Page 10 - 2018 Travel Guide to California

EDITOR’S NOTE
A Tale of
Two Californias
This year I had the privilege to visit Yosemite twice during peak season.
The famous national park gets five million annual visitors, so I knew traffic
would be terribly congested on my trip for Memorial Day weekend. I schooled
myself to practice patience and look forward to relaxing at my campsite when
the ordeal was over, and it worked. Once I’d parked the car and unloaded, I was
set for a relaxing weekend of campfires, hikes in the valley, a climb up the Mist
Trail to spectacular Vernal Fall. I didn’t think about traffic again.
Later that summer, my 19-year-old daughter and I took a backpacking trip
in the Yosemite backcountry. We hadn’t planned much in advance, and when
it was time to book a permit we were out of luck. Our only hope was to show
up at the park entrance and see what we could do. Well, we didn’t get our first
choice for a hike, but we got one that turned out to be better, with fewer
hikers, and our three-day jaunt from Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley
became an epic experience for us. We even got to climb Half Dome, a dream
for us, getting two of the 75 coveted daily permits that are reserved for wilder-
ness backpackers.
The view of the valley from the top of Half Dome is one of America’s grandest
spectacles. But what equally touched me was when we were descending the
Mist Trail and joined the conga line of day tourists and valley campers. Many
were unfit and wearing inappropriate clothes for hiking, but everyone was
smiling. They were having the time of their lives.
This made me think about the two Californias. One is crowded—popular
beaches and cities and restaurants and parks. The other is uncrowded—hidden
beaches, small towns, roadside markets, unknown holes in the wall that serve
exquisite meals. Often, as in the case of Yosemite, these two Californias are
right next to each other, and it’s easy to indulge in one and then the other
without missing a beat.
In truth, there are many Californias, from San Diego’s beaches to the crest
of Mount Shasta, Los Angeles’ entertainment glitz to San Francisco’s famous
bridges. You can surf, kayak, wine-taste or relax in a restful spa, catch world-
class opera, symphony, jazz or theater.
In these pages we help you prepare, with profiles of the state’s main tourism
regions, essays on history, cuisine, museums, theme parks and many other
topics, plus resource pages with information on visitors bureaus, driving dis-
tances, California Welcome Centers and more.
As you make your plans for a trip to the Golden State, it’ll be up to you to
decide which of the many Californias you’ll experience. Whether you decide
on one, two or several, you really can’t go wrong. Because sometimes even
spontaneous planning can lead to an experience you’ll never forget.
—L A R RY H A B EG G E R , Editor
8 2018 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A
2018 TRAVEL GUIDE TO
CALIFORNIA
PRESIDENT & GROUP
PUBLISHER
Joseph P. Turkel
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Collier C. Granberry
EDITOR
Larry Habegger
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Judi Scharf
ART DIRECTOR
Mark Tzerelshtein
WRITERS
David Armstrong
Christopher P. Baker
Susan Brady (Resources)
Laura Del Rosso
Christine Delsol
Bill Fink
John Flinn
Don George
Marcy Gordon
Lenore Greiner
Robert Kaufman
Maribeth Mellin
Laura Ness
Jill K. Robinson
Michael Shapiro
Bonnie Smetts
Lavinia Spalding
Matt Villano
Peter Watts
Laurie Weed
Jacqueline Yau
Julia Wall
Gloria Mungo
Craig Sweetman
CIRCULATION
MANAGER
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE
DIRECTOR OF
RETAIL MARKETING
ACCOUNT MANAGERS
CALIFORNIA OFFICE
CANADIAN OFFICE
Collier C. Granberry
Joe Turkel
1288 Columbus Ave., Suite 292
San Francisco, CA 94133
TEL: 1-888-700-4464 • FAX: 416-497-0871
E-MAIL: tigc@rogers.com
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40047932. Contents © copyright 2018
Printed in Canada
ISSN 1926-304X (Print)
ISSN 1927-7245 (Online)
ÉRNE Mc CABE