Exploring California

This is my first ever trip, since coming to San Francisco, with my close pal. We have always wanted to explore USA, in particular California for its greenery, red wood forest, route 66 and the famous Big Sur ride. Our trip started on the 25th of October, Friday, from Oakland airport. I was waiting for my best pal to come from TEXAS. He landed about 5:50 pm and then right on, started our most memorable experience of exploring some of the unique cuisines in California. By the end of the day, the excitations got us to our respective rooms and we slept early, since the next day we had loads of amazing things planned. Here is a peep of our plan with respective references,

FUN TRIP TO LA, TAHOE AND YOSEMITE

1. http://www.pelicannetwork.net/trailguide.htm


2. Monterey Carmel and Point Lobos 
http://www.pointlobos.org/

3. Lunch at Rocky Point Restaurant
http://www.rockypointrestaurant.com/ 

4. Bixby Creek Bridge
http://bridgehunter.com/ca/monterey/bixby/

4. Hurricane Point, Little Sur River, Andrew Beach 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Sur_River

5. Pfeiffer Falls, Julia Pfeiffer Burns 
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=578

6. Jade Cove, Willow Creek 
http://campone.com/day-use/willow-creek/

This is the BIG SUR road map:

7. Hollywood Studio Tour 
http://www.tripomatic.com/United-States/California/Los- Angeles

8. http://www.visitinglaketahoe.com/ 

The plan kick started from our Hotel and we headed straight to Carmel where our breakfast was just amazing. Once we were done with the breakfast, we headed to the Point Lobos.

POINT LOBOS

Reaching there we directly commenced our hike covering the entire reserve. We came across very beautiful views of the beach. We also came across a lot of seals, sea lions resting and sunbathing on the rocks, near the reserve over the beach. It was just a magnificent view to watch these mammals sunbath underneath the afternoon sun. The forest officer was kind enough to provide us with a set of binoculars that helped viewing these creatures closer and better.

Point Lobos

We walked a long way, got way too hungry so we decided to eat in one of the best restaurants in the big Sur drive, called the ROCKY POINT restaurant, and the reason for its name is that there was a Rocky Point view right next to the restaurant which was shared by the restaurant also. If lucky one might as well see a few grey whales pass by, while having their lunch.

ROCKY POINT RESTAURANT

After we were done with our lunch we went to the next spot the best spot of the entire drive, it’s the bridge.

We stopped to take a few pictures there, and then we started our trip again from there.

This is the next spot of the drive its called the little river as you can see a small river like structure from the sea, from there we again started to the next spot.

Pfeiffer Redwood Creek trail, to the falls is through a lively, dense old Redwood Grove. It is an instructive trail. You can see how a redwood forest makes its own soil and under story. The Creek cuts through alluvial deposits, and you can see how the valley built up over the eons.

The Pfeiffer Redwood Creek falls made us walk like an hour, and we got extremely tired by the end of it. The redwoods near the place were very beautiful, and we spend some time near that place and relaxed.

Pfeiffer Redwood Creek falls

The entire hike takes over an hour to reach the falls, right from the place where we parked the car, the parking ticket is about $10 a car, and you get a map which you could use to hike the place. There is also a valley view near the place and after the hike we rested for some time before starting for the sun set at Big Sur.

SUN SET IN BIG SUR

We parked the car and sat on the bonnet, eating chips and sandwich and believe it or not, We witnessed the most amazing sunset and darkness filling the road.

We reached Los Angeles about 1 am. The place where we stayed was such a nice and cozy, and our host was very hospitable.

GOING ACROSS LOS ANGELES

The next day we started from the house after a small breakfast and chit chat with the host. we decided to cover the Hollywood strip, some famous houses in Beverly's hill and the santa Monica beach.

HOLLYWOOD

Our guide was a very fun-loving and our entire trips a fun-filled memorable one. We saw the HOLLYWOOD sign and he gave us some very valuable information about all the places, which we visited.

Hollywood

                   

In Beverly Hills we visited some of the famous celebrity houses,

1. Katy Perry
2. Michael Jackson
3. Tom Cruise
4. Playboy Mansion
5. Elton John
6. Brad Pitt
7. Johnny Depp

Later that night we went along the Santa Monica beach, the world-famous route 66 ends here.

U.S. Route 66 (US 66 or Route 66), also known as the Will Rogers Highway and colloquially known as the Main Street of America or the Mother Road, was one of the original highways within the U.S. Highway System. Route 66 was established in November 11, 1926—with road signs erected the following year. The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in America, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before ending at Santa Monica, California, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km). It was recognised in popular culture by both the hit song " (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" and the Route 66 television shows in the 1960s. 

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_66

LAKE TAHOE NEXT STOP

From there, about 8 pm we started to Lake Tahoe, a seven hours drive through the forest. It started to snow when we were reaching the lake, and we were asked by the road safety officer there to fix chains to our car tires. It was the first time we were trying such a thing.

Freshwater Lake in a Sierra Nevada. At a surface elevation of 6,225 ft. (1,897 m), it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America.[4] Its depth is 1,645 ft. (501 m), making it the second-deepest in the United States (the deepest is Crater Lake in Oregon at 1,945 ft. (593 m), 300 ft. (91 m) deeper). Additionally, Lake Tahoe is listed as the 27th largest lake by volume to the world at 122,160,280 acre·ft (150,682,490 cubic dam).
The lake was formed about 2 million years ago and is a part of the Lake Tahoe Basin with the modern lake being shaped during the ice ages. It is known for the clarity of its water and the panorama of surrounding mountains on all sides. The area surrounding the lake is also referred to as Lake Tahoe, or simply Tahoe. More than 75% of the lake's watershed is national forest land, comprising the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit of the United States Forest Service.
Lake Tahoe is a major tourist attraction in both Nevada and California. It is home to a number of ski resorts, summer outdoor recreation, and tourist attractions. Snow and skiing are a significant part of the area's economy and reputation. Mountain and lake scenery is attractions throughout the year. The Nevada side also includes large casinos. Highways

Provide year-round access from Reno, Carson City, and Sacramento. 

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Tahoe

We took a few pictures of the lake.

  

We covered all the best parts of the lake, out of which the most wonderful was the emerald bay.

The next morning we journeyed back to back to San Francisco, after having experienced the most memorable trip in USA.