere in California you can see mountains) to the desert, and on again to the huge Central Valley, mile after mile of intensive agriculture. Culture here is dominated by food, flatness, low income and trying to impact on the 'sameness' of the flat lands through music and festival. It is the communication and administrative corridor that links all other areas of California.
To the East is the huge mountain chain of the Sierra Nevada which clearly demonstrates the magnificence of the natural world, both in its geology and nature, reflected in the pysche and pride of most Californians. It is Eldorado, dominated by Gold!
To the West of the Central Valley are the coastal mountains, San Francisco and the magnificent coast. More isolated cultures, from mixed resources, communities seperated by mountains.
To the North of the Central Valley more mountains and a culture which looks more North towards Oregon than South to Sacremento.
This blog details our journey through California, where we pick and choose, or just scratch the surface, of this diverse and beautiful state.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Golden Gate Bridge - Saturday


Thursday and Friday we took as rest days, though Sally did do the washing and we were invited to a Thanksgiving meal at Rich and Debra's church, which was great fun and a real celebration of giving thanks in their church.
On Saturday the sun shone again and we spent more time sightseeing in SF, this time we went to the Northern end of the city, to the Golden Gate Bridge, a wonderful monument to American engineering in the 30's. We did not cross it this time, but parked at the end and joined many other tourists in the gardens which overlook the bridge. Following that we got back in the car and drove down to the ground level below the bridge, to an old fort called Fort Point, built at the same time as the fort on Alcatraz, in defence of the Bay area. It was fascinating to see the huge fort completely dwarfed by the bridge crossing above it. At the water's edge is the spot where Kim Novak attempts suicide in the film Vertigo. The sea there is quite peculiar in that waves will sweep around the point and concentrate and break on a tiny beach inside the Bay, so that what appears to be flat calm elsewhere will suddenly build into 10ft waves. The place has now become a very popular surfing spot. Not just because the surf is great, but also because it has great access for people to watch. You can keep dry and see the surfers no more than 20 yards away riding 10 ft waves, great fun.
Posted by fastrak at 7:29 AM

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