Sweet, Lolli is coming to California. If you stay at fishermans wharf you will have lots of ambient noise (sea lions).

Lolli wrote:Yes, Jason, I am.

Nice! They got sea lions right in the middle of the town?

Not in the middle of town, but they are really noisy and smelly, but amusing.

Lolli,

There is a couch/floor space/bed at our house, which you are welcome to. I live in Santa Cruz, on the coast, about an hour and a half south of San Francisco and an hour nort of Montery.

We are going to Death Valley at the end of the month, but other than that will be around.

Cheers!

Lisa

Lolli wrote:San Francisco sounds as a real cool place

I think it is the greatest city in the world. Keep us in the loop, I don't think Abigail has ever met a Swede before.

Lolli wrote:And Jason and squishy!


If it's 1,5 hours to Santa Cruz, how long time does it take to Sacramento, The Sierra, Yosemite and the Death Valley?

Colorado is a flight, isn't it? Not a drive?

Sacramento can be an hour or two away from San Fransisco, Tahoe is about 2 hours away from Sacramento.

Lolli wrote:If it's 1,5 hours to Santa Cruz, how long time does it take to Sacramento, The Sierra, Yosemite and the Death Valley?

Colorado is a flight, isn't it? Not a drive?

Depend on traffic, of course. but it takes about one and a half hours to two hours to get to Sacramento from San Francisco. The Sierra is a big place, but I think it would take about 5 hours to get to Lake Tahoe. It takes about 11 hours to get to Death Valley. By the way, October is a nice time to see Death Valley.

Colorado would be a flight - driving would take severals days if you stop to sleep.

You'd almost be better off staying on the north side of LA. The drive to most of the High Sierra should be quicker and DV is much closer as well.

Lolli wrote:Ok, Tahoe is where one go, if one goes climbing in the Sierra?
I guess it will be up to Dingus, where I go there...
And anybody else who wants to.

I've understood that the Northern California is a really beautiful place, too.

It is. And think you for saying "Sierra".

goldenhopper wrote:

Luciano136 wrote:You'd almost be better off staying on the north side of LA. The drive to most of the High Sierra should be quicker and DV is much closer as well.

This is very true. Access to the Sierra east and west much better from down here.

But LA sucks. Oops not on PnP...... I mean LA is nice to visit, but not as cool as San Fransisco.

Fisherman's Wharf is near a lot of classic scenery but it's really, really toursity. It's also not very accessible to Muni light rail and BART which are good ways to get around town (though public transportation is nothing like Paris or New York or Boston in terms of ability to live without a car). Neighborhoods like Presidio Heights, Pacific Heights, Russian Hill, Cole Valley, the Mission, the Haight, Potrero Hill, or the Castro will have a lot more local culture and good food (though the first two are pretty pricey and aren't so close to Muni/BART, and in the last case you had better not mind seeing a lot of same sex couples).

The road to Tahoe is a major highway so if you don't hit a lot of traffic you can make it to N. Lake Tahoe in three hours or even less if you drive fast and avoid the Highway Patrol. Yosemite goes through a lot of rural areas and small towns so takes more like 4 hrs to the western gate. Lake Tahoe has some really good moderate rock climbing at places like Lovers Leap, and there are hikes along the lake (e.g., the Rubicon trail at Bliss State Park) that have scenery that will knock your socks off. Tahoe should be relatively quiet by Oct., whereas in summer it can be very busy.

I don't think I need to say much about Yosemite - the valley should be comfortable temp wise and relatively uncrowded in Oct.

The Napa and Sonoma wine harvests will be right around the time you are there and it's fun to visit that area during harvest time. It's 1-2 hrs. north of SF. Also that way are some gorgeous parks with coastal Redwoods, including Muir Woods, and very beautiful coastal scenery at Pt. Reyes National Seashore. The best way to see Muir Woods, by the way, is to hike down into the back end of it by taking the Bootjack Loop trail from Mt. Tamalpais' Pantol Station - you get a great hike and avoid a lot of the crowds that way. If you head south to Santa Cruz, keep going another hour and check out Monterey and Carmel, and in particular Pt. Lobos State Reserve. I go there a lot because it's the best shore dive in California, but there's also some of the most beautiful hiking trails on the coast to be found there. If you go south another hour from Carmel on Highway 1 you will go through Big Sur, which is more of a region than a destination, and has amazing scenery with mountains dropping into the ocean, redwood forests, pristine beaches, etc. There are some world class spas in Big Sur, including Ventana and the Post Ranch Inn.

JasonH wrote:

goldenhopper wrote:

Luciano136 wrote:You'd almost be better off staying on the north side of LA. The drive to most of the High Sierra should be quicker and DV is much closer as well.

This is very true. Access to the Sierra east and west much better from down here.

But LA sucks. Oops not on PnP...... I mean LA is nice to visit, but not as cool as San Fransisco.

Depends what you are looking for. If you're interested in seeing a fun city, then SF is definitely the way to go. If you're looking for quick access to the Sierra, then LA is better.

That said, since you are on vacation, just go visit SF and then go stay somewhere close to the Sierra; Bishop/Lone Pine is excellent for the eastern Sierra. I also recommend the Mt. Williamson motel in Independence. Nice folks and pretty cheap.

Lone Pine is a decent spot to be the day before you drive to DV. And if you're into rock climbing, the A-hills are right there!

Lolli wrote:wow... this sounds really great.

I have no trouble with same sex couples at all, as I party a lot with some. It says about that hostel that "walking distance to Union Square, Chinatown, SoMA, and cable cars.
Very convenient to public transit, including MUNI buses and metro, as well as BART trains, which run to/from the San Francisco International Airport and the Oakland International Airport. " I don't count on public transportation being available, I know it's not the strong side of the American system.
It lies on Ellis Street. Is that in any of the areas you just mentioned?

About Tahoe area, I don't know how to rock climb (with ropes that is), as the only thing I've done on rocks is free soloing. Rhyang was gonna teach me

ok, Napa wine harvest, (sounds as something one might meet Dragger et al on...) Muir Woods and Pt. Reyes National Seashore in the north and Monterey, Carmel, Pt. Lobos State Reserve and Big Sur in the south.

Hey, Monterey, Carmel, Pt. Lobos and Big Sur are all near me. And I'll take you climbing at the Pinnacles, if you want...

Lolli wrote:About Tahoe area, I don't know how to rock climb (with ropes that is), as the only thing I've done on rocks is free soloing. Rhyang was gonna teach me

ok, Napa wine harvest, (sounds as something one might meet Dragger et al on...) Muir Woods and Pt. Reyes National Seashore in the north and Monterey, Carmel, Pt. Lobos State Reserve and Big Sur in the south.

OK if you have to twist my arm .. I'm all about sharing the joy of climbing. We can figure something out .. it all depends on the weather. And I happen to know, ah, one or two SP'ers who might also be interested ..

I second the idea of Monterey county -- Point Lobos is fantastic .. though I've only been there once .. the tidepools are pretty cool. I usually go to that area (Ventana & Silver Peak wilderness) to hike & backpack, partly because of the spectacular scenery. Driving down Highway 1 in the Big Sur area is really beautiful too.

One thing is for sure -- you never have a shortage of things to do in California

Lolli - you have the western US all abuzz now with your visit! W00t w00t!

I've driven the road from CA to CO several times - my best time was 26 hours non-stop (except to pee and get petrol) from Monterey to Ft. Collins and it took me two days to "unkink" my back. I wouldn't recommend it. The flights are quick and airfare still seems to be relatively inexpensive.

I am looking forward to the possibility of joining you and others in CA, if that works into your plans. If you'd prefer to visit Colorado you are more than welcome - mi casa, su casa and if you don't mind cats that snore you have a place to stay near Denver.

Lolli wrote:What's the A-hills?

Alabama Hills -- interesting rocks and climbing area just outside of Lone Pine, CA, on the Sierra's east side.