Page 15 - 2014 Travel Guide to California

granite peak or in the stark splendor of a
desert. For one of the world’s most dra-
matic four-day camping trips, try hiking
Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.
Spend the first night on the Valley floor. On
day two, hike up halfway and pitch your
tent in Little Yosemite Valley. Grunt your
way to the awe-inducing peak and back to
your campsite on the third day, and then
descend to your car on the fourth. Cooking
under the stars in the pine-scented night
and falling asleep to the lullaby of the
rushing Merced River will make memories
you’ll never forget. North to south, east to
west, California offers a lifetime’s worth of
such experiences, from Mount Shasta to
the Channel Islands and Anza-Borrego
State Park, Death Valley to Big Sur. It’s a nat-
ural wonder.
Activities and Exhilarations
If you want to actively explore these won-
ders, there’s hiking, biking, sailing, skiing,
surfing—just about every activity known to
woman or man. And the range of indoor
activities is equally exciting, from contem-
porary art grazing to vintage wine sipping,
world-class museum and gallery exhibi-
tions to renowned author readings to
cutting-edge performances of dance, music
and theater. Some of the greatest amuse-
ment and theme parks in the world
entertain kids of all ages here, including
Disneyland, Universal Studios, SeaWorld
and Six Flags, and their intellectual coun-
terparts such as the Monterey Bay
Aquarium, California Academy of Sciences
and Exploratorium. There’s an activity for
every interest in this abundant state.
Culture and Cuisine
With a wide variety of immigrants from all
over the world, California embraces and
embodies multiculturalism. Here you can
immerse yourself in national traditions of
all kinds, such as Japanese through the tea
ceremonies and festival dances in San
Francisco’s annual Cherry Blossom Fes-
tival, Mexican through Cinco de Mayo
celebrations, the Chinese New Year, the
Sikh Festival in Yuba City, Solvang’s Danish
Days, the Celtic Faire and Festival in
Sonora and many others. You’ll also find
globe-girdling pockets of Asian, African,
European and South American communi-
ties throughout the state, where even
shopping in the local market gives the
taste of a rich multicultural stew.
And speaking of stew, the California
kitchen is a glorious global melting pot. In
addition to California Cuisine, which fea-
tures a celebration of local, seasonal
produce in inventive combinations, eating
out in California offers tasty lessons in
global traditions, with restaurants serving
the cuisines of dozens of countries, from
old favorites such as France, Italy and
China, to relatively new favorites such as
India, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam, to
rising new stars like Peru.
With so much to love, how can you not
fall under the spell of California? Whether
you arrive planning to spend a week or a
month, you’ll find an inexhaustible
treasure trove of riches awaiting. So be pre-
pared: You may just decide you need a
lifetime to enjoy them all.
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