Date of departure in August 2003, the U.S. West Coast
My name is Maxine and for years, me and my beloved wife Mari, spend the summer vacation by traveling abroad. Our tour was definitely the most exciting one in the U.S. West Coast, where we visited some of the most famous national parks and experience the holiday classic "on the road, enjoying the sense of freedom and greatness of a country like the United States .
August 5 - Turin & Los Angeles - up early at 4.00 to start at 7:00 am from Turin and come to Los Angeles with a stopover in Amsterdam with the airline KLM. We arrive at 16 (local) and, after hurried up the long formalities airport, let's collect the car rental, Alamo office at the airport. Time to familiarize yourself a bit 'with the car, a "Alero" with automatic ec'immergiamo in traffic in Los Angeles, to give you a quick ride to Venice Beach. We note immediately that, at road junctions, traffic lights are not placed at the stop line, but a center hub, so contrary to our habits, we must pay close attention to the signs of the ground to avoid incidenti.Una walk, breathing a deep lungs the brisk ocean breeze, is enough to complete this endless day, culminating with a dinner of hamburgers and chips and a well-deserved rest, in a chain hotel we had booked eight super Italy.
August 6 - Joshua Three National Park - still having the "time" Italian we wake up early and, before you walk towards the National Park Joshua Three, savor a typical American breakfast, made with plum syrup and kake ' maple. Take the Highway 10 and in a couple of hours we are in the Palm Springs area where, in the desert of Southern California, there are numerous villas of famous people. The day goes fast, and after a tasty lunch at a restaurant on the road ", our Alero with automatic transmission, (a custom in the states), take the path of the park Joshua. The show that presents itself to our eyes is truly unique: a vast wilderness of rocks and sand, dotted here and there with trees shaped as you like! Some road sign invites us to observe speed limits, (Americans do not parks may exceed 15 miles per hour), controlling the fuel (in the park, there are no service stations) and finally avoid behavior that might encourage the development of fire. Encouraged by the excellent condition of our car we enjoy the wonderful panorama traveling slowly along the track through the sweep from west to east toward the exit. Resume Highway 10 east and we are going to end the day in Blythe, a small town composed of some motels and petrol stations, emerged strategically around a crocevia.Qui just super eight motel welcomes us in the best way to sleep ec'introduce deep!
August 7 - At the Grand Canyon - Around eight o'clock, after a decent California-style breakfast, we continue the journey north, take Highway 95 to get closer to the next stage, the legendary Grand Canyon.
hour walk with undisturbed all the way to us ec'immettiamo nell'highway 40 eastbound. Around about 14 reach the mountain village of Williams where the climate is significantly cooler and more pleasant. Along the famous Route 66 we stopped to enjoy a great T-Bone Steak, entering for the first time in a typical American Steak House.
fatigue takes over and, a nice motel super eight, invites us to an undisturbed afternoon nap that lasted until three in the morning.
August 8 - The Grand Canyon - refreshed from the long sleep, we decide to travel the eighty miles that separate us from the Grand Canyon to enjoy the sunrise, knowing that all of America's national parks are open 24 ore.La chance to visit these wonders in any time, demonstrates the sense of freedom that reigns in the states.
dawn abandon the Highway 64 entering the 180, which leads us right into the park at an altitude of 2200 meters.
At six o'clock in the morning we are at the grand view point to 2256 meters. The first rays of sunlight illuminate a boundless expanse of the canyon, opening our eyes a wonder that nature has created over thousands of years. Those who were once the depths of the ocean, which are now dry land, the action of the winds and the Colorado River have shaped relentlessly.
The morning continues with an American breakfast, buy some souvenirs at the Grand Canyon Village and visits from other vantage points, taking advantage of a free shuttle service for tourists. Around noon the temperature is high and we decide to take a break before resuming the journey by car.
A couple of hours' drive east sull'Highway 64 and reach the small town of Cameron. We take the opportunity to refuel and eat something in the only restaurant available. The Highway 89 north lies ahead to achieve by the evening the town of Page, in the heart of Arizona.
We cross a sandy desert and canyons painted red while the clouds, more and more threatening, they create a charming ambiance. A brief stop at some stalls on the road in India, enables us to take some photos and admire the magnificent panorama.
we arrive in Page, Arizona city symbol for the mammoth hydroelectric power plant on Lake Powell. The lake, artificially created by human action, (which was interrupted by a dam the river, Colorado), has given rise to a landscape, termed "Canyonlands," made canyon immersed in its waters. The time to seek and find a great super eight motel for the night and we rush in the suburbs to visit the dam. Here we find a fascinating sunset orange color of the canyon turquoise waters of the lake.
August 9 - Monument Valley National Park - The new day starts early with the search for a place to have breakfast. The sleepy Page does not help, but giving us a succession of churches of different religions different, perfectly integrated with each other! We decided then to head south again on 'Highway 98, and moved to Monument Valley. Soon we begin to see a new landscape, made up of grassy plains broken here and there, on the peaks of red rock. A few miles after taking Highway 160 to reach the small town of Kayenta, within the Navajo Indian Reservation. Here we expect a typical Indian restaurant where we have breakfast and we experience the feeling that at any moment, can sit at our table the legendary John Wayne. We are now at the gates of Monument Valley and the last few miles that separate us from the park, are a wonderful prelude to what awaits us, the road cuts through a picturesque landscape with ridges of rock sticking out of the ground like mushrooms. The tortuous path inside the park, but our car gets along very well without any problems and we cross the paths that have characterized many Western movies. Time is running short, and only the growing appetite reminds us that we have passed noon and we should continue the journey north sull'Highway 191 because Moab is pretty far away.
Arizona never ceases to amaze: after about half an hour we arrive at Mexican Hat, a town of a few souls in the desert which takes its name from a large rock shaped like a Mexican hat! We take the opportunity to take some photos and check the route on the map. Along the road to Moab el'Arches National Park, the landscape begins to change around us, offering us more and more rock formations with natural arches, a prelude of what would later admired within the park. A few miles from Moab a giant word "Hole in the rock captures our attention again: the Americans have found ways to build the bungalows inside the blocks of rock.
Exhausted and hungry, we come to Moab, a beautiful town at the foot of Utah's Arches National Park. Fortunately, the time zone helps us: the move to the east an hour and we earn then there is still time to make a good snack. We see a restaurant with an adjoining car park and you enter the car. The time to find a free place and point, that a typical American jeep falls upon us by the tinted windows in reverse! The noise arising from it makes us fear the worst. Incredulous go down to check the damage and, surprisingly, our Alero has only slightly domed lid: no damage to headlamps and air-conditioning systems! A pensioner, distracted and tired-looking, approached and apologized for the incident, but we prefer to call an insurance agent to report the loss dell'Alamo. The cop asks us the documents and flies that the pensioner has no driver's license with him, also refuses to write down what happened on the grounds that it could not determine which of the two parties were to give way, why not present at the time of the collision. A staff member retires without help, leaving in the company of old. These
, first helps us to make contact with insurance, so we offer hospitality and willingness to guide us on a visit to Arches National Park and finally we pursued
... Disoriented by this excess insistence we take our leave and go directly to the first super eight motel we meet on the highway. Now we are forgetting the bad adventure but the phone rings in room ... a male voice, we can not immediately identify, invites us to reach the reception. We do not believe our eyes, the voice on the phone was that of senior accident: he had sought and found by identifying our car parked in front of the hotel among many. The reason for the visit? Simply provide the number of practice to provide Alamo incident to delivery of the car. Makeover greetings, hope is the end of the persecution and close our incredible day with the long-awaited lunch, dinner has become.
August 10 - Arches & Bryce Canyon - Also this morning we do not need the alarm to open his eyes when six, we're already awake. The desire to see Arches National Park makes us break through the inertia and propels us out of bed immediately. Proximity to a Denny's restaurant chain suggests a quick breakfast before facing the day. We will never forget the cold once in that space, air conditioning fired up to us literally frozen!
Arches begins with a shock: after entering the car park for tourists who must make the ticket, nearly reversing a jeep in our car and only use of the horn, we can avoid another impact! The rest is absolutely wonderful: we are in the streets of the park admiring rock formations more varied and natural rock arches that seem drawn. Only the blazing sun at noon and the insufficient supply of water to prevent us from admiring the world's largest natural arch, also became the symbol of Utah. We leave the park and reluctantly go back to our west sull'Highway 70. Once in Servir sull'Highway we put 89 in the south. Along a stretch in the mountains, at altitudes ranging between two thousand and three thousand feet, accompanied by sudden climate change. At approximately 17 dock in Panguitch, a small town near Bryce Canyon. Tried with some difficulty, a place to sleep: there are six motels super eight motel that until now, have always met our needs so we have to settle for a room for rent. The owner of the bungalow in the states tells us that there are no blinds on the windows of the houses because no one fears the theft. A person who violates another person's property can be shot with a pistol and this is a great deterrent. Listening to the suggestion of the friendly host, we're going to enjoy the sunset over Bryce Canyon, to reach the park in twenty minutes. Unlike other parks, the distance between the car parks and the first view point is very low and after a hundred yards we are already happy! Before our eyes, a huge amphitheater of rocky pinnacles different colors, surrounded by lush pine forest that hosts inside a nature reserve of the richest states. The setting sun, creates intense play of light going to get lost in the folds of these wayward piles of rock. Buried in a wonderful feeling of peace. We are pleasantly surprised to see that other tourists, as we struck by the beauty of this place, respect the peace and silence reigned, admiring obsequious in meditation!
a walk in the paths that run through this portion of the canyon, appreciating every nuance.
reluctantly return to the parking lot, from time to time we turn back, trying to steal some pictures of the canyon before it disappears altogether. We return
Commenting on the mirage just seen arriving at a small restaurant in Panguitch where we can enjoy a good dinner.
August 11 - Bryce Canyon National Park - The new day begins with breakfast at a super distributor of Texaco near the center of Panguitch. I order a piece of cake with a hot chocolate and the waiter brings me a slice and a mug ¼ 1/2...per the first time I can not finish.
decide to once again review the Bryce Canyon, which never loses its fascination with the light of day. At noon we take Highway 89 south, continue west to Zion National Park and crosses into the car. The beauty of the mountains of Zion compelling us to forget the roughness of a road full of hairpin bends. Around 14 to reach the town of Hurricane, where we supply and have lunch in a pizzeria. Here we make friends with the manager who, betrayed by my sportswear signed "Robe di Kappa," he mistakes for a player and a treat in store for us, giving us one of two pizzas. We leave for Las Vegas
onto Highway 15 south and west at about 5:30 p.m. we are inside the city Cannonball! We drive along the main street (known as "The Strip") and admire the many casino hotels situated along the same. Like a big carnival every hotel is ideally a world apart! It passes from New York, New York, where an imitation of the Statue of Liberty overlooking residential buildings similar to the skyscrapers of Manhattan, at the Venetian in which a mock Rialto Bridge stands on a miniature Venice, and tourists can take a gondola ride. A nasty surprise awaits us: the cost of hotel rooms is far beyond our capabilities and price, read on the internet before leaving, are only valid if you book your stay by credit card. So we must hurry and get in queue to acceptance of a Motel Six is \u200b\u200bthat stormed to the competitive prices of the rooms. Luck has it that we can still find a free room, and when it's eight o'clock in the evening, we can finally lie down on the bed!
August 12 - Las Vegas - We spend the whole morning looking for a chapel where we could marry a second time but, again, the rite that seal our wedding in Las Vegas is too expensive and we must abandon the idea, content with already being husband and wife.
The afternoon flies between a casino and another, and we realize that this city was founded on the excesses and entertainment at all costs, does the job.
August 13 - Death Valley National Park - At 6:30 in the morning in Las Vegas are the beauty of 35 degrees and we look forward to getting into the car and start the air conditioner! Take Highway 95 north and we go to Death Valley before us two hours to walk. Beatty to leave the Highway 95 to enter 90 in the west. Deserts of rock and dust in our eyes open and reach the park at around 11. To welcome us, to make the idea of \u200b\u200bdesolation that awaits us, we do not meet the usual information point for tourists, but an abandoned house that was to serve as office. Following the directions we come to Dante's View, a scenic plot situated atop a mountain of rock that we can see from the huge white valley below sea level. The time to take some pictures and we plunge back into the car, away from an unbearable heat that exceeds 40 degrees! The next destination is Zabrinsky Point, a pitch located in the middle hills of rock where you do not see any trace of life, neither animal nor vegetable. The route then takes us into the heart of Death Valley, Bad Water Basin, located at the lowest point of the valley that we have admired from Dante's view. Out of the car for a few minutes walk on the catwalk overlooking the still waters of sulfur and salt lake that lies in this valley. A hot wind and continuous shaking our hair to capacity making us sweat and we're at the point where he recorded the highest temperature of the planet throughout history: 57 degrees centigrade! Resist a few minutes to capture this time and back into the vehicle, this time to head to the exit of the park. Before you take the 190 west, we stop again under the scorching sun, to admire some white sand dunes bordering the road. The valley of death never ceases to amaze with its beauty. A little effort to resist increasing appetite and we find ourselves in front of a great plate of cheese-burger and fries at a restaurant along the Highway190, just outside the park.
spend the rest of the day in the car along Highway 395 south, 58 in the west, from Bakersfield, and, finally, 65 north until you reach the sleepy village of Porterville, at the entrance of Sequoia National Park. We rent a room in a motel super eight and go for a pizza in the only pub open.
August 14 - Sequoia National Park - We leave bright and early at a time of Sequoia National Park and stop in a highly original restaurant for breakfast: the room, along Route 65, hidden by a thick forest, is entirely built in wood and inside the tables, well arranged and ordered, are laid with red and white checkered tablecloths. On the walls are posted hundreds of photos of guys in uniform who have probably been part of an assault platoon of World War II. We choose the croissants with jam and accompany with hot chocolate and coffee. Let's continue our journey and, even before entering the park, we begin to see trees growing tall and thick. A guided tour takes us to visit the wonders of Sequoia National Park and, with our Alero, through forests of redwoods ever larger, until you reach the "General Sherman", the largest sequoia in the world to close its circumference needed thirty-two people together with open arms! The day continues with a quick lunch and the journey along Highway 99 to get to Yosemite National Park. At 18 we are at the gates of the park but it's late and decided to look for a place to spend the night, being in a romantic village mountain along the Highway 120: Mariposa. A small family run motel we reserve a room very hardy, suited to the mountain environment.
August 15 - Yosemite National Park - Travel over 120 in the opposite direction and we get to Yosemite National Park at dawn, immersing us in its reality wrapped in a thick morning mist. The sun is not slow to come and visit the most interesting spots in the park, taking advantage of a convenient shuttle. Around noon we take the way to go to San Francisco. We reach the bay entering the ring road across the bridge in Oakland at around 16. For the first time pay a toll for a buck. Immediately c'immergiamo in the chaotic traffic of the metropolis, losing a couple of hours trying to find a hotel to spend four nights in the program. Our company is successful at 18 when we find a great hotel just steps from Fisherman Worf, with a parking stand where we leave the car for the rest of the stay. We spend the evening strolling along the Fisherman Worf, the most lively and charming city. The atmosphere is enlivened by a myriad of local and shopping centers that animates the walk of the bay. The climate is cold and windy San Francisco featuring calls us to use a warm clothing which we are not used.
August 16 - San Francisco & Alcatraz - The opening day of shopping, the shops of Market Street and the Fisherman's Worf. The street market as well as offering suggestions for purchases, is a street that divides the city in two: on the one hand, the area rich and elegant, the other the poor and infamous. The bums, everywhere, do not create nuisance to other people to beg and lie sat on the sidewalk.
In the afternoon we take the ferry to Alcatraz Island where there is the prison that housed some of the most famous criminals, including Al Capone. Due to the large influx of tourists, you must book your ticket well in advance, we have done using the website dedicated. The prison has become famous for the legendary escape of three men who escaped from obtaining a pass in the air ducts of the building and, once free, braved the icy waters of the bay to reach the mainland and freedom. The episode, as well as having inspired numerous films including "Escape from Alcatraz" with Clint Eastwood, has led President Kennedy to order its closure in the sixties. The prison, until then considered a maximum security had been conquered and management costs are too high have made its inevitable failure.
August 17 to 18 - San Francisco - We spend these two days of shopping and sightseeing, taking advantage of the convenient bus traveling on it. We climb even the famous cable cars that have made history in San Francisco.
August 19 - Monterey & Caramel - We continue our journey to return south to Los Angeles. Take the Highway 1 on the Pacific Coast to enjoy the view of the ocean and visit in succession Caramel and Monterey, two small towns made famous by the historical events of the past. The first is characterized by the presence of high-level villas and buildings, the second is a typical fishing village that has experienced its heyday in the nineteenth century with the business of blue fish and had an illustrious mayor Clint Eastwood. We spend the night in an Indian-run motel in the town of Santa Maria, north of Los Angeles.
August 20 - Malibu and Los Angeles - The path back towards the south to Malibu small town made famous by the presence of many surfers, especially in summer, live in the great ocean beaches waiting for the perfect wave. In late morning we reach the famous Venice Beach in Los Angeles, spending a couple of hours admiring the locations of baywatch and souvenir shops along the promenade. Lunch at the original bar on the beach enjoying the cool ocean breeze and the beautiful sunny day. In the afternoon we head towards the city center in search of a hotel to spend the remaining days before returning to Italy. We find a good Indian-run motel in the Hollywood area. Here we also find tickets for the tour of Universal Studios.
August 21 - Los Angeles & Universal Studios - We spend the whole day visit to Universal Studios, where movies are made. We run the stand dedicated to the Terminator series, and here we see the play that represents the theme of the series. We enter into various stand dedicated to the creation of special effects techniques are explained and many of the tricks used to get them. Finally, we witness the spectacle of Spiderman, and that of Waterworld, the famous film KeWin Kostner.
August 22 - Los Angeles & Hollywood - We spend the whole day in Hollywood in search of souvenirs, admiring the gold stars engraved on the famous "Walk of Fame", each representing an American star of the show. In front of the famous Chinese Theatre can see the footprints of some of the most famous actors of world cinema, from Al Pacino to Sophia Loren.
August 23 - Los Angeles, Beverly Hills & Rodeo Drive - We end our tour with visits to the neighborhoods of Bel Air, Beverly Hills and the famous Rodeo Drive imagining for a moment of being Julia Roberts and Richard Gere in Pretty Woman.
August 24 - Los Angeles & Torino - sadly abandon Hollywood for the airport in Los Angeles. We return the Alero legendary special and we look up to the 16 aircraft that will take us back in Italy.
July 13, 2007 It's been four years but the memory of this holiday is still alive and so beautiful that it seems to me only yesterday. Indeed, I must say that the passage of time does nothing but reinforce the idea of \u200b\u200bgoing back to review these wonderful places.
Forumondo, the Australian dream, koala feeding, crocodile show 
