Click on Arnie to see the video “Visit California” from visitcalifornia.com

California is [...] the third largest state by area and the largest state by population in the USA. The state offers something for everyone: Southern California is home to such popular attractions as Disneyland, Hollywood and the beaches that inspired the television show Baywatch, while the northern part of the state offers the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, the hills of San Francisco, and the vineyards of Napa Valley. Further away from the state’s major cities California is home to some of America’s most rugged national parks, incredible skiing opportunities, and quiet northern forests.

Visit Wikitravel for more useful information.

I’ll excerpt from various sites things to do in California (rather than places to visit in California) that we may find interesting. This will be a general post about California, in further posts I’ll come down to every city we are visiting.

Things to do in California:

• See Los Angeles, home to the world-famous Hollywood sign, the Walk of Fame, the Mann’s Chinese Theater, Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive, and miles of wide, sandy beaches.
• See San Francisco, with the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, a large Chinatown, cable cars, and numerous hills.
• Try your hand at surfing or work on your tanning The OC or Santa Monica.
• Climb a mountain and camp in the Sierra Nevadas or Shasta Cascades.
• Taste wine. Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino are premier wine districts north of San Francisco.
• Visit Hearst Castle and the National Geographic Theater within it.
• Eat at Historic Old Fisherman’s Wharf on Monterey Harbor.
• Whale watching and dolphin cruises in Newport Beach.
• See a match of Los Angeles Lakers, with Pau Gasol!
• Visit Alcatraz in San Francisco.
• Visit National Parks: Joshua Tree, Death Valley, Yosemite, Sequoia & King’s Canyon.
• See volcanoes in Lassen Volcanic National Park and Lava Beds National Museum.
• See more beaches.
• Visit San Jose’s Tech Museum of Innovation.
• Theme parks: Disneyland and Seaworld!

Things to do around California:

• Visit Tijuana.
• Visit Las Vegas.
• Visit Grand Canyon.

I am sure I am missing good things. Please comment on your preferences, new ideas and known experiences!

Sources:

• California in Wikitravel
• California in Lonely Planet
• California in Trip Advisor. Things to do.
• California in ThingsToDo.com

Governor’s Message

My Fellow Californians:

You have in your hands a valuable handbook that can help ensure a safe driving experience.
For your protection and those of others, I strongly urge you to read it and keep it handy for future reference.
As Governor, I have always been supportive of you, the driver. I want you and your family to be safe at all times while driving California roadways, and that is why I signed two very important laws that will take effect on July 1, 2008.

In addition, I also want your business transactions with the DMV to be as seamless as possible. I encourage you to check out www.dmv.ca.gov. It is a great website where you can conduct tasks such as renewing your car registration or driver license online – rather than in line.

Your state government will continue to take action to find ways to further improve the California driving experience, but I also need your help. You can help me and your fellow Californians keep our roads safe by applying what you learn in this handbook. Working together, we will ensure that our state continues to be a fantastic place to live.

Wishing you a safe drive,

Thank you Arnold.

And now, more interesting links on driving California:

• California Driver Handbook (the book that Arnold references)
• California Driving, a survival guide (another guide)
  
• RV Across the USA (yet another guide, it has interesting info for RV drivers)

Today, I want to start a list of movies everyone should watch before californicating (road trip around California).

I know there are some movies in the list that are not about road trips, but, they are pretty inspiring. Enjoy

• Road Trip
• 21
• Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve, Ocean’s Thirteen
• Pirates of Silicon Valley
• Thelma & Louise

English readers: sorry this post is in Spanish, but it’s an excerpt of a magazine edited in Spanish (Viajes, by National Geographic). I will translate it if I have a chance, but meanwhile, there are lots of interesting links in this blog about the Yosemite National Park in California.

Yosemite es el primer parque nacional de Estados Unidos. Junto con las vecinas reservas de secuoyas y el Cañón de los Reyes, forma un formidable santuario natural de casi 4000 m2. Cuenta con un monolito de granito de 1.095 m de altura (El Capitán) y un salto de agua de 739 m de caída (Upper Yosemite), así como diversa fauna: el ciervo mulo, el muflón, el oso negro, el coyote, el puma, la lechuza cornuda y el majestuoso cóndor americano, entre otros.

El primer europeo que lo recorrió fue el catalán Gabriel Moraga el dia de Reyes de 1806. El presidente Abraham Lincoln lo convirtió en 1980 en el primer parque nacional de Norteamérica, para salvar las secuoyas de la explotación madedera. En 1984 fue declarado Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Unesco.

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En el número de mayo de la revista Viajes de National Geographic hay un reportaje sobre el parque de Yosemite. En la web de la revista hay un resumen, y aquí, un poco piratilla, un scan del artículo en PDF. He puesto links directos en la columna derecha donde pone “Travel Guides”. A disfrutar!