The golden city of the golden state, San Francisco commands the southern hills
overlooking the entrance to San Francisco Bay, perhaps the finest deep-water harbor
in the world. The city bloomed during the Gold Rush when it was the point of entry
for emigrants from all nations and the place for succesful prospectors to flaunt
their wealth. Today, although San Francisco si no longer California's largest or
richest city, it retains its pre-eminence by virtue of its beauty and cultural
importance. There are many names associated with, such as the Golden Gate Bridge or
the prison fortress Alcatraz, Beatniks, ample homosexual society, we mustn't omit
neighbouring stately redwood forest area of Muir Woods, the really fabulous seashore
Point Reyes, prestigious university towns Berkeley (University of California) and
Palo Alto (Stanford University), and the mecca of hi-tech industry Sillicon Valley.
San Francisco is very likeable pleace for living, it's worth seeing, definitely.
... was the nation's first preserve. Traversed by the Merced and Tuolome Rivers,
this 1,200 square mile area boasts spectacular waterfalls, lakes, gorges, pinnacles, and
meadows. Yosemite Valley, the main center of park activity, is dominated by the great
granite mass of Half Dome. I commend to hike out of usual trails, as well, just be
aware of bears.
Death Valley National Park shows the desert at it most extreme. Banked by sheer
mountain ranges, the 190 mile-long valley is a world unto itself. It is the hottest and
most arid region in the country yet fascinating in its geological complexity. Nature has
never worked with greater abandon than in Death Valley, producing fault scarps, alluvial
fans, volcanic craters, sand dunes, percolating salt plains, multi-colored hills, twisting
canyons, and the lowest spot - 86 metres below sea level - in the Western Hemisphere.
Home to over half the state's population. The lure of Las Vegas is as old as mankind. The city
of dreams features the world's largest, most spectacular and dazzling display of neon lighting,
casinos and theme park resorts. The menu of pastimes has been fleshed out with flashy floor shows
and bigname entertainment.
Besides this "oasis of peace", the Nevada appears quite regular, one can see 115-mile long man-made lake
Mead (one of the largest in the Western Hemisphere} impounded by Hoover Dam, saucermen on the Area 51,
or just take a ride over the E.T.'s highway (ExtraTerrestrial hwy).
The creations of our society are insignificant compared to the Colorado river's greatest wonder
- the Grand Canyon. Nature has cut a gorge one mile deep, eighteen miles wide, and 277 miles long
using only water and time. The layers of rock that have been revealed by the coursing of the river go
aback two billion years. No other place on earth displays such a chronology. The Grand Canyon may be
approached from either the north or south rim. Both edges provide heart-stopping views of unrivalled
majesty.
